66 The Keyless Society 27 IV 28 vii 29 Vlll 30 III 31 11 32 i 33 x 34 B 35 B 36 E 37 A 38 B 39 D 40 E 67 Educating Psyche 27 D 28 A 29 B 30 C 31 FALSE 32 FALSE 33 TRUE 34 NOT GIVEN 35 NOT GIVEN 36 TRUE 37 F 38 H 39 K 40 G 68 The People of Corn 1. YES 2. NOT GIVEN 3. YES 4. NOT GIVEN 5. NO 6. CROP 7. GENETICALLY MODIFIED 8. STANDARD OF LIVING 9. HELPED 10. MOVEMENT 69 Light pollution 1. viii 2. vii 3. vi 4. iv 5. iii 6. DETER CRIME 7. AIR 8. BLOCK LIGHT 9. EDUCATION 10. YES 11. NO 12. NOT GIVEN 13. YES 70 Urban planning in Singapore 14. Industry 15. Labour 16. Service 17. Decentralisation 18. Entertainment 19. Beautification 20. TRUE 21. FALSE 22. NOT GIVEN 23. TRUE 24. TRUE 25. NOT GIVEN 26. FALSE 71 Johnsons Dictionary 1. C 2. D. 3. G 4. clerks copying clerks 5. library 6. stability 7. pension 8. TRUE 9. FALSE 10. NOT GIVEN 11. FALSE 12. FALSE 13. TRUE 72 Bakelite The birth of modern plastics 1. Candlewax 2. Synthetic 3. Chemistry 4. Novalak 5. Fillers 6. Hexa 7. Raw 8. Pressure 9. B 10. C 11. TRUE 12. FALSE 13. FALSE 73 The Birth of Scientific English 28. Latin 29. Doctors 30. Technical Vocabulary 31. Grammatical Resources 32. Royal Society 33. German 34. Industrial Revolution 35. NOT GIVEN 36. FALSE 37. TRUE 38. Popular 39. Principia the Principia Newtons Principia mathematical treatise 40. local more local local audience 74 Nature or Nurture? 14. F 15. A 16. B 17. D 18. I 19. C 20. B 21. D 22. C 23. NOT Given 24. TRUE 25. FALSE 26. FALSE 75 The Truth about the Environment 27. YES 28. NOT GIVEN 29. NO 30. NOT GIVEN 31. YES 32. NO 33. C 34. D 35. C 36. B 37. B 38.longterm 39. right 40. urgent 76 Whats so funny? N 16. TRUE 17. FALSE 18. TRUE 19. NOT GIVEN 20. TRUE 21. problem solving 22. temporal lobes 23. evaluating information 24. C 25. A 26. F 27. D 77 A Chronicle of Timekeeping 1. D 2. B 3. F 4. E 5. B 6. F 7. D 8. A 9. (ships) anchor (an the) anchor 10. (escape) wheel 11. tooth 12. (long) pendulum 13. second 78 Air Traffic Control in the USA 14. ii 15. iii 16. v 17. iv 18. viii 19. vii 20. FALSE 21. FALSE 22. NOT GIVEN 23. TRUE 24. TRUE 25. FALSE 26. TRUE 79 Early Childhood Education 1. D,2. B ,3. C ,4. E 5. B 6. D 7. A 8. B 9. D 10. C 11. TRUE 12. FALSE 13. NOT GIVEN 80 Disappearing Delta 14. iv 15.i 16. v 17. viii 18. YES 19. NOT GIVEN 20. NO 21. YES 22. NOT GIVEN 23. YES 24. (F) pollutant 25. (A) artificial floods 26. (b) desalination 81 The Return of Artificial Intelligence 27. E 28. B 29. A 30. F 31. B 32. NOT GIVEN 33. FALSE 34. NOT GIVEN 35. TRUE 36. FALSE 37. TRUE 38. B 39. A 40. D 82 The Impact of Wilderness Tourism 1. iii 2. v 3. ii 4. YES 5. YES 6. NO 7. YES 8. NO 9. NOT GIVEN 10. cheese 11. tourist tourismtour businesses 12. pottery 13. jewelry jewellry 83 Flawed Beauty: the problem with toughened glass 14. G 15. A 16. H 17. C 18. sharp 19. unexpectedly 20. quickly 21. contracts 22. warm 23. disputed 24. TRUE 25. NOT GIVEN 26. FALSE 84 The effects of light on plant and animal species 27. TRUE 28. TRUE 29. NOT GIVEN 30. FALSE 31. FALSE 32. TRUE 33. FALSE 34. temperatures 35. dayneutraldayneutral plants 36. foodfood resourcesadequate food resources 37. insectsfertilization by insects 38. rainfallsuitable rainfall 39. sugarcane 40. classification 85 What Do Whales Feel? 15. taste buds 16. baleen the baleen whales 17. forward , downward 18. freshwater dolphin(s) the freshwater dolphin(s) 19. water the water 20. lower frequencies the lower frequencies 21. bowhead, humpback 22. touch sense of touch 23. freshwater dolphin(s) the freshwater dolphin(s) 24. airborne flying fish 25. clear water(s) clear open water(s) 26. acoustic sense the acoustic sense 87 Networking 1. YES 2. NO 3. YES 4. YES 5. NOT GIVEN 6. brings success 7. (very) insecurejealousenvious 8. block 9. companies and enterprises 10. cooperation and contacts 11. (the) academic world 12. (the) stereotypical academic 13. Cambridge around Cambridge Cambridge in England 14. Homo Sapiens 15. culture 88 Australias Sporting Success 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. F 5. D 6. A 7. E 8. A 9. B 10. A 11. C 12. (a) competition model 13. (by) 2 per cent 89 Ancient Egypt 1. conditions 2. craftsmen and artists artists and craftsmen 3. a secure livelihood 4. (the) Grand Gallery 5. 481 feet 6. (the) Queens Chamber 7. (the) air channel(s) 8. FALSE 9. NOT GIVEN 10. TRUE 11. TRUE 12. FALSE 13. D 90 Delivering the Goods 14. I 15. F 16. E 17. D 18. TRUE 19. FALSE 20. NOT GIVEN 21. TRUE 22. NOT GIVEN 23. trade 24. components 25. container ships 26. tariffs 91 Variations on a theme: the sonnet form in English poetry 28. v 29. vii 30. iv 31. xiii 32. vi 33. contemporaries 34. sonnetlittle song 35. Petrarch 36. fourteen linesoctave and sestet 37. more 38. C 39. C 40. D 92 Try It and See 27. vii 28. v 29. ix 30. i 31. iv 32. iii 33. reoffending 34. sentencing 35. victim 36. restorative justice 37. A 38. C 39. D 40. B 93 EVA HESSE Three Pieces Plus 31. No 32. NOT GIVEN 33. NOT GIVEN 34. NOT GIVEN 35. YES 36. NOT GIVEN 37. A 38. B 39. D 40. A 94 Adam’s Wine 1. x 2. i 3. v 4. iii 5. viii 6. ii 7. xiii 8. iv 9. D 10. A 11. D 12. C 13. C 14. C 15. B 95 Advantages of public transport 1. ii 2. vii 3. iv 4. i 5. iii 6. FALSE 7. TRUE 8. NOT GIVEN 9. FALSE 10. TRUE 11. F 12. D 13. C 96 Making Time for Science 1. FALSE 2. TRUE 3. NOT GIVEN 4. FALSE 5. TRUE 6. FALSE 7. TRUE 8. C 9. C 10. B 11. A 12. D 13. C 97 The Triune Brain 14. C 15. A 16. B 17. B 18. C 19. A 20. C 21. B 22. A 23. brain dead 24. sociopathic behaviour 25. neocortex 26. animal propensities 98 Helium’s Future Up In The Air 27. C 28. D 29. B 30. E 31. A 32. Yes 33. Not given 34. Not given 35. No 36. prudent practice 37. privatisation policy 38. incentives 39. permit 40. regulatory agency 99 Investigating Children’s Language 1. C 2. H 3. B 4. C 5. E 6. TRUE 7. TRUE 8. FALSE 9. NOT GIVEN 10. acoustic quality 11. research centre center 12. experimental psychology 13. (relevant) task 14. statistical analysis 100 Finding the Lost Freedom 1. F 2. T 3. NI 4. F 5. F 6. B 7. B A 8. G 9. vii 10. iii 11. vi 12. ix 13. ii 14. G 101 Air Rage 1. ii 2. viii 3. xiii 4. xi 5. vi 6. i 7. ix 8. iv 9. F 10. NG 11. T 12. T 13. NG 14. F 102 Wind Power 1.D; 2. D; 3. Diminished; 4. Nuclear; 5. Locals; 6. television signals;7. Danish Farm Denmark; 8. BR; 9. N; 10. US ; 11. IRE;12. D; 13.B.
