Listening Comprehension Questions


1.  Which planet is hotter than Mercury?


2.  Why is Mercury a hotter planet?


3.  What creates the greenhouse gases effect?


4.  Why is Venus a hot planet?


5.  What could be removed from Venus's atmosphere to make it similar to Earth?


[Lesson Credits:  Listening Building MP3 TOEFL, Track 14]

01 Astronomy

W: Did you know that Venus is hotter than Mercury? This seems strange because Venus is nearly twice the distance from the sun as Mercury is. But in fact, the temperature of Venus is over 460 degrees Celsius, whereas Mercury ranges between 420 and minus 220 degrees! I’ll explain how this is possible.

While Mercury has no atmosphere . . . and this is important . . . Venus has a thick atmosphere. It consists of carbon dioxide and thick clouds of sulfur dioxide. This combination creates the strongest greenhouse gases in our solar system. Interestingly, the sulfur dioxide reflects 60% of the Sun’s rays away from the planet. This prevents Venus from being lit with much sunlight. However, um, 96.5% of its atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide, which traps the sun’s heat between the atmosphere and the planet’s surface. This is what makes the planet so hot.

Venus used to be similar to Earth, but all its water evaporated. This helped in creating the high amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If the carbon dioxide were removed from Venus’s atmosphere, then it would have similar temperatures to that of Earth. 



1.  How are plant cells different from animal cells?


2.  How many functions does a cell's membrane have?


3.  What allows a plant to maintain a specific structure?


4.  Can animal cells make their own food?


5.  What does a plant utilize to make its own food?


[Lesson Credits:  Listening Building MP3 TOEFL, Track 15]

02 Botany

M: How are plant cells different from animal cells? Well, plants have cell walls, and they have chloroplasts. Animals don’t have these.
A plant’s cell wall is a rigid structure outside of the cell’s membrane. These walls have several functions. While animals have skeletons that give them a shape and structure, plants do not. So how do they stand upright? The cell wall allows a plant to maintain a specific structure. Its rigidness gives the plant its shape and the support that it needs. Also, cell walls act as a filter for the cell. They prevent harmful substances from getting in.

Unlike animal cells, plant cells are able to make their own food! Plant cells contain special organelles called chloroplasts, which are filled with a substance called chlorophyll. This substance is what makes plants green. It also absorbs sunlight. Chlorophyll takes this sunlight, along with water and carbon dioxide, and changes it into energy for the plant to use. In this way, the plant generates its own food source. 

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