34. ‘Affluenza’ is more common in people who have not had to work for their money
Questions 35-40
Complete the summary below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
Money and Happiness
(35) ... mean people are not happier with wealth beyond a certain amount. Rich countries are happier than poor ones, but this is simplistic, due to other relevant (36) ... . Salaried workers have been shown to be happier than wage-paid workers, maybe due to (37) ... . Rich people also sometimes do not enjoy life’s (38) ... .
Money can also relate to how people approach doing things and
(39) ... have proved this. The complex relationship between a (40) ... and enjoyment of work has also been proved.
Changing their attitudes to wealth can make some people happier and allow them to acquire money more easily.
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Answer:
27. (unconscious) barriers 28. obsession
29. parent 30. YES 31. NO 32. NO
33. NOT GIVEN 34. YES
35. diminishing returns 36. factors
37. career satisfaction 38. simple things
39. (Cognitive) (dissonance) experiments 40. (monetary) reward
Academic IELTS Reading Sample 220 - The Columbian Exchange
Last Updated: Saturday, 12 August 2017 16:46 Written by IELTS Mentor
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27- 40, which are based on Passage 220 below.
The Columbian Exchange
A Millions of years ago, continental drift carried the Old World and New World apart, splitting North and South America from Eurasia and Africa. That separation lasted so long that it fostered divergent evolution; for instance, the development of rattlesnakes on one side of the Atlantic and of vipers on the other. After 1492, human voyagers in part reversed this tendency. Their artificial re-establishment of connections through the commingling of Old and New World plants, animals, and bacteria, commonly known as the Columbian Exchange, is one of the more
spectacular and significant ecological events of the past millennium.
B When Europeans first touched the shores of the Americas, Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips had not travelled west across the Atlantic, and New World crops such as maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and
manioc had not travelled east to Europe. In the Americas, there were no horses,
cattle, sheep, or goats, all animals of Old World origin. Except for the llama, alpaca, dog, a few fowl, and guinea pig, the New World had no equivalents to the domesticated animals associated with the Old World, nor did it have the
pathogens associated with the Old World’s dense populations of humans and such associated creatures as chickens, cattle, black rats, and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Among these germs were those that carried smallpox, measles, chickenpox, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever.
C As might be expected, the Europeans who settled on the east coast of the United States cultivated crops like wheat and apples, which they had brought with them. European weeds, which the colonists did not cultivate, and, in fact,
preferred to uproot, also fared well in the New World. John Josselyn, an Englishman and amateur naturalist who visited New England twice in the
seventeenth century, left us a list, “Of Such Plants as Have Sprung Up since the English Planted and Kept Cattle in New England,” which included couch grass, dandelion, shepherd’s purse, groundsel, sow thistle, and chickweed.
One of these, a plantain (Plantago major), was named “Englishman’s Foot” by the Amerindians of New England and Virginia who believed that it would grow only where the English “have trodden, and was never known before the English came into this country”. Thus, as they intentionally sowed Old World crop seeds, the European settlers were unintentionally contaminating American fields with weed seeds. More importantly, they were stripping and burning forests, exposing the native minor flora to direct sunlight, and the hooves and teeth of Old World livestock. The native flora could not tolerate the stress. The imported weeds could, because they had lived with large numbers of grazing animals for thousands of years.
D Cattle and horses were brought ashore in the early 1600s and found hospitable climate and terrain in North America. Horses arrived in Virginia as early as 1620 and in Massachusetts in 1629. Many wandered free with little more evidence of their connection to humanity than collars with a hook at the bottom to catch on fences as they tried to leap over them to get at crops. Fences were not for keeping livestock in, but for keeping livestock out.
E Native American resistance to the Europeans was ineffective. Indigenous peoples suffered from white brutality, alcoholism, the killing and driving off of
game, and the expropriation of farmland, but all these together are insufficient to explain the degree of their defeat. The crucial factor was not people, plants, or animals, but germs. Smallpox was the worst and the most spectacular of the infectious diseases mowing down the Native Americans. The first recorded pandemic of that disease in British North America detonated among the Al- gonquin of Massachusetts in the early 1630s. William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation wrote that the victims “fell down so generally of this disease as they were in the end not able to help one another, no, not to make a fire nor fetch a little water to drink, nor any to bury the dead”. The missionaries and the traders who ventured into the American interior told the same appalling story about smallpox and the indigenes. In 1738 alone, the epidemic destroyed half the
Cherokee; in 1759 nearly half the Catawbas; in the first years of the next century, two thirds of the Omahas and perhaps half the entire population between the Missouri River and New Mexico; in 1837-38 nearly every last one of the Mandans and perhaps half the people of the high plains.
