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TEA AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1

A Alan Macfarlane, professor of anthropological science at King’s College, Cambridge, has, like other historians, spent decades wrestling with the enigma of the Industrial Revolution. Why did this particular Big Bang – the world- changing birth of industry – happen in Britain? And why did it strike at the end of the 18th century?

B Macfarlane compares the puzzle to a combination lock. ‘There are about 20 different factors and all of them need to be present before the revolution can happen,’ he says. For industry to take off, there needs to be the technology and power to drive factories, large urban populations to provide cheap labour, easy transport to move goods around, an affluent middle-class willing to buy mass-produced objects, a market-driven economy and a political system that allows this to happen. While this was the case for England, other ‘ nations, such as Japan, the Netherlands and France also met some of these criteria but were not industrialising. All these factors must have been necessary but not sufficient to cause the revolution,’ says Macfarlane. After all, Holland had everything except coal, while China also had many of these factors. Most historians are convinced there are one or two missing factors that you need to open the lock.’

C The missing factors, he proposes, are to be found in almost every kitchen cupboard. Tea and beer, two of the nation’s favourite drinks, fuelled the revolution. The antiseptic properties of tannin, the active ingredient in tea, and of hops in beer – plus the fact that both are made with boiled water – allowed urban communities to flourish at close quarters without succumbing to water-borne diseases such as dysentery. The theory sounds eccentric but once he starts to explain the detective work that went into his deduction, the scepticism gives way to wary admiration. Macfarlane’s case has been strengthened by support from notable quarters — Roy Porter, the distinguished medical historian, recently wrote a favourable appraisal of his research.

D Macfarlane had wondered for a long time how the Industrial Revolution came about. Historians had alighted on one interesting factor around the mid-18th century that required explanation. Between about 1650 and 1740, the population in Britain was static. But then there was a burst in population growth. Macfarlane says: ‘The infant mortality rate halved in the space of 20 years, and this happened in both rural areas and cities, and across all classes. People suggested four possible causes. Was there a sudden change in the viruses and bacteria around? Unlikely. Was there a revolution in medical science? But this was a century before Lister’s revolution . Was there a change in environmental conditions? There were improvements in agriculture that wiped out malaria, but these were small gains. Sanitation did not become widespread until the 19th century. The only option left is food. But the height and weight statistics show a decline. So the food must have got worse. Efforts to explain this sudden reduction in child deaths appeared to draw a blank.’

E This population burst seemed to happen at just the right time to provide labour for the Industrial Revolution. ‘When you start moving towards an industrial revolution, it is economically efficient to have people living close together/ says Macfarlane. ‘But then you get disease, particularly from human waste.’ Some digging around in historical records revealed that there was a change in the incidence of water-borne disease at that time, especially dysentery. Macfarlane deduced that whatever the British were drinking must have been important in regulating disease. He says, ‘We drank beer. For a long time, the English were protected by the strong antibacterial agent in hops, which were added to help preserve the beer. But in the late 17th century a tax was introduced on malt, the basic ingredient of beer. The poor turned to water and gin and in the 1720s the mortality rate began to rise again. 7ben it suddenly dropped again. What caused this?’

F Macfarlane looked to Japan, which was also developing large cities about the same time, and also had no sanitation. Water-borne diseases had a much looser grip on the Japanese population than those in Britain. Could it be the prevalence of tea in their culture? Macfarlane then noted that the history of tea in Britain provided an extraordinary coincidence of dates. Tea was relatively expensive until Britain started a direct clipper trade with China in the early 18th century. By the 1740s, about the time that infant mortality was dipping, the drink was common. Macfarlane guessed that the fact that water had to be boiled, together with the stomach-purifying properties of tea meant that the breast milk provided by mothers was healthier than it had ever been. No other European nation sipped tea like the British, which, by Macfarlane’s logic, pushed these other countries out of contention for the revolution.

G But, if tea is a factor in the combination lock, why didn’t Japan forge ahead in a tea-soaked industrial revolution of its own? Macfarlane notes that even though 17th-century Japan had large cities, high literacy rates, even a futures market, it had turned its back on the essence of any work-based revolution by giving up labour-saving devices such as animals, afraid that they would put people out of work. So, the nation that we now think of as one of the most technologically advanced entered the 19th century having ‘abandoned the wheel’.

Questions 1-7
Reading passage 1 has 7 paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.



List of headings

i The search for the reasons for an increase in population
ii Industrialisation and the fear of unemployment
iii The development of cities in Japan
iv The time and place of the Industrial Revolution
v The cases of Holland, France and China
vi Changes in drinking habits in Britain
vii Two keys to Britain’s industrial revolution
viii Conditions required for industrialization
ix Comparisons with Japan lead to the answer

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F
7 Paragraph G
Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8 China’s transport system was not suitable for industry in the 18th century.
9 Tea and beer both helped to prevent dysentery in Britain.
10 Roy Porter disagrees with Professor Macfarlane’s findings.
11 After 1740, there was a reduction in population in Britain.
12 People in Britain used to make beer at home.
13 The tax on malt indirectly caused a rise in the death rate.


Reading passage 2

Gifted Children and Learning

A Internationally, ‘giftedness’ is most frequently determined by a score on a general intelligence test, known as an IQ test, which is above a chosen cutoff point, usually at around the top 2-5%. Children’s educational environment contributes to the IQ score and the way intelligence is used. For example, a very close positive relationship was found when children’s IQ scores were compared with their home educational provision (Freeman, 2010). The higher the children’s IQ scores, especially over IQ 130, the better the quality of their educational backup, measured in terms of reported verbal interactions with parents, number of books and activities in their home etc. Because IQ tests are decidedly influenced by what the child has learned, they are to some extent measures of current achievement based on age-norms; that is, how well the children have learned to manipulate their knowledge and know-how within the terms of the test. The vocabulary aspect, for example, is dependent on having heard those words. But IQ tests can neither identify the processes of learning and thinking nor predict creativity.

B Excellence does not emerge without appropriate help. To reach an exceptionally high standard in any area very able children need the means to learn, which includes material to work with and focused challenging tuition – and the encouragement to follow their dream. There appears to be a qualitative difference in the way the intellectually highly able think, compared with more average-ability or older pupils, for whom external regulation by the teacher often compensates for lack of internal regulation. To be at their most effective in their self-regulation, all children can be helped to identify their own ways of learning – metacognition – which will include strategies of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and choice of what to learn. Emotional awareness is also part of metacognition, so children should be helped to be aware of their feelings around the area to be learned, feelings of curiosity or confidence, for example.

C High achievers have been found to use self-regulatory learning strategies more often and more effectively than lower achievers, and are better able to transfer these strategies to deal with unfamiliar tasks. This happens to such a high degree in some children that they appear to be demonstrating talent in particular areas. Overviewing research on the thinking process of highly able children, (Shore and Kanevsky, 1993) put the instructor’s problem succinctly: ‘If they *the gifted+ merely think more quickly, then we need only teach more quickly. If they merely make fewer errors, then we can shorten the practice’. But of course, this is not entirely the case; adjustments have to be made in methods of learning and teaching, to take account of the many ways individuals think.

D Yet in order to learn by themselves, the gifted do need some support from their teachers. Conversely, teachers who have a tendency to ‘overdirect’ can diminish their gifted pupils’ learning autonomy. Although ‘spoon-feeding’ can produce extremely high examination results, these are not always followed by equally impressive life successes. Too much dependence on the teacher risks loss of autonomy and motivation to discover. However, when teachers help pupils to reflect on their own learning and thinking activities, they increase their pupils’ self-
regulation. For a young child, it may be just the simple question ‘What have you learned today?’ which helps them to recognise what they are doing. Given that a fundamental goal of education is to transfer the control of learning from teachers to pupils, improving pupils’ learning to learn techniques should be a major outcome of the school experience, especially for the highly competent. There are quite a number of new methods which can help, such as child- initiated learning, ability-peer tutoring, etc. Such practices have been found to be particularly useful for bright children from deprived areas.

E But scientific progress is not all theoretical, knowledge is also vital to outstanding performance: individuals who know a great deal about a specific domain will achieve at a higher level than those who do not (Elshout, 1995). Research with creative scientists by Simonton (1988) brought him to the conclusion that above a certain high level, characteristics such as independence seemed to contribute more to reaching the highest levels of expertise than intellectual skills, due to the great demands of effort and time needed for learning and practice. Creativity in all forms can be seen as expertise mixed with a high level of motivation (Weisberg, 1993).

F To sum up, learning is affected by emotions of both the individual and significant others. Positive emotions facilitate the creative aspects of learning and negative emotions inhibit it. Fear, for example, can limit the development of curiosity, which is a strong force in scientific advance, because it motivates problem-solving behaviour. In Boekaerts’ (1991) review of emotion in the learning of very high IQ and highly achieving children, she found emotional forces in harness. They were not only curious, but often had a strong desire to control their environment, improve their learning efficiency, and increase their own learning resources.

Questions 14-17
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.
Which paragraph contains the following information? NB You may use any letter more than once.

14 a reference to the influence of the domestic background on the gifted child
15 reference to what can be lost if learners are given too much guidance
16 a reference to the damaging effects of anxiety
17 examples of classroom techniques which favour socially-disadvantaged children



Questions 18-22
Look at the following statements (Questions 18-22) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person or people, A-E.

18 Less time can be spent on exercises with gifted pupils who produce accurate work.

19 Self-reliance is a valuable tool that helps gifted students reach their goals.

20 Gifted children know how to channel their feelings to assist their learning.

21 The very gifted child benefits from appropriate support from close relatives.

22 Really successful students have learnt a considerable amount about their subject.

List of people

A Freeman
B Shore and Kanevsky
C Elshout
D Simonton
E Boekaerts

Questions 23-26
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

23. One study found a strong connection between children’s IQ and the availability of………………………….. and at home.
24. Children of average ability seem to need more direction from teachers because they do not have………………..
25. Metacognition involves children understanding their own learning strategies, as well as developing………………
26. Teachers who rely on what is known as often produce sets of impressive grades in class tests.


Reading passage 3

Museum of Fine Art and their Public

One of the most famous works of art in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Nearly everyone who goes to see the original will already be familiar with it from reproductions, but they accept that fine art is more rewardingly viewed in its original form.

However, if Mona Lisa was a famous novel, few people would bother to go to a museum to read the writer’s actual manuscript rather than a printed reproduction. This might be explained by the fact that the novel has evolved precisely because of technological developments that made it possible to print out huge numbers of texts, whereas oil paintings have always been produced as unique objects. In addition, it could be argued that the practice of interpreting or ‘reading’ each medium follows different conventions. With novels, the reader attends mainly to the meaning of words rather than the way they are printed on the page, whereas the ‘reader’ of a painting must attend just as closely to the material form of marks and shapes in the picture as to any ideas they may signify.

Yet it has always been possible to make very accurate facsimiles of pretty well any fine art work. The seven surviving versions of Mona Lisa bear witness to the fact that in the 16th century, artists seemed content to assign the reproduction of their creations to their workshop apprentices as regular ‘bread and butter’ work. And today the task of reproducing pictures is incomparably more simple and reliable, with reprographic techniques that allow the production of high-quality prints made exactly to the original scale, with faithful colour values, and even with duplication of the surface relief of the painting.

But despite an implicit recognition that the spread of good reproductions can be culturally valuable, museums continue to promote the special status of original work. Unfortunately, this seems to place severe limitations on the kind of experience offered to visitors. One limitation is related to the way the museum presents its exhibits. As repositories of unique historical objects, art museums are often called ‘treasure houses’. We are reminded of this even before we view a collection by the presence of security guards, attendants, ropes and display cases to keep us away from the exhibits. In many cases, the architectural style of the building further reinforces that notion. In addition, a major collection like that of London’s National Gallery is housed in numerous rooms, each with dozens of works, any one of which is likely to be worth more than all the average visitor possesses. In a society that judges the personal status of the individual so much by their material worth, it is therefore difficult not to be impressed by one’s own relative ‘worthlessness’ in such an environment.

Furthermore, consideration of the ‘value’ of the original work in its treasure house setting impresses upon the viewer that, since these works were originally produced, they have been assigned a huge monetary value by some person or institution more powerful than themselves. Evidently, nothing the viewer thinks about the work is going to alter that value, and so today’s viewer is deterred from trying to extend that spontaneous, immediate, self- reliant kind of reading which would originally have met the work.

The visitor may then be struck by the strangeness of seeing such diverse paintings, drawings and sculptures brought together in an environment for which they were not originally created. This ‘displacement effect’ is further heightened by the sheer volume of exhibits. In the case of a major collection, there are probably more works on display than we could realistically view in weeks or even months.

This is particularly distressing because time seems to be a vital factor in the appreciation of all art forms. A fundamental difference between paintings and other art forms is that there is no prescribed time over which a painting is viewed. By contrast, the audience encounters an opera or a play over a specific time, which is the duration of the performance. Similarly, novels and poems are read in a prescribed temporal sequence, whereas a picture has no clear place at which to start viewing, or at which to finish. Thus art works themselves encourage us to view them superficially, without appreciating the richness of detail and labour that is involved.

Consequently, the dominant critical approach becomes that of the art historian, a specialised academic approach devoted to ‘discovering the meaning’ of art within the cultural context of its time. This is in perfect harmony with the museum’s function, since the approach is dedicated to seeking out and conserving ‘authentic’, ‘original’ readings of the exhibits. Again, this seems to put paid to that spontaneous, participatory criticism which can be found in abundance in criticism of classic works of literature, but is absent from most art history.

The displays of art museums serve as a warning of what critical practices can emerge when spontaneous criticism is suppressed. The museum public, like any other audience, experience art more rewardingly when given the confidence to express their views. If appropriate works of fine art could be rendered permanently accessible to the public by means of high-fidelity reproductions, as literature and music already are, the public may feel somewhat less in awe of them. Unfortunately, that may be too much to ask from those who seek to maintain and control the art establishment.

Questions 27-31
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-L, below.



The value attached to original works of art

People go to art museums because they accept the value of seeing an original work of art. But they do not go to museums to read original manuscripts of novels, perhaps because the availability of novels has depended on (27)……………………….for so long, and also because with novels, the (28)……………. are the most important thing. However, in historical times artists such as Leonardo were happy to instruct (29)………….… to produce copies of their work and these days new methods of reproduction allow excellent replication of surface relief features as well as colour and (30)…………… It is regrettable that museums still promote the superiority of original works of art, since this may not be in the interests of the (31)………………….

A institution
B mass production
C mechanical processes
D public
E paints
F artist
G size
H underlying ideas I basic technology
J readers
K picture frames
L assistants

Questions 32-35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

32 The writer mentions London’s National Gallery to illustrate
A the undesirable cost to a nation of maintaining a huge collection of art
B the conflict that may arise in society between financial and artistic values
C the negative effect a museum can have on visitors’ opinions of themselves
D the need to put individual well-being above large-scale artistic schemes.

33 The writer says that today, viewers may be unwilling to criticise a work because
A they lack the knowledge needed to support an opinion
B they fear it may have financial implications
C they have no real concept of the work’s value
D they feel their personal reaction is of no significance

34 According to the writer, the ‘displacement effect’ on the visitor is caused by
A the variety of works on display and the way they are arranged
B the impossibility of viewing particular works of art over a long period
C the similar nature of the paintings and the lack of great works
D the inappropriate nature of the individual works selected for exhibition

35 The writer says that unlike other forms of art, a painting does not
A involve direct contact with an audience
B require a specific location for a performance
C need the involvement of other professionals
D have a specific beginning or end

Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

36 Art history should focus on discovering the meaning of art using a range of media.

37 The approach of art historians conflicts with that of art museums.

38 People should be encouraged to give their opinions openly on works of art.

39 Reproductions of fine art should only be sold to the public if they are of high quality.

40 In the future, those with power are likely to encourage more people to enjoy art.

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SPOKEN CORPUS IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1

A The compiling of dictionaries has been historically the provenance of studious professorial types – usually bespectacled – who love to pore over weighty tomes and make pronouncements on the finer nuances of meaning. They were probably good at crosswords and definitely knew a lot of words, but the image was always rather dry and dusty. The latest technology, and simple technology at that, is revolutionising the content of dictionaries and the way they are put together.

B For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data. It gives lexicographers (people who write dictionaries) access to a more vibrant, up-to-date vernacular language which has never really been studied before. In one project, 150 volunteers each agreed to discreetly tie a Walkman recorder to their waist and leave it running for anything up to two weeks. Every conversation they had was recorded. When the data was collected, the length of tapes was 35 times the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Teams of audio typists transcribed the tapes to produce a computerised database of ten million words.

C This has been the basis – along with an existing written corpus – for the Language Activator dictionary, described by lexicographer Professor Randolph Quirk as “the book the world has been waiting for”. It shows advanced foreign learners of English how the language is really used. In the dictionary, key words such as “eat” are followed by related phrases such as “wolf down” or “be a picky eater”, allowing the student to choose the appropriate phrase.

D “This kind of research would be impossible without computers,” said Delia Summers, a director of dictionaries. “It has transformed the way lexicographers work. If you look at the word “like”, you may intuitively think that the first and most frequent meaning is the verb, as in “I like swimming”. It is not. It is the preposition, as in: “she walked like a duck”. Just because a word or phrase is used doesn’t mean it ends up in a dictionary. The sifting out process is as vital as ever. But the database does allow lexicographers to search for a word and find out how frequently it is used – something that could only be guessed at intuitively before.

E Researchers have found that written English works in a very different way to spoken English. The phrase “say what you like” literally means “feel free to say anything you want”, but in reality it is used, evidence shows, by someone to prevent the other person voicing disagreement. The phrase “it’s a question of crops up on the database over and over again. It has nothing to do with enquiry, but it’s one of the most frequent English phrases which has never been in a language learner’s dictionary before: it is now.

F The Spoken Corpus computer shows how inventive and humorous people are when they are using language by twisting familiar phrases for effect. It also reveals the power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time, convey emotion, doubt and irony.

G For the moment, those benefiting most from the Spoken Corpus are foreign learners. “Computers allow lexicographers to search quickly through more examples of real English,” said Professor Geoffrey Leech of
Lancaster University. “They allow dictionaries to be more accurate and give a feel for how language is being used.” The Spoken Corpus is part of the larger British National Corpus, an initiative carried out by several groups involved in the production of language learning materials: publishers, universities and the British Library.



Questions 1-6
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs (A-G). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xi) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet. Paragraph C has been done for you as an example.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any heading more than once.

