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IELTS Practice Reading: Label Diagram ID: #56253 Medium Cumulonimbus clouds
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In May 2012, disaster struck a mountainous region of China’s Gansu province. 40 people were killed and 29,300 people evacuated when a brief but extremely violent hailstone storm swept across Min County. Houses collapsed, roads were blocked and crops were destroyed. The extreme weather also affected the power supply and communications in the region. When you consider that hailstones can reach sizeable proportions, the damage they can cause is understandable. The world's largest hailstone was found after a storm in South Dakota and measured 20.5 cm in diameter with a 47 cm circumference this was after melting caused it to lose 5 cm from its original size. Apart from China and the US, other parts of the world that frequently suffer from hailstorm damage include Russia, India and northern Italy.

Hail is a form of solid precipitation created within cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds are caused by heating from below and cooling from above. As the earth is heated during the day by the sun, air close to the ground becomes warmer. Hot air is less dense than cold air and therefore lighter so it rises and, as it does so it becomes cooler. The warm air reaches a cold point called the condensation level where the water vapor condenses and turns back to a liquid form. As the warm air rises to the condensation level, it becomes less able to keep its moisture and condenses into large clouds, which are often called thunderheads. The process of condensation releases heat into the surrounding air making the air rise even faster and release more moisture. These huge clouds are complex systems in their own right, containing large amounts of energy resulting in updrafts and downdrafts - vertical winds that can reach speeds over 176 km per hour and help in the formation of hail.

8 labels
Diagram
Options:
graupel
updraft
condensation level
accretion
heal released into atmosphere
downdraft
warm air
supercooled area
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.

Question Focus: The diagram shows the upper cold part of the cloud where ice forms.

Correct Answer: H

Why this is correct: The diagram points to the very cold upper area of the cloud. The passage explains that cumulonimbus clouds involve cooling from above, which creates a supercooled area where ice can form.

Passage Reference: Cumulonimbus clouds are caused by heating from below and cooling from above.

Common Mistake: Students often choose condensation level because it also sounds technical and scientific. But that is lower in the cloud where vapor turns to liquid. This is a context shift trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'cooling from above' = Diagram: 'supercooled area'

Tips: For cloud diagrams, the coldest areas are usually at the top.

Key Vocabulary:

  • supercooled = very cold below freezing
  • above = higher in the cloud

Question Focus: The diagram label refers to the first small ice particles forming inside the cloud.

Correct Answer: A

Passage Reference: Hail is a form of solid precipitation created within cumulonimbus clouds.

Why this is correct: The diagram shows early ice pellets forming inside the cloud. These are called graupel, which is an early stage of hail and fits the idea of solid precipitation forming inside cumulonimbus clouds.

Common Mistake: Some students choose accretion because it sounds like ice growth. But accretion is a process, not a thing. This is a word type trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'solid precipitation' = Diagram: 'graupel'

Tips: Check if the label needs a thing or a process.

Key Vocabulary:

  • graupel = soft ice pellets
  • precipitation = rain or ice falling

Question Focus: The diagram describes how hailstones grow larger.

Correct Answer: D

Passage Reference: containing large amounts of energy resulting in updrafts and downdrafts - vertical winds that can reach speeds over 176 km per hour and help in the formation of hail

Why this is correct: The diagram shows hail growing as layers of ice build up. This growth process is called accretion, which directly helps in the formation of hail.

Common Mistake: Students may choose graupel again, but that is an early ice particle, not the growth process. This is a partial truth trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'formation of hail' = Diagram: 'accretion'

Tips: If the diagram shows change or growth, look for a process word.

Key Vocabulary:

  • accretion = gradual growth
  • formation = making

Question Focus: The diagram arrow shows air moving downward.

Correct Answer: F

Passage Reference: containing large amounts of energy resulting in updrafts and downdrafts - vertical winds that can reach speeds over 176 km per hou

Why this is correct: The arrow in the diagram points downward, showing sinking air. The passage clearly mentions downdrafts, which are vertical winds moving down.

Common Mistake: Many students choose updraft just because it is familiar. But the arrow direction is opposite. This is a reverse meaning trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'downdrafts' = Diagram: 'downward air movement'

Tips: Always check arrow direction in diagrams.

Key Vocabulary:

  • downdraft = air moving down
  • vertical = up and down

Question Focus: The diagram arrow shows air rising quickly.

Correct Answer: B

Passage Reference: Hot air is less dense than cold air and therefore lighter so it rise

Why this is correct: The diagram shows air moving upward inside the cloud. The passage explains that hot air rises, which creates an updraft.

Common Mistake: Students sometimes choose warm air, but the label describes movement, not temperature. This is a context shift trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'it rises' = Diagram: 'updraft'

Tips: Movement words like rise or fall often match draft labels.

Key Vocabulary:

  • updraft = rising air
  • dense = heavy

Question Focus: The diagram shows hail falling out of the cloud.

Correct Answer: E

Passage Reference: Hail is a form of solid precipitation created within cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds are caused by heating from below and cooling from above. As the earth is heated during the day by the sun

Why this is correct: The diagram shows hail leaving the cloud and falling. Hail is described as solid precipitation, so when it falls out, it is released into the atmosphere.

Common Mistake: Some students choose downdraft, but that is air movement, not hail itself. This is a context shift trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'solid precipitation' = Diagram: 'hail released'

Tips: If you see something falling, think precipitation, not wind.

Key Vocabulary:

  • released = sent out
  • atmosphere = air around Earth

Question Focus: The diagram label shows the height where vapor turns into liquid.

Correct Answer: C

Passage Reference: The warm air reaches a cold point called the condensation level where the water vapor condenses and turns back to a liquid form.

Why this is correct: The diagram points to the level where water vapor changes into liquid. The passage names this exactly as the condensation level.

Common Mistake: Students sometimes choose supercooled area, but that is higher and colder. This is a wrong section trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'condensation level' = Diagram: 'where vapor turns to liquid'

Tips: Exact technical terms in the passage are often direct answers.

Key Vocabulary:

  • condense = change to liquid
  • vapor = gas

Question Focus: The diagram label shows air rising from the ground.

Correct Answer: G

Passage Reference: As the earth is heated during the day by the sun, air close to the ground becomes warmer.

Why this is correct: The diagram starts at the ground with air moving upward. The passage says air close to the ground becomes warmer, which is warm air.

Common Mistake: Some students choose updraft, but the label names the air itself, not the movement. This is a word type trap.

Paraphrasing: Passage: 'becomes warmer' = Diagram: 'warm air'

Tips: Bottom of cloud diagrams usually start with warm air.

Key Vocabulary:

  • warm = not cold
  • ground = earth surface

General Tips:

  • Diagram labels usually follow the passage order from bottom to top or start to end.
  • Look carefully at arrows to understand movement direction.
  • Decide if the label needs a thing, a place, or a process.
  • Technical words are often repeated exactly from the passage.

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