8. For questions 1-4 read the following texts.

Antarctica represents ten percent of the Earth's landmass and is also the world's last unspoilt wilderness, so it is hardly surprising that greater numbers of people are visiting the frozen continent every year. Tourism to Antarctica began in the late 1950s but it wasn't until the 1990s that it began to have a commercial impact. In the summer season 2004-5, over 27,000 tourists visited Antarctica, and if one takes into account the crew, support teams and scientists that went there too, the actual number of visitors was closer to 50,000. The tourist industry is predicting that these figures will increase even further. Mass tourism has arrived.

Tourism is already exerting pressures on the Antarctic environment, and what worries environmentalists is that there is no current regulation and very little constraint on where people may go and what they can do there.Tours to important wildlife and historic sites often attract large numbers of people, and a new kind of 'adventure tourism' - offering activities such as scuba-diving, skydiving, and skiing - has also arrived. Tourists can even fly directly in to waiting ships, and there is now better access to inland areas thanks to light aircraft, helicopters and land vehicles. Inevitably, there have been calls for accommodation to be built ashore, as well as airstrips and landing sites.

However, if tourism is not to compromise Antarctica's designation as a natural reserve, it must be subject to certain restrictions concerning where people can go and the types of activities they can do once they get there. Otherwise it is doubtful whether Antarctica can remain the last pristine environment on the planet for much longer.

1. What does the writer mean by “commercial impact”? (line 4)

2. Which word in the text echoes the word “constraint”? (line 11)

Antarctica has no indigenous population - if you exclude the unavoidable colonies of penguins - and the only people you are likely to see there are other tourists. Some prudent tour operators, however, schedule their landings so they don't bump into each other, thus reinforcing the illusion of thewilderness experience.

Vessels travelling to the Antarctic vary in size from cruisers carrying around fifty passengers to much larger ice-strengthened vessels with a capacity of 1,000 or so. The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), a well-respected voluntary organisation, has established rules about the size of ships allowed into Antarctic waters and conduct at landing sites, so you should check that the tour company you go with is a member. One of these rules states that no more than 100 people can visit land at anyone time, so it is usually better to go with a smaller ship to ensure you will get to see some of the spectacular wildlife and natural features of the continent up close.

Tours operate in the summer months, between November and March, when you can expect more than twenty hours of sunlight and temperatures up to 10°C. In the winter temperatures can plunge to -90°C, but only a handful of hardened scientists ever sit it out.

3. Explain what is meant by “reinforcing the illusion of wilderness experience”? (line 4)

4. Why are the scientists who winter in Antarctica described as “hardened”?

Listening