List of Headings

i. Grammar is corrected
ii. New method of research
iii. Technology learns from dictionaries
iv. Non-verbal content
v. The first study of spoken language
vi. Traditional lexicographical methods
vii Written English tells the truth
viii New phrases enter dictionary
ix A cooperative research project
x Accurate word frequency counts
xi Alternative expressions provided

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph D
4 Paragraph E
5 Paragraph F
6 Paragraph G

Questions 7-11. The diagram below illustrates the information provided in paragraphs B-F of Reading Passage 1 Complete the labels on the diagram with an appropriate word or words. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each space.

Question 12. Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in box 12 on your answer sheet 12 Why was this article written?

A To give an example of a current dictionary
B To announce a new approach to dictionary writing
C To show how dictionaries have progressed over the years
D To compare the content of different dictionaries



Moles happy as homes go underground

A The first anybody knew about Dutchman Frank Siegmund and his family was when workmen tramping through a field found a narrow steel chimney protruding through the grass. Closer inspection revealed a chink of sky-light window among the thistles, and when amazed investigators moved down the side of the hill they came across a pine door complete with leaded diamond glass and a brass knocker set into an underground building. The Siegmunds had managed to live undetected for six years outside the border town of Breda, in Holland. They are the latest in a clutch of individualistic homemakers who have burrowed underground in search of tranquility.

B Most, falling foul of strict building regulations, have been forced to dismantle their individualistic homes and return to more conventional lifestyles. But subterranean suburbia, Dutch-style, is about to become respectable and chic. Seven luxury homes cosseted away inside a high earth-covered noise embankment next to the main Tilburg city road recently went on the market for $296,500 each. The foundations had yet to be dug, but customers queued up to buy the unusual part-submerged houses, whose back wall consists of a grassy mound and whose front is a long glass gallery.

C The Dutch are not the only would-be moles. Growing numbers of Europeans are burrowing below ground to create houses, offices, discos and shopping malls. It is already proving a way of life in extreme climates; in winter months in Montreal, Canada, for instance, citizens can escape the cold in an underground complex complete with shops and even health clinics. In Tokyo builders are planning a massive underground city to be begun in the next decade, and underground shopping malls are already common in Japan, where 90 percent of the population is squeezed into 20 percent of the land space.

D Building big commercial buildings underground can be a way to avoid disfiguring or threatening a beautiful or environmentally sensitive landscape. Indeed many of the buildings which consume most land -such as cinemas, supermarkets, theatres, warehouses or libraries -have no need to be on the surface since they do not need windows.

E There are big advantages, too, when it comes to private homes. A development of 194 houses which would take up 14 hectares of land above ground would occupy 2.7 hectares below it, while the number of roads would be halved. Under several metres of earth, noise is minimal and insulation is excellent. “We get 40 to 50 enquiries a week”, says Peter Carpenter, secretary of the British Earth Sheltering Association, which builds similar homes in Britain. “People see this as a way of building for the future.” An underground dweller himself, Carpenter has never paid a heating bill, thanks to solar panels and natural insulation.

F In Europe the obstacle has been conservative local authorities and developers who prefer to ensure quick sales with conventional mass produced housing. But the Dutch development was greeted with undisguised relief by South Limburg planners because of Holland’s chronic shortage of land. It was the Tilburg architect Jo Hurkmans who hit on the idea of making use of noise embankments on main roads. His twofloored, four-bedroomed, two- bathroomed detached homes are now taking shape. “They are not so much below the earth as in it,” he says. “All the light will come through the glass front, which runs from the second floor ceiling to the ground. Areas which do not need much natural lighting are at the back. The living accommodation is to the front so nobody notices that the back is dark.”

G In the US, where energy-efficient homes became popular after the oil crisis of 1973, 10,000 underground houses have been built. A terrace of five homes, Britain’s first subterranean development, is under way in Nottinghamshire. Italy’s outstanding example of subterranean architecture is the Olivetti residential centre in Ivrea. Commissioned by Roberto Olivetti in 1969, it comprises 82 one-bedroomed apartments and 12 maisonettes and forms a house/ hotel for Olivetti employees. It is built into a hill and little can be seen from outside except a glass facade. Patnzia Vallecchi, a resident since 1992, says it is little different from living in a conventional apartment.

H Not everyone adapts so well, and in Japan scientists at the Shimizu Corporation have developed “space creation” systems which mix light, sounds, breezes and scents to stimulate people who spend long periods below ground. Underground offices in Japan are being equipped with “virtual” windows and mirrors, while underground departments in the University of Minnesota have periscopes to reflect views and light.

I But Frank Siegmund and his family love their hobbit lifestyle. Their home evolved when he dug a cool room for his bakery business in a hill he had created. During a heatwave they took to sleeping there. “We felt at peace and so close to nature,” he says. “Gradually I began adding to the rooms. It sounds strange but we are so close to the earth we draw strength from its vibrations. Our children love it; not every child can boast of being watched through their playroom windows by rabbits.

Questions 13-20
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xii) in boxes 13 20 on your answer sheet. Paragraph A has been done for you as an example. NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them.


List of Headings

i. A designer describes his houses
ii. Most people prefer conventional housing
iii. Simulating a natural environment
iv. How an underground family home developed
v. Demands on space and energy are reduced
vi. The plans for future homes
vii. Worldwide examples of underground living accommodation
viii. Some buildings do not require natural light
ix. Developing underground services around the world
x. Underground living improves health
xi. Homes sold before completion
xii. An underground home is discovered

13 Paragraph B
14 Paragraph C
15 Paragraph D
16 Paragraph E
17 Paragraph F
18 Paragraph G
19 Paragraph H
20 Paragraph I

Questions 21-26
Complete the sentences below after reading the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.

21 Many developers prefer mass-produced houses because they ……………
22 The Dutch development was welcomed by ……………
23 Hurkmans’ houses are built into ……………
24 The Ivrea centre was developed for ……………
25 Japanese scientists are helping people …………… underground life.
26 Frank Siegmund’s first underground room was used for ……………

A Workaholic Economy

FOR THE first century or so of the industrial revolution, increased productivity led to decreases in working hours. Employees who had been putting in 12-hour days, six days a week, found their time on the job shrinking to 10 hours daily, then, finally, to eight hours, five days a week. Only a generation ago social planners worried about what people would do with all this new-found free time. In the US, at least, it seems they need not have bothered. Although the output per hour of work has more than doubled since 1945, leisure seems reserved largely for the unemployed and underemployed. Those who work full-time spend as much time on the job as they did at the end of World War II. In fact, working hours have increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps because real wages have stagnated since that year. Bookstores now abound with manuals describing how to manage time and cope with stress.

There are several reasons for lost leisure. Since 1979, companies have responded to improvements in the business climate by having employees work overtime rather than by hiring extra personnel, says economist Juliet B. Schor of Harvard University. Indeed, the current economic recovery has gained a certain amount of notoriety for its “jobless” nature: increased production has been almost entirely decoupled from employment. Some firms are even downsizing as their profits climb. “All things being equal, we’d be better off spreading around the work,’ observes labour economist Ronald G. Ehrenberg of Cornell University.

Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and, at the same time, compels workers to spend more time on the job. Most of those incentives involve what Ehrenberg calls the structure of compensation: quirks in the way salaries and benefits are organised that make it more profitable to ask 40 employees to labour an extra hour each than to hire one more worker to do the same 40-hour job.

Professional and managerial employees supply the most obvious lesson along these lines. Once people are on salary, their cost to a firm is the same whether they spend 35 hours a week in the office or 70. Diminishing returns may eventually set in as overworked employees lose efficiency or leave for more arable pastures. But in the short run, the employer’s incentive is clear.

Even hourly employees receive benefits – such as pension contributions and medical insurance – that are not tied to the number of hours they work. Therefore, it is more profitable for employers to work their existing employees harder.

For all that employees complain about long hours, they, too, have reasons not to trade money for leisure. “People who work reduced hours pay a huge penalty in career terms,” Schor maintains. It’s taken as a negative signal about their commitment to the firm.’ [Lotte] Bailyn [of Massachusetts Institute of Technology] adds that many corporate managers find it difficult to measure the contribution of their underlings to a firm’s well-being, so they use the number of hours worked as a proxy for output. “Employees know this,” she says, and they adjust their behavior accordingly.

“Although the image of the good worker is the one whose life belongs to the company,” Bailyn says, “it doesn’t fit the facts.’ She cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that show increased productivity for part-time workers: they make better use of the time they have, and they are less likely to succumb to fatigue in stressful jobs. Companies that employ more workers for less time also gain from the resulting redundancy, she asserts. “The extra people can cover the contingencies that you know are going to happen, such as when crises take people away from the workplace.’ Positive experiences with reduced hours have begun to change the more-is-better culture at some companies, Schor reports.

Larger firms, in particular, appear to be more willing to experiment with flexible working arrangements… It may take even more than changes in the financial and cultural structures of employment for workers successfully to trade increased productivity and money for leisure time, Schor contends. She says the U.S. market for goods has become skewed by the assumption of full-time, two-career households. Automobile makers no longer manufacture cheap models, and developers do not build the tiny bungalows that served the first postwar generation of home buyers. Not even the humblest household object is made without a microprocessor. As Schor notes, the situation is a curious inversion of the “appropriate technology” vision that designers have had for developing countries: U.S. goods are appropriate only for high incomes and long hours.



Questions 27-32
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 27-32 write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27 Today, employees are facing a reduction in working hours.
28 Social planners have been consulted about US employment figures.
29 Salaries have not risen significantly since the 1970s.
30 The economic recovery created more jobs.
31 Bailyn’s research shows that part-time employees work more efficiently.
32 Increased leisure time would benefit two-career households.

Questions 33 and 34
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 33 and 34 on your answer sheet.

33 Bailyn argues that it is better for a company to employ more workers because
A it is easy to make excess staff redundant.
B crises occur if you are under-staffed.
C people are available to substitute for absent staff.
D they can project a positive image at work.

34 Schor thinks it will be difficult for workers in the US to reduce their working hours because
A they would not be able to afford cars or homes.
B employers are offering high incomes for long hours.
C the future is dependent on technological advances.
D they do not wish to return to the humble post-war era.

Questions 35-38
The writer mentions a number of factors that have resulted, in employees working longer hours. Which FOUR of the following factors are mentioned? Write your answers (A-H) in boxes 35-38 on your answer sheet.



List of Factors

A Books are available to help employees cope with stress.
B Extra work is offered to existing employees.
C Increased production has led to joblessness.
D Benefits and hours spent on the job are not linked.
E Overworked employees require longer to do their work.
F Longer hours indicate greater commitment to the firm.
G Managers estimate staff productivity in terms of hours worked.
H Employees value a career more than a family.

Questions 39 and 40
Complete the sentences below with words from the reading passage. Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD.

39 Returns from overburdened employees decreases with time because they lose……..
40 Employees give more work to their existing employees because for them it is……….

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING IELTS GENERAL READING VOCABULARY COACH WRTING TASK 1 VOCAB IELTS AC WRITING TASK 1 IELTS GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 IELTS WRITING TASK 2 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 1 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 2 IELTS LISTENING TEST

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SEED VAULT GUARDS RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE IELTS READING

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Fiona Harvey paid a visit to a building whose contents are very precious

Reading passage 1

A. About 1,000 km from the North Pole, Svalbard is one of the most remote places on earth. For this reason, it is the site of a vault that will safeguard a priceless component of our common heritage – the seeds of our staple crops. Here, seeds from the world’s most vital food crops will be locked away for hundreds or even thousands of years. If something goes wrong in the world, the vault will provide the means to restore farming. We, or our descendants, will not have to retread thousands of years of agriculture from scratch.

B. Deep in the vault at the end of a long tunnel, are three storage vaults which are lined with insulated panels to help maintain the cold temperatures. Electronic transmitters linked to a satellite system monitor temperature, etc. and pass the information back to the appropriate authorities at Longycarbyen and the Nordic Gene Bank which provide the technical information for managing the seed vaults. The seeds are placed in sealed boxes and stored on shelves in the vaults. The minimal moisture level and low temperature ensure low metabolic activity. The remote location, as well as the rugged structure, provide unparalleled security for the world’s agricultural heritage.

C. The three vaults are buried deep in the hillside. To reach them, it is necessary to proceed down a long and surprisingly large corridor. At 93.3 metres in length, it connects the 26-metre long entrance building to the three vaults, each of which extends a further 27 metres into the mountain. Towards the end of this tunnel, after about 80 metres, there are several small rooms on the right-hand side. One is a transformer room to which only the power company officials have access – this houses the equipment needed to transform the incoming electrical current down to 220 volts. A second is an electrical room housing control for the compressor and other equipment. The boiler room is an office which can be heated to provide comfortable working conditions for those who will make an inventory of the samples in and out of the vault.

D. Anyone seeking access to the seeds has to pass through four locked doors: the heavy steel entrance doors, a second door approximately 90 metres down the tunnel and finally the two keyed doors separated by an airlock, from which it is possible to proceed directly into the seed vaults. Keys are coded to allow access to different levels of the facility. A work of art will make the vault visible for miles reflective sheets of steel and mirrors which form an installation acting as a beacon. It reflects polar light in the summer months, while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables will give the piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light. Cary Fowler, the mastermind behind the vault, stands inside the echoing cavern. For him, this is the culmination of nearly 30 years of work. ‘It’s an insurance policy,’ he explains, ‘very cheap insurance policy when you consider what we’re ensuring – the earth’s biological diversity.’

E. Seeds are being brought here from all over the world, from seed banks created by governments, universities and private institutions. Soon, there will be seed varieties from at least 100 crops in the Svalbard vault – extending to examples of all of the 1.5 million known crop seed varieties in the world. If any more are unearthed, either in the wild or found in obscure collections, they can be added, too – the vault has room for at least 4.5 million samples. Inside the entrance area, it is more than 10°C below freezing, but in the chambers where the seeds are kept, refrigerators push down the temperature even further, to -18°C. At this temperature, which will be kept constant to stop the seeds germinating or rotting, the wheat seeds will remain viable for an estimated 1,700 years.

F. Svalbard’s Arctic conditions will keep the seeds cold. In order to maintain the temperature at a constant -10° C to -20°C, the cold Arctic air will be drawn into the vault during the winter, automatically and without human intervention. The surrounding rock will maintain the temperature requirements during the extremely cold season and, during warmer periods, refrigeration equipment will engage. Looking out across the snow-covered mountains of Svalbard, it is hard not to feel respect for the 2,300 or so people who live here, mainly in Longyearbyen, a village a few miles away. There are three months without light in winter.

G. Svalbard is intended 3s the seed bank of last resort. Each sample is made up of a few hundred seeds, sealed inside a watertight package which will never be tampered with while it is in the vault. The packages of seeds remain the property of the collections they have come from. Svalbard will disburse samples ‘only if all the other seeds in other collections around the world are gone,’ explains Fowler. If seeds do have to be given out, those who receive them are expected to germinate them and generate new samples, to be returned to the vault.



Questions 1-6 Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

Question 7-13. Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE, if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information given on this

7. The vault has the capacity to accommodate undiscovered types of seed at a later date.
8. There are different levels of refrigeration according to the kinds of seeds stored.
9. During winter, the flow of air entering the vault is regularly monitored by staff.
10. There is a back-up refrigeration system ready to be switched on if the present one fails.
11. The people who work at Svalbard are mainly locals.
12 Once a seed package Is In the vault, it remains unopened.
13. If seeds are sent from Svalbard to other banks, there is an obligation for the recipient to send replacements back.



Reading Passage 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

What cookbooks really teach us

A. Shelves bend under the weight of cookery books. Even a medium-sized bookshop contains many more recipes than one person could hope to take in a lifetime. Although the recipes in one book are often similar to those in another, their presentation varies wildly, from an array of vegetarian cookbooks to instructions on cooking the food that historical figures might have eaten. The reason for this abundance is chat cookbooks promise to bring about a kind of domestic transformation for the user. The daily routine can be put on one side and they liberate the user, if only temporarily. To follow their instructions is to turn a task which has to be performed every day into an engaging, romantic process. Cookbooks also provide an opportunity to delve into distant cultures without having to turn up at an airport to get there.

B. The first Western cookbook appeared just over 1,600 years ago. De re couquinara (it means ‘concerning cookery’) is attributed to Roman gourmet named Apicius. It is probably a compilation of Roman and Greek recipes, some or all of them drawn from manuscripts that were later loss. The editor was sloppy, allowing several duplicated recipes to sneak in. Yet Apicius’s book set the tone of cookery advice in Europe for more than a thousand years. As a cookbook, it is unsatisfactory with very basic instructions. Joseph Vehling, a chef who translated Apicius in the 1930s, suggested the author had been obscure on purpose, in ease his secrets leaked out.

C. But a more likely reason is that Apicius’s recipes were written by and for professional cooks, who could follow their shorthand. This situation continued for hundreds of years. There was no order to cookbooks: a cake recipe might be followed by a mutton one. But then, they were not written for careful study. Before the 19* century few educated people cooked for themselves. The wealthiest employed literate chefs; others presumably read recipes to their servants. Such cooks would have been capable of creating dishes from the vaguest of instructions.

D. The invention of printing might have been expected to lead to greater clarity but at first, the reverse was true. As words acquired commercial value, plagiarism exploded. Recipes were distorted through reproduction. A recipe for boiled capon in Vk Good Huswives Jewell, printed in 1596, advised the cook to add three or four dates. By 1653. when the recipe was given by a different author in A Book of Fruits & Flowers, the cook was told to see the dish aside for three or four days.

E. The dominant theme in 16th and 17th-century cookbooks was ordered. Books combined recipes and household advice, on the assumption that a well-made dish, a well-ordered larder and well-disciplined children were equally important. Cookbooks thus became a symbol of dependability in chaotic times. They hardly seem to have been affected by the English civil war or the revolutions in America and France.

F. In the 1850s, Isabella Becton published the Book of Household /Management. Like earlier cookery writers she plagiarized freely, lifting not just recipes bur philosophical observations from other books. If Becton’s recipes were not wholly new. though, the way in which she presented them certainly was. She explains when the chief ingredients arc most likely to be in season, how long the dish will take to prepare and even how much it is likely to cost. Bee ton’s recipes were well suited to her times. Two centuries earlier, an understanding of rural ways had been so widespread that one writer could advise cooks to heat water until it was a little hotter than milk comes from a cow. By the 1850s Britain was industrializing. The growing urban middle class needed details, and Becton provided them in the hill.

G. In France, cookbooks were fast becoming even more systematic. Compare with Britain, France had produced few books written for the ordinary householder by the end of the 19th century. The most celebrated French cookbooks were written by superstar chefs who had a clear sense of codifying a unified approach to sophisticated French cooking. The 5.000 recipes in Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire (The Culinary Guide), published in 1902, might as well have been written in stone, given the book’s reparation among French chefs, many of whom still consider it the definitive reference book.

