A Cautionary tale: comprehension

Part 1

The narrator is

  • a business person
  • a journalist
  • a local resident
  • an author

Nauru is

  • also known as the Solomon Islands
  • in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
  • near Australia

Nauru is

  • has a very small capital city
  • is a world-beating republic
  • very small and has no capital

Which of the following problems relate to Nauru?

  • corruption
  • obesity
  • poverty
  • global warming
  • poor education

Part 2

a) Match the beginnings and ends of the sentences

British sailor John Fearn / took control of the island in the late 19th century
German traders / discovered Nauru’s mineral wealth
Australian Albert Ellis / the first visitor(s) to Nauru from the outside world

b) Complete the summary of the second part of Part 2 with the following words. Some of them can be used more than once.

1907 / 1968 / agriculture / droppings / guano / independence / profits / phosphates

Some of the rock on Nauru is made from ______, which is composed of bird ______that have built up over millions of years. It is valuable because it contains ______, which are essential for ______. The soil in Australia lacks ______so the discovery of ______on Nauru was very important for Australia. In ______, the first 11,0000 tons of ______were shipped to Australia.

The local islanders got no share of the ______, which were split between the Germans and the Australians. They only started to benefit in ______, when Nauru was granted ______from Australia.

Part 3

  1. The 1970s and 1980s were hard times / a time of great prosperity for Nauru.
  2. Local people got well paid for working in the phosphate industry / doing nothing.
  3. Every week, local people went on a long walk to keep fit / collected their money from the government.
  4. The phosphate industry employed mainlylocals / Australians / Germans / Chinese.

Which of the following newly-available luxuries did the Nauruans like to spend their money on?

  • air travel
  • alcohol
  • big houses
  • four-wheel-drive cars
  • golf
  • luxury watches
  • meat pies

Part 4

The period of prosperity ended because

  • Phosphate prices went down
  • The Nauruans were tricked by foreigners
  • The phosphate on the island ran out

In which of the following ways did Nauru try to save its economy?

  • Encouraging tourism
  • Investing in property abroad
  • Setting up factories
  • Developing air travel
  • Turning the island into a tax haven

Why did each scheme fail?

Part 5

What visible evidence is there today of Nauru’s poverty?

  • empty shops
  • crowds of people waiting for welfare benefits
  • overgrown sports facilities
  • rusty abandoned cars
  • thin, undernourished people

Part 6

Match items on the left with those on the right and explain the connections.

the president’s house / low life expectancy
amiable man / tourist potential
former phosphate mines / garden shed
obesity / bulging waistline