IELTS Listening Test Questions

Central North America and the U.S. Southwest are currently expected to experience dry conditions more frequently as the planet warms up. However, this is not the first time that America has faced periods of drought. In fact, droughts have been a fairly common occurrence throughout American history.

Studies of tree rings have allowed scientists to identify earlier periods of drought. (Q1)By analysing the width and density of the rings in trees, specialists can identify if the tree faced environmental strains during a particular year. During years of drought, trees grow more slowly, leading to narrower rings.

Using tree ring data, researchers identified two mediaeval droughts that affected modern day California. The first of these droughts lasted a remarkable 200 years, ending in 1112 AD, while the second continued over 140 years until 1350. What’s more, a series of megadroughts were identified which devastated the American Southwest between around the years 800 and 1400. Scientists believe these (Q2)megadroughts were caused by a rise in the sun’s energy being absorbed by Earth. Among other consequences, this led to the warming of the North Atlantic Ocean, and serious and recurring La Niña events.

In the 16th century North and Central America was hit by a drought that lasted decades. It’s possible that the dry conditions contributed to the deaths of the first colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, as (Q3)it would have been extremely challenging to grow food and raise animals in such circumstances. In fact, the malnutrition that the settlers suffered from 1607 to 1624 led to the deaths of almost half the settlers. This megadrought might also have played a role in the failure of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke Colony, located in what later became North Carolina, as well as the abandonment of the Spanish settlement of Santa Elena.

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(Q4)The Dust Bowl, which so badly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s was also the result of severe drought. Human mismanagement of the land undoubtedly played a role, as (Q5)land owners failed to protect the top soil from wind erosion, but nonetheless, the lack of rain was a key element in the disaster. Swathes of land over south-central America were affected by the droughts and the states of Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Kansas were heavily impacted. The (Q6)Great Plains were literally blown away in enormous dust storms named “dusters” or “black blizzards”.

The Great Plains in the U.S. Southwest was hit by drought again in the early 1950s. In Texas, levels of rainfall were 40% below average between 1949 and 1951, (Q7)leading to greatly reduced crop yields. The rural communities were badly affected by the drought, as they depended so much on farms which could no longer feed their cattle. In their desperation, some farmers went so far as to feed their cattle with cacti. The drought conditions led to water rationing for the rest of the decade, and (Q8)water conservation became a part of life across the towns and cities of the region.

The Northeast soon had its own drought problems to contend with. Between 1962 and 1966 a widespread drought occurred despite lower than average temperatures. Even New York city was affected with water use restrictions becoming necessary to safeguard supply.

Yet another drought, this time between 1987 and 1989 affected a large part of the U.S.. 36% of the country was affected, but it was the northern Great Plains that were the worst hit. (Q9)The drought also resulted in serious forest fires, such as the fire in Yellowstone National Park, which consumed close to 800,000 acres of land.

Recently, the western U.S. has been suffering from lack of rainfall again, with the period from 2000 to 2022 being the driest since at least 800 AD. Fortunately, 2023 was one of the wettest years on record, but even so, many western regions continue to deal with water problems. (Q10)More than one wet year will be needed to replenish water reserves that have been dropping for two decades.