H. What Escoffier did for French cooking. Fannie Farmer did for American home cooking. She not only synthesized American cuisine; she elevated it to the status of science. ‘Progress in civilization has been accompanied by progress in cookery,’ she breezily announced in The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, before launching into a collection of recipes that sometimes resembles a book of chemistry experiments. She was occasionally over-fussy. She explained that currants should be picked between June 28th and July 3rd, but not when it is raining. But in the main, her book is reassuringly authoritative. Its recipes arc short, with no unnecessary chat and no unnecessary spices.

I. In 1950, Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David launched a revolution in cooking advice in Britain. In some ways, Mediterranean Food recalled even older cookbooks but the smells and noises that filled Davids books were not mere decoration for her recipes. They were the point of her books. When she began to write, many ingredients were not widely available or affordable. She understood this, acknowledging in a later edition of one of her books that ‘even if people could not very often make the dishes here described, it was stimulating to think about them.’ Davids books were not so much cooking manuals as guides to the kind of food people might well wish to eat.



Questions 14-16. Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 14-16 on your answer sheet.

Why are there so many cookery books?

There are a great number more cookery books published than is really necessary and it is their 14……………………. which makes them differ from each other. There are such large numbers because they offer people an escape from their 15…………………… and some give the user the chance to inform themselves about other 16 …………………………

Questions 17-21 Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-I.

Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-l, in boxes 17-21 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

17. cookery books providing a sense of stability during periods of unrest
18. details in recipes being altered as they were passed on
19. knowledge which was in danger of disappearing
20. the negative effect on cookery books of a new development
21. a period when there was no need for cookery books to be precise

Questions 22-26. Look at the following statements (Questions 22-26) and list of books (A-E) below. Match each statement with the correct book A-E.

Write the correct letter A-E. In boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

22. Its recipes were easy to follow despite the writer’s attention to detail.
23. Its writer may have deliberately avoided passing on details.
24. It appealed to ambitious ideas people have about cooking.
25. Its writer used ideas from other books but added additional related information.
26. It put into print ideas which are still respected today.

List of cookery books

A. De re couquinara
B. The Book of Household Management
C. Le Guide Culinaire
D. The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book
E. Mediterranean Food


Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 26-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. Is there more to video games than people realize?

A. Many people who spend a lot of time playing video games insist that they have helped them in areas like confidence-building, presentation skills and debating. Yet this way of thinking about video games can be found almost nowhere within the mainstream media, which still tend to treat games as an odd mix of the slightly menacing and the alien. This lack of awareness has become increasingly inappropriate, as video games and the culture that surrounds them have become very big business indeed.

B. Recently, the British government released the Byron report into the effects of electronic media on children. Its conclusions set out a clear, rational basis for exploring the regulation of video games. The ensuing debate, however, has descended into the same old squabbling between partisan factions: the preachers of mental and moral decline, and the innovative game designers. In between are the gamers, busily buying and playing while nonsense is talked over their heads.

C. Susan Greenfield, a renowned neuroscientist, outlines her concerns in a new book. Every individual’s mind is the product of a brain that has been personalized by the sum total of their experiences; with an increasing quantity of our experiences from very early childhood taking place ‘on-screen’ rather than in the world, there is potentially a profound shift in the way children’s minds work. She suggests that the fast-paced, second-hand experiences created by video games and the Internet may inculcate a worldview that is less empathetic, more risk-taking and less contemplative than what we tend to think of as healthy.

D. Greenfield’s prose is full of mixed metaphors and self-contradictions and is perhaps the worst enemy of her attempts to persuade. This is unfortunate, because however many technophiles may snort, she is articulating widely held fears that have a basis in fact. Unlike even their immediate antecedents, the latest electronic media are at once domestic and work-related, their mobility blurring the boundaries between these spaces, and video games are at their forefront. A generational divide has opened that is in many ways more profound than the equivalent shifts associated with radio or television, more alienating for those unfamiliar with new’ technologies, more absorbing for those who are. So how do our lawmakers regulate something that is too fluid to be fully comprehended or controlled?

E. Adam Martin, a lead programmer for an online games developer, says: ‘Computer games teach and people don’t even notice they’re being taught.’ But isn’t the kind of learning that goes on in games rather narrow? ‘A large part of the addictiveness of games does come from the fact that as you play you are mastering a set of challenges. But humanity’s larger understanding of the world comes primarily through communication and experimentation, through answering the question “What if?’ Games excel at teaching this too.’

F. Steven Johnson’s thesis is not that electronic games constitute a great, popular art, but that the mean level of mass culture has been demanding steadily more intellectual engagement from consumers. Games, he points out, generate satisfaction via the complexity of their virtual worlds, not by their robotic predictability. Testing the nature and limits of the laws of such imaginary worlds has more in common with scientific methods than with a pointless addiction, while the complexity of the problems children encounter within games exceeds that of anything they might find at school.

G. Greenfield argues that there are ways of thinking that playing video games simply cannot teach. She has a point. We should never forget, for instance, the unique ability of books to engage and expand the human imagination, and to give us the means of more fully expressing our situations in the world. Intriguingly, the video games industry is now growing in ways that have more in common with an old- fashioned world of companionable pastimes than with a cyber future of lonely, isolated obsessives. Games in which friends and relations gather round a console to compete at activities are growing in popularity. The agenda is increasingly being set by the concerns of mainstream consumers – what they consider acceptable for their children, what they want to play at parties and across generations.

H. These trends embody a familiar but important truth: games are human products and lie within our control. This doesn’t mean we yet control or understand them fully, but it should remind us that there is nothing inevitable or incomprehensible about them. No matter how deeply it may be felt, instinctive fear is an inappropriate response to a technology of any kind. So far, the dire predictions many traditionalists have made about the ‘death’ of old-fashioned narratives and imaginative thought at the hands of video games cannot be upheld. Television and cinema may be suffering, economically, at the hands of interactive media. But literacy standards have failed to decline. Young people still enjoy sport, going out and listening to music And most research – including a recent $1.5m study funded by the US government suggests that even pre-teens are not in the habit of blurring game worlds and real worlds.

F. The sheer pace and scale of the changes we face, however, leave little room for complacency. Richard Battle, a British writer and game researcher, says Times change: accept it; embrace it.’ Just as, today, we have no living memories of a time before radio, we will soon live in a world in which no one living experienced growing up without computers. It is for this reason that we must try to examine what we stand to lose and gain before it is too late.



Questions 27-32. Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In the boxes on your answer sheet, write

YES, if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN, if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27. Much media comment ignores the impact that video games can have on many people’s lives.
28. The publication of the Byron Report was followed by a worthwhile discussion between those for and against video games.
29. Susan Greenfield’s way of writing has become more complex over the years.
30. It is likely that video games will take over the role of certain kinds of books in the future.
31. More sociable games are being brought out to satisfy the demands of the buying public.
32. Being afraid of technological advances is a justifiable reaction.

Questions 33-37. Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter A-D in boxes on your answer sheet.

33. According to the writer, what view about video games does Susan Greenfield put forward in tier new book?

A. They are exposing a child to an adult view of the world too soon.
B. Children become easily frightened by some of the situations in them.
C. They are changing the way children’s view of the world develops.
D. Children don’t learn from them because they are too repetitive.

34. According to the writer, what problems are faced when regulating video games?

A. The widespread and ever-changing use of games makes it difficult for lawmakers to control them.
B. The appeal of the games to a younger generation isn’t really understood by many lawmakers.
C. The lawmakers try to apply the same rules to the games as they did to radio and television.
D. Many lawmakers feel it is too late for the regulations to have much effect on the use of games.

35. What main point does Adam Martin make about video games?

A. People are learning how to avoid becoming addicted to them.
B. They enable people to learn without being aware of it happening.
C. They satisfy a need for people to compete with each other.
D. People learn a narrow range of skills but they are still useful.

36. Which of the following does Steven Johnson disagree with?

A. the opinion that video games offer educational benefits to the user
B. the attitude that video games are often labelled as predictable and undemanding
C. the idea that children’s logic is tested more by video games than at school
D. the suggestion that video games can be compared to scientific procedures

37. Which of the following is the most suitable subtitle for Reading Passage 3?

A. A debate about the effects of video games on other forms of technology.
B. An examination of the opinions of young people about video games.
C. A discussion of whether attitudes towards video games are outdated.
D. An analysis of the principles behind the historical development of video games.



Questions 38-40. Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-E, below.

Write the correct letter, A-E. on your answer sheet.

38. There is little evidence for the traditionalists’ prediction that ………………………….
39. A recent study by the US government found that ……………………………

40. Richard Battle suggests that it Is important for people to accept the fact that…………………………….
A. young people have no problem separating their own lives from the ones they play on the screen.
B. levels of reading ability will continue to drop significantly.
C. new advances in technology have to be absorbed into our lives.
D. games cannot provide preparation for the skills needed in real life.
E. young people will continue to play video games despite warnings against doing so.

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING IELTS GENERAL READING VOCABULARY COACH WRTING TASK 1 VOCAB IELTS AC WRITING TASK 1 IELTS GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 IELTS WRITING TASK 2 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 1 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 2 IELTS LISTENING TEST

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REIKI IELTS READING

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Reading Passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.


A. The spiritual practice of Reiki was first introduced in the early 20th century in Japan and continues to be used by its followers today with the intention of treating physical, emotional and mental imbalances and consequent ill- health. The principles of Reiki involve techniques employed by practitioners they say will channel healing energy through the subject’s body, and advocates hold that these techniques can also be used for self-healing. The name of the practice itself stems from two Japanese characters, pronounced ‘rei’ which translates to ‘unseen’ or ‘spiritual’ and ‘ki’ meaning ‘life force’ or ‘energy’.

B. According to Reiki philosophy, only by undergoing an attunement process performed by a Reiki Master is an individual able to access, then channel this positive energy within, this ability once established is considered to be enduring. Once attuned, it is said that an individual has the ability to allow energy to flow to weak or diseased
areas of the body, so activating a natural healing process. Reiki energy is considered to be ‘intelligent energy’ in that it automatically flows to such areas; for this reason, practitioners believe that diagnosis of a specific problem is unnecessary beforehand and that the practice can be used as preventative medicine and encourage healing prior to the onset of tangible symptoms. Since healing initiated by Reiki treatment is entirely natural, many practitioners are confident that it can be used alongside any other type of treatment without adverse effect; however, others recommend that since the patient may undergo significant internal improvement for certain ailments – diabetes, for example – careful monitoring is required since such improvements may establish a need for an alteration in medication requirements.

C. A ‘whole body’ Reiki treatment session typically lasts between to 90 minutes. The subject is required to lie down – often on a treatment table – clothed in comfortable and loose-fitting attire. Treatment may involve the practitioner placing their hands on the recipient in a variety of positions; however, some therapists take a non- touching approach, holding their hands a few centimetres away from the body. Hands are usually held in one position for up to 5 minutes before moving on to the next part of the body; between 12 and 20 hand positions are generally used. Those who have undergone a Reiki treatment session often state that they experienced a pleasant warmness in the area of focus and a feeling of contentment and relaxation throughout the session.

D. The healing energy is said to originate in the universe itself and is not the passing of personal energy from practitioner to the patient; it is therefore thought to be inexhaustible and the personal well-being of the practitioner uncompromised. While some masters and teachers hold that subjects must be receptive to the concept in order for energy to flow, others believe that the attitude of the patient is of no consequence and that benefits will follow regardless; for this reason, those following the latter school of thought say that since Reiki requires no conscious belief it can also benefit the well-being of animals and plant life.

E. Controversy surrounds the practice of Reiki, some in opposition as they say that Reiki may offer only a perceived improvement in health and therefore only a ‘placebo’ effect. Whilst the practice of Reiki itself is not necessarily considered potentially harmful, some medical practitioners are concerned that its benefits may be over-estimated by patients and that, as a result, they’ may ignore or Bandon conventional treatments. Others argue against the reliability of Reiki due to the lack of regulation of practitioners, holding that patients may be left vulnerable to illegitimate therapists who lack knowledge and skill. While Reiki is not connected to any particular religious doctrine, some religious leaders oppose the practice for spiritual reasons; however, others hold that the meditative principles involved in treatment have enhanced their own ability to explore and embrace their own particular religion.

F. Limited scientific studies in the authenticity of Reiki have been conducted. During research conducted by the Institute of Neurological Studies at South Glasgow University Hospital, it was observed that there was a significant decrease in heart rate and blood pressure amongst subjects receiving 30 minutes of Reiki treatment as opposed to a group receiving placebo treatment of 30 minutes rest. Since the test group consisted of a small number of subjects just 45 – the research recommendations concluded a requirement for further studies. A similarly small preliminary study into the potential effects of Reiki on patients suffering mild dementia, conducted in the USA, tentatively suggested that treatment had a positive effect on the subjects’ memory abilities; however, research limitations included insufficient analysis of potential placebo effects.

G. Other studies have also attempted to determine the correlation between Reiki treatment and improvement in cancer and stroke patients. Whilst investigations into the first condition indicated a seemingly positive effect on degrees of fatigue, pain, and stress experienced by sufferers, the second project failed to reveal a link between treatment and improvement in the subjects’ condition and rehabilitation. Theories have been put forward that the benefits of energy treatments such as Reiki may be scientifically attributed to the effect of electromagnetic fields; however, the majority of researchers agree that more extensive investigation is required.



Questions 1-3
Choose THREE letters A-H.
Write your answers in boxes 1- 3 on your answer sheet NB. Your answers may be given in any order
Which THREE of the following statements are true of Reiki?

A. Principles for self-healing differ from those used on others.
B. Attunement is said to have a permanent effect on the recipient.
C. Its preventative properties are more significant than cure.
D. There are differences in opinion regarding its use with other therapies.
E. The treatment typically involves contact between the therapist and the patient.
F. The recipient’s own energy is the key to the philosophy.
G. Some therapists believe a pessimistic approach affects results.
H. It is only practised on human subjects.

Questions 4-9
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information? You can use each paragraph more than once.

4. A scientific explanation of why Reiki may have positive effects.
5. An overview of the practicalities of how Reiki is performed.
6. The pre-requisite required to experience Reiki benefits.
7. When a patient’s faith and expectations cause concern.
8. The immediate effects that can be experienced by recipients.
9. The safety of conducting therapy for practitioners.

Questions 10-13
According to the information in Reading Passage 1,
Classify the following research findings into the benefits of Reiki as relating to

A.        The Institute of Neurological  Studies
B.        Research conducted in the USA
C.        Cancer research
D.        Stroke research

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boxes 10-13 your answer sheet

10. The groups’ comfort and quality of life appeared to improve.
11. No apparent links were identified.
12. Results were compared to a control group who did not receive Reiki treatment
13. Recollection ability seemed to be enhanced.



Reading Passage 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

SCULPTURE

A. Sculpture, the practice of creating a three-dimensional object for artistic and aesthetic purposes, dates back as far as prehistoric times. Since objects created are intended to be enduring, traditionally sculptures have been forged from durable materials such as bronze, stone, marble, and jade; however, some branches of the art also specialize in creating figurines of a more ephemeral nature, ice sculpture, for example. The practice of sculpting in many countries has traditionally been associated with religious philosophy; for example, in Asia, many famous sculptures are related to Hinduism or Buddhism.

B. In Africa, perhaps more than any other region in the world, three-dimensional artwork is favoured and given more emphasis than two-dimensional paintings. Whilst some experts hold that the art of sculpture in the continent dates back to the Nok civilization of Nigeria in 500 BC, this is disputed due to evidence of the art’s existence in Pharaonic Africa. To the expert eye, African art is clearly defined by the region from which it is from and easily identifiable from the differences in a technique used and material from which it is made. Figurines from the West African region are sculpted in two distinctly different forms. The first is characterized by angular forms and features with elongated bodies, such sculptures being traditionally used in religious rituals. Conversely, the traditional wood statues of the Mande speaking culture possess cylindrical arms and legs with broad, flat surfaces. Metal sculptures that hail from the eastern regions of West Africa are heralded by many as amongst the most superior art forms ever crafted.

C. Central African sculpture may be a little more difficult to identify for the novice observer as a wider variety of materials may be used, ranging from wood to ivory, stone or metal. However, despite tills, the distinct style of usage of smooth lines and circular forms still helps to define the origin of such works. In both Eastern and Southern Africa, typically, art depicts a mixture of human and animal features. Art from the former region Is usually created in the form of a pole carved in human shape and topped with a human or animal image which has a strong connection with the death, burial, and the spiritual world. Such creations are less recognized as art in the traditional sense than those from other parts of Africa. In Southern Africa, the human/animal hybrid representations are fashioned from clay, the oldest known examples dating back to from between 400 and 600 A.D.

D. Although these distinct and defining regional differences in artistic expression exist, there are also universal similarities that define African art as a whole. Primarily a common characteristic is that focus is predominantly on the representation of the human form. A second common trait of African art is that it is often inspired by a ceremonial or performance-related purpose; the meaning behind the art and its purpose often intended to be interpreted in a different way depending on an individual’s age, gender or even social and educational status.

E. Throughout the African continent, artworks tend to be more abstract in nature than intending to present a realistic and naturalistic portrayal of the subject in question. Artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Gauguin are said to have been influenced and inspired by African art. Its ability to stimulate emotional reaction and imagination generated a great deal of interest from western artists at the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, new European works began to emerge which were of a more abstract nature than previously conceived. More intellectually and emotionally stimulating art was born than had been seen before in a culture that had traditionally faithfully represented and depicted the true and exact form of its subjects.

F. The ‘Modernism’ movement of the 20th century embraced innovation in literature and art, its devotees wishing to move beyond realism in artistic expression. The sculptor Henry Spencer Moore, born in 1898 in Yorkshire, was one of the key players involved in introducing and developing his own particular style of modernism to the British art world. He is best known for his abstract bronze sculptures of the human form, many critics drawing parallels between the undulating landscapes and hills of his home county Yorkshire and the shapes and lines of his sculptures.

G. By the 1950s, Moore’s work was increasingly in demand and he began to secure high profile commissions including artwork for the UNESCO building in Paris. By the end of Moore’s career, due to his popularity and the scale of the projects he undertook, the sculptor was extremely affluent; however, a huge proportion of his wealth was donated to the Henry Moore Foundation established with the aim of supporting education and promotion of the arts. The foundation is a registered charity and has continued to offer to fund a wide range of projects including grants to arts institutions and bursaries and fellowships for students and artists since Moore’s death in 1986.



Questions 14-17. Complete the summary

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.

In Africa, sculpture is more predominant and more highly 14………………….. than canvas art, for example. In Asia, many prestigious works are connected to 15…………………… values. Sculpture is an ancient art in which figurines are created from materials which are, in the main, 16…………………… to ensure longevity of the art form; however, though more 17…………………… , materials such as ice are used in certain spheres.