IELTS Academic Reading Sample 66 - The Keyless Society You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 66 on the following pages Questions 27-33 Reading Passage has eight paragraphs ( A-H) Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B-H from the list of headings below Write the appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 27-33 on your answer sheet NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them List of Headings i Common objections ii Who's planning what iii This type sells best in the shops iv The figures say it all v Early trials vi They can't get in without these vii How does it work? viii Fighting fraud ix Systems to avoid x Accepting the inevitable Example Paragraph A 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Answer vi Paragraph B Paragraph C Paragraph D Paragraph E Paragraph F Paragraph G Paragraph H THE KEYLESS SOCIETY A Students who want to enter the University of Montreal's Athletic Complex need more than just a conventional ID card - their identities must be authenticated by an electronic hand scanner In some California housing estates, a key alone is insufficient to get someone in the door; his or her /Voiceprinfmust also be verified And soon, customers at some Japanese banks will have to present their faces for scanning before they can enter the building and withdraw their money B All of these are applications of biometrics, a little-known but fast-growing technology that involves the use of physical or biological characteristics to identify individuals In use for more than a decade at some high-security government institutions in the United States and Canada, biometrics are now rapidly popping up in the everyday world Already, more than 10,000 facilities, from prisons to day-care centres, monitor people's fingerprints or other physical parts to ensure that they are who they claim to be Some 60 biometric companies around the world pulled in at least $22 million last year and that grand total is expected to mushroom to at least $50 million by 1999 C Biometric security systems operate by storing a digitised record of some unique human feature When an authorised user wishes to enter or use the facility, the system scans the person's corresponding characteristics and attempts to match them against those on record Systems using fingerprints, hands, voices, irises, retinas and faces are already on the market Others using typing patterns and even body odours are in various stages of development D Fingerprint scanners are currently the most widely deployed type of biometric application, thanks to their growing use over the last 20 years by law-enforcement agencies Sixteen American states now use biometric fingerprint verification systems to check that people claiming welfare payments are genuine In June, politicians in Toronto voted to the same, with a pilot project beginning next year E To date, the most widely used commercial biometric system is the handkey, a type of hand scanner which reads the unique shape, size and irregularities of people's hands Originally developed for nuclear power plants, the handkey received its big break when it was used to control access to the Olympic Village in Atlanta by more than 65,000 athletes, trainers and support staff Now there are scores of other applications F Around the world, the market is growing rapidly Malaysia, for example, is preparing to equip all of its airports with biometric face scanners to match passengers with luggage And Japan's largest maker of cash dispensers is developing new machines that incorporate iris scanner~ The first commercial biometric, a hand reader used by an American firm to monitor employee attendance, was introduced in 1974 But only in the past few years has the technology improved enough for the prices to drop sufficiently to make them commercially viable 'When we started four years ago, I had to explain to everyone what a biometric is,' says one marketing expert 'Now, there's much more awareness out there.' G Not surprisingly, biometrics raise thorny questions about privacy and the potential for abuse Some worry that governments and industry will be tempted to use the technology to monitor individual behaviour 'If someone used your fingerprints to match your health-insurance records with a credit-card record showing you regularly bought lots of cigarettes and fatty foods,' says one policy analyst, 'you would see your insurance payments go through the roof.' In Toronto, critics of the welfare fingerprint plan complained that it would stigmatise recipients by forcing them to submit to a procedure widely identified with criminals H Nonetheless, support for biometrics is growing in Toronto as it is in many other communities In an increasingly crowded and complicated world, biometrics may well be a technology whose time has come Questions 34-40 Look at the following groups of people (Questions 34-40) and the list of blol]1etric systems (A-F) below Match the groups of people to the biometric system associated with them in Reading Passage Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 34-40 on your answer sheet NB You may use any biometric system more than once 34 sports students 35 Olympic athletes 36 airline passengers 37 welfare claimants 38 business employees 39 home owners 40 bank customers Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: 27 IV 32 i 28 vii 33 x 29 Vlll 34 B 30 III 35 B 31 11 36 E IELTS Academic Reading Sample 67 - Educating Psyche 37 A 38 B 39 D 40 E You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27- 40, which are based on Reading Passage below EDUCATING PSYCHE Educating Psyche by Bernie Neville is a book which looks at radical new approaches to learning, describing the effects of emotion, imagination and the unconscious on learning One the theory discussed in the book is that proposed by George Lozanov, which focuses on the power of suggestion Lozanov's instructional technique is based on the evidence that the connections made in the brain through unconscious processing (which he calls non-specific mental reactivity) are more durable than those mad through conscious processing Besides the laboratory evidence for this, we know from our experience that we often remember what we have perceived peripherally, long after we have forgotten what we set out to learn if we think of a book we studied months or years ago, we will find it easier to recall peripheral details The colour, the binding, the typeface, the table at the library where we sat while studying it than the content on which were concentrating If we think of a lecture we listened to with great concentration, we will recall the lecturer's appearance and mannerisms, our place in the auditorium, the failure of the air-conditioning, much more easily than the ideas we went to learn Even if these peripheral details are a bit elusive, they come back readily in hypnosis or when we relive the event imaginatively, as in psychodrama The details of the content of the lecture, on the other hand, seem to have gone forever This phenomenon can be partly attributed to the common counterproductive approach to study (making extreme efforts to memorize, tensing muscles, inducing fatigue), but it also simply reflects the way the brain functions Lozanov, therefore, made indirect instruction (suggestion) central to his teaching system In suggestopedia, as he called his method, consciousness is shifted away from the curriculum to focus on something peripheral The curriculum then becomes peripheral and is delta with by the reserve capacity of the brain The suggestopedic approach to foreign language learning provides a good illustration In its most recent variant (1980), it consists of the reading of vocabulary and text while the class is listening to music The first session is in two parts In the first part, the music is classical (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms) and the teacher reads the text slowly and solemnly, with attention to the dynamics of the music The students follow the text in their books This is followed by several minutes of silence In the second part, they listen to baroque music (Bach, Corelli, Handel) while the teacher reads the text in a normal speaking voice During this time they have their books closed During the whole of this session, their attention is passive; they listen to the music but make no attempt to learn