IELTS Express Reading Test0001

8/17/2019 IELTS Express Reading Test0001

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READINGASSAGE] , --~--~--~-_._-~------------

ACADEMIC--- ~------~-

READING

T E S T

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

on pages 98 and 99

A Early people had no need for and canais to control the flood

engineering works to supply their waters of the Tigris, Euphrates and

water. Hunters and nomads camped the Nile. Such canais not only

near natural sources and irrigated crops but also supplied

populations were sparse that water for domestic purposes, the

pollution of the water supply did water being stored in large pottery

not pose a serious problem. But as

jars, hand-carried from the river by

civil ised life developed and small

household slaves. The remains of

settlements grew into cities, water the earliest aqueduct on record have

management became a major been pinpointed to the works of the

concern, not only to supply the Assyrian king and master builder

urban centres but also to irrigate Sennacherib

705-681

BC), who

the farms surrounding them. The

developed a

1

O-mile canal in three

solution was to find a way to raise stages, including 18 fresh-water

water up from the rivers. courses from the mountains.

B

Around 5000 BC, primitive attempts

D

But we can thank the Romans for

were made by the Egyptians. They being the first to consider seriously

used the Persian Wheel, a water- the sanitation of their water supply.

wheel that dipped containers into a Faced with the problem of directing

river, lifting up water as it revolved. enough water towards Rome -

Another method was a simple lever- water from the Tiber, a muddy, smelly

and-bucket system called the

river, Vilasout of the question -

shadoof. The invention of the lever, they set about constructing the

as well as a screw, to lift water is most extensive system of aqueducts

·

often attributed to Archimedes in the ancient world. These brought

·

287-213

BC) but both devices were the pure waters of the Apennine

·

·

without doubt in use thousands Mountains into the city, with

of years before his time. A more settling basins and filters along the

·

accurate explanation is that

way, to ensure the water s clarity

Archimedes was the first to try to

and cleanliness. The first, built

describe in mathematical terms the around 312 BC during Appius

way these devices worked.

Claudius Caecus s administration,

C By 2000 BC, the rulers of

was Aqua Appia, an underground

Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Egypt

aqueduct about 10 miles in length.

had constructed systems of dams E The arch revolutionised water

.

.


2/12

READING PASSAGE 1

·

·

·

.

.

supply. By using

it,

Roman architects

could raise aqueducts to the height

needed to span valleys. The Aqua

Marcian in Rome - around 56 miles

long with a 10-mile bridged section -

was built by the praetor Marcius in

144 B(, and was the first to carry

water above ground. Eventually,

Rome was served by eleven linked

aqueducts. These kept the city s taps

and fountains running - providing

an astonishing 38 million gallons of

water each day. Parts of several of

these are still in use, although the

construction of such massive water-

supply systems declined with the fali

of the Roman Empire. For severa I

centuries afterwards, springs and

wells provided the main source of

domestic and industrial water.

F The introductionof the force pump

in England in the middle of the

16

th

century greatly extended the

possibilities of development of

water-supply systems. This pump

was by no means a new invention.

It was in fact the brainchild of

Ctesibius of Alexandria and it dates

to the 3

rd

century BC. Like ali great

engineers, Ctesibius took his

inspiration from his surroundings.

While working on a way to raise

and lower a mirror in his father s

barber shop by counterbalancing it

with a lead weight, he stumbled

on a method of automatically

closing the shop s door without it

slamming. He ran a weighted line

from the door over a pulley and into

a pipe, which slowed the speed at

which the weight dropped. As the

door hissed away, opening and

closing, he realised the weight was

displacing air and acting as a piston.

This realisation led Ctesibius to

investigate methods of moving

fluids along a pipe using a piston,

and to the founding principie of

hydraulics. Ctesibius s force pump

was not capable of pumping high

volumes of water but it played a

vital part in ancient Greek culture.

Among other uses, force pumps

drained the bilges of the trading

ships of the time. They were used to

extinguish fires and they brought to

life the fountains that graced

Alexandria.