Questions 18-22. Complete the table.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 18-22 on your answer sheet.

REGIONAL AFRICAN ART

RegionStyleAdditional Information
Eastern Africa
Subjects similar to the 18…………………………
area of the country. 		Less sought-after than other styles of African art.
Southern Africa Artwork representing human & animal formMade from 19………………………..
Western AfricaStyle 1
Sharp lines, long bodies





Style 2
Cylindrical, broad and flat lines crafted from
21………………………………

Conventionally made for the purpose of 20……………………






Made by Mande speakers
Central Africa
Smooth lines & circular forms Often more difficult to recognise due to the diversity of
22…………………… used.

Questions 23-27
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 23-27 on your answer sheet.

23. Verification of art in which civilization sheds doubt on the theory that African art dates back to the Nok period?

24. What material is used for the African sculptures many consider to be the best?

25. What ceremonial event are the creations from Eastern Africa connected with?

26. Due to African influence, what did Western art become that allowed it to be more intellectually and emotionally stimulating?

27. What did Moore most often depict which brought him the greatest recognition?



Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 – 40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. GENEALOGY

A. Genealogy, the study of tracing family connections and relationships through history – so building a cohesive family tree, has become an increasingly popular hobby from non-specialist enthusiasts over recent decades. The introduction of the Internet has, in many ways, spurred interest levels since historical information has been made far more accessible than previously. Experts warn, however, that sources obtained from the internet must be considered with caution as they may often contain inaccuracies, often advising novice genealogists to join a family history society where they are able to learn useful skills from experienced researchers.

B. Originally, prior to developing a more mainstream following, the practice of genealogy focused on establishing the ancestral links of rulers and noblemen often with the purpose of disputing or confirming the legitimacy of inherited rights to wealth or position. More recently, genealogists are often interested in not only where and when previous generations of families lived but also details of their lifestyle and motivations, interpreting the effects of the law, political restrictions, immigration and the social conditions on an individual’s or family’s behaviour at the given time. Genealogy searches may also result in the location of living relatives and consequently family reunions, in some cases helping to reunite family members who had been separated in the past due to fostering/adoption, migration or war.

C. In Australia, there has been a great deal of interest of late, from families wishing to trace their links to the early settlers. As a result of the loss of the American colonies in the 1700s, Britain was in need of an alternative destination for prisoners who could not be accommodated in the country’s overcrowded penal facilities. In 1787, the ‘First Fleet’ which consisted of a flotilla of ships carrying just over 1300 people (of which 753 were convicts or their children and the remainder marines, officers and their family members) left Britain’s shores for Australia. On January 26, 1788 – now celebrated as Australia Day – the fleet landed at Sydney Cove and the first steps to European settlement began.

D. Genealogy research has led to a shift in attitudes towards convict heritage amongst contemporary Australian society, as family members have been able to establish that their ancestors were, in fact, not hardened and dangerous criminals, but had, in most cases, been harshly punished for minor crimes inspired by desperation and dire economic circumstances. So dramatic has the shift in attitudes been that having family connections to passengers on the ‘First Fleet’ is considered nothing less than prestigious. Convicts Margaret Dawson and Elizabeth Thakery were amongst the first European women to ever set foot on Australian soil. Details about the former, whose initial death sentence passed for stealing clothes from her employer was commuted to deportation, and the latter expelled for stealing handkerchiefs along with others of similar fate are now available on the internet for eager descendants to track.

E. Although many of the deported convicts were forbidden to return to Britain, others such as Dawson, were, in theory, expelled for a given term. In reality, however, the costs of attempting to return to the mother country were well beyond the means of the majority. Genealogists now attribute the successful early development of Australia to such ex-convicts who decided to contribute fully to society once their sentence had been served. Many rewards were available to prisoners who displayed exemplary behaviour, including land grants of 30 acres or more, tools for developing and farming the land and access to convict labour. Genealogy studies also show that many former prisoners went on to hold powerful positions in the newly forming Australia society, examples being Francis Greenway – a British architect expelled on conviction of fraud – who went on to design many of Sydney’s most prominent colonial buildings, and Alexander Munro, transported after stealing cheese at the age of 15, who would later build Australia’s first gas works and hold the position of Town Mayor.

F. In North America, the Mormon Church, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, holds two major genealogical databases, the International Genealogical Index and the Ancestral File, which contain records of hundreds of million individuals who lived between 1500 and 1900 in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Resources available to genealogy enthusiasts include the Salt Lake City-based Family History Library and more than 4000 branches where microfilms and microfiches can be rented for research and the newer Family Search internet site which provides open access to numerous databases and research sources. Such data-sharing practices are central and crucial to genealogical research and the internet has proven to be a major tool in facilitating ease of transfer of information in formats suitable for use in forums and via email. The global level of interest in and demand for such information has proven so intense, that traffic load on the release of sources such as Family Search and the British Census for 1901 led to a temporary collapse of the host servers.

G. Experts advise that the reliability of sources used for genealogical research should be evaluated in light of four factors that may influence their accuracy, these being the knowledge of the informant, the bias and mental state of the informant, the passage of time and potential for a compilation error. First, genealogists should consider who the information was provided by and what he or she could be ascertained to have known. For example, a census record alone is considered unreliable as no named source for the information is likely to be found. A death certificate signed by an identified doctor, however, can be accepted as more reliable. In the case of bias or mental state, researchers are advised to consider that even when information is given by what could be considered a reliable source, that there may have been a motivation to be untruthful – continuing to claim a government benefit or avoidance of taxation, for example.

H. Generally, data recorded at the same time or close to the event being researched is considered to be more reliable than records written at a later point in time, as – while individuals may intend to give a true representation of events – factual information may be misrepresented due to lapses in memory and forgotten details. Finally, sources may be classified as either original or derivative. The latter refers to photocopies, transcriptions, abstracts, translations, extractions, and compilations and has more room for error due to possible misinterpretations, typing errors or loss of additional and crucial parts of the original documentation.



Questions 28-32
Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs A-H.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B and D-G from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i to ix in boxes 28 – 32 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

An Embarrassing Heritage Assessing Validity Diversity of Application Interpretation Errors
Past Usage Useful Sources
Australasian Importance Changing Viewpoints Significant Roles
Example: Paragraph C; Answer: vii
28. Paragraph B
29. Paragraph D
30. Paragraph E
31. Paragraph F
32. Paragraph G

Questions 33-36
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 3334. -36 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE, if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this

33. Early applications of genealogy focused on behaviour, movement, and settlement of populations.
34. The punishment of deportation was reserved for those who posed a serious threat to British society.
35. Some ex-convicts chose to stay in Australia due to the opportunities it presented.
36. Overwhelming interest in obtaining genealogical information has led to technological difficulties.



Questions 37-40
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37. Why has recreational genealogy become more popular?
A. Because it is now a fashionable hobby.
B. Because more people wish to trace missing relatives.
C. Because there are fewer political barriers.
D. Because it is no longer requires so much effort.

38. Whose original sentence for breaking the law was reduced?
A. Francis Greenway.
B. Margaret Dawson.
C. Alexander Munro.
D. Elizabeth Thackery.

39. What is fundamental to genealogical research?
A. Original records.
B. Electronic transfer.
C. The pooling of information.
D. The IG Index.

40. Why does census information need to be approached with caution?
A. Because it cannot easily be attributed to a particular individual.
B. Because it is often not validated by a physician.
C. Because administration practices in the past were unreliable.
D. Because informants may not have been truthful due to financial motivations.


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OUR VANISHING NIGHT IELTS READING

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” Most city skies have become virtually empty of stars “

Reading passage 1. You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

A. If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, it would make no difference to us whether we were out and about at night or during the day, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal species on this planet. Instead, we are diurnal creatures, meaning our eyes are adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings any more than as primates or mammals or Earthlings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: we’ve engineered it to meet our needs by filling it with light.

B. This kind of engineering is no different from damming a river. Its benefits come with consequences – called light pollution – whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky, where it is not wanted, instead of focusing it downward, where it is. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life – migration, reproduction, feeding – is affected. For most of human history, the phrase “light pollution” would have made no sense. Imagine walking toward London on a moonlit night around 1800, when it was one of Earth’s most populous cities. Nearly a million people lived there, making do, as they always had, with candles and lanterns. There would be no gaslights in the streets or squares for another seven years.

C. Now, most of humanity lives under reflected, refracted light from overlit cities and suburbs, from light-flooded roads and factories. Nearly all of night-time Europe is a bright patch of light, as is most of the United States and much of Japan. In the South Atlantic, the glow from a single fishing fleet – squid fishermen luring their prey with metal halide lamps – can be seen from space, burning brighter on occasions than Buenos Aires. In most cities, the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, and taking their place is a constant orange glow. We’ve become so used to this that the glory of an unlit night – dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth – is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost. And yet above the city’s pale ceiling lies the rest of the universe, utterly undiminished by the light we waste.

D. We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country when nothing could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species, it acts as a magnet. The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being ‘captured’ by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms, circling and circling in the thousands until they drop. Migrating at night, birds are apt to collide with brightly lit buildings; immature birds suffer in much higher numbers than adults.

E. Insects, of course, cluster around streetlights, and feeding on those insects is a crucial means of survival for many bat species. In some Swiss valleys, the European lesser horseshoe bat began to vanish after streetlights were installed, perhaps because those valleys were suddenly filled with fight-feeding pipistrelle bats. Other nocturnal mammals, like desert rodents and badgers, are more cautious about searching for food under the permanent full moon of fight pollution because they’ve become easier targets for the predators who are hunting them.

F. Some birds – blackbirds and nightingales, among others-sing at unnatural hours in the presence of artificial light. Scientists have determined that long artificial days — and artificially short nights — induce early breeding in a wide range of birds. And because a longer day allows for longer feeding, it can also affect migration schedules. The problem, of course, is that migration, like most other aspects of bird behaviour, is a precisely timed biological behaviour. Leaving prematurely may mean reaching a destination too soon for nesting conditions to be right.

G. Nesting sea turtles, which seek out dark beaches, find fewer and fewer of them to bury their eggs on. When the baby sea turtles emerge from the eggs, they gravitate toward the brighter, more reflective sea horizon but find themselves confused by artificial lighting behind the beach. In Florida alone, hatching losses number in the hundreds of thousands every year. Frogs and toads living on the side of major highways suffer nocturnal fight levels that are as much as a million times brighter than normal, disturbing nearly every aspect of their behaviour, including their night-time breeding choruses.

H. It was once thought that light pollution only affected astronomers, who need to see the night sky in all its glorious clarity. And, in fact, some of the earliest civic efforts to control light pollution were made half a century ago to protect the view from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2001 Flagstaff was declared the first International Dark Sky City. By now the effort to control light pollution has spread around the globe. More and more dues and even entire countries have committed themselves to reduce unwanted glare.



Questions 1-7:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE, if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this

1. Few people recognise nowadays that human beings are designed to function best in daylight.

2. Most light pollution is caused by the direction of artificial lights rather than their intensity.

3. By 1800 the city of London had such a large population, it was already causing light pollution.

4. The fishermen of the South Atlantic are unaware of the light pollution they are causing.

5. Shadows from the planet Venus are more difficult to see at certain times of the year.

6. In some Swiss valleys, the total number of bats declined rapidly after the introduction of streetlights.

7. The first attempts to limit light pollution were carried out to help those studying the stars.



Questions 8-13: Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

CREATURE
EFFECTS OF LIGHT

Songbirds and seabirds they bump into 9…………. 
The worst-affected birds are those which are seabirds 8………….. which stand out at night 

Desert rodents and badgers 
They are more at risk from 10…………… 

Migrating birds not suitable on arrival. 
Early migration may mean the 11……………. are 

Sea turtles 
They suffer from a decreasing number of 12……….. 

Frogs and toads 
If they are near 13……….. their routines will be upset 

Reading Passage 2

Is there a psychologist in the building?


— CHRISTIAN JARRETT reports on psychology’s place in new architectural development. —

A. The space around us affects us profoundly – rebuilding of one south London school as a striking emotionally, behaviorally, cognitively. In Britain, that example of how building design can affect human space is changing at a pace not seen for a generation. But is anyone listening?
‘This is a hugely recognised country’s psychology research that is not only relevant but improved schools. At the moment we’re talking to ourselves,’ says Chris Spencer, professor of environmental psychology at the University of Sheffield. Spencer recalls a recent talk he gave in which he called on fellow researchers to make a greater effort to communicate their findings to architects and planners. ‘I was amazed at the response of many of the senior researchers, who would say: “I’m doing my research for pure science, the industry can take it or leave it”. But there are models of how to apply environmental psychology to real problems if you know where to look Professor Frances Kuo is an example.

B. Kuo’s website provides pictures and plain English ” The collaborative project currently summaries of the research conducted by her Human stands as a one-off experiment. ” Among these is trainee architects will now go away with some a study using police records that found inner-city surrounded by more vegetation suffered 52 per cent fewer crimes than apartment blocks with little or no greenery. Frances Kuo and her co-researcher William Sullivan believe that greenery reduces crime – so long as visibility is preserved – because it reduces aggression, brings local residents together outdoors, and the conspicuous presence of people deters criminals.

C. ‘Environmental psychologists are increasingly in demand,’ says David Uzzell, professor of environmental psychology. ‘We’re asked to contribute to the planning, design and management of many different environments, ranging from neighbourhoods, offices, schools, health, transport, traffic and leisure environments for the purpose of improving quality of life and creating a better people-environment fit.’ Uzzell points to the rebuilding of one south London school as a striking example of how building design can affect human behaviour positively. Before its redesign, it was ranked as the worst school in the area – now it is
recognised as one of the country’s twenty most improved schools.

D. Uzzell has been involved in a pioneering project between M.Sc students in England and Scotland. Architecture students in Scotland acted as designers while environmental psychology students in England acted as consultants, as together they worked on a community project in a run-down area of Glasgow. The psychology students encouraged the architecture students to think about who their client group was, to consider issues of crowding and social cohesion, and they introduced them to psychological methodologies, for example, observation and interviewing local residents about their needs.’ The collaborative project currently stands as a one-off experiment. ‘Hopefully, these trainee architects will now go away with some understanding of the psychological issues involved in the design and will take into account people’s needs,’ says Uzzell.

E. Hilary Barker, a recent graduate in psychology, now works for a design consultancy. She’s part of a four-person research team that contributes to the overall work of the company in helping clients use their office space more productively. Her team all have backgrounds in psychology or social science, but the rest of the firm consists mainly of architects and interior designers. ‘What I do is pretty rare, to be honest,’ Barker says. ‘I feel very privileged to be able to use my degree in such a way.’ Barker explains that the team carries out observational studies on behalf of companies, to identify exactly how occupants are using their building. The companies are often surprised by the findings, for example, that staff use meeting rooms for quiet, individual work.

F. One area where the findings from the environment- behaviour research have certainly influenced building is in hospital design. The government has a checklist of criteria that must be met in the design of new hospitals, and these are derived largely from the work of the behavioural scientist Professor Roger Ulrich,’ Chris Spencer says. Ulrich’s work has shown, for example, how the view from a patient’s window can affect their recovery. Even a hospital’s layout can impact on people’s health, according to Dr John Zeisel. ‘If people get lost in hospitals, they get stressed, which lowers their immune system and means their medication works less well. You might think that way-finding around the hospital is the responsibility of the person who puts all the signs up, but the truth is that the basic layout of a building is what helps people find their way around,’ he says.

G. Zeisel also points to the need for a better balance between private and shared rooms in hospitals. ‘Falls are reduced and fewer medication errors occur’ in private rooms, he says. There’s also research showing how important it is that patients have access to the outdoors and that gardens in hospitals are a major contributor to well-being. However, more generally, Zeisel shares Chris Spencer’s concerns that the lessons from environmental psychology research are not getting through. ’There is certainly a gap between what we in social science knowledge and the world of designers and architects,’ says Zeisel. He believes that most industries, from sports to film- making, have now recognised the importance of an evidence-based approach and that the building trade needs to formulate itself more in that vein and to recognise that there is relevant research out there. ‘It would be outrageous, silly, to go ahead with huge building projects without learning the lessons from the new towns established between 30 and 40 years ago,’ he warns.



Questions 14-20:
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs. A-G.

Choose the correct heading for A-G from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, h-x, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings

i. A comparison between similar buildings
ii. The negative reaction of local residents
iii. An unusual job for a psychologist
iv. A type of building benefiting from prescribed guidelines
v. The need for government action
vi. A failure to use available information in practical ways
vii. Academics with an unhelpful attitude
viii. A refusal by architects to accept criticism
ix. A unique co-operative scheme
x. The expanding scope of environmental psychology

14. Paragraph A
15. Paragraph B
16. Paragraph C
17. Paragraph D
18. Paragraph E
19. Paragraph F
20. Paragraph G

Questions 21-22:
Choose TWO letters, A-E
Write the correct letters in boxes 21 and 22 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following benefits are said to arise from the use of environmental psychology when planning buildings?
A. better relationships between staff
B. improved educational performance
C. reduction of environmental pollution
D. fewer mistakes made by medical staff E easier detection of crime

Questions 23-24:
Choose TWO letters, A-E

Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following research methods are mentioned in the passage?

A. the use of existing data relating to a geographical area
B. measuring the space given to a variety of activities
C. watching what people do in different parts of a building
D. analyzing decisions made during the planning of a building
E. observing patients’ reactions to each other Questions 25-26:

Complete the sentences below

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.
25. The students from England suggested that the Scottish students should identify their ……………….
26. John Zeisel believes that if the of a building is clear, patient outcomes will improve ………………….



Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

A. Our ancestor, Homo erectus, may not have had culture or even language, but did they have teenagers? That question has been contested in the past few years, with some anthropologists claiming evidence of an adolescent phase in human fossil. This is not merely an academic debate. Humans today are the only animals on Earth to have a teenage phase, yet we have very little idea why. Establishing exactly when adolescence first evolved and finding out what sorts of changes in our bodies and lifestyles it was associated with could help us understand its purpose. Why do we, uniquely, have a growth spurt so late in life?

B. Until recently, the dominant explanation was that physical growth is delayed by our need to grow large brains and to learn all the behaviour patterns associated with humanity – speaking, social interaction and so on. While such behaviour is still developing, humans cannot easily fend for themselves, so it is best to stay small and look youthful. That way your parents and other members of the social group are motivated to continue looking after you. What’s more, studies of mammals show a strong relationship between brain size and the rate of development, with larger-brained animals taking longer to reach adulthood. Humans are at the far end of this spectrum. If this theory is correct, and the development of large brains accounts for the teenage growth spurt, the origin of adolescence should have been with the evolution of our own species (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals, starting almost 200,000 years ago. The trouble is, some of the fossil evidence seems to tell a different story.