the material Beforehand, the students have been carefully prepared for the language learning experience Through meeting with the staff and satisfied students they develop an expectation that learning will be easy and pleasant and that they will successfully learn several hundred words of the foreign language during the class In a preliminary talk, the teacher introduces them to the material to be covered but does not 'teach' it Likewise, the students are instructed not to try to learn it during this introduction Some hours after the two-part session, there is a follow-up class at which the students are stimulated to recall the material presented Once again the approach is indirect The students not focus their attention on trying to remember the vocabulary but focus on using the language to communicate (e.g through games or improvised dramatizations) Such methods are not unusual in language teaching What is distinctive in the suggestopedic method is that they are devoted entirely to assisting recall The 'learning' of the material is assumed to be automatic and effortless, accomplished while listening to music The teacher's task is to assist the students to apply what they have learned paraconsciously, and in doing so to make it easily accessible to consciousness Another difference from conventional teaching is the evidence that students can regularly learn 1000 new words of foreign language during a suggestopedic session, as well as grammar and idiom Lozanov experimented with teaching by direct suggestion during sleep, hpynossis and trance stages, but found such procedure unnecessary Hypnosis, Yoga, Silva mind-control, religious ceremonies and faith healing are all associated with successful suggestion, but none of their techniques seems to be essential to it Such rituals may be seen as placebos Lozanov acknowledges that the ritual surrounding suggestion in his own system is also a placebo, but maintains that with such a placebo people are unable to or afraid to tap the reserve capacity of their brains Like any placebo, it must be dispensed with authority to be effective Just as a doctor calls on the full power of autocratic suggestion by insisting that patient takes precisely this white capsule precisely three times a day before meals, Lozanov is categoric in insisting that suggestopedic session be conducted exactly in that manner designated, by trained and accredited suggestopedic teachers White suggestopedia has gained some notoriety through success in the teaching of modern languages, few teachers are able to emulate the spectacular results of Lozanov and his associates We can, perhaps, attribute mediocre results to and inadequate placebo effect The students have not developed the appropriate mindset They are often not motivated to learn through this method They not have enough 'faith' They not see it as 'real teaching', especially as it does not seem to involve the 'work' they have learned to believe is essential to learning 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 The book Educating Psyche is mainly concerned with A the power of suggestion in learninng B a particular technique for leaning based on emotions C the effects of emotion on the imagination and the unconscious D ways of learning which are not traditional 28 Lozanov's theory claims that then we try to remember things, A unimportant details are the easiest to recall B concentrating hard produces the best results C the most significant facts are most easily recalled D peripheral vision is not important 29 In this passage, the author uses the examples of a book and a lecture to illustrate that A both these are important for developing concentration B his theory about methods of learning is valid C reading is a better technique for learning than listening D we can remember things more easily under hypnosis 30 Lozanov claims that teachers should train students to A memorise details of the curriculum B develop their own sets of indirect instructions C think about something other than the curriculum content D avoid overloading the capacity of the brain Questions 31-36 Do the following statement agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 31-36 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 31 In the example of suggestopedic teaching in the fourth paragraph, the only variable that changes is the music 32 Prior to the suggestopedia class, students are made aware that the language experience will be demanding 33 In the follow-up class, the teaching activities are similar to those used in conventional classes 34 As an indirect benefit, students notice improvements in their memory 35 Teachers say they prefer suggestopedia to traditional approaches to language teaching 36 Students in a suggestopedia class retain more new vocabulary than those in ordinary classes Questions 37-40 Complete the summary using the list of words, A - K, below Write the correct letter A -K in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet Sugestopedia uses a less direct method of suggestion than other techniques such as hypnosis However, Lozanov admits that a certain amount of 37 is necessary in order to convince students, even if this is just a 38 Furthermore, if the method is to succeed, teachers must follow a set procedure Although Lozanov's method has become quite 39 , the result of most other teachers using this method have been 40 A spectacular B teaching C lesson D authoritarian E unpopular F ritual G unspectacular H placebo I involved J appropriate K well known Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: 27 D 32 FALSE 28 A 33 TRUE 29 B 34 NOT GIVEN 30 C 35 NOT GIVEN 31 FALSE 36 TRUE IELTS Academic Reading Sample 68 - The People of Corn 37 F 38 H 39 K 40 G The People of Corn Maize is Mexico’s lifeblood – the country’s history and identity are entwined with it But this centuries-old relationship is now threatened by free trade Laura Carlsen investigates the threat and profiles a growing activist movement On a mountain top in southern Mexico, Indian families gather They chant and sprinkle cornmeal in consecration, praying for the success of their new crops, the unity of their communities and the health of their families In this village in Oaxaca people eat corn tamales, sow maize plots and teach children to care for the plant The cultural rhythms of this community, its labours, rituals and celebrations will be defined – as they have been for millennia – by the lifecycle of corn Indeed, if it weren’t for the domestication of teocintle (the ancestor of modern maize) 9,000 years ago mesoamerican civilization could never have developed In the Mayan sacred book, the Popol Vuh, the gods create people out of cornmeal The ‘people of corn’ flourished and built one of the most remarkable cultures in human history But in Mexico and Central America today maize has come under attack As a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Mexico has been flooded with imported corn from north of the border in the US The contamination of native varieties with genetically modified imported maize could have major consequences for Mexican campesinos (farmers), for local biodiversity and for the world’s genetic reserves A decade ago Mexican bureaucrats and business people had it all figured out NAFTA would drive ‘uncompetitive’ maize farmers from the countryside to work in booming assembly factories across the country Their standard of living would rise as the cost of providing services like electricity and water to scattered rural communities would fall Best of all, cheap imported maize from the US – the world’s most efficient and most heavily subsidized producer – would be a benefit to Mexican consumers Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way There weren’t quite enough of those factory jobs and the ones that did materialize continued to be along the US border, not further in Mexico And despite a huge drop in the price farmers received for their corn, consumers often ended up paying more The price of tortillas – the country’s staple food – rose nearly fivefold as the Government stopped domestic subsidies and giant agribusiness firms took over the market Free trade defenders like Mexico’s former Under-Secretary of Agriculture Luis Tellez suggest: ‘It’s not that NAFTA failed, it’s just that reality didn’t turn out the way we planned it.’ Part of that reality was that the Government did nothing to help campesinos in the supposed transition Nor did NAFTA recognize inequalities or create compensation funds to help the victims of free trade – unlike what occurred with economic integration in the European Union Basically, Mexico adopted a sink-or-swim policy for small farmers, opening the floodgates to tons of imported US corn Maize imports tripled under NAFTA and producer prices fell by half The drop in income immediately hit the most vulnerable and poorest members of rural society While more than a third of the corn grown by small farmers is used to feed their families, the rest is sold on local markets Without this critical cash, rural living standards plunged Maize is at the heart of indigenous and campesino identity José Carrillo de la Cruz, a Huichol Indian from northern Jalisco, describes that relationship: ‘Corn is the force, the life and the strength of the Huichol If there were a change, if someone from outside patented our corn, it would end our life and existence.’ The good news is that the free-trade threat to Mexico’s culture and food security has sparked a lively resistance ‘In Defence of Corn’, a movement to protect local maize varieties, is not a membership organization but a series of forums and actions led by campesinos themselves It’s a direct challenge to both free trade and the dictums of corporate science The farmers’ tenacity and refusal to abandon the crop of their ancestors is impressive But larger economic conditions continue to shape their lives Rural poverty and hunger have soared under free trade – and placed a heavier burden on women left to work the land The battle for food sovereignty continues Movement leaders insist that the Government reassess its free trade policies and develop a real rural development programme Questions 1-5 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 68? In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write YES if the statement agrees with the information NO if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this After NAFTA, a lot of corn from the USA has been sold in Mexico Following NAFTA, Mexican business people tried to stop maize farmers from working in factories throughout the country The Mexican farmers were paid a lot less for their corn after NAFTA Many Mexican farmers wanted to leave Mexico after the Free Trade Agreement The Mexican farmers were not able to anything to help themselves after the Trade Agreement Questions 6-10 Complete the summary below Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet For thousands of years, corn has been a very important in the Mexican culture After the North American Free Trade Agreement, corn has been imported from the USA in very large amounts Mexican business people hoped that this would mean that Mexican farmers had to get jobs in factories and that their would increase Instead of this result, the farmers suffered from the low price of corn and people had to pay more for their corn The farmers wish that the government had them during this time As a result of the hardship, the farmers have organised themselves by forming a 10 Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: YES NOT GIVEN YES NOT GIVEN NO CROP GENETICALLY MODIFIED STANDARD OF LIVING HELPED 10 MOVEMENT IELTS Academic Reading Sample 69 - Light pollution Light pollution Light Pollution is a threat to Wildlife, Safety and the Starry Sky A After hours of driving south in the pitch-black darkness of the Nevada desert, a dome of hazy gold suddenly appears on the horizon Soon, a road sign confirms the obvious: Las Vegas 30 miles Looking skyward, you notice that the Big Dipper is harder to find than it was an hour ago B Light pollution—the artificial light that illuminates more than its intended target area—has become a problem of increasing concern across the country over the past 15 years In the suburbs, where over-lit shopping mall parking lots are the norm, only 200 of the Milky Way’s 2,500 stars are visible on a clear night Even fewer can be seen from large cities In almost every town, big and small, street lights beam just as much light up and out as they down, illuminating much more than just the street Almost 50 percent of the light emanating from street lamps misses its intended target, and billboards, shopping centers, private homes and skyscrapers are similarly over-illuminated C America has become so bright that in a satellite image of the United States at night, the outline of the country is visible from its lights alone The major cities are all there, in bright clusters: New York, Boston, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago - and, of course, Las Vegas Mark Adams, superintendent of the McDonald Observatory in west Texas, says that the very fact that city lights are visible from on high is proof of their wastefulness “When you’re up in an airplane, all that light you see on the ground from the city is wasted It’s going up into the night sky That’s why you can see it.” some users, such as hospitals, tend to recycle diligently while others, such as NASA, squander massive amounts of helium Lastly, research into alternatives to helium must begin in earnest Questions 27–31 Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A–F Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 27–31 on your answer sheet 27 a use for helium which makes an activity safer 28 the possibility of creating an alternative to helium 29 a term which describes the process of how helium is taken out of the ground 30 a reason why users of helium not make efforts to conserve it 31 a contrast between helium’s chemical properties and how non-scientists think about it Questions 32–35 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 98? In boxes 32–35 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 32 Helium chooses to be on its own 33 Helium is a very cold substance 34 High-tech industries in Asia use more helium than laboratories and manufacturers in other parts of the world 35 The US Congress understood the possible consequences of the HPA Questions 36–40 Complete the summary below Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 36–40 on your answer sheet Sobotka argues that big business and users of helium need to help look after helium stocks because 36 ……………… will