This BBC News story was originally published on 19th March 2025. (Image: Getty)
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Hard: Upper intermediate level and above, B2 and above
Introduction
Listen to the BBC news report and answer the questions below. Scroll to the bottom to find a transcript of this programme.
About this news story
The mysterious force called Dark Energy, which helps the Universe to expand, might be changing in a way that challenges our current understanding of time and space, scientists have found. Some scientists believe that they may be about to make one of the biggest discoveries in astronomy for a generation.
Questions
1. Listen once and answer the question.
1. What is the main topic of this audio?
a. The Big Bang theory and the Universe’s expansion
b. Evolving theories about Dark Energy
c. The role of gravity in the Universe’s expansion
2. Listen for a second time and answer the questions. To reflect an exam environment, take a maximum of 1 minute to read the questions first.
1. Before 1998, scientists thought that the force of gravity would slow down the expansion of the Universe.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given
2. Results from the new study suggest that the Dark Energy force ________.
3. Why are the results shocking?
a. because they can’t be explained
b. because they would require a new theory of cosmology
c. both
4. The new evidence has proven that previous theories about the Universe were wrong.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given
3. Listen for a third time. Complete the gaps with what you hear.
1. The discovery of Dark Energy in 1998 was ________________ a shocking discovery.
2. That’s because it can’t be explained and ________________ a completely new theory of cosmology.
Answers
1. Listen once and answer the question.
1. What is the main topic of this audio?
b. Evolving theories about Dark Energy.
2. Listen for a second time and answer the questions.
1. a. True. Up until [1998], the view had been that after the Big Bang, the expansion of the Universe would eventually slow down under the force of gravity.
2. Results from the new study suggest that the Dark Energy force fluctuates.
3. c. both. The results would be shocking because they can’t be explained and would require a completely new theory of cosmology.
4. b. False. The evidence has not reached the threshold of a discovery yet.
3. Listen for a third time. Complete the gaps with what you hear.
1. The discovery of Dark Energy in 1998 was in itself a shocking discovery.
2. That’s because it can’t be explained and would require a completely new theory of cosmology.
Vocabulary
the Big Bang
a scientific theory about how the Universe began and expanded
accelerate
get faster
fluctuate
to change continuously between one thing and another
cosmology
the study of the origin and nature of the Universe
threshold
the level at which something starts to happen
mount
grow larger
paradigm shift
a major change in how people think about something
Transcript
The discovery of Dark Energy in 1998 was in itself a shocking discovery. Up until then, the view had been that after the Big Bang, the expansion of the Universe would eventually slow down under the force of gravity. But observations found that they were accelerating away from each other because of an unknown force.
More shocking still would be confirmation that this Dark Energy force fluctuates, as suggested by these new results. That’s because it can’t be explained and would require a completely new theory of cosmology.
The evidence has not reached the threshold of a discovery yet, but the evidence has been mounting, so much so that some of the most conservative and respected scientists involved in the programme are describing these results as a dramatic moment, which may lead to a paradigm shift in our understanding of the Universe.
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