C. The human fossil record is extremely sparse, and the number of fossilised children minuscule. Nevertheless, in the past few years, anthropologists have begun to look at what can be learned of the lives of our ancestors from these youngsters. One of the most studied is the famous Turkana boy, an almost complete skeleton of Homo erectus from 1.6 million years ago found in Kenya in 1984. Accurately assessing how old someone is from their skeleton is a tricky business. Even with a modern human, you can only make a rough estimate based on the developmental stage of teeth and bones and the skeleton’s general size.

D. You need as many developmental markers as possible to get an estimate of age. The Turkana boy’s teeth made him 10 or 11 years old. The features of his skeleton put him at 13, but he was as tall as a modern 15-year-old. Susan Anton of New York University points to research by Margaret Clegg who studied a collection of 18th- and 19th-century skeletons whose ages at death were known. When she tried to age the skeletons without checking the records, she found similar discrepancies to those of the Turkana boy. One 10-year-old boy, for example, had a dental age of 9, the skeleton of a 6-year-old but was tall enough to be 11. The Turkana kid still has a rounded skull, and needs more growth to reach the adult shape,’ Anton adds. She thinks that Homo erectus had already developed modern human patterns of growth, with a late, if not quite so extreme, adolescent spurt. She believes Turkana boy was just about to enter it.

E. If Anton is right, that theory contradicts the orthodox idea linking late growth with the development of a large brain. Anthropologist Steven Leigh from the University of Illinois goes further. He believes the idea of adolescence as catch-up growth does not explain why the growth rate increases so dramatically. He says that many apes have growth spurts in particular body regions that are associated with reaching maturity, and this makes sense because by timing the short but crucial spells of maturation to coincide with the seasons when food is plentiful, they minimise the risk of being without adequate food supplies while growing. What makes humans unique is that the whole skeleton is involved. For Leigh, this is the key.

F. According to his theory, adolescence evolved as an integral part of efficient upright locomotion, as well as to accommodate more complex brains. Fossil evidence suggests that our ancestors first walked on two legs six million years ago. If proficient walking was important for survival, perhaps the teenage growth spurt has very ancient origins. While many anthropologists will consider Leigh’s theory a step too far, he is not the only one with new ideas about the evolution of teenagers.

G. Another approach, which has produced a surprising result, relies on the minute analysis of tooth growth. Every nine days or so the growing teeth of both apes and humans acquire ridges on their enamel surface. These are like rings in a tree trunk: the number of them tells you how long the crown of a tooth took to form. Across mammals, the rate at which teeth develop is closely related to how fast the brain grows and the age you mature. Teeth are good indicators of life history because their growth is less related to the environment and nutrition than is the growth of the skeleton.

H. A more decisive piece of evidence came last year when researchers in France and Spain published their findings from a study of Neanderthal teeth. Neanderthals had much-festered tooth growth than Homo erectus who went before them, and hence, possibly, a shorter childhood. Lead researcher Fernando Ramirez-Rozzi thinks Neanderthals died young – about 25 years old — primarily because of the cold, harsh environment they had to endure in glacial Europe. They evolved to grow up quicker than their immediate ancestors. Neanderthals and Homo erectus probably had to reach adulthood fairly quickly, without delaying for an adolescent growth spurt. So it still looks as though we are the original teenagers.



Questions 27-30:
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D

Write the correct letter in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

27. In the first paragraph, why does the writer say ‘This is not merely an academic debate’?

A. Anthropologists’ theories need to be backed up by practical research.
B. There have been some important misunderstandings among anthropologists.
C. The attitudes of anthropologists towards adolescence are changing.
D. The work of anthropologists could inform our understanding of modem adolescence.

28. What was Susan Anton’s opinion of the Turkana boy?

A. He would have experienced an adolescent phase had he lived.
B. His skull showed he had already reached adulthood.
C. His skeleton and teeth could not be compared to those from a more modern age.
D. He must have grown much faster than others alive at the time.

29. What point does Steven Leigh make?

A. Different parts of the human skeleton develop at different speeds.
B. The growth period of many apes is confined to times when there is enough food.
C. Humans have different rates of development from each other depending on living conditions.
D. The growth phase in most apes lasts longer if more food is available.

30. What can we learn from a mammal’s teeth?

A. A poor diet will cause them to grow more slowly.
B. They are a better indication of a lifestyle than a skeleton.
C. Their growing period is difficult to predict accurately.
D. Their speed of growth is directly related to the body’s speed of development.

Questions 31-36:
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 31-36 on your answer sheet, write
YES, if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer NO, if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN, if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

31. It is difficult for anthropologists to do research on human fossils because they are so rare.
32. Modern methods mean it is possible to predict the age of a skeleton with accuracy.
33. Susan Anton’s conclusion about the Turkana boy reinforces an established idea.
34. Steven Leigh’s ideas are likely to be met with disbelief by many anthropologists.
35. Researchers in France and Spain developed a unique method of analysing teeth.
36. There has been too little research comparing the brains of Homo erectus and Neanderthals.



Questions 37-40:
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below. Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37. Until recently, delayed growth in humans until adolescence was felt to be due to …………….

38. In her research, Margaret Clegg discovered ……………….

39. Steven Leigh thought the existence of adolescence is connected to …………………

40. Research on Neanderthals suggests that they had short lives because of ………………….

A. inconsistencies between height, skeleton and dental evidence.
B. the fact that human beings walk on two legs.
C. the way teeth grew.
D. a need to be dependent on others for survival.
E. difficult climatic conditions.
F. increased quantities of food.
G. the existence of much larger brains than previously.

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING IELTS GENERAL READING VOCABULARY COACH WRTING TASK 1 VOCAB IELTS AC WRITING TASK 1 IELTS GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 IELTS WRITING TASK 2 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 1 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 2 IELTS LISTENING TEST

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NUTMEG – A VALUABLE SPICE IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1

The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. Until the late 18th century, it only grew in one place in the world: a small group of islands in the Banda Sea, part of the Moluccas – or Spice Islands – in northeastern Indonesia. The tree is thickly branched with dense foliage of tough, dark green oval leaves, and produces small, yellow, bell-shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped fruits. The fruit is encased in a fleshy husk. When the fruit is ripe, this husk splits into two halves along a ridge running the length of the fruit. Inside is a purple-brown shiny seed, 2-3 cm long by about 2cm across, surrounded by a lacy red or crimson covering called an ‘aril’. These are the sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace, the former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.

Nutmeg was a highly prized and costly ingredient in European cuisine in the Middle Ages, and was used as a flavouring, medicinal, and preservative agent. Throughout this period, the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe. They sold nutmeg for high prices to merchants based in Venice, but they never revealed the exact location of the source of this extremely valuable commodity. The Arab-Venetian dominance of the trade finally ended in 1512, when the Portuguese reached the Banda Islands and began exploiting its precious resources.

Always in danger of competition from neighbouring Spain, the Portuguese began subcontracting their spice distribution to Dutch traders. Profits began to flow into the Netherlands, and the Dutch commercial fleet swiftly grew into one of the largest in the world. The Dutch quietly gained control of most of the shipping and trading of spices in Northern Europe. Then, in 1580, Portugal fell under Spanish rule, and by the end of the 16th century the Dutch found themselves locked out of the market. As prices for pepper, nutmeg, and other spices soared across Europe, they decided to fight back.

In 1602, Dutch merchants founded the VOC, a trading corporation better known as the Dutch East India Company. By 1617, the VOC was the richest commercial operation in the world. The company had 50,000 employees worldwide, with a private army of 30,000 men and a fleet of 200 ships. At the same time, thousands of people across Europe were dying of the plague, a highly contagious and deadly disease. Doctors were desperate for a way to stop the spread of this disease, and they decided nutmeg held the cure.

Everybody wanted nutmeg, and many were willing to spare no expense to have it. Nutmeg bought for a few pennies in Indonesia could be sold for 68,000 times its original cost on the streets of London. The only problem was the short supply. And that’s where the Dutch found their opportunity

The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral trading policy towards foreign powers. This allowed them to avoid the presence of Portuguese or Spanish troops on their soil, but it also left them unprotected from other invaders. In 1621, the Dutch arrived and took over. Once securely in control of the Bandas, the Dutch went to work protecting their new investment. They concentrated all nutmeg production into a few easily guarded areas, uprooting and destroying any trees outside the plantation zones. Anyone caught growing a nutmeg seedling or carrying seeds without the proper authority was severely punished. In addition, all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands. There was only one obstacle to Dutch domination. One of the Banda Islands, a sliver of land called Run, only 3 Ion long by less than 1 km wide, was under the control of the British. After decades of fighting for control of this tiny island, the Dutch and British arrived at a compromise settlement, the Treaty of Breda, in 1667. Intent on securing their hold over every nutmeg-producing island, the Dutch offered a trade: if the British would give them the island of Run, they would in turn give Britain a distant and much less valuable island in North America. The British agreed. That other island was Manhattan, which is how New Amsterdam became New York. The Dutch now had a monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.

Then, in 1770, a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg plants to safety in Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. Some of these were later exported to the Caribbean where they thrived, especially on the island of Grenada. Next, in 1778, a volcanic eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami that wiped out half the nutmeg groves. Finally, in 1809, the British returned to Indonesia and seized the Banda Islands by force. They returned the islands to the Dutch in 1817, but not before transplanting hundreds of nutmeg seedlings to plantations in several locations across southern Asia. The Dutch nutmeg monopoly was over. Today, nutmeg is grown in Indonesia, the Caribbean, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka, and world nutmeg production is estimated to average between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes per year.

Questions 1-4

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The nutmeg tree and fruit
  • The leaves of the tree are (1)…………….. in shape
  • The (2)…………… surrounds the fruit and breaks open when the fruit is ripe
  • The (3)…………… is used to produce the spice nutmeg
  • The covering known as the aril is used to produce (4) ………………

Questions 5-7

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 5-7, write

TRUE           if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE  if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

5. In the Middle Ages, most Europeans knew where nutmeg was grown.

6. The VOC was the world’s first major trading company.

7. Following the Treaty of Breda, the Dutch had control of all the islands where nutmeg grew.

Questions 8-13

Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

Middle agesNutmeg was brought to Europe by the (8)……………….
16th centuryEuropean nations took control of the nutmeg trade
17th centuryDemand for nutmeg grew, as it was believed to be effective against the disease known as the (9)……………
The Dutch
– Took control of the Banda Islands
– Restricted nutmeg production to a few areas
– Put (10)……………… on nutmeg to avoid it being cultivated outside the islands
– Finally obtained the island of (11)……………………from the British
Late 18th century1770 – nutmeg plants were secretly taken to (12) ………..
1778 – half the Banda Islands’ nutmeg plantations were destroyed by a (13)………………….

Reading passage 2

Driverless cars

A The automotive sector is well used to adapting to automation in manufacturing. The implementation of robotic car manufacture from the 1970s onwards led to significant cost savings and improvements in the reliability and flexibility of vehicle mass production. A new challenge to vehicle production is now on the horizon and, again, it comes from automation. However, this time it is not to do with the manufacturing process, but with the vehicles themselves.

Research projects on vehicle automation are not new. Vehicles with limited self-driving capabilities have been around for more than 50 years, resulting in significant contributions towards driver assistance systems. But since

Google announced in 2010 that it had been trialling self-driving cars on the streets of California, progress in this field has quickly gathered pace.

B There are many reasons why technology is advancing so fast. One frequently cited motive is safety; indeed, research at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory has demonstrated that more than 90 percent of road collisions involve human error as a contributory factor, and it is the primary cause in the vast majority. Automation may help to reduce the incidence of this.

Another aim is to free the time people spend driving for other purposes. If the vehicle can do some or all of the driving, it may be possible to be productive, to socialise or simply to relax while automation systems have responsibility for safe control of the vehicle. If the vehicle can do the driving, those who are challenged by existing mobility models – such as older or disabled travellers – may be able to enjoy significantly greater travel autonomy.

C Beyond these direct benefits, we can consider the wider implications for transport and society, and how manufacturing processes might need to respond as a result. At present, the average car spends more than 90 percent of its life parked. Automation means that initiatives for car-sharing become much more viable, particularly in urban areas with significant travel demand. If a significant proportion of the population choose to use shared automated vehicles, mobility demand can be met by far fewer vehicles.

D The Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated automated mobility in Singapore, finding that fewer than 30 percent of the vehicles currently used would be required if fully automated car sharing could be implemented. If this is the case, it might mean that we need to manufacture far fewer vehicles to meet demand. However, the number of trips being taken would probably increase, partly because empty vehicles would have to be moved from one customer to the next.

Modelling work by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute suggests automated vehicles might reduce vehicle ownership by 43 percent, but that vehicles’ average annual mileage would double as a result. As a consequence, each vehicle would be used more intensively, and might need replacing sooner. This faster rate of turnover may mean that vehicle production will not necessarily decrease.

E Automation may prompt other changes in vehicle manufacture. If we move to a model where consumers are tending not to own a single vehicle but to purchase access to a range of vehicles through a mobility provider, drivers will have the freedom to select one that best suits their needs for a particular journey, rather than making a compromise across all their requirements.

Since, for most of the time, most of the seats in most cars are unoccupied, this may boost production of a smaller, more efficient range of vehicles that suit the needs of individuals. Specialised vehicles may then be available for exceptional journeys, such as going on a family camping trip or helping a son or daughter move to university.

F There are a number of hurdles to overcome in delivering automated vehicles to our roads. These include the technical difficulties in ensuring that the vehicle works reliably in the infinite range of traffic, weather and road situations it might encounter; the regulatory challenges in understanding how liability and enforcement might change when drivers are no longer essential for vehicle operation; and the societal changes that may be required for communities to trust and accept automated vehicles as being a valuable part of the mobility landscape.

G It’s clear that there are many challenges that need to be addressed but, through robust and targeted research, these can most probably be conquered within the next 10 years. Mobility will change in such potentially significant ways and in association with so many other technological developments, such as telepresence and virtual reality, that it is hard to make concrete predictions about the future. However, one thing is certain: change is coming, and the need to be flexible in response to this will be vital for those involved in manufacturing the vehicles that will deliver future mobility.

Questions 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has seven sections, A-G. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-18.

14. reference to the amount of time when a car is not in use

15. mention of several advantages of driverless vehicles for individual road-users

16. reference to the opportunity of choosing the most appropriate vehicle for each trip

17. an estimate of how long it will take to overcome a number of problems

18. a suggestion that the use of driverless cars may have no effect on the number of vehicles manufactured

Questions 19-22. Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The impact of driverless cars

Figures from the Transport Research Laboratory indicate that most motor accidents are partly due to (19)…………. , so the introduction of driverless vehicles will result in greater safety. In addition to the direct benefits of automation, it may bring other advantages. For example, schemes for (20) ………………… will be more workable, especially in towns and cities, resulting in fewer cars on the road. According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, there could be a 43 percent drop in (21)……………..of cars. However, this would mean that the yearly (22)…………………. of each car would, on average, be twice as high as it currently is. This would lead to a higher turnover of vehicles, and therefore no reduction in automotive manufacturing.

Questions 23 and 24. Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO benefits of automated vehicles does the writer mention?

A Car travellers could enjoy considerable cost savings.

B It would be easier to find parking spaces in urban areas.

C Travellers could spend journeys doing something other than driving.

D People who find driving physically difficult could travel independently.

E A reduction in the number of cars would mean a reduction in pollution.

Questions 25 and 26. Choose TWO letters, A~E.

Which TWO challenges to automated vehicle development does the writer mention?

A making sure the general public has confidence in automated vehicles

B managing the pace of transition from conventional to automated vehicles

C deciding how to compensate professional drivers who become redundant

D setting up the infrastructure to make roads suitable for automated vehicles

E getting automated vehicles to adapt to various different driving conditions

Reading passage 3.

What is exploration?

We are all explorers. Our desire to discover, and then share that new-found knowledge, is part of what makes us human – indeed, this has played an important part in our success as a species. Long before the first caveman slumped down beside the fire and grunted news that there were plenty of wildebeest over yonder, our ancestors had learnt the value of sending out scouts to investigate the unknown. This questing nature of ours undoubtedly helped our species spread around the globe, just as it nowadays no doubt helps the last nomadic Penan maintain their existence in the depleted forests of Borneo, and a visitor negotiate the subways of New York.

Over the years, we’ve come to think of explorers as a peculiar breed – different from the rest of us, different from those of us who are merely ‘well travelled’, even; and perhaps there is a type of person more suited to seeking out the new, a type of caveman more inclined to risk venturing out. That, however, doesn’t take away from the fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even today; and that in all sorts of professions – whether artist, marine biologist or astronomer – borders of the unknown are being tested each day.

Thomas Hardy set some of his novels in Egdon Heath, a fictional area of uncultivated land, and used the landscape to suggest the desires and fears of his characters. He is delving into matters we all recognise because they are common to humanity. This is surely an act of exploration, and into a world as remote as the author chooses.

Explorer and travel writer Peter Fleming talks of the moment when the explorer returns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones. The traveller ‘who has for weeks or months seen himself only as a puny and irrelevant alien crawling laboriously over a country in which he has no roots and no background, suddenly encounters his other self, a relatively solid figure, with a place in the minds of certain people’.

In this book about the exploration of the earth’s surface, I have confined myself to those whose travels were real and who also aimed at more than personal discovery. But that still left me with another problem: the word ‘explorer’ has become associated with a past era. We think back to a golden age, as if exploration peaked somehow in the 19th century – as if the process of discovery is now on the decline, though the truth is that we have named only one and a half million of this planet’s species, and there may be more than 10 million – and that’s not including bacteria. We have studied only 5 per cent of the species we know. We have scarcely mapped the ocean floors, and know even less about ourselves; we fully understand the workings of only 10 per cent of our brains.

Here is how some of today’s ‘explorers’ define the word. Ran Fiennes, dubbed the ‘greatest living explorer’, said, ‘An explorer is someone who has done something that no human has done before – and also done something scientifically useful.’ Chris Bonington, a leading mountaineer, felt exploration was to be found in the act of physically touching the unknown: ‘You have to have gone somewhere new.’ Then Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a campaigner on behalf of remote so-called ‘tribal’ peoples, said, ‘A traveller simply records information about some far-off world, and reports back; but an explorer changes the world.’ Wilfred Thesiger, who crossed Arabia’s Empty Quarter in 1946, and belongs to an era of unmechanised travel now lost to the rest of us, told me, ‘If I’d gone across by camel when I could have gone by car, it would have been a stunt.’ To him, exploration meant bringing back information from a remote place regardless of any great self-discovery.