not be encouraged through buying and selling alone Richardson believes that the 37 ……………… needs to be withdrawn, as the U.S provides most of the world’s helium He argues that higher costs would mean people have 38 ……………… to use the resource many times over People should need a 39 ……………… to access helium that we still have Furthermore, a 40 ……………… should ensure that helium is used carefully Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: 27 C 32 Yes 37 privatisation policy 28 D 33 Not given 38 incentives 29 B 34 Not given 39 permit 30 E 35 No 40 regulatory agency 31 A 36 prudent practice IELTS Academic Reading Sample 99 - Investigating Children’s Language Investigating Children’s Language A For over 200 years, there has been an interest in the way children learn to speak and understand their first language Scholars carried out several small-scale studies, especially towards the end of the 19th century, using data they recorded in parental diaries But detailed, systematic investigation did not begin until the middle decades of the 20th century when the tape recorder came into routine use This made it possible to keep a permanent record of samples of child speech so that analysts could listen repeatedly to obscure extracts, and thus produce a detailed and accurate description Since then, the subject has attracted enormous multidisciplinary interest, notably from linguists and psychologists, who have used a variety of observational and experimental techniques to study the process of language acquisition in depth B Central to the success of this rapidly emerging field lies the ability of researchers to devise satisfactory methods for eliciting linguistic data from children The problems that have to be faced are quite different from those encountered when working with adults Many of the linguist’s routine techniques of enquiry cannot be used with children It is not possible to carry out certain kinds of experiments, because aspects of children’s cognitive development – such as their ability to pay attention or to remember instructions – may not be sufficiently advanced Nor is it easy to get children to make systematic judgments about language, a task that is virtually impossible below the age of three And anyone who has tried to obtain even the most basic kind of data – a tape recording of a representative sample of a child’s speech – knows how frustrating this can be Some children, it seems, are innately programmed to switch off as soon as they notice a tape recorder being switched on C Since the 1960s, however, several sophisticated recording techniques and experimental designs have been devised Children can be observed and recorded through one-way-vision windows or using radio microphones so that the effects of having an investigator in the same room as the child can be eliminated Large-scale sampling programmes have been carried out, with children sometimes being recorded for several years Particular attention has been paid to devising experimental techniques that fall well within a child’s intellectual level and social experience Even pre-linguistic infants have been brought into the research: acoustic techniques are used to analyse their vocalisations, and their ability to perceive the world around them is monitored using special recording equipment The result has been a growing body of reliable data on the stages of language acquisition from birth until puberty D There is no single way of studying children’s language Linguistics and psychology have each brought their own approach to the subject, and many variations have been introduced to cope with the variety of activities in which children engage, and the great age range that they present Two main research paradigms are found E One of these is known as ‘naturalistic sampling’ A sample of a child’s spontaneous use of language is recorded in familiar and comfortable surroundings One of the best places to make the recording is in the child’s own home, but it is not always easy to maintain good acoustic quality, and the presence of the researcher or the recording equipment can be a distraction (especially if the proceedings are being filmed) Alternatively, the recording can be made in a research centre, where the child is allowed to play freely with toys while talking to parents or other children, and the observers and their equipment are unobtrusive F A good quality, representative, naturalistic sample is generally considered an ideal datum for child language study However, the method has several limitations These samples are informative about speech production, but they give little guidance about children’s comprehension of what they hear around them Moreover, samples cannot contain everything, and they can easily miss some important features of a child’s linguistic ability They may also not provide enough instances of a developing feature to enable the analyst to make a decision about the way the child is learning For such reasons, the description of samples of child speech has to be supplemented by other methods G The other main approach is through experimentation, and the methods of experimental psychology have been widely applied to child language research The investigator formulates a specific hypothesis about children’s ability to use or understand an aspect of language and devises a relevant task for a group of subjects to undertake A statistical analysis is made of the subjects’ behaviour, and the results provide evidence that supports or falsifies the original hypothesis H Using this approach, as well as other methods of controlled observation, researchers have come up with many detailed findings about the production and comprehension of groups of children However, it is not easy to generalise the findings of these studies What may obtain in a carefully controlled setting may not apply in the rush of daily interaction Different kinds of subjects, experimental situations, and statistical procedures may produce different results or interpretations Experimental research is, therefore, a slow, painstaking business; it may take years before researchers are convinced that all variables have been considered and a finding is genuine Questions 1-5 Reading Passage 99 has eight paragraphs, A-H Which paragraphs contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet NB You may use any letter more than once the possibility of carrying out research on children before they start talking the difficulties in deducing theories from systematic experiments the differences between analysing children’s and adults’ language the ability to record children without them seeing the researcher the drawbacks of recording children in an environment they know Questions 6-9 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 99? In boxes 6-9 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 In the 19th century, researchers studied their own children’s language Attempts to elicit very young children’s opinions about language are likely to fail Radio microphones are used because they enable researchers to communicate with a number of children in different rooms Many children enjoy the interaction with the researcher Question 10-14 Complete the summary below Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet Ways of investigating children’s language One method of carrying