Starting in the 1960s and continuing until the 1980s sailors in Russian submarines patrolling the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean would occasionally hear strange sounds These underwater noises reminded the submarine crews of frog croaks so they called the

Essay topics:

Starting in the 1960s and continuing until the 1980s, sailors in Russian submarines patrolling the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean would occasionally hear strange sounds. These underwater noises reminded the submarine crews of frog croaks, so they called the sounds “quackers” (from the Russian word for frog sounds). The sources of the sound seemed to be moving with great speed and agility; however, the submarines’ sonar (a method of detecting objects underwater) was unable to detect any solid moving objects in the area. There are several theories about what might have caused the odd sounds.

The first theory suggests that the strange noises were actually the calls of male and female orca whales during a courtship ritual. Orca whales are known to inhabit the areas where the submarines were picking up the bizarre noises. Orcas have been studied extensively, and the sounds they make when trying to attract a mate are similar to those that the submarines were detecting.

A second idea is that the sounds were caused by giant squid. Giant squid are giant marine invertebrates that live deep in the ocean and prey on large fish. They are difficult to detect by sonar because they have soft bodies with no skeleton. Not much is known about giant squid behavior, but their complex brains suggest they are intelligent animals. It is possible they have the ability to emit sound, and perhaps they approached the submarines out of curiosity.

A third theory suggests the Russian submarines were picking up stray sounds from some military technology, like another country’s submarines that were secretly patrolling the area. Perhaps the foreign submarines did not register on the sonar because they were using a kind of technology specifically designed to make them undetectable by sonar. The strange froglike sounds may have been emitted by the foreign submarines unintentionally.

Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

Quackers are certainly a very strange phenomenon. Experts still debate what the source of the sounds was. No one can be sure exactly what caused them, but these experts cite certain problems with all of the theories that you just read about. Here are a few of the arguments that they make.

First, the idea that the sounds were caused by orca whales seems plausible at first, but is ultimately highly unlikely. It’s true there were orca populations in the general areas that the Russian submarines were patrolling, but orca whales mostly live near the surface of the water. The submarines typically remained deep in the ocean and should not have been able to hear the whale sounds from near the surface. Also, the orca whales would have been detected by the Russian sonar if they were nearby.

Giant squid may be a better candidate, but one critical fact speaks against the squid theory as well: Russian submarines first detected quacker sounds in the 1960s, and reports of them continued for about two decades, but the sounds disappeared entirely by the 1980s. However, as far as we know, squid have always lived in the ocean where the submarines were patrolling, and continue to live there today. If these were squid sounds, there would be no reason to suddenly start hearing them in one decade and then suddenly stop hearing them twenty years later.

Third, the idea that the quackers were caused by a secret submarine from another country does not hold up. The sources of the sounds appeared to move around and change direction very quickly. Submarines cannot move or change direction that quickly. Also, all submarines make some engine noise, but no such noise accompanied the quackers. Even today, we don’t have technology to build submarines that are that fast and have engines that are that silent.

Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific theories presented in the reading passage.

In regard to the issue of the odd sounds called quackers. The reading passage points out three possible theories of the odd sounds, whereas the lecturer puts forward three compelling arguments and efficaciously contradicts the theories of the writer.

Firstly, according to the author, the sounds may make by orca whales for attracting a mate since the areas they live in were the place sailors heard the weird sounds. The speaker, however, disclaims the point of view and declares that orca whales not only live in the deep ocean but also on the surface of the water, but no one heard the strange sounds near the surface of the ocean before.

Secondly, the reading holds that giant squid may cause the sounds, and their bodies are soft so they are hard to be detected by sonar. Further, it is possible for them to emit the sounds because they are intelligent and have complex brains. By contrast, the professor disproves the claim of the reading, demonstrating that sailors had detected the sounds since 1960, while it only continued for two decades and disappeared in the 1980s. It is impossible for the squid to make the sounds since the squid always lives in the ocean, even today they still live there.

Finally, the article asserts that the sounds may be emitted unintentionally by the foreign submarines since they were using a kind of military technology to make them undetectable by sonar. On the other hand, the listening maintains an opposite opinion that the source of the weird sounds changed direction very quickly, however, the submarines could not change that fast and it would make some engined sound. Additionally, at that time it is impossible to have this kind of technology to make submarines that move so quickly and so silent.

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Essays by user Lindsey0101 :

Comments

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, finally, first, firstly, however, may, second, secondly, so, still, whereas, while, kind of, in regard to, on the other hand

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 8.0 10.4613686534 76% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 5.0 5.04856512141 99% => OK
Conjunction : 9.0 7.30242825607 123% => OK
Relative clauses : 8.0 12.0772626932 66% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 20.0 22.412803532 89% => OK
Preposition: 36.0 30.3222958057 119% => OK
Nominalization: 1.0 5.01324503311 20% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1370.0 1373.03311258 100% => OK
No of words: 277.0 270.72406181 102% => OK
Chars per words: 4.94584837545 5.08290768461 97% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.07962216107 4.04702891845 101% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.54374594513 2.5805825403 99% => OK
Unique words: 153.0 145.348785872 105% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.552346570397 0.540411800872 102% => OK
syllable_count: 411.3 419.366225166 98% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 1.0 3.25607064018 31% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.23620309051 97% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 1.0 1.51434878587 66% => OK
Preposition: 5.0 2.5761589404 194% => OK

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 10.0 13.0662251656 77% => Need more sentences. Double check the format of sentences, make sure there is a space between two sentences, or have enough periods. And also check the lengths of sentences, maybe they are too long.
Sentence length: 27.0 21.2450331126 127% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively long.
Sentence length SD: 53.6660973055 49.2860985944 109% => OK
Chars per sentence: 137.0 110.228320801 124% => OK
Words per sentence: 27.7 21.698381199 128% => OK
Discourse Markers: 13.5 7.06452816374 191% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 3.0 4.33554083885 69% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 5.0 4.45695364238 112% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 2.0 4.27373068433 47% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.186976907538 0.272083759551 69% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.072263354481 0.0996497079465 73% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0248923802171 0.0662205650399 38% => Sentences are similar to each other.
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.100090605421 0.162205337803 62% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0357204417025 0.0443174109184 81% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.7 13.3589403974 118% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 52.53 53.8541721854 98% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 5.55761589404 158% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 12.6 11.0289183223 114% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.73 12.2367328918 96% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.28 8.42419426049 98% => OK
difficult_words: 58.0 63.6247240618 91% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 13.0 10.7273730684 121% => OK
gunning_fog: 12.8 10.498013245 122% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 11.2008830022 116% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.