Each definition is slightly different – and tends to reflect the field of endeavour of each pioneer. It was the same whoever I asked: the prominent historian would say exploration was a thing of the past, the cutting-edge scientist would say it was of the present. And so on. They each set their own particular criteria; the common factor in their approach being that they all had, unlike many of us who simply enjoy travel or discovering new things, both a very definite objective from the outset and also a desire to record their findings.

I’d best declare my own bias. As a writer, I’m interested in the exploration of ideas. I’ve done a great many expeditions and each one was unique. I’ve lived for months alone with isolated groups of people all around the world, even two ‘uncontacted tribes’. But none of these things is of the slightest interest to anyone unless, through my books, I’ve found a new slant, explored a new idea. Why? Because the world has moved on. The time has long passed for the great continental voyages – another walk to the poles, another crossing of the Empty Quarter. We know how the land surface of our planet lies; exploration of it is now down to the details – the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing behaviour of buffalo. Aside from the deep sea and deep underground, it’s the era of specialists.

However, this is to disregard the role the human mind has in conveying remote places; and this is what interests me: how a fresh interpretation, even of a well-travelled route, can give its readers new insights.

Questions 27-32. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27.   The writer refers to visitors to New York to illustrate the point that

A exploration is an intrinsic element of being human.

B most people are enthusiastic about exploring.

C exploration can lead to surprising results.

D most people find exploration daunting.

28.   According to the second paragraph, what is the writer’s view of explorers?

A Their discoveries have brought both benefits and disadvantages.

B Their main value is in teaching others.

C They act on an urge that is common to everyone.

D They tend to be more attracted to certain professions than to others.

29.   The writer refers to a description of Egdon Heath to suggest that

A Hardy was writing about his own experience of exploration.

B Hardy was mistaken about the nature of exploration.

C Hardy’s aim was to investigate people’s emotional states.

D Hardy’s aim was to show the attraction of isolation.

30.   In the fourth paragraph, the writer refers to ‘a golden age’ to suggest that

A the amount of useful information produced by exploration has decreased.

B fewer people are interested in exploring than in the 19th century.

C recent developments have made exploration less exciting.

D we are wrong to think that exploration is no longer necessary.

31.   In the sixth paragraph, when discussing the definition of exploration, the writer argues that

A people tend to relate exploration to their own professional interests.

B certain people are likely to misunderstand the nature of exploration.

C the generally accepted definition has changed over time.

D historians and scientists have more valid definitions than the general public.

32.   In the last paragraph, the writer explains that he is interested in

A how someone’s personality is reflected in their choice of places to visit.

B the human ability to cast new light on places that may be familiar.

C how travel writing has evolved to meet changing demands.

D the feelings that writers develop about the places that they explore.

Questions 33-37. Look at the following statements (Questions 33-37) and the list of explorers below. Match each statement with the correct explorer, A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 33-37. NB You may use any letter more than once.

33. He referred to the relevance of the form of transport used.

34. He described feelings on coming back home after a long journey.

35. He worked for the benefit of specific groups of people.

36. He did not consider learning about oneself an essential part of exploration.

37. He defined exploration as being both unique and of value to others.

List of Explorers

A Peter Fleming
B Ran Fiennes     
C Chris Bonington     
D Robin Hanbury-Tenison
E Wilfred Thesiger

Questions 38-40.

Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The writer’s own bias

The writer has experience of a large number of (38)…………………. , and was the first stranger that certain previously (39)………………… people had encountered. He believes there is no need for further exploration of Earth’s (40)………………. , except to answer specific questions such as how buffalo eat.


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IELTS ACADEMIC READING IELTS GENERAL READING VOCABULARY COACH WRTING TASK 1 VOCAB IELTS AC WRITING TASK 1 IELTS GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 IELTS WRITING TASK 2 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 1 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 2 IELTS LISTENING TEST

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NOVELS IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

A Recent years have seen a barrage of dystopian Young Adult novels grow in popularity almost overnigh t- from The Hunger Games to The Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Knife of Never Letting Go. These novels, set in postapocalyptic, totalitarian or otherwise ruthless and dehumanising worlds, have gained such momentum that the trend has seeped into the film and TV industry as well, with multimillion dollar movie adaptations and popular TV series gracing the big and small screen. But what is it about dystopian stories that makes them so appealing to readers and audiences alike?

B Dystopias are certainly nothing new. The word “dystopia” itself, meaning “bad place” (from the Greek dys and topos), has been around since at least the 19th century, and Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and Orwell’s 1984 (1949), commonly regarded as the first dystopian novels that fit firmly into the genre, were published more than 75 years ago. Even the first YA dystopian novel is older than 20 – Lois Lawry’s The Giver, which came out in 1993. While these are individual examples from previous decades, however, one would be hard-pressed to find a YA shelf in any bookstore nowadays that isn’t stocked with dozens of dystopian titles.

C According to film critic Dana Stevens, it is the similarities that can be drawn between dystopian settings and the daily lives of teenagers that make YA dystopian stories so captivating: the high school experience involves the same social structure as the Hunger Games arena, for example, or the faction-divided world of Divergent. Teenagers might not literally have to fight each other to the death or go through horrendous trials to join a virtue-based faction for the rest of their lives, but there’s something in each story that connects to their own backgrounds. The “cutthroat race for high school popularity” might feel like an “annual televised fight”, and the pressure to choose a clique at school bears a strong resemblance to Tris’s faction dilemma in Divergent.

D Justin Scholes’s and Jon Ostenson’s 2013 study reports similar findings, identifying themes such as “inhumanity and isolation”, the struggle to establish an identity and the development of platonic and romantic relationships as alluring agents. Deconstructing a score of popular YA dystopian novels released between 2007-2011, Scholes and Ostenson argue that the topics explored by dystopian literature are appealing to teenagers because they are “an appropriate fit with the intellectual changes that occur during adolescence”; as teenagers gradually grow into adults, they develop an interest in social issues and current affairs. Dystopian novels, according to author and book critic Dave Astor, feel honest in that regard as they do not patronise their readers, nor do they attempt to sugar-coat reality.
Novels

E All of this still does not explain why this upsurge in YA dystopian literature is happening now, though. Bestselling author Naomi Klein, offers a different explanation: the dystopian trend, she says, is a “worrying sign” of times to come. What all these dystopian stories have in common is that they all assume that “environmental catastrophe” is not only imminent, but also completely inevitable. Moral principles burgeon through these works of fiction, particularly for young people, as they are the ones who will bear the brunt of climate change. Young Adult author Todd Mitchell makes a similar point, suggesting that the bleak futures portrayed in modern YA literature are a response to “social anxiety” brought forth by pollution and over- consumption.

F The threat of natural disasters is not the only reason YA dystopian novels are so popular today, however. As author Claudia Gray notes, what has also changed in recent years is humanity’s approach to personal identity and young people’s roles in society. Adolescents, she says, are increasingly dragooned into rigid moulds through “increased standardised testing, increased homework levels, etc.” YA dystopian novels come into play because they present protagonists who refuse to be defined by someone else, role models who battle against the status quo.

G So, how long is this YA dystopian trend going to last? If The Guardian is to be believed, it’s already been replaced by a new wave of “gritty” realism as seen in the likes of The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. Profits have certainly dwindled for dystopian film franchises such as Divergent. This hasn’t stopped film companies from scheduling new releases, however, and TV series such as The 100 are still on air. Perhaps the market for dystopian novels has stagnated – only time will tell. One thing is for certain, however: the changes the trend has effected on YA literature are here to stay.



Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, labelled A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G from the list of headings below.

List of Headings

I Teens are increasingly urged to conform
II The dystopian model scrutinised
III Dystopian novels now focus on climate change
IV The original dystopias
V Dystopian literature’s accomplishments will outlive it
VI A score of dystopian novels has taken over YA shelves
VII The roots of dystopia can be found in teenage experiences
VIII Dystopia is already dead
IX Dystopias promote ethical thinking

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F
7 Paragraph G



Questions 8-12
Answer the questions below with words taken from Reading Passage 1. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
8 According to the writer, what was the first dystopian novel?
9 According to the writer, which author initiated the YA dystopian genre?
10 How does Dave Astor describe dystopian novels?
11 According to Naomi Klein, which element is present in all dystopian novels?
12 According to Claudia Gray, things like increased standardised testing and homework levels are a threat to what?

Question 13
Choose the correct Letter, A, B, C or D.
13 Which is the best title for Reading Passage 1?
A A history of YA dystopian literature
B The wane of the dystopian phenomenon
C How dystopian fiction has shaped the world
D The draw of YA dystopian fiction


Reading Passage 2

Plant Wars
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27,

Mention the words “chemical warfare” or “deployed armies” in any conversation, and your interlocutor might immediately assume you’re talking about wars between humans. In reality, however, there are other kinds of wars out there where these techniques are employed far more frequently and in a far more intricate manner: those waged in the plant kingdom.

We might not normally think of plants this way, but much like humans and animals, they too have to fight for survival on a daily basis. Nutrients, light and water are the three things any plant needs in order to grow; unfortunately, none of these is ample in supply, which means that the competition between plants can grow fierce. Some plants and trees are at an architectural advantage: taller trees have greater access to natural light, while plants with deeper roots have the ability to absorb more water and nutrients. Others, though, manage to defend their territory through “allelopathy”, or chemical warfare.

So how does this chemical warfare work exactly? As Dr Robin Andrews explains, plants convert the nutrients they absorb from the ground to energy with the aid of a type of organic compound known as metabolites. These metabolites can be divided into two categories: primary and secondary. Primary metabolites are what allows a plant to live, playing a direct role in its growth and development, and are thus present in every plant. Secondary metabolites, on the other hand, can vary from plant to plant and often play the role of a defence mechanism against neighbouring competitors.

Out of these secondary metabolites, there are two that are incredibly interesting: DIBOA and DIMBOA. These two cyclic hydroxamic acids were at the forefront of a study conducted by Sascha Venturelli and colleagues in 2015, which found that once they are released into the soil by the plants that produce them, they degenerate into toxic substances that have the power to inhibit growth in nearby plants once they soak them up. As Dr Claude Becker notes, “the phenomenon itself has been known for years”, but we now finally understand the “molecular mechanism” behind it – and its supreme intricacy would put to shame any chemical bombs created by humans.

But plants do not just fight wars against other plants; chemical warfare also comes into play in their defence against herbivores. As Brent Mortensen of Iowa State University describes, plants “actively resist” attacks made by herbivores through qualitative and quantitative chemical defences. What’s the difference? Qualitative defences can be lethal even in small doses, and are often employed to protect “young” or “tender leaves or seeds”. They can also be recycled when no longer necessary. Quantitative defences, in contrast, are only effective “in larger doses”, but unlike qualitative defences, can protect the plant against all herbivores.

Quantitative defences are also not as immediately lethal, as they usually lead to indigestion, pain, irritation of the mouth and throat, and inflammation or swelling in the skin. And what about the “deployed armies” I mentioned before? Well, chemical attacks are not the only way plants elect to defend themselves against herbivores. Some plants, such as the African acacia, also recruit armies to assist them in their war. As Angela White of the University of Sheffield explains, the acacia tree has “hollowed-out structures” which invite ant colonies to build a home in them by providing not just shelter, but also food in the form of a special nectar. In return, ants protect them against herbivores – and this includes not just the small ones like bugs, but also the ones as big as giraffes.

At this point, of course, you might be wondering what all this has to do with you. The territorial nature of plants might be fascinating in its own right, but what is its application in real life? Well, Dr Venturelli of the 2015 study mentioned before has an answer for you: apparently, certain allelochemicals – the aforementioned chemical compounds that are responsible for stunting growth in plants – have been found to have an effect on human cancer cells, too.

According to Michael Bitzer and Ulrich Lauer of the same study, “clinical trials at the University Clinics Tubingen currently assess the efficacy of these plant toxins in cancer patients”. This means that comprehending the way plants defend themselves against the enemies in their environment might not just be of interest to plant biologists alone, but to medical researchers as well.



Questions 14-20
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer.

14 Plants are very similar to as they also struggle to stay alive every day.
15 The height of a tree or plant can affect how much it receives.
16 Chemical warfare in plants also goes by the name of .
17 Water and nutrients are both taken from the soil, and the latter is later turned into
.
18 Secondary metabolites are an that functions as a defence mechanism for plants.
19 DIBOA and DIMBOA are two types of secondary metabolites that can once absorbed by a plant.
20 The 2015 study by Sascha Venturelli and colleagues examined the of chemical warfare in plants.




Plant Defences Against Herbivores

Qualitative
# can kill a herbivore in 21…………………….
# can be recycled when no longer necessary

Secondary
# only works in larger doses
# effective against 22…………………….
# causes a variety of symptoms, none 23…………………….

Indirect
# uses the help of ant colonies that reside in its 24…………………….
# ants can protect it against herbivores of all sizes, even 25…………………….

Questions 26-27
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
TRUE if the statement is true according to the passage
FALSE if the statement is false according to the passage
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

26 Allelochemicals are secondary metabolites.
27 Plant biologists and medical researchers are currently cooperating to assess the efficacy of plant toxins in preventing the growth of cancer cells.


Deafhood Reading passage 3

A At this point you might be wondering: what does ‘deafhood’ mean? Is it a synonym for ‘deafness’? Is it a slightly more politically correct term to express the very same concept you’ve grown accustomed to – a person who lacks the power of hearing, or a person whose hearing is impaired? What’s wrong with terms like ‘hard of hearing’ or ‘deafness’? Have they not represented the deaf community just fine for the past few centuries? Who came up with the term ‘Deafhood’ anyway, and why?

B The term ‘Deafhood’ was first coined in 1993 by Dr Paddy Ladd, a deaf scholar in the Deaf Studies Department at the University of Bristol in England. First explored through his doctoral dissertation in 1998, and later elaborated on in his 2003 book, ‘Understanding Deaf Culture – In Search of Deafhood’, the idea behind Deafhood is twofold: first, it seeks to collect everything that is already known about the life, culture, politics, etc. of Sign Language Peoples (SLPs); secondly, it attempts to remove the limitations imposed on SLPs through their colonisation from hearing people.

C In order to understand what Deafhood represents, it’s first important to understand what is meant by colonisation. To do that, we need to examine two terms: Oralism and Audism. Oralism is a philosophy that first emerged in the late 19th century, and which suggests that a reduced use of sign language would be more beneficial to SLPs, as it would allow them to integrate better to the hearing world. In that respect, sign language is dismissively regarded as a mere obstacle to listening skills and acquisition of speech – treated, in effect, in the same manner as the languages of other peoples who were oppressed and colonised, e.g. the Maori in New Zealand, or the Aborigines in Australia. Audism, however, is an even more sinister ideology: first coined in 1975 by Dr Tom Humphries of the University of California in San Diego, it describes the belief that deaf people are somehow inferior to hearing people, and that deafhood – or, in this case, we should say ‘deafness’ – is a flaw, a terrible disability that needs to be eliminated. It is the effect of these two ideologies that Deafhood seeks to counter, by presenting SLPs in a positive light, not as patients who require treatment.

D But even if we understand the oppression that SLPs have suffered at the hands of hearing people since the late 1800s, and even if we acknowledge that ‘deafness’ is a medical term with negative connotations that needs to be replaced, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to explain what the term Deafhood represents exactly. This is because Deafhood is, as Dr Donald Grushkin puts it, a ‘physical, emotional, mental,
spiritual, cultural and linguistic’ journey that every deaf person is invited – but not obligated – to embark on.

E Deafhood is essentially a search for understanding: what does being ‘Deaf’ mean? How did deaf people in the past define themselves, and what did they believe to be their reasons for existing before Audism was conceived?

Why are some people born deaf? Are they biologically defective, or are there more positive reasons for their existence? What do terms like ‘Deaf Art’ or ‘Deaf Culture’ actually mean?
What is ‘the Deaf Way’ of doing things? True Deafhood is achieved when a deaf person feels comfortable with who they are and connected to the rest of the deaf community through use of their natural language, but the journey there might differ.

F Aside from all those questions, however, Deafhood also seeks to counter the effect of what is known as ‘neo-eugenics’. Neo-eugenics, as described by Patrick Boudreault at the 2005 California Association of the Deaf Conference, is a modern manifestation of what has traditionally been defined as ‘eugenics’, i.e. an attempt to eradicate any human characteristics which are perceived as negative. Deaf people have previously been a target of eugenicists through the aforementioned ideologies of Audism and Oralism, but recent developments in
science and society – such as cochlear implants or genetic engineering – mean that Deafhood is once again under threat, and needs to be protected. The only way to do this is by celebrating the community’s history, language, and countless contributions to the world, and confronting those who want to see it gone.

G So, how do we go forward? We should start by decolonising SLPs – by embracing Deafhood for what it is, removing all the negative connotations that surround it and accepting that deaf people are neither broken nor incomplete. This is a task not just for hearing people, but for deaf people as well, who have for decades internalised society’s unfavourable views of them. We should also seek recognition of the deaf community’s accomplishments, as well as official recognition of sign languages around the world by their respective governments. Effectively, what we should do is ask ourselves: how would the Deaf community be like, had it never been colonised by the mainstream world? And whatever it is it would be like, we should all together – hearing and Deaf alike – strive to achieve it.



Questions 28-34
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information?

28 Examples of other groups treated the same way as deaf people
29 Why the word ‘deafness’ is no longer appropriate
30 The definition of the word ‘deaf’
31 Why deaf people might sometimes think negatively of themselves
32 How one can attain deafhood
33 Where the word ‘deafhood’ came from
34 Why deafhood is currently imperilled

Questions 35-37
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

35 According to Dr Paddy Ladd, Deafhood
A is a more appropriate term than ‘hard of hearing’.
B doesn’t colonise SLPs as much as ‘deafness’ does.
C strives to get rid of the effects of colonisation.
D contributes positively to the life and culture of deaf people.

36 Oralism suggests that
A SLPs have no use for sign language.
B SLPs don’t belong in the hearing world.
C hearing people are superior to SLPs.
D SLPs are unable to acquire speech.

37 Aborigines in Australia are similar to deaf people because
A eugenicists also tried to eradicate them.
B they were also considered inferior by their oppressors.
C their languages were also disrespected.
D their languages were also colonised.



Questions 38-40
Answer the questions below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

38 What should deaf people use to communicate with each other, according to deafhood?

39 Who has used oralism and audism to attack the deaf community?

40 What does the deaf community strive to achieve for sign language worldwide?

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NETWORKING AS A CONCEPT IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1

Networking as a concept has acquired what is in all truth an unjustified air of modernity. It is considered in the corporate world as an essential tool for the modern businessperson, as they trot round the globe drumming up business for themselves or a corporation. The concept is worn like a badge of distinction, and not just in the business world.