out research is to record children’s spontaneous language use This can be done in their homes, where, however, it may be difficult to ensure that the recording is of acceptable 10 Another venue which is often used is a 11 , where the researcher can avoid distracting the child A drawback of this method is that it does not allow children to demonstrate their comprehension An alternative approach is to use methodology from the field of 12 In this case, a number of children are asked to carry out a 13 , and the results are subjected to a 14 Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: C H B C E TRUE TRUE FALSE NOT GIVEN 10 acoustic quality 11 research centre/ center 12 experimental psychology 13 (relevant) task 14 statistical analysis IELTS Academic Reading Sample 100 - Finding the Lost Freedom You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on Questions - 14 which refer to Reading Passage 100 below FINDING THE LOST FREEDOM The private car is assumed to have widened our horizons and increased our mobility When we consider our children's mobility, they can be driven to more places (and more distant places) than they could visit without access to a motor vehicle However, allowing our cities to be dominated by cars has progressively eroded children's independent mobility Children have lost much of their freedom to explore their own neighbourhood or city without adult supervision In recent surveys, when parents in some cities were asked about their own childhood experiences, the majority remembered having more, or far more, opportunities for going out on their own, compared with their own children today They had more freedom to explore their own environment Children's independent access to their local streets may be important for their own personal, mental and psychological development Allowing them to get to know their own neighbourhood and community gives them a 'sense of place' This depends on active exploration', which is not provided for when children are passengers in cars (Such children may see more, but they learn less.) Not only is it important that children be able to get to local play areas by themselves, but walking and cycling journeys to school and to other destinations provide genuine play activities in themselves There are very significant time and money costs for parents associated with transporting their children to school, sport and to other locations Research in the United Kingdom estimated that this cost, in 1990, was between 10 billion and 20 billion pounds The reduction in children's freedom may also contribute to a weakening of the sense of local community As fewer children and adults use the streets as pedestrians, these streets become less sociable places There is less opportunity for children and adults to have the spontaneous of the community This in itself may exacerbate fears associated with assault and molestation of children, because there are fewer adults available who know their neighbours' children, and who can look out for their safety The extra traffic involved in transporting children results in increased traffic congestion, pollution and accident risk As our roads become more dangerous, more parents drive their children to more places, thus contributing to increased levels of danger for the remaining pedestrians Anyone who has experienced either the reduced volume of traffic in peak hour during school holidays, or the traffic jams near schools at the end of a school day, will not need convincing about these points Thus, there are also important environmental implications of children's loss of freedom As individuals, parents strive to provide the best upbringing they can for their children However, in doing so, (e.g by driving their children to sport, school or recreation) parents may be contributing to a more dangerous environment for children generally The idea that 'streets are for cars and backyards and playgrounds are for children' is a strongly held belief, and parents have little choice as individuals but to keep their children off the streets if they want to protect their safety In many parts of Dutch cities, and some traffic calmed precincts in Germany, residential streets are now places where cars must give way to pedestrians In these areas, residents are accepting the view that the function of streets is not solely to provide mobility for cars Streets may also be for social interaction, walking, cycling and playing One of the most important aspects of these European cities, in terms of giving cities back to children, has been a range of 'traffic calming' initiatives, aimed at reducing the volume and speed of traffic These initiatives have had complex interactive effects, leading to a sense that children have been able to 'recapture' their local neighbourhood, and more importantly, that they have been able to this in safety Recent research has demonstrated that children in many German cities have significantly higher levels of freedom to travel to places in their own neighbourhood or city than children in other cities in the world Modifying cities in order to enhance children's freedom will not only benefit children Such cities will become more environmentally sustainable, as well as more sociable and more livable for all city residents Perhaps it will be our concern for our children's welfare that convinces us that we need to challenge the dominance of the car in our cities Questions - Read statements 1-5 which relate to Paragraphs 1, 2, and of the reading passage Answer T if the statement is true, F if the statement is false, or NI if there is no information given in the passage Write your answers in the spaces numbered 1-5 on the answer sheet One has been done for you as an example Example: The private car has made people more mobile Answer: T The private car has helped children have more opportunities to learn Children are more independent today than they used to be Walking and cycling to school allows children to learn more Children usually walk or cycle to school Parents save time and money by driving children to school Questions 6-9 In Paragraphs and 5, there are FOUR problems stated These problems, numbered as questions 6-9, are listed below Each of these problems has a cause, listed A - G Find the correct cause for each of the problems Write the corresponding letter A -G, in the spaces numbered - on the answer sheet One has been done for you as an example There are more causes than problems so you will not use all of them and you may use any cause more than once Problem Example: low sense of community feeling streets become less sociable fewer chances for meeting friends fears of danger for children higher accident risk Causes Answer: F A few adults know local children B fewer people use the streets C increased pollution D streets are less friendly E less traffic in school holidays F reduced freedom for children G more children driven to school Questions 10-14 Questions 10 -14 are statement beginnings which represent information given in Paragraphs 6, and In the box below, there are some statement endings numbered i-x Choose the correct ending for each statement Write your answers i - x, in the spaces numbered 10 - 14 on the answer sheet One has been done for you as an example There are more statement endings than you will need Example: By driving their