Quetstion 4 - Practice 3

Question 4

Practice 3

Reading and Lecture

Now listen to a lecture related to the passage in step 1. As you listen, take notes on important information. Write down five keywords or key phrases that would be useful in explaining this information to someone else.

M: Wegener first noticed that the continent seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

When you look at a map of the world, you can see a fit between the eastern coast of South America and the western coast of Africa.

But this realization wasn’t enough to prove his hypothesis of continental drift. However, scientists have found additional evidence which proves that Wegener’s hypothesis is accurate.

One type of evidence involves fossil records.

Scientists have found fossils of ancient animals distributed widely across the continents, indicating that the land masses must have been joined at some point in prehistory.

For instance, fossil remains of one of the first marine reptiles, known as Mesosaurus, have been found in both South America and Africa.

This suggests that Africa and South America were once part of the same continent.

It’s also true that the geology of the South American and African coast is remarkably similar, lending further evidence to Wegener’s hypothesis.

When you fit the two continents together, you can see that distinct rock formations and mineral deposits match up. For example, the same type of sandstone hills that end on the west coast of Africa can be found in the east coast of South America.

This same type of sandstone occurs nowhere else in the world so clearly. Obviously, these continents were connected at one time.

more common.