Shadowing Practice: Cambridge Ielts 16 Reading test 1 Passage 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Cambridge IELTS 16, Reading Test 1.
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Passage 1.
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Why we need to protect polar bears.
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Polar bears are being increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change, but their disappearance could have far-reaching consequences.
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They are uniquely adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can reach minus 40 degrees Celsius.
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One reason for this is that they have up to 11 centimeters of fat underneath their skin.
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Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease.
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Yet the polar bear experiences no such consequences.
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A 2014 study by Shi Ping Liu and colleagues sheds light on this mystery.
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They compared the genetic structure of polar bears with that of their closest relatives from a warmer climate, the brown bears.
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This allowed them to determine the genes that have allowed polar bears to survive in one of the toughest environments on Earth.
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Lure and his colleagues found the polar bears had a gene known as a POV, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins, LDLs, a form of bad cholesterol.
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In humans, mutations of this gene are associated with increased risk of heart disease.
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Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans.
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The genome of the polar bear may also provide the solution for another condition, one that particularly affects our older generation, osteoporosis.
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This is a disease where bones show reduced density, usually caused by insufficient exercise, reduced calcium intake or food starvation.
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Bone tissue is constantly being remodeled, meaning that bone is added or removed, depending on nutrient availability and the stress that the bone is under.
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Female polar bears, however, undergo extreme conditions during every pregnancy.
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Once autumn comes around, these females will dig maternity dens in the snow and will remain there throughout the winter, both before and after the birth of their cubs.
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This process results in about six months of fasting, where the female bears have to keep themselves and their cubs alive, depleting their own calcium and calorie reserves.
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Despite this, their bones remain strong and dense.
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Physiologists Alanda Lennox and Alan Goodship found an explanation for this paradox in 2008.
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They discovered that pregnant bears were able to increase the density of their bones before they started to build their dens.
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In addition, six months later, when they finally emerged from the den with their cubs, there was no evidence of significant loss of bone density.
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Hibernating brown bears do not have this capacity and must therefore resort to major bone reformation in the following spring.
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If the mechanism of bone remodeling in polar bears can be understood, many bedridden humans and even astronauts could potentially benefit.
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The medical benefits of the polar bear for humanity certainly have their importance in our conservation efforts, but these should not be the only factors taken into consideration.
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We tend to want to protect animals with their power intelligence and possess emotions, such as elephants and primates.
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Bears, on the other hand, seem to be perceived as stupid and in many cases violent.
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And yet anecdotal evidence from the field challenges those assumptions, suggesting for example that polar bears have good problem-solving abilities.
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A male bear called Gogo in Tinojizu, Osaka, has even been observed making use of a tool to manipulate his environment.
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The bear used a tree branch on multiple occasions to dislodge a piece of meat hung out his reach.
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Problem-solving ability has also been witnessed in wild polar bears, although not as obviously as with Gogo.
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A calculated move by a male bear involved running
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and jumping onto barrels in an attempt to get to a photographer standing on a platform 4 meters high.
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In other studies, such as one by Allison Ames in 2008, polar bears showed deliberate and focused manipulation.
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For example, Ames observed bears putting objects in piles and then knocking them over in what appeared to be a game.
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The study demonstrates that bears are capable of agile and thought-out behaviors.
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These examples suggest bears have greater creativity and problem-solving abilities than previously thought.
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As for emotions, while the evidence is once again anecdotal, many bears have been seen to head out at ice and snow,
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seemingly out of frustration, when they have just missed out on a kill.
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Moreover, polar bears can form unusual relationships with other species, including playing with the dogs used to pull sleds in the Arctic.
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Remarkably, one hand-raised polar bear called Eiji has formed a close
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relationship with her owner-marked Duma to the point where they even swim together.
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This is even more astonishing since polar bears are known to actively hunt humans in the wild.
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If climate change were to lead to their extinction, this would mean not only the loss of potential breakthroughs in human nursing,
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but more importantly, the disappearance of an intelligent, majestic animal.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Cambridge Ielts 16 Reading test 1 Passage 1”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: bear, polar, bone, density, disease. This video has 47 sentences and 818 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:23. The speaker talks at a natural 152 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 72% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| polar adjective | /ˈpoʊlɚ/ | Of, relating to, measured from, or referred to a geographic pole (the North Pole or South Pole); within the Arctic or Antarctic circles. |
| anecdotal adjective | [ˌænɪkˈdəʊ̯tɫ̩] | Of the nature of or relating to an anecdote. |
| remodel verb | To change the appearance, layout, or furnishings of. | |
| disappearance noun | /dɪsəˈpɪəɹəns/ | The action of disappearing or vanishing. |
| calcium noun | /ˈkælsi.əm/ | The chemical element (symbol Ca) with atomic number 20: a soft, silvery-white alkaline earth metal which occurs naturally as carbonate in limestone and as… |
| colleague noun | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate. |
| den noun | /ˈdɛn/ | A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment. |
| observe verb | /əbˈzɜːv/ | To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail. |
| consequence noun | /ˈkɑn.sɪ.kwəns/ | An effect; something that follows a cause as a result. |
| adipose adjective | /ˈæd.ɪ.poʊs/ | Containing, composed of, or consisting of fat; fatty. |
| astonish verb | /əˈstɑnɪʃ/ | To surprise greatly. |
| bedridden adjective | /ˈbɛdɹɪdən/ | Confined to bed because of infirmity or illness. |
| centimeter noun | (Canadian spelling, alternative) Alternative form of centimetre. | |
| deplete verb | /dɪˈplit/ | To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something) |
| dislodge verb | /dɪsˈlɒdʒ/ | To remove or force out from a position or dwelling previously occupied. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come around verb | /kʌ.məˈɹaʊnd/ | To change one's mind, especially to begin to agree or appreciate what one was reluctant to accept at first. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | would be considered · are associated · being remodeled |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have allowed · has even been observed · has also been witnessed |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: astonish /əˈstɑnɪʃ/, starvation /stɑɹˈveɪʃən/, reformation /ˌɹɛf.əɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, mutation /mjuˈteɪʃən/, extinction /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: disappearance /dɪsəˈpɪəɹəns/, lipoprotein /ˌlai.poʊˈpɹoʊ.tiːn/, osteoporosis /ˌɒstiəʊpəˈɹəʊsɪs/, reformation /ˌɹɛf.əɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, maternity /məˈtɜɹnəti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like polar, anecdotal, remodel.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.