children to school, parents help create Answer: i 10 Children should play 11 In some German towns, pedestrians have right of way 12 Streets should also be used for 13 Reducing the amount of traffic and the speed is 14 All people who live in the city will benefit if cities are List of statement endings i a dangerous environment ii modified iii on residential streets iv modifying cities v neighbourhoods vi socialising vii in backyards viii for cars ix traffic calming x residential Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: F T NI F F B B / A G vii 10 iii 11 vi 12 ix 13 ii 14 G IELTS Academic Reading Sample 101 - Air Rage Air Rage (A) The first recorded case of an airline passenger turning seriously violent during a flight, a phenomenon now widely known as “air rage”, happened in 1947 on a flight from Havana to Miami A drunk man assaulted another passenger and bit a flight attendant However, the man escaped punishment because it was not then clear under whose legal control a crime committed on plane was, the country where the plane was registered or the country where the crime was committed In 1963, at the Tokyo convention, it was decided that the laws of the country where the plane is registered take precedence (B) The frequency of air rage has expanded out of proportion to the growth of air travel Until recently few statistics were gathered about air rage, but those that have been indicated that passengers are increasingly likely to cause trouble or engage in violent acts For example, in 1998 there were 266 air rage incidents out of approximately four million passengers, a 400% increase from 1995 In the same period, American Airlines showed a 200% rise Air travel is predicted to rise by 5% internationally by 2010 leading to increased airport congestion This, coupled with the flying public’s increased aggression, means that air rage may become a major issue in coming years (C) Aside from discomfort and disruption, air rage poses some very real dangers to flying The most extreme of these is when out of control passengers enter the cockpit This has actually happened on a number of occasions, the worst of which have resulted in the death and injury of pilots or the intruder taking control of the plane, almost resulting in crashes In addition, berserk passengers sometimes attempt to open the emergency doors while in flight, putting the whole aircraft in danger These are extreme examples and cases of air rage more commonly result in physical assaults on fellow passengers and crew such as throwing objects, punching, stabbing or scalding with hot coffee (D) The causes of air rage are not known for certain, but it is generally thought that factors include: passenger behavior and personality, the physical environment and changes in society A recent study has identified the issues that start the incidents to be as follows Alcohol 25% Seating 16% Smoking 10% Carry on luggage 9% Flight attendants 8% Food 5% (E) One of the major causes seems to be the passenger’s behavior or their personality Fear of flying and the feeling of powerlessness associated with flying can lead to irritable or aggressive passengers Also, alcohol consumed on a plane pressurized to 8000ft affects the drinker more quickly and the effects are stronger Many people not take account of this and drinking may increase any negative reaction to the flying environment they have, which, combined with the lowering of their inhibitions, may cause air rage Smoking withdrawal, which some liken in severity to opiate withdrawal, is another major cause of air rage incidents Passengers caught smoking in the toilets occasionally assault flight attendants and have been known to start fires When conflicts occur in these conditions, they can escalate into major incidents if the passenger has a violent personality or a fear of flying and because of the enclosed nature of a plane offers no option of retreat as would be natural in a “fight or flight” reaction (F) Some people feel that the physical environment of a plane can lead to air rage Seats on most airlines have become smaller in recent years as airlines try to increase profits This leads to uncomfortable and irritated passengers Also, space for carry on luggage is often very small Because up to 8% of checked-in luggage is lost, misdirected or stolen, passengers have been trying to fit larger carry on items into these small storage areas and this can lead to disputes that can escalate into air rage Airlines could also be to blame by raising passengers’ expectations too high with their marketing and advertising Many air rage incidents start when disappointed passengers demand to be reseated Finally, there is some evidence to show that low oxygen levels can raise aggression level and make people feel more desperate Airlines have lowered oxygen levels to save money Now the level of oxygen in the air that the pilots breathe is ten times higher than in cabin class (G) Another reason that has been suggested is that society is getting ruder and less patient The increased congestion at airports, longer queues and increased delays have only added to this In addition, some air rage incidents have been linked to the demanding nature of high achieving business people, who not like people telling them what to and resent the power that the cabin staff have over them For them, a flight attendant is a waiter or waitress who should what the passenger wants (H) The strongest calls for action to control air rage have come from pilots and aircrew The International Transport Workers’ Federation argues that there are too many loopholes that let people escape punishment and that the penalties are too light They want to notify all passengers of the penalties for air rage before taking off, rather than after the passenger begins to cause serious problems, when it may be too late The Civil Aviation Organisation has been organizing international cooperation and penalties have increased in recent years The most severe punishment so far has been a 51-month jail sentence, a fine to pay for the jet fuel used and 200 hours community service for a man who attempted to enter the cockpit and to open the emergency door of a domestic US flight (I) Various other measures are being used to control air rage Aircrews are getting training on how to calm passengers and how to predict where incidents might result in air rage and take action to prevent this Other measures include strengthening doors to stop people entering the cockpit, training crew in the use of plastic restraints to tie down unruly passengers and having pilots divert their planes if passengers cause problems Banning passengers who are guilty of air rage from flying has also been tried to a lesser extent Questions – The IELTS reading sample passage has nine paragraphs A – I From the list below choose the most suitable headings for B – I Write the appropriate number (i – xiv) beside in boxes – on your answer sheet NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you not have to use them all List of headings i The traveler’s character ii Disproportionate growth iii Pilots and aircrew iv Additional action v Smaller seats vi Uncomfortable aeroplanes vii Origins viii A major threat ix Demands for change x Business people xi The roots of the problem xii The pace of life xiii Links to the surroundings