F The export of America’s native animals has not revolutionised Old World agri- culture or ecosystems as the introduction of European animals to the New World did. America’s grey squirrels and muskrats and a few others have established themselves east of the Atlantic and west of the Pacific, but that has not made much of a difference. Some of America’s domesticated animals are raised in the Old World, but turkeys have not displaced chickens and geese, and guinea pigs have proved useful in laboratories, but have not usurped rabbits in the butcher shops.
G The New World’s great contribution to the Old is in crop plants. Maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, various squashes, chiles, and manioc have become essentials in the diets of hundreds of millions of Europeans, Africans, and Asians.
Their influence on Old World peoples, like that of wheat and rice on New World peoples, goes far to explain the global population explosion of the past three centuries. The Columbian Exchange has been an indispensable factor in that demographic explosion.
H All this had nothing to do with superiority or inferiority of biosystems in any absolute sense. It has to do with environmental contrasts. Amerindians were accustomed to living in one particular kind of environment, Europeans and
Africans in another. When the Old World peoples came to America, they brought
with them all their plants, animals, and germs, creating a kind of environment to which they were already adapted, and so they increased in number. Amerindians had not adapted to European germs, and so initially their numbers plunged. That decline has reversed in our time as Amerindian populations have adapted to the Old World’s environmental influence, but the demographic triumph of the
invaders, which was the most spectacular feature of the Old World’s invasion of the New, still stands.
Questions 27-34
Reading Passage 220 has eight paragraphs A-H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 27-34 on your answer sheet.
27. A description of an imported species that is named after the English colonists 28. The reason why both the New World and Old World experienced population growth
29. The formation of new continents explained
30. The reason why the indigenous population declined
31. An overall description of the species lacked in the Old World and New World 32. A description of some animal species being ineffective in affecting the Old World
33. An overall explanation of the success of the Old World species invasion 34. An account of European animals taking roots in the New World
Questions 35-38
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 35-38 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
35. European settlers built fences to keep their cattle and horses inside.
36. The indigenous people had been brutally killed by the European colonists.
37. America's domesticated animals, such as turkey, became popular in the Old World.
38. Crop exchange between the two worlds played a major role in world population.
Questions 39-40
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
39. Who reported the same story of European diseases among the indigenes from the American interior?
40. What is the still existing feature of the Old World's invasion of the New?
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Answer:
27. C 28. G 29. A 30. E 31. B 32. F 33. H 34. D 35. FALSE 36. TRUE 37. FALSE 38. TRUE
39. missionaries and traders 40. demographic triumph
Academic IELTS Reading Sample 221 - Cork
Last Updated: Saturday, 12 August 2017 17:07 Written by IELTS Mentor
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1- 13, which are based on Passage 221 below.
Cork
Cork - the thick bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber) - is a remarkable material. It is tough, elastic, buoyant, and fire-resistant, and suitable for a wide range of purposes. It has also been used for millennia: the ancient Egyptians
sealed then sarcophagi (stone coffins) with cork, while the ancient Greeks and Romans used it for anything from beehives to sandals.
And the cork oak itself is an extraordinary tree. Its bark grows up to 20 cm in thickness, insulating the tree like a coat wrapped around the trunk and branches and keeping the inside at a constant 20°C all year round. Developed most
probably as a defence against forest fires, the bark of the cork oak has a
particular cellular structure - with about 40 million cells per cubic centimetre - that technology has never succeeded in replicating. The cells are filled with air, which is why cork is so buoyant. It also has an elasticity that means you can squash it and watch it spring back to its original size and shape when you release the pressure.
Cork oaks grow in a number of Mediterranean countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Morocco. They flourish in warm, sunny climates where there is a minimum of 400 millimetres of rain per year, and no more than 800 millimetres. Like grape vines, the trees thrive in poor soil, putting down deep root in search of moisture and nutrients. Southern Portugal’s Alentejo region meets all of these requirements, which explains why, by the early 20th century, this region had become the world’s largest producer of cork, and why today it accounts for roughly half of all cork production around the world.
Most cork forests are family-owned. Many of these family businesses, and indeed many of the trees themselves, are around 200 years old. Cork production is, above all, an exercise in patience. From the planting of a cork sapling to the first harvest takes 25 years, and a gap of approximately a decade must separate harvests from an individual tree. And for top-quality cork, it’s necessary to wait a further 15 or 20 years. You even have to wait for the right kind of summer’s day to harvest cork. If the bark is stripped on a day when it’s too cold - or when the air is damp - the tree will be damaged.
Cork harvesting is a very specialised profession. No mechanical means of stripping cork bark has been invented, so the job is done by teams of highly skilled workers. First, they make vertical cuts down the bark using small sharp axes, then lever it away in pieces as large as they can manage. The most skilful cork- strippers prise away a semi-circular husk that runs the length of the trunk from just above ground level to the first branches. It is then dried on the ground
for about four months, before being taken to factories, where it is boiled to kill any insects that might remain in the cork. Over 60% of cork then goes on to be made into traditional bottle stoppers, with most of the remainder being used in the construction trade, Corkboard and cork tiles are ideal for thermal and acoustic insulation, while granules of cork are used in the manufacture of concrete.