G In London, the first pumping

waterworks were completed in

1562. This pumped river water to a

reservoir suspended 120ft above the

Thames. It was then distributed by

gravity via lead pipes to surrounding

buildings. In more recent times,

many aqueducts have been built

worldwide. Among them are the

aqueducts supplying water to

Glasgow (35 miles lonq), Marseilles

(60 rniles), Manchester (96 rniles),

Liverpool (68 miles) and Vienna (144

miles). California now has the most

extensive aqueduct system in the

world. Water drawn from the

Colorado River s Parker Dam is

carried 242 miles over the San

Bernardino Mountains, supplying

more than a billion gallons a day. In

addition, the 338-mile Los Angeles

aqueduct draws water from the

Owens River in the Sierra Nevada,

giving a daily supply of around four

billion gallons.

Copyright © Telegraph Media Group Limited

99


3/12

PRAC llC E

T E S T

READING PASSAGE

11

• invention of

5 led to

aqueduc ts above

ground

ACADEMIC

READING

Ques t i o n s 1-6

C om plete the table below .

Choose

N O M O RE TH N TH REE W ORD S

from the passage for each answ er.

W rite your answ ers in boxes 1-6 on your answ er sh ee t.

E G Y P T l A N S

5000 BC

M E S O P O T A M I A

B A B Y L O N I A E G Y P T

2000 Be

R O M A N S E N G L A N D

• P ers ia n Wh ee l

a type of

water-wheel

• system s of dam s

a nd c an ais

• dealt w ith water

supply 4 .

• use of force

pump

• water for

2 and .

• system of

aqueducts

• w ater pum ped to

reservo ir a nd

car rie d to

building s

through

6 .

• 1 .

a le ver and

buc ke t s ys tem

• 3 used for

k ee pin g w ate r in

Ques t i o n s

7 1

R ea din g P a ss ag e 1 has seven p ara grap hs la belled A -C .

W h ic h p ara gr ap h c on ta in s th e fo llo win g in fo rm atio n?

W rite th e co rre ct le tte r A C in bo xes 7-10 on your answe r s he et.

7 an invention that cou ld on ly supply lim ited amounts of water

8 a reference to a w idespread but fa lse bel ie f

9 reasons why water-supply system s needed to be developed

1

the nam e of the person responsib le for creating the first known a qu ed uct

Ques t i o n s

11 13

A ns we r the q uestio ns be low usin g

N O M O RE TH N TH REE W OR DS

fo r e ac h a ns we r.

W rite your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet .

11 What w as C tes ib ius try ing to m ove?

12

What d id C tesib ius succeed in causing to m ove?

13 Wha t are a o f scien ce did C te sib iu s he lp to e sta blish ?

1

PRACTICE TEST


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Qu e s t i o n s

14-26

~ ~ READING PASSAGE 2

L is t o f H ead in gs

A change in dom inant species

ii Two mod ern -d ay re la tives o f th e d in osa urs

ii i The likelihood of surviv ing a sim ilar episode

iv

Evidence of the coll ision and its effects

v A margin of distinct animal remains

v i

A v olc an ic e ru ptio n

v ii An explanation of the change

v i i i

Poisonous gases

ix

An abrupt and devastating even t

x Hollywood movie to be released

14 Para gra ph A

15

Para gra ph B

16 Para gra ph C

17 Para gra ph O

18 Para gra ph E

19 Para gra ph F

ACADEMIC

READING

You shou ld spend about 20 m inutes on Questions

14 26

wh ich a re based on

R eading P assage

2

on the fo llow ing p ages.

Quest ions 14 19

R e ad in g P a ss ag e 2 has six paragraphs

A F

C hoose the co rrec t h eading fo r each paragraph fram the list o f h ead ings

below . W rite the co rrec t num bers i-x in boxes 14-19 on your an sw er sheet .

1 1


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P R A C T I C E

T E S T

.

•

READING PASSAGE 2

The collision that

transformed life

on Earth

A

Around 65 million years ago, life on earth

changed. However, to say it merely changed ,

is something of an understatement. It would

be more accurate to say that the living world

underwent one of the most dramatic,

cataclysmic transformations ever seen. The

skies darkened for a whole year and entire

species were wiped out by a single event.