People can be divided basically into those who keep knowledge and their personal contacts to themselves, and those who are prepared to share what they know and indeed their friends with others. A person who is insecure, for example someone who finds it difficult to share information with others and who is unable to bring people, including friends, together does not make a good networker. The classic networker is someone who is strong enough within themselves to connect different people including close friends with each other. For example, a businessman or an academic may meet someone who is likely to be a valuable contact in the future, but at the moment that person may benefit from meeting another associate or friend.

It takes quite a secure person to bring these people together and allow a relationship to develop independently of himself. From the non-networker’s point of view such a development may be intolerable, especially if it is happening outside their control. The unfortunate thing here is that the initiator of the contact, if he did but know it, would be the one to benefit most. And why?

Because all things being equal, people move within circles and that person has the potential of being sucked into ever-growing spheres of new contacts. It is said that, if you know eight people, you are in touch with everyone in the world. It does not take much common sense to realise the potential for any kind of venture as one is able to draw on the experience of more and more people.

Unfortunately, making new contacts, business or otherwise, while it brings success, does cause problems. It enlarges the individual’s world. This is in truth not altogether a bad thing, but it puts more pressure on the networker through his having to maintain an ever larger circle of people. The most convenient way out is, perhaps, to cull old contacts, but this would be anathema to our networker as it would defeat the whole purpose of networking. Another problem is the reaction of friends and associates. Spreading oneself thinly gives one less time for others who were perhaps closer to one in the past. In the workplace, this can cause tension with jealous colleagues, and even with superiors who might be tempted to rein in a more successful inferior. Jealousy and envy can prove to be very detrimental if one is faced with a very insecure manager, as this person may seek to stifle someone’s career or even block it completely.

The answer here is to let one’s superiors share in the glory; to throw them a few crumbs of comfort. It is called leadership from the bottom. In the present business climate, companies and enterprises need to co-operate with each other in order to expand. As globalization grows apace, companies need to be able to span not just countries but continents. Whilst people may rail against this development it is for the moment here to stay. Without co-operation and contacts, specialist companies will not survive for long. Computer components, for example, need to be compatible with the various machines on the market and to achieve this, firms need to work in conjunction with others. No business or institution can afford to be an island in today’s environment. In the not very distant past, it was possible for companies to go it alone, but it is now more difficult to do so. 

The same applies in the academic world, where ideas have been jealously guarded. The opening-up of universities and colleges to the outside world in recent years has been of enormous benefit to industry and educational institutions. The stereotypical academic is one who moves in a rarefied atmosphere living a life of sometimes splendid isolation, a prisoner of their own genius. This sort of person does not fit easily into the mould of the modern networker. Yet even this insular world is changing. The ivory towers are being left ever more frequently as educational experts forge links with other bodies; sometimes to stunning effect as in Silicon Valley in America and around Cambridge in England, which now has one of the most concentrated clusters of high-tech companies in Europe. 

It is the networkers, the wheeler-dealers, the movers and shakers, call them what you will, that carry the world along. The world of the Neanderthals was shaken between 35,000 and 40,000 BC; they were superseded by Homo Sapiens with the very ‘networking’ skills that separate us from other animals: understanding, thought abstraction and culture, which are inextricably linked to planning survival and productivity in humans. It is said the meek will inherit the earth. But will they? 

Questions 1-5 

YES if the statement agrees with the writer’s claims NO if the statement contradicts the writer’s claims NOT GIVEN if there is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 

1 Networking is not a modern idea.
2 Networking is worn like a badge exclusively in the business world.
3 People fall into two basic categories. 
4 A person who shares knowledge and friends makes a better networker than one who does not.
5 The classic networker is physically strong and generally in good health. 

Questions 6-10 Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, complete the sentences below. 

6 Making new acquaintances __________ but also has its disadvantages.
7 At work, problems can be caused if the manager is __________ .
8 A manager can suppress, or even totally __________ the career of an employee.
9 In business today, working together is necessary in order for __________ to grow.
10 Businesses that specialise will not last for long without __________ . 

Questions 11-15 Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, complete the sentences below. 

11 In which sphere of life have ideas been protected jealously?
12 Which type of individual does not easily become a modern networker?
13 Where is one of the greatest concentrations of high tech companies in Europe?
14 Who replaced the Neanderthals?
15 What, as well as understanding and thought abstraction, sets us apart from other animals? 

Reading passage 2

A Silent Force 

A There is a legend that St Augustine in the fourth century AD was the first individual to be seen reading silently rather than aloud, or semi-aloud, as had been the practice hitherto. Reading has come a long way since Augustine’s day. There was a time when it was a menial job of scribes and priests, not the mark of civilisation it became in Europe during the Renaissance when it was seen as one of the attributes of the civilised individual. 

B Modern nations are now seriously affected by their levels of literacy. While the Western world has seen a noticeable decline in these areas, other less developed countries have advanced and, in some cases, overtaken the West. India, for example, now has a large pool of educated workers. So European countries can no longer rest on their laurels as they have done for far too long; otherwise, they are in danger of falling even further behind economically. 

C It is difficult in the modern world to do anything other than a basic job without being able to read. Reading as a skill is the key to an educated workforce, which in turn is the bedrock of economic advancement, particularly in the present technological age. Studies have shown that by increasing the literacy and numeracy skills of primary school children in the UK, the benefit to the economy generally is in billions of pounds. The skill of reading is now no more just an intellectual or leisure activity, but rather a fully-fledged economic force. 

D Part of the problem with reading is that it is a skill which is not appreciated in most developed societies. This is an attitude that has condemned large part of the population in most Western nations to illiteracy. It might surprise people in countries outside the West to learn that in the United Kingdom, and indeed in some other European countries, the literacy rate has fallen to below that of so-called less developed countries. 

E There are also forces conspiring against reading in our modern society. It is not seen as cool among a younger generation more at home with computer screens or a Walkman. The solitude of reading is not very appealing. Students at school, college or university who read a lot are called bookworms. The term indicates the contempt in which reading and learning are held in certain circles or subcultures. It is a criticism, like all such attacks, driven by the insecurity of those who are not literate or are semi-literate. Criticism is also a means, like all bullying, of keeping peers in place so that they do not step out of line. Peer pressure among young people is so powerful that it often kills any attempts to change attitudes to habits like reading. 

F But the negative connotations apart, is modern Western society strongly opposing an uncontrollable spiral of decline? I think not. 

G How should people be encouraged to read more? It can easily be done by increasing basic reading skills at an early age and encouraging young people to borrow books from schools. Some schools have classroom libraries as well as school libraries. It is no good waiting until pupils are in their secondary school to encourage an interest in books; it needs to be pushed at an early age. Reading comics, magazines and low brow publications like Mills and Boon is frowned upon. But surely what people, whether they be adults or children, read is of little import. What is significant is the fact that they are reading. Someone who reads a comic today may have the courage to pick up a more substantial tome later on. 

H But perhaps the best idea would be to stop the negative attitudes to reading from forming in the first place. Taking children to local libraries brings them into contact with an environment where they can become relaxed among books. If primary school children were also taken in groups into bookshops, this might also entice them to want their own books. A local bookshop, like some local libraries, could perhaps arrange book readings for children which, being away from the classroom, would make the reading activity more of an adventure. On a more general note, most countries have writers of national importance. By increasing the standing of national writers in the eyes of the public, through local and national writing competitions, people would be drawn more to the printed word. Catch them young and, perhaps, they just might then all become bookworms. 

Questions 16-22 Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs labelled A-H. Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. 

Note: There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them. One of the headings has been done for you as an example. Any heading may be used more than once. 

List of Headings i Reading not taken for granted ii Taking children to libraries iii Reading: the mark of civilisation iv Reading in St Augustine’s day v A large pool of educated workers in India vi Literacy rates in developed countries have declined because of people’s attitude vii Persuading people to read viii Literacy influences the economies of countries in today’s world ix Reading benefits the economy by billions of pounds x The attitude to reading amongst the young xi Reading becomes an economic force xii The writer’s attitude to the decline in reading 

Example: Paragraph H Answer vii 

16 Paragraph A
17 Paragraph B
18 Paragraph C
19 Paragraph D 
20 Paragraph E
21 Paragraph F
22 Paragraph G 

Questions 23-27 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? 

YES if the statement agrees with the writer’s claims
NO if the statement contradicts the writer’s claims
NOT GIVEN if there is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 

23 European countries have been satisfied with past achievements for too long and have allowed other countries to overtake them in certain areas.
24 Reading is an economic force.
25 The literacy rate in less developed nations is considerably higher than in all European countries.
26 If you encourage children to read when they are young the negative attitude to reading that grows in some subcultures will be eliminated.
27 People should be discouraged from reading comics and magazines. 


Reading passage 3

Variations on a theme: the sonnet form in English poetry 

A The form of lyric poetry known as ‘the sonnet’, or ‘little song’, was introduced into the English poetic corpus by Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder and his contemporary Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, during the first half of the sixteenth century. It originated, however, in Italy three centuries earlier, with the earliest examples known being those of Giacomo de Lentino, ‘The Notary’ in the Sicilian court of the Emperor Frederick II, dating from the third decade of the thirteenth century. The Sicilian sonneteers are relatively obscure, but the form was taken up by the two most famous poets of the Italian Renaissance, Dante and Petrarch, and indeed the latter is regarded as the master of the form. 

B The Petrarchan sonnet form, the first to be introduced into English poetry, is a complex poetic structure. It comprises fourteen lines written in a rhyming metrical pattern of iambic pentameter, that into say each line is ten syllables long, divided into five ‘feet’ or pairs of syllables (hence ‘pentameter’), with a stress pattern where the first syllable of each foot is unstressed and the second stressed (an iambic foot). This can be seen if we look at the first line of one of Wordsworth’s sonnets, ‘After-Thought’: I thought of thee my partner and my guide’. 

If we break down this line into its constituent syllabic parts, we can see the five feet and the stress pattern (in this example each stressed syllable is underlined), thus: ‘I thought/ of thee/ my partner and/ my guide’. 

C The rhyme scheme for the Petrarchan sonnet is equally as rigid. The poem is generally divided into two parts, the octave (eight lines) and the sestet (six lines), which is demonstrated through rhyme rather than an actual space between each section. The octave is usually rhymed abbaabba with the first, fourth, fifth and eighth lines rhyming with each other, and the second, third, sixth and seventh also rhyming. The sestet is more varied: it can follow the patterns cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce. Perhaps the best interpretation of this division in the Petrarchan sonnet is by Charles Gayley, who wrote: “The octave bears the burden; a doubt, a problem,. a reflection, a query, an historical statement, a cry of indignation or desire, a vision of the ideal. The sestet eases the load, resolves the problem or doubt, answers the query or doubt, solaces the yearning, realises the vision.” Thus, we can see that the rhyme scheme demonstrates a twofold division in the poem, providing a structure for the development of themes and ideas. 

D Early on, however, English poets began to vary and experiment with this structure. The first major development was made by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, altogether an indifferent poet, but was taken up and perfected by William Shakespeare, and is named after him. The Shakespearean sonnet also has fourteen lines in iambic pentameter, but rather than the division into octave and sestet, the poem is divided into four parts: three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet. Each quatrain has its own internal rhyme scheme, thus a typical Shakespearean sonnet would rhyme abab cdcd efef gg. Such a structure naturally allows greater flexibility for the author and it would be hard, if not impossible, to enumerate the different ways in which it has been employed, by Shakespeare and others. For example, an idea might be introduced in the first quatrain, complicated in the second, further complicated in the third, and resolved in the final couplet — indeed, the couplet is almost always used as a resolution to the poem, though often in a surprising way. 

E These, then, are the two standard forms of the sonnet in English poetry, but it should be recognized that poets rarely follow rules precisely and a number of other sonnet types have been developed, playing with the structural. elements. Edmund Spenser, for example, more famous for his verse epic ‘The Faerie Queene’, invented a variation on the Shakespearean form by interlocking the rhyme schemes between the quatrains, thus: abab bcbc cdcd ee, while in the twentieth century Rupert Brooke reversed his sonnet, beginning with the couplet. John Milton, the seventeenth-century poet, was unsatisfied with the fourteen-line format and wrote a number of ‘Caudate’ sonnets, or ‘sonnets with the regular fourteen lines (on the Petrarchan model) with a ‘coda’ or ‘tail’ of a further six lines. A similar notion informs George Meredith’s sonnet sequence ‘Modern Love’, where most sonnets in the cycle have sixteen lines. 

F Perhaps the most radical of innovators, however, has been Gerard Manley Hopkins, who developed what he called the ‘Curtal’ sonnet. This form varies the length of the poem, reducing it in effect to eleven and a half lines, the rhyme scheme and the number of feet per line. Modulating the Petrarchan form, instead of two quatrains in the octave, he has two tercets rhyming abc abc, and in place of the sestet he has four and a half lines, with a rhyme scheme dcbdc. As if this is not enough, the tercets are no longer in iambic pentameter, but have six stresses instead of five, as does the final quatrain, with the exception of the last line, which has three. Many critics, however, are sceptical as to whether such a major variation can indeed be classified as a sonnet, but as verse forms and structures become freer, and poets less satisfied with convention, it is likely that even more experimental forms will out. 

Questions 28-32 Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs labelled A-F. Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii) in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. 

Any heading may be used more than once. Note: There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them. 

List of Headings

i Octave develops sestet
ii The Faerie Queene and Modern Love
iii The origins of the sonnet
iv The Shakespearean sonnet form
v The structure of the Petrarchan sonnet form
vi A real sonnet?
vii Rhyme scheme provides structure developing themes and ideas
viii Dissatisfaction with format
ix The Sicilian sonneteers
x Howard v. Shakespeare
xi Wordsworth’s sonnet form
xii Future breaks with convention
xiii The sonnet form: variations and additions 

Example Paragraph A Heading iii 

28 Paragraph B
29 Paragraph C
30 Paragraph D
31 Paragraph E
32 Paragraph F 

Questions 33-37 Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, complete the sentences below.

33 Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder and Henry Howard were __________ .
34 It was in the third decade of the thirteenth century that the __________ was introduced.
35 Among poets of the Italian Renaissance __________ was considered to be the better sonneteer.
36 The Petrarchan sonnet form consists of __________ .
37 In comparison with the octave, the rhyming scheme of the sestet is__________ .


Questions 38-40 Choose the correct letters A-D and write them in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

38 According to Charles Gayley,
A the octave is longer than the sestet.
B the octave develops themes and ideas.
C the sestet provides answers and solutions.
D the sestet demonstrates a twofold division.

39 The Shakespearean sonnet is
A an indifferent development.
B more developed than the Petrarchan sonnet.
C more flexible than the Petrarchan sonnet.
D enumerated in different ways.

40 According to the passage, whose sonnet types are similar?
A Spenser and Brooke
B Brooke and Milton
C Hopkins and Spenser
D Milton and Meredith 

 

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Nature on display in American zoos  by Elizabeth Hanson IELTS READING

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Reading passage 1.  You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. 

A. The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1874, followed by the Cincinnati Zoo the next year. By 1940 there were zoos in more than one hundred American cities. The Philadelphia Zoo was more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would open later. But in its landscape and its mission – to both educate and entertain, it embodied ideas about how to build a zoo that stayed consistent for decades. The zoos came into existence in the late nineteenth century during the transition of the United States from a rural and agricultural nation to an industrial one.

B. The population more than doubled between 1860 and 1990. As more middle-class people lived in cities, they began seeking new relationships with the natural world as a place for recreation, self- improvement, and Spiritual renewal. Cities established systems of public parks, and nature tourism – already popular – became even more fashionable with the establishment of national parks. Nature was thought to be good for people of all ages and classes. Nature study was incorporated into the school curriculum, and natural history collecting became an increasingly popular pastime.

C. At the same time, the fields of study which were previously thought of as „natural history‟ grew into separate areas such as taxonomy, experimental embryology and genetics, each with its own experts and structures. As laboratory research gained prestige in the zoology departments of American universities, the gap between professional and amateur scientific activities widened. Previously, natural history had been open to amateurs and was easily popularized, but research required access to microscopes and other equipment in laboratories, as well as advanced education.

D. The new zoos set themselves apart from travelling animal shows by stating their mission as the education and the advancement of science, in addition to recreation. Zoos presented zoology for the non- specialist, at a time when the intellectual distance between amateur naturalists and laboratory oriented zoologists was increasing. They attracted wide audiences and quickly became a feature of every growing and forward-thinking city. They were emblems of civic pride on a level of importance with art museums, natural history museums and botanical gardens.

E. Most American zoos were founded and operated as part of the public parks administration. They were dependent on municipal funds, and they charged no admission fee. They tended to assemble as many different mammal and bird species as possible, along with a few reptiles, exhibiting one or two specimens of each, and they competed with each other to become the first to display a rarity, like a rhinoceros. In the constant effort to attract the public to make return visits, certain types of display came in and out of fashion; for example, dozens of zoos built special Islands for their large populations of monkeys. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded millions of dollars of construction at dozens of zoos, for the most part, the collections of animals were organized by species in a combination of enclosures according to a fairly loose classification scheme.

F. Although many histories of individual zoos describe the 1940s through the 1960s as a period of stagnation, and in some cases there was neglect, new zoos continued to be set up all over the country. In the 1940s and 1950s, the first zoos designed specifically for children were built, some with the appeal of farm animals. An increasing number of zoos tried new ways of organizing their displays. In addition to the traditional approach of exhibiting like kinds together, zoo planners had a new approach of putting animals in groups according to their continent of origin and designing exhibits showing animals of particular habitats, for example, polar, desert, or forest. During the 1960s, a few zoos arranged some displays according to animal behaviour; the Bronx Zoo. for instance, opened its World of Darkness exhibit of nocturnal animals. Paradoxically, at the same time as zoo displays began incorporating ideas about the ecological relationships between animals, big cats and primates continued to be displayed in a bathroom like cages lined with tiles.

G. By the 1970s, a new wave of reform was stirring. Popular movements for environmentalism and animal welfare called attention to endangered species and to zoos that did not provide adequate care for their animals. More projects were undertaken by research scientists and zoos began hiring full-time vets as they stepped up captive breeding programs. Many zoos that had been supported entirely by municipal budgets began recruiting private financial support and charging admission fees. In the prosperous 1980s and 1990s. zoos built realistic landscape immersion‟ exhibits, many of them around the theme of the tropical rainforest and increasingly, conservation moved to the forefront of zoo agendas.