Recent years have seen the end of the virtual monopoly of cork as the material for bottle stoppers, due to concerns about the effect it may have on the contents of the bottle. This is caused by a chemical compound called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), which forms through the interaction of plant phenols, chlorine and mould.
The tiniest concentrations - as little as three or four parts to a trillion - can spoil the taste of the product contained in the bottle. The result has been a gradual yet steady move first towards plastic stoppers and, more recently, to aluminium screw caps. These substitutes are cheaper to manufacture and, in the case of screw caps, more convenient for the user.
The classic cork stopper does have several advantages, however. Firstly, its traditional image is more in keeping with that of the type of high quality goods with which it has long been associated. Secondly - and very importantly - cork is a sustainable product that can be recycled without difficulty. Moreover, cork forests are a resource which supports local biodiversity, and prevents desertification in the regions where they are planted. So, given the current concerns about environmental issues, the future of this ancient material once again looks promising.
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 221?
In boxes 1-5 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 cork oak has the thickest bark of any living tree.
2. Scientists have developed a synthetic cork with the same cellular structure as natural cork.
3. Individual cork oak trees must be left for 25 years between the first and second harvest.
4. Cork bark should be stripped in dry atmospheric conditions.
5. The only way to remove the bark from cork oak trees is by hand.
Questions 6-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.
Comparison of aluminium screw caps and cork bottle stoppers
Advantages of aluminium screw caps
• do not affect the 6... of the bottle contents • are 7... to produce
• are 8... to use
Advantages of cork bottle stoppers
• suit the 9... of quality products • made from a 10... material • easily 11...
• cork forests aid 12...
• cork forests stop 13... happening
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Answer:
1. NOT GIVEN 2. FALSE 3. FALSE 4. TRUE 5. TRUE 6. taste 7. cheaper 8. convenient 9. image 10. sustainable 11. recycled 12. biodiversity 13. desertification
Academic IELTS Reading Sample 222 - Collecting as a hobby
Last Updated: Saturday, 12 August 2017 17:42 Written by IELTS Mentor
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14- 26, which are based on Passage 222 below.
Collecting as a hobby
Collecting must be one of the most varied of human activities, and it's one that many of us psychologists find fascinating.
Many forms of collecting have been dignified with a technical name: an
archtophilist collects teddy bears, a philatelist collects postage stamps, and a deltiologist collects postcards. Amassing hundreds or even thousands of
postcards, chocolate wrappers or whatever, takes time, energy and money that could surely to much more productive use. And yet there are millions of collectors around the world. Why do they do it?
There are the people who collect because they want to make money - this could be called an instrumental reason for collecting; that is, collecting as a means to an end. They'll look for, say, antiques that they can buy cheaply and expect to be able to sell at a profit. But there may well be a psychological element, too - buying cheap and selling dear can give the collector a sense of triumph. And as selling online is so easy, more and more people are joining in.
Many collectors collect to develop their social life, attending meetings of a group
of collectors and exchanging information on items. This is a variant on joining a bridge club or a gym, and similarly brings them into contact with like-minded people. Another motive for collecting is the desire to find something special, or a particular example of the collected item, such as a rare early recording by a particular singer.
Some may spend their whole lives in a hunt for this. Psychologically, this can give a purpose to a life that otherwise feels aimless. There is a danger, though, that if the individual is ever lucky enough to find what they're looking for, rather than celebrating their success, they may feel empty, now that the goal that drove them on has gone.
If you think about collecting postage stamps another potential reason for it - Or, perhaps, a result of collecting is its educational value. Stamp collecting opens a window to other countries, and to the plants, animals, or famous people shown on their stamps.
Similarly, in the 19th century, many collectors amassed fossils, animals and plants from around the globe, and their collections provided a vast amount of information about the natural world. Without those collections, our understanding would be greatly inferior to what it is.
In the past - and nowadays, too, though to a lesser extent - a popular form of collecting, particularly among boys and men, was trainspotting. This might involve trying to see every locomotive of a particular type, using published data that identifies each one, and ticking off each engine as it is seen. Trainspotters exchange information, these days often by mobile phone, so they can work out where to go to, to see a particular engine. As a by-product, many practitioners of the hobby become very knowledgeable about railway operations, or the technical specifications of different engine types.
Similarly, people who collect dolls may go beyond simply enlarging their
collection, and develop an interest in the way that dolls are made, or the materials that are used. These have changed over the centuries from the wood that was standard in 16th century Europe, through the wax and porcelain of later centuries, to the plastics of today's dolls. Or collectors might be inspired to study how dolls reflect notions of what children like, or ought to like.