xiv Personal experience Example: Paragraph A Answer: vii Questions – 14 Do the following statements agree with the information in the above reading sample text? Mark them as follows: T if the statement agrees with the information in the text F if the statement does not agree with the information in the text NG if there is no information on this in the text In the first case of air rage, the man was not punished because the plane was not registered 10 The statistics on air rage were collected by private monitoring groups 11 The second most common catalyst for incidents is problems with seating 12 The environment in a plane makes disagreements more likely to become serious problems 13 Airlines have been encouraging passengers to bring more items onboard as carry-on luggage 14 It has been impossible to ban passengers with histories of air-rage Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: ii viii xiii xi vi i ix iv F 10 NG 11 T 12 T 13 NG 14 F IELTS Academic Reading Sample 102 - Wind Power Wind Power The power of the wind has been used for centuries to directly drive various machines to perform such tasks as grinding wheat or pumping water Recently, however, the wind has joined other natural forces such as water and steam as a viable method of generating electricity Traditional means of electricity generation using coal or oil-fueled plants have two major drawbacks; they pollute the environment and the fuels they use are inefficient and non-renewable In response to growing environmental awareness, there have been calls for a greener alternative Nuclear power, while more efficient and less polluting, is seen by many people as unacceptable, because of the danger of accidents such as those that happened at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island Wind power, however, is clean, renewable and, with modern advances, surprisingly efficient In the 1970s Britain was in the forefront of research into wind power The interest in wind diminished in the 1980s due to cheap North Sea oil, a strong pro-nuclear lobby and pricing structures that made it uneconomical to set up wind farms Britain, the windiest country in Europe, had to wait until 1991 for its first wind farm Located at Delabole in Cornwall, the farm was originally the idea of locals who opposed the construction of a nuclear power plant nearby and decided to set up a private company to generate power for the area using the wind They had to fight opposition from local government and other local residents, who thought the turbines would be noisy and might interfere with television signals, but eventually, after showing local officials working wind farms in Denmark, they won and now there are 10 huge white wind turbines on the Delabole hills It is in Germany and Denmark that the greatest advances in wind power have come Germany alone produces half of the wind generated electricity in Europe Every year Germany adds 400 Megawatts (Mw) of capacity In 2000 alone capacity expanded by 1669 Mw Denmark now produces 30% of its electricity from wind power and this is predicted to rise to 50% by 2010 Both countries have encouraged this growth by “fixed feed tariffs” which guarantee a good price for private wind power operators The UK is catching up and the government has set a target 10% of all electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010, half of this to be from wind power The 900 wind turbines in operation generate 400Mw of electricity and to meet the target roughly 400Mw will need to be added each year With the advances in technology, this is technically possible Each turbine can now produce 400 Kilowatts (KW) compared to only 70 KW at the start of the 1980s It will, however, need help from the government This is being done by offering financial support and giving private power companies targets to meet Because many people feel wind farms spoil the view and, also, because the wind is stronger at sea, many wind farms are now being built offshore They are usually built a few kilometres off the coast in shallow water The construction and maintenance costs are higher, but electricity output is higher The first in Britain was built in 2000 at Blyth, north of Newcastle, and was the largest in the world until May 2001, when a 20 turbine farm was opened at Middelgruden off Copenhagen There are plans to construct up to 18 more in the UK by 2010 Together they will produce 800 Mw of electricity annually The use of wind power is far less advanced in the USA Only 5% of America’s power comes from the wind, although it is estimated that this could be increased to as high as 12% with no changes to the power grid However, there is an increased interest in wind power There are plans to build a huge offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod on the North East seaboard The farm will take up over 25 square miles, have 170 turbines and produce 420Mw at a cost of $600m If constructed, it will be the world’s second biggest wind farm, after the 520Mw farm planned in Ireland Questions – Choose the best answer to the questions below People not like coal and oil powered power production because … a) it damages the environment b) it is wasteful c) eventually it will run out d) all of the above Wind power … a) has only been used recently b) promotes environmental awareness c) cleans the environment d) is not wasteful Questions – Complete the following summary of the third paragraph from the above reading passage using ONE OR TWO WORDS from the reading texts British Wind Power While there was a great deal of interest in wind power in the 1970s, it (3) _ in the 1980s This was mainly due to intense support for (4) _ power and little help in making wind power affordable So, even though Britain has some of the best winds in Europe, the first wind farm was only built in 1991 The farm at Delabole came out of opposition by (5) _ to a nuclear power plant Initially, they were opposed by local officials due to fears about noise and possible obstruction to (6) This opposition was eventually overcome only after they were shown successful examples from (7) _ Questions – 13 Match the country or countries below to the statements taken from the IELTS sample reading BR Britain G _ Germany D _ Denmark US The United States IRE Ireland N None of the countries Plans to produce 5% of its power using wind power Produces 50% of its power from wind 10 Produces very little of its power using wind 11 Will have the world’s largest wind farm 12 Has ambitious plans in developing its wind power capacity 13 Was the leader in the early development of wind power Click the button to Show/ Hide Answers Answer: D D diminished nuclear locals television signals Danish Farm / Denmark BR N 10 US 11 IRE 12 D 13 B ... experiments with microscopes in Micrographia ( 1665 ) This work is largely narrative in style, based on a transcript of oral demonstrations and lectures In 1665 a new scientific journal, Philosophical... books This is followed by several minutes of silence In the second part, they listen to baroque music (Bach, Corelli, Handel) while the teacher reads the text in a normal speaking voice During this... remember things more easily under hypnosis 30 Lozanov claims that teachers should train students to A memorise details of the curriculum B develop their own sets of indirect instructions C think