H. Although zoos were popular and proliferating institutions in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, historians have paid little attention to them. Perhaps zoos have been ignored because they were, and remain still multi-purpose institutions, and as such, they fall between the categories of analysis that historians often use. In addition, their stated goals of recreation, education, the advancement of science, and protection of endangered species have often conflicted. Zoos occupy a difficult middle ground between science and showmanship, high culture and low, remote forests and the cement cityscape, and wild animals and urban people.

Questions 1-7. Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE, if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this

  1. The concepts on which the Philadelphia zoo was based soon became unfashionable.
  2. The opening of zoos coincided with a trend for people to live in urban areas.
  3. During the period when many zoos were opened, the study of natural history became more popular in universities than other scientific subjects.
  4. Cities recognized that the new zoos were as significant an amenity as museums.
  5. Between 1940 and 1960 some older zoos had to move to new sites in order to expand.
  6. In the 1970’s new ways of funding, zoos were developed.
  7. There has been serious disagreement amongst historians about the role of the first zoos.

Questions 8-13. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Up to 1940 More mammals and birds exhibited than 8………………….. 9……………………..were very popular animals in many zoos at one time. 
the 1940s and 1950s Zoos started exhibiting animals according to their 10………………………. and where they came from. 
the 1960s Some zoos categorized animals by 11 ………………………. 
the 1970s 12 ………………………. were employed following protests about animal care.
the 1980s onwards The importance of 13 ……………………… became greater. 

Reading Passage 2 

Can we prevent the poles from melting?

A growing number of scientists ore looking to increasingly ambitious technological fixes to halt the tide of global warming. Mark Rowe reports.

A. Such is our dependence on fossil fuels, and such is the volume of carbon dioxide we have already released into the atmosphere, that most climate scientists agree that significant global warming is now inevitable – the best we can hope to do is keep it at a reasonable level, and even that is going to be an uphill task. At present, the only serious option on the table for doing this is cutting back on our carbon emissions, but while a few countries are making major strides in this regard, the majority are having great difficulty even stemming the rate of increase, let alone reversing it. Consequently, an increasing number of scientists are beginning to explore the alternatives. They all fall under the banner of geoengineering – generally defined as the intentional large-scale manipulation of the environment.

B. Geoengineering has been shown to work, at least on a small, localized scale, for decades. May Day parades in Moscow have taken place under clear blue skies, aircraft having deposited dry ice, silver iodide and cement powder to disperse clouds. Many of the schemes now suggested to do the opposite, and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet. One scheme focuses on achieving a general cooling of the Earth and involves the concept of releasing aerosol sprays into the stratosphere above the Arctic to create clouds of sulphur dioxide, which would, in turn, lead to global dimming. The idea is modelled on historical volcanic explosions, such as that of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, which led to a short term cooling of global temperatures by 0.5“C. The aerosols could be delivered by artillery, highflying aircraft or balloons.

C. Instead of concentrating on global cooling, other schemes look specifically at reversing the melting at the poles. One idea is to bolster an ice cap by spraying it with water. Using pumps to carry water from below the sea ice, the spray would come out as snow or ice particles, producing thicker sea ice with a higher albedo (the ratio of sunlight reflected from a surface) to reflect summer radiation. Scientists have also scrutinized whether it is possible to block ice fjords in Greenland with cables which have been reinforced, preventing icebergs from moving into the sea. Veli Albert Kallio, a Finnish scientist, says that “such an idea is impractical because the force of the ice would ultimately snap the cables and rapidly release a large quantity of ice into the sea. However, Kallio believes that the sort of cables used in suspension bridges could potentially be used to divert, rather than halt, the southward movement of ice from Spitsbergen. „It would stop the ice moving south, and local currents would see them float northwards,‟ he says.

D. A number of geoengineering ideas are currently being examined in the Russian Arctic. These include planting millions of birch trees: the thinking, according to Kallio, is that their white bark would increase the amount of reflected sunlight. The loss of their leaves in winter would also enable the snow to reflect radiation. In contrast, the native evergreen pines tend to shade the snow and absorb radiation. Using ice- breaking vessels to deliberately break up and scatter coastal sea ice in both Arctic and Antarctic waters in their respective autumns, and diverting Russian rivers to increase cold-water (low to ice-forming areas, could also be used to slow down warming, Kallio says. „You would need the wind to blow the right way, but in the right conditions, by letting ice float free and head north, you would enhance ice growth.

E. But will such ideas ever be implemented? The major counter-arguments to geoengineering schemes are, first, that they are a „cop-out‟ that allow us to continue living the way we do, rather than reducing carbon emissions; and, second, even if they do work, would the side-effects outweigh the advantages? Then there‟s the daunting prospect of upkeep and repair of any scheme as well as the consequences of a technical failure. ‟I think all of us agree that if we were to end geoengineering on a given day, then the planet would return to its pre-engineered condition very rapidly, and probably within 10 to 20 years,‟ says Dr. Phil Rasch, chief scientist for climate change at the US-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. That’s certainly something to worry about. I would consider geoengineering as a strategy to employ only while we manage the conversion to a non-fossil- fuel economy.‟ „The risk with geoengineering projects is that you can “overshoot”,‟ says Dr. Dan Lunt, from the University of Bristol. „You may bring global temperatures back to pre-industrial levels, but the risk is that the poles will still be warmer than they should be and the tropics will be cooler than before industrialization.”

F. The main reason why geoengineering is countenanced by the mainstream scientific community is that most researchers have little faith in the ability of politicians to agree – and then bring in – the necessary carbon cuts. Even leading conservation organisations believe the subject is worth exploring. As Dr. Mortin Sommerkorn, a climate change advisor says. „But human-induced climate change has brought humanity to a position where it is important not to exclude thinking thoroughly about this topic and its possibilities despite the potential drawbacks. If, over the coming years, the science tells us about an ever- increased climate sensitivity of the planet – and this isn’t unrealistic – they may be best served by not having to start our thinking from scratch.

Questions 14-18. Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. the existence of geoengineering projects distracting from the real task of changing the way we live
15. circumstances in which geoengineering has demonstrated success
16. maintenance problems associated with geoengineering projects
17. support for geoengineering being due to a lack of confidence in governments
18. more success in fighting climate change in some parts of the world than others

Questions 19-23. Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers In boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.

Geoengineering projects

A range of geoengineering ideas has been put forward, which aim either to prevent the melting of the ice caps or to stop the general rise in global temperatures. One scheme to discourage the melting of ice and snow involves introducing 19……………………….to the Arctic because of their colour. The build-up of ice could be encouraged by dispersing ice along the coasts using special ships and changing the direction of some 20 but this scheme is dependent on certain weather conditions. Another way of increasing the amount of ice involves using 21………………………to bring water to the surface. A scheme to stop ice moving would use 22……………………….but this method is more likely to be successful in preventing the ice from travelling in one direction rather than stopping it altogether. A suggestion for cooling global temperatures is based on what has happened in the past after 23………………………. and it involves creating clouds of gas.

Questions 24-26 Look at the following people and the list of opinions below. Match each person with the correct opinion A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. Phil Rasch
25. Dan Lunt
26. Martin Sommerkorn

List of opinions

A. The problems of geoengineering shouldn’t mean that ideas are not seriously considered.
B. Some geoengineering projects are more likely to succeed than others.
C. Geoengineering only offers a short-term solution.
D. A positive outcome of geoengineering may have a negative consequence elsewhere.
E. Most geoengineering projects aren’t clear in what they are aiming at.

Reading Passage 3 QUESTION 27-40

America’s oldest art?

A. Set within treacherously steep cliffs, and hidden away valleys of northeast Brazil, is some of Southeast America‟s most significant and spectacular rock-art. Most of the art so far discovered from the ongoing excavations comes from the archaeologically – important National Park of the Serra da Capivara in the state of Piaui, and it is causing quite a controversy. The reason for the uproar? The art is being dated to around 25.CC0 or perhaps. According to some archaeologists, even 36,000 years ago. If correct, this is set to challenge the wide-field view that America was first colonized from the north, via the Bering Straits from eastern Siberia at around 10.000 BC. only moving down into Central and South America in the millennia thereafter.

B. Prior to the designation of 130,000 hectares as a National Park, the rock-art sites were difficult to get to and often dangerous to enter. In ancient times, this inaccessibility must have heightened the importance of the sites, and indeed of the people who painted on the rocks. Wild animals and human figures dominate the art and are incorporated into often-complex scenes involving hunting, supernatural beings, fighting and dancing. The artists depicted the animals that roamed the local ancient brushwood forest. The large mammals are usually hunted in groups and tend to be shown a running stance, as they trying to escape from hunting parties. Processions – lines of human and animal figures – also appear of great importance to these ancient artists. Might such lines represent family units or groups of warriors? On a number of panels, rows of stylized figures, some numbering up to 30 individual figures, were painted using the natural undulating contours of the rock surface, so evoking the contours of the seconding landscape. Other interesting, but very rare, occurrences are scenes that show small human figures holding on to and dancing around a tree, possibly involved in some form of a ritual dance.

C. Due to the favourable climatic conditions. the imagery on many panels is in a remarkable state of preservation. Despite this, however, there are serious conservation issues that affect their long term survival. The chemical and mineral quantities of the rock on which the imagery is panted are fragile and on several panels it is unstable. As well as the secretion of sodium carbonate on the rock surface,
complete panel sections have, over the ancient and recent past, broken away from the main rock surface. These have then become buried and sealed into sometimes-ancient floor deposits. Perversely, this form of natural erosion and subsequent deposition has assisted archaeologists in dating several major rock-art sites. Of course, dating the art is extremely difficult oven the non-existence of plant and animal remains that might be scientifically dated. However, there am a small number of sites in the Serra da Capivara that are giving up their secrets through good systematic excavation. Thus, at Toca do Roqi.omo da Pedra Furada. rock-art researcher Nide Guidon managed to obtain a number of dates. At different levels of excavation, she located fallen painted rock fragments, which she was able to dale to at least 36,000 years ago. Along with toe painted fragments, crude stone tools were found. Also discovered were a series of scientifically datable sites of fireplaces, or hearths, the earliest dated to 46,000 BC. arguably the oldest dates for human habitation in America.

D. However, these conclusions are not without controversy. Critics, mainly from North America, have suggested that the hearths may, in fact, be a natural phenomenon, the result of seasonal brushwood fires. Several North American researchers have gone further and suggested that the rock art from this site dates from no earlier than about 3,730 years ago, based on the results of limited radiocarbon dating. Adding further fool to the general debate is the fact that the artists in the area of the National Hark tended not to draw over old motifs (as often occurs with rock-art), which makes it hard to work out the relative chronology of the images or styles. However, the diversity of imagery and the narrative the paintings created from each of the many sites within the National Park suggests different artists were probably making their art at different times and potentially using each site over many thousands of years.

E. With fierce debates thus raging over to dating, where these artists originate from is also still very much open to speculation. The traditional view ignores the early dating evidence from the South American rock-art sites. In a revised scenario, some anthropologists are now suggesting that modern humans may‟ have migrated from Africa using the strong currents of the Atlantic Ocean some 63.000 years or more ago, while others suggest more improbable colonization coming from the Pacific Ocean. Yet, while the ether hypothesis is plausible, there is still no supporting archaeological evidence between the South American coastline and the interior. Rather, it seems possible that there were a number of waves of human colonization of the Americas occurring possibly over a 60,000-100,000 year period, probably using the Bering Straits as a land bridge to cross into the Americas.

F. Despite the compelling evidence from South America, it stands alone: the earliest secure human evidence yet found in die state of Oregon in North America only dates to 12,300 years BC. So this is a fierce debate that is likely to go on for many more years. However, the splendid rock art and its allied anthropology of northeast of Brazil, described here, is playing a huge and significant role in the
discussion.



Questions 27-29. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.

27. According to the first paragraph, the rock-art in Serra da Capivara may revolutionize accepted ideas about …………………….
A. the way primitive people lived in North America.
B. the date when the earliest people arrived in South America.
C. the origin of the people who crossed the Bering Straits.
D. the variety of cultures which developed in South America.

28. How did the ancient artists use the form of the rock where they painted?
A. to mimic the shape of the countryside nearby
B. to emphasize the shape of different animals
C. to give added light and shade to their paintings
D. to give the impression of distance in complex works

29. In the fourth paragraph, what does the winter say is unusual about the rock-artists of Serra da Capivara?
A. They had a very wide range of subject matter.
B. Their work often appears to be illustrating a story.
C. They tended to use a variety of styles in one painting,
D. They rarely made new paintings on top of old ones.

Questions 30-36 In boxes 30-36 on your answer sheet, write YES, if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN, if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

30. Archaeologists have completed their survey of the rock-art in Piaui.
31. The location of the rock-art suggests that the artists had a significant role in their society.
32. The paintings of animals show they were regarded as sacred by the ancient humans.
33. Some damage to paintings is most likely due to changes in the weather of the region.
34.. The fact that some paintings wore buried is useful to archaeologists.
35. The tools found near some paintings were probably used for hunting animals.
36. The North American researchers have confirmed Niede Guidons dating of the paintings.



Questions 37-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending. A-F below.
Write the correct letter A-F on your answer sheet.

37. Materials derived from plants or animals …………………
38. The discussions about the ancient hearths ……………….
39. Theories about where the first South Americans originated from………………..
40. The finds of archaeologists in Oregon …………………….
A. giving rise to a great deal of debate among anthropologists.
B. does not support the earliest dates suggested for the arrival of people in America.
C. are absent from rock-art sites In the Serra da Capivara.
D. have not been accepted by academics outside America.
E. centre on whether or not they are actually man-made.
F. reflect the advances in scientific dating methods”




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IELTS ACADEMIC READING IELTS GENERAL READING VOCABULARY COACH WRTING TASK 1 VOCAB IELTS AC WRITING TASK 1 IELTS GENERAL WRITING TASK 1 IELTS WRITING TASK 2 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 1 IELTS SPEAKING TASK 2 IELTS LISTENING TEST

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Urinary catheter insertion OET role play (model answer by Lifestyle Training Centre)

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SETTING: Hospital Ward
Model role play by LTC

SETTING: Hospital Ward
NURSE: ‘You see a 40-year-old patient who had a urinary catheter inserted following a hernia repair. He/she had the catheter removed six hours ago and you are monitoring his/her bladder function.

TASK:
§ Find out how the patient is feeling (any pain, whether passed urine, etc.).
§ Find out more details about the pain (onset, treatment tried, etc.). Explore the patient’s hydration (quantity, time of last drink, etc.).
§ Explain the purpose of the trial without catheter (e.g., ensure bladder function restored, etc.), and trial failure (no urine passed in six hours). Outline next steps (re-insert catheter, discharge with catheter bag, retrial within one week).
§ Warn the patient of possible risks of not re-inserting the catheter (e.g., urinary retention, infection, etc.).
§ Give details of catheter management (ease of emptying catheter bag, community nursing support available, etc.). Establish patient consent for catheter reinsertion.
§ Inform the patient of timescale for returning to hospital (within 1 week to remove the catheter, then repeat trial without catheter) and advise him/her to return sooner if he/she is worried (increasing pain, etc.).

Model answer

Nurse: Hi John, I am Matthew, one of the registered nurses, working in this hospital ward. How are you feeling?

Patient: I am okay nurse, thanks.

Nurse: I am glad to hear that. From your records, I understand that you underwent a hernia repair, and presently your bladder function is being monitored without the aid of a catheter. Is that correct?

Patient: Yes, that’s correct.

Nurse: Okay. Before we proceed any further, I would like to ask you a few questions for documentation purposes. Is that alright?

Patient: Yes, sure.

Nurse: Thanks. I would like to know how you are feeling overall.

Patient: I am okay.

Nurse: Do you experience any pain?

Patient: Yes, I have a little pain in my abdomen area, but it is manageable. I don’t worry about it.

Nurse: Have you passed urine after the catheter removal?

Patient: No, I haven’t.

Nurse: Okay, when exactly did the pain start?

Patient: I think it started after the catheter was removed.

Nurse: Have you taken any pain medication?

Patient: No, I haven’t.

Nurse: Okay. Now, I would like to know about your fluid intake. Have you been drinking enough water?

Patient: Yes.

Nurse: When did you last drink water?

Patient: I’ve been drinking every hour.

Nurse: How much water have you been drinking?

Patient: Two glasses each time.

Nurse: That’s good.

Patient: I was hoping to be discharged as the catheter was removed.

Nurse: I understand John. Let me explain to you what’s going on. We’ve been checking your bladder function without the help of a catheter to see if your bladder function is fully restored. Unfortunately, the trial is a failure as you’ve not passed urine in the past six hours.

Patient: Okay.

Nurse: John, I know that it might sound frustrating; however, we need to make sure that your bladder function is fully restored; therefore, we need to re-insert the catheter.

Patient: I really don’t want the catheter to be reinserted. I hate it. There must be another way.

Nurse: I totally understand it John. However, please try to understand the situation. Let me explain to you the next steps. We will re-insert the catheter and discharge you with a catheter bag. You take rest at home, and in a week’s time, we will redo the trial. We hope that by that time, everything will be functioning fully. What do you think, can we proceed with that?

Patient: Actually, I hate the idea of wearing a catheter bag. Moreover, I don’t even know how to empty the bag.

Nurse: I understand. This indeed is not a pleasant situation. However, we must consider the risks that are involved if we don’t re-insert the catheter. For example, if we do not re-insert the catheter now, in worst-case scenarios, it could lead to urinary retention, urinal infection, and so on. Therefore, I would recommend you comply with the procedure for now as to avoid further complications.

Patient: Fine, I will do it; let me just go home after you re-insert the catheter. By the way, when exactly do I have to be back to the hospital?

Nurse: Thanks, John, for your agreement in this matter. Like I mentioned earlier, within one week, let’s say in 5-6 days, you can come back to the hospital for the retrial. However, please note that you can return to the hospital sooner in case if you feel any sort of abnormal or increased pain. How does that sound?

Patient: Sounds okay to me. I will be careful and monitor my pain. I really hope to get the catheter removed as soon as possible.

Nurse: We desire the same for you, John. Do you have any other questions or doubts that you would like to ask me?

Patient: No.

Nurse: To summarize our conversation, you’re currently under a catheter trial after undergoing a hernia repair. As you were not able to pass urine even after six hours of removal of the catheter, we will discharge you after re-insertion of the catheter and redo the trial within a week. Please remember to return immediately to the hospital if you feel any sort of elevated pain. I also recommend you stay hydrated at home as it would help your bladder function. Please drink plenty of water every hour. Do you understand everything I have explained, John?

Patient: Yes, nurse.

Nurse: Wonderful. Do I have your permission to re-insert the catheter?

Patient: Yes, you may.

Nurse: Thank you, John.

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