IGCSE English As A Second Language 0510 - 21 Paper 2 Oct - Nov 2020

2
Exercise 1
Read the article about a dinosaur expert called Paul Kearney, and then answer the following questions.
A dinosaur expert
Journalist Dee Nicholson meets dinosaur expert Paul Kearney
According to Paul Kearney, he and other dinosaur experts tend to agree

that it’s about 65 million years since what is known as the Age of the
Dinosaurs ended. It started around 215 million years ago, which means
it lasted approximately 150 million years. The end came when a huge
asteroid crashed into Earth and caused a series of natural disasters, which
then led to massive environmental destruction and the disappearance of
most dinosaur species.
Kearney is keen to tell people about the latest thinking on dinosaurs. ‘At
school, I was taught that they were all enormous. That was what everyone used to think. I was also
told they were all stupid,’ he said. ‘But recent studies show something very different. Some were
giants, but many were very small, and lots had large brains.’
I arranged to meet Kearney in a valley in the countryside, where he and two colleagues were
searching for fossils – the remains of dinosaur bones. ‘Most days when we go fossil-hunting, we get
really extreme weather. You’re lucky today,’ he smiled. ‘It’s beautiful.’ He was right, the sky was blue
and the sun warm. ‘Also, the ground here’s quite flat, but we normally go to very rocky locations,’ he
explained.
Kearney has discovered a total of 13 new dinosaur species in the last 20 years. ‘When I first started
fossil-hunting,’ he said, ‘only about 5 previously unknown dinosaur species were found per year, but it’s
around 50 these days. The thing is, fossil-hunting has become much more popular around the world.’
I asked Kearney if he’d seen the Jurassic Park films. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I love them, though they’re
not always very accurate. The dinosaurs are all green or brown – and that’s actually what people
once assumed they were like. However, scientists have discovered that many dinosaurs had bright
colours. Also, the Jurassic Park dinosaurs have scaly skin, like crocodiles, because experts used to
think all dinosaurs had skin like that. But the truth is that many were covered in feathers, like birds.
Anyway, the films are excellent entertainment. And the best thing for me is that they inspire many
people to study dinosaurs.’
Kearney told me how scientists are using new technology to make significant advances in dinosaur
studies. ‘Scientists used to think that dinosaurs changed relatively quickly over time,’ he said.
‘However, data shows the opposite was true – dinosaur species changed very little over millions of
years.’ Kearney himself was in charge of a team which used some new evidence to work out how
certain types of dinosaur interacted with each other. ‘That study finished last year,’ he said, ‘but we’re
beginning a new project next month looking at how dinosaurs moved. And before long, I’ll also be
joining a team which is studying the food that different species ate. There’s so much going on.’
Kearney thinks the future for dinosaur studies is very bright. ‘I give talks in schools and young people
are very interested in dinosaurs,’ Kearney told me. ‘Many of them learn a lot about dinosaurs by
visiting museums, though I always tell them to learn computer programming if they are serious about
developing their interest into a career as it’s so essential in research.’
A year ago, Kearney decided to write an up-to-date book about dinosaurs. ‘I didn’t want to write a
kids’ book – there are plenty of them already,’ he said. As a parent myself, I knew this to be true.
What I hadn’t expected him to tell me, though, is that hardly any are written for adults. Kearney’s
recently published book, The Story of the Dinosaurs, should help to fill the gap.
© UCLES 2020 0510/21/O/N/20
3
1 When did the Age of the Dinosaurs begin?
..................................................................................................................................................... [1]
2 What conditions does Kearney generally work in when he’s looking for dinosaur remains?
Give two details.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................... [2]
3 How many new species of dinosaur are now discovered each year?
..................................................................................................................................................... [1]
4 What does Kearney like most about the Jurassic Park films?
..................................................................................................................................................... [1]
5 Which two areas of research will Kearney soon start working on? Give two details.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................... [2]
6 What advice does Kearney give to students who want to become dinosaur experts?
..................................................................................................................................................... [1]
7 What was the writer surprised to find out about dinosaur books?
..................................................................................................................................................... [1]
8 What facts did people use to believe about dinosaurs that scientists now know are wrong?
Give four details.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................... [4]
[Total: 13]
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According to Paul Kearney, he and other dinosaur experts tend to agree

1 When did the Age of the Dinosaurs begin?

© UCLES 2020 0510/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

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