This may sound like the stuff of a Hollywood

movie, but in fact the disaster, known as the

I -T cretaceous-tertiary) extinction event, is

well documented as a historical fact.

B

There has been some dispute over the cause

of K-T, but in 2010, a review of the

evidence by scientists from several leading

UI universities agreed that a meteorite of

gargantuan proportions smashed into the

earth with such a tremendous impact that

its effects were felt globally. The rock, which

is estimated to have been around 15

kilometres wide, hit Chicxulub in Mexico

with an unimaginable force, said to be

around one billion times greater than that

of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The impact

projected masses of dust and debris into

the atmosphere, blocking out the sun and

resulting in darkness and an enduring,

global winter.

C

The impact proved to be a seminal moment

in the direction of the evolution of life.

Dinosaurs, which had roamed and ruled the

animal kingdom for over 200 million years

were wiped out almost ovemight, and

mammals, which had lived fearfully in the

shadow of the dinosaurs, were given an

opportunity to flourish unrivalled. The first

few days after the impact saw dramatic rises

in ground temperatures. This was due to the

asteroid tuming into an enormous ball of fire

and burníng gases as it fell through the

earth s atmosphere. The resulting heat

proved too much for most dinosaurs, which

had nowhere to shelter from the rising

temperatures. Mammals, on the other hand,

were able to take shelter in burrows or

water. Those dinosaurs that survived this

period of intense heat were then faced with

another problem; namely, a lack of food. A

combination of heat and lack of sunlight

killed most plant life off relatively quickly.

This left a barren landscape with nothing for

the large herbivores to eat. As dead animals

decayed, then the camivores too were also

left with a failing supply of food. Mammals,

however, were able to adapt and live off the

abundant supply of insects and aquatic plant

life. No longe r being threatened by

dinosaurs, they could quickly multiply.

D

The I -T boundary layer gives us a whole

weal th of evidence to support the claims of

impact theory, and also its consequences.

Scientistslook to this clay layer, dated to 65

million years ago, for two main pieces of

proof. Within this seam of the earth s crust,

high concentrations of the metallic element

iridium can be found. While this element is

not uncommon on earth, the intensity of the

traces suggests an extra-terrestrial source.

The second piece of evidence is the layer of

soot within the clay. Soot, a by-product of

buming carbon, supports the ideas of a brief

period of intense fires circling the earth and

wiping out most land-based vegetation. The

K-T boundary layer also clearly demonstrates

which animals died out, and which survived.

Through excavation and examination of

fossils below the 65 million year old

boundary, evidence of many species can be

found which simply do not exist today.

Above this boundary, as the dinosaurs and

other species became extinct, these fossils

2

PRACTICE TEST


6/12

P R A C T I C E

T E S T

READING PASSAGE 2

can no longer be found. While many

fossilised dinosaur remains are found below

this boundary, above it, evidence of

marnmals dominates.

E

To say that dinosaurs died out and mammals

flourished is somewhat over-simplistic.

While non-avian dinosaurs became extinct,

avian-dinosaurs survived and went on to

evolve into modem birds. It is speculated

that this was down to two main reasons:

fírstly their ability to fly and therefore scour

wider areas for food; and secondly their

smaller size, which meant that they did not

need as many calories, and therefore needed

less food to survive; and also they were more

easily able to hide from the worst excesses

of heat. Crocodiles, another dose relative of

the dinosaur also survived. This was because

they are ectothermic cold-blooded) and

therefore can go for long periods of time

without food. Non-avian dinosaurs, on the

other hand, are endothermic warm-blooded)

and can survive for only a relatively short

period of time before they need to refuel

with food.

F

The long-term consequences of this dramatic

event in the history of the evolution of life

on earth led to the evolution of apes, and of

course, ultimately to man s world

dominance. Meteorites half the size of the

one experienced in the I -T event occur every

ten million years or so. It is a sober thought

to consider if we are due another planet-

changing ímpact, and whether humans

would have the resources and technology to

survive such a catastrophic event.

ACADEMIC

READING

Questions 2 23

Com ple te the no tes belo w .

Choose N O M O R E TH AN TH R EE W OR D S from the p assa ge fo r each answ er. W rite your answ ers

in boxes 20-23 on your answ er sheet .

