CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: Bay of Fundy Tides And Their Effects

Paragraph A

Between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia lies the Bay of Fundy, home to the highest tides in the world. In the Minas Basin, near the eastern end of the bay, the difference between low and high tide can reach 16 metres, roughly the height of a five-storey building. Twice a day, more than 100 billion tonnes of seawater flow into the bay and back out again. Scientists explain these extraordinary tides partly by the bay’s unusual shape: because it becomes narrower and shallower toward its end, the incoming water is forced upward. Just as important is timing. Water in the bay naturally sloshes from one end to the other and back in about thirteen hours, very close to the twelve-and-a-half-hour rhythm of the tides. Like a child on a swing who is pushed at exactly the right moment, the water rises a little higher with each push.

Paragraph B

The tides have made the region a popular destination for visitors. At the head of the bay, wind and water have carved tall rock formations, often called “flowerpots” because trees and shrubs grow on their narrow tops. At low tide, visitors can climb down staircases and walk on the ocean floor between them; a few hours later, the same spot can be explored only by kayak. Staff remind walkers to keep track of the time, since the rising water can cut off the way back. On several rivers that flow into the bay, the incoming tide arrives as a single wave called a tidal bore, which pushes upstream against the river’s current. On one of these rivers, tour companies take passengers out in motorized rafts to ride the rapids that the bore creates.

Paragraph C

The tides also support a remarkable variety of wildlife. When the water retreats, it exposes vast mudflats filled with tiny shrimp-like creatures. Each summer, hundreds of thousands of small shorebirds called semipalmated sandpipers stop in the bay on their way south from the Arctic. In about two weeks of feeding, many of them nearly double their body weight, building up the energy they need for a non-stop flight of roughly 4,000 kilometres to South America. Farther out, the constant mixing of the water by the tides brings nutrients up to the surface, attracting fish, seabirds and several species of whales.

Paragraph D

For more than a century, people have dreamed of turning the bay’s tides into electricity. A small tidal power station built in the 1980s on a river near the bay produced power for over thirty years before it was eventually shut down. More recent projects have tried a different approach, placing turbines directly on the seabed, where they spin in the current much like underwater windmills. The results have been mixed. The currents are so powerful that some test turbines were badly damaged soon after they were installed. Fishermen have also raised concerns that the turbines could injure fish and disturb the habitats they depend on. Supporters argue that, unlike wind and sunshine, tides are completely predictable, which makes them a reliable source of clean energy if the engineering problems can be solved.