Speed Reading — Level 6 — 500 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

It's official – July was the hottest month on Earth since scientists started recording the planet's temperatures. Data from America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reveal that last month, the Earth hit its hottest temperatures since records began 136 years ago. NASA spokesman Gavin Schmidt tweeted: "July 2016 was absolutely the hottest month since the instrumental records began." It beat the previous hottest July in 2011 by 0.11 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is a substantial amount. According to NASA, July was the tenth straight month of record-breaking temperatures. It looks like the year 2016 might now become the hottest year on record.

The science website gizmodo.com stated that July could be the hottest month since prehistoric times. It said: "In all likelihood, it was the hottest month since the last interglacial period ended 125,000 years ago." Meteorology expert professor Jason Furtado said: "It's a little alarming to me that we're going through these records like nothing this year." The news organization Climate Central reported that the record temperatures of the past few years have been caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the occurrence of the El Niño weather phenomenon. However, Australian politician Malcolm Roberts recently rubbished climate change as a conspiracy theory and accused NASA of corrupting climate change data.

Comprehension questions
  1. Which organisation compiled the data on the record temperatures?
  2. When did scientists first start recording Earth's temperature?
  3. When was the previous hottest July?
  4. By how much did July 2016 beat the previous record for the hottest July?
  5. For how many months in a row have there been record temperatures?
  6. When did a website say records could go back to?
  7. When did the last interglacial period end?
  8. Who is Jason Furtado?
  9. What weather phenomenon was mentioned as being a cause of the heat?
  10. What did an Australian politician say climate change was?

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