Collision transformed Earth

-

~ __ .

• The I -T event produced initial sharp increases in 20 .

• If a creature survived the intense heat, it then had to overcorne the issue

of the 21 .

• The blazing wildfires destroyed 22 .

• Avian dinosaurs survived because of their size and 23 .

Questions 24 26

Choose T H R EE letters A F

Write your answers in boxes

24-26

on your answer sheet.

Which THREE of the following are mentioned as happening after the K T event?

A Animais increasingly took to living in trees

B Sea creatures were able to survive the intense heat under the sea.

( Cold-blooded creatures_were better equipped to deal with the declining food supply.

O Some dinosaurs survived and ultimately evolved into modern-day creatures.

E It took many decades for the climate to become stable again.

F Mammals were able to hide underground.

103


7/12

T E S T

ACADEMIC

READING

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on

Q u es t i o n s

27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3

on pages 1 4 and 1 5

It s n ot ju st

physical

d an ge rs a str on au ts h av e

to

contend

with- psychological

frictionis a bigproble~ says R a j P e rs au d ~ , , <

lasts up to two months and is

dominated by adjustments to the new

environment. This is followed by

increasing fatigue and decreasing

motivation asthenia. What once

seemed exciting becomes boring and

repetitious. Next comes a Iengthy period

during which the asthenia which can

include depression and anxiety

worsens. The spacefarers are unusually

upset by loud noises or unexpected

information. This is the period when

crew members get testy with one

another and with the ground crew.

There have been reports describing how

one crew member did not speak to

another for days; there are even

rumours of fist fights - one over a chess

game. Tensions frequently spill over to

mission control as they did in the

SkyIab strike. One Russian crew aboard

a SaIyut space station reportedly got so

cross with mission control that they

shut down communications for

24 hours.

According to

Henry

Cooper who wrote a

book A Housein Space on the lcneliness

of the long-distance astronaut at least

three missions have been aborted for

reasons that were in part psychological.

In the 1976Soyuz-21 mission to the

SaIyut-5 space station the crew was

brought home earIy after the

cosmonauts complained fierceIy of an

acrid odour in the space station s

environmental control system. No cause

PRACTICE TEST

r

On space missions weightlessness and

radiation are often seen as being the key

dangers. But there is increasing

evidence to show that one of the

greatest hazards lies in the crew itself.

The hostile space environments and the

hardware are of course crucial factors

in any space mission. But so is the

software of the human brain.

During long missions space travellers

have shown signs of increased

territoriaIity withdrawal and need for

privacy.As a result of these sorts of

psychological difficulties one

cosmonaut had a reIigious experience

that led him to make a dangerous

unauthorised spacewaIk. Nasa s SkyIab

missions in 1973and 1974 almost

immediateIy ran into trouble. One

astronaut erroneously changed the

control systems while suffering from

psychological problerns. Crew members

began the third mission with a schedule

that was too strenuous. They fell behind

in their work and became demoralised.

On their 45th day in space the crew

went on strike refusing to perform

scheduIed tasks. Disregarding orders

was an unusual and dangerous

response for astronauts. After

concessions from mission control the

crew settIed down and eventually

completed an 84-day mission.

The Russians have identified three

phases in adaptation to space. The first


8/12

READING PASSAGE 3

was ever found nor did other crews

smell it; conceivably it was a

hallucination. Coincidentally the crew

had not been getting alongoThe crew of

the Soyuz T-14mission to Salyut-7 in

- 1985was brought home after 65 days

after Vladimir Vasyutin complained that

he had a prostate infection. Later the

doctors believed that the problem was

partly psychological.Vasyutin had been

getting behind in his work and was

under pressure having been passed

over for a flight several times before.

Alexander Laveikinretumed early from

the SoyuzTM-2mission to the Mirspace

station in 1987because he complained

of a cardiac irregularity. Flight surgeons

could find no sign of it. The cosmonaut

had been under stress - he had made a

couple of potentially serious errors. And

he had not been getting along with his

partner YuriRomanenko.

The same psychological phenomena

curse men and women on expeditions

to remote places. Isolation and sensory

deprivation are the common

denominators whether the mission is

in the Arctic wastes or the realm of the

deep causing a series of symptoms -

heightened anxiety boredom

depression loneliness excessive fear of

danger and homesickness. The

scientists and support staff who work in

Antarctica have been studied by Dr

Ioanna Wood of the National Space

Biomedical Research Institute in

Houston who also studies how crews

behave in a special test chamber. After a

few months you get tired of looking at

the same faces. People frequently have

behaviours that might be endearing in

the larger society but when you re living

with it day after day it s an annoyance.

This continent the last to be explored

L

by humans is the coldest windiest and

driest land mass. Because of the

extreme environment researchers must

winter over for six months out of the

year. During this period there is little

contact with the outside world and

groups tend to be confined indoors by

the extreme temperatures. Antarctica

has served as one of the primary means

of gathering psychosocial data for

space missions according to DrIohn

Annexstad a space scientist and ten-

time veteran of scientific missions

to Antarctica.

During the first few months of an

Antarctic mission interpersonal

problems don t play a major partoThe

problem arises says DrAnnexstad after

the initial shock and awe of the

environment wear off and crew

members get to know their

surroundings a little better. Then they

begin to rebel against authority and

each other. In one ice base anxiety

episodes increased from 3 during the

first four months to 19 during the last

four. In a study of personnel who

wintered over in the Antarctic 85 per

cent reported periods of significant

depression 65 per cent had periods of

anger or hostility 60 per cent suffered

from sleep disturbance and 53 per cent

had impaired cognition. During the 1977

Intemational Biomedical Expedition

to Antarctica a 12-man adventure

lasting 72 days bickering became

such a problem that psychologists

accompanying the expedition had to

intervene. Antarctic literature is full of

stories about teammates who stopped

talking to one another or even fought-

one concerns a cook with a meat cleaver

facing off against an engineer

brandishing a fire axe.

J

Copyright

©

TelegraphMediaGroupLimited

P R A C T I C E

T E S T

ACADEMIC

READING

1 5


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P R A C T I C E

T E S T

ACADEMIC

1 ~READIr-:G ~AS~~~

3_i ~ ~~ ~ ~

READING

1 6

PRACTICE TEST

Questions 27-29

C om plete the sen tences below w ith w ords taken from Reading P assage 3.

U se N O M O RE TH N TH R EE W OR O S fo r e ach a nsw er.

W rite your an sw ers in boxes

27-29

on your answ er shee t.

27

Space travellers on long m issions demonstrate the desire to have some .

28

Astronauts can get into a state called after two months in space.

29

T he causes of psychological problem s on both space m issions and expeditions to rem ote

places are together w ith .

Questions

30-35

L oo k a t th e sta tem en ts Questions 30-35 and the list o f space m issions below . M atch each

sta tem ent w ith the space m ission it reiers to .

W r ite th e c or re ct le tte r O in boxes 30-35 on your answ er sheet.

N B

Vou m ay use any letter m ore than once.

30 T wo of the astronauts had a bad relationship w ith each other.

T he astronauts decided not to carry out their duties.

32 O ne of the astronauts did not com plete the m ission.

33

O ne of the astronauts had failed to be selected for previous m issions.

34 O ne of the astronauts m ade a m istake w ith the equipm ent.

35 T he astronauts perceived som ething that m ay not have existed.

L is t o f S pac e M i s s io ns

A Skylab

B Soyuz-21

C Soyuz T-14

D Soyuz TM -2

Questions 36-40

Comple te the summ ary below using words from the box.

W rite your answ ers in boxes 36 -40 on your answ er sheet.

Antarctic missions

According to Dr [ohn Annexstad, relationships are not an important factor during the

first part of a mission because crew members lack

36

with their enviranment

and have a feeling of 37 After thís, there is less 38 ..: fram crew

members and the number of events caused by

39

increases enormously as ;.

the mission continues. According to some stories, relationships can even result in

40

involving crew members.

expectation

sympathy

de te rm ina t ion

amazement

f ail u re

cooperation

familiarity

d isappointment

misunderstanding

com petition

improvement

error

violence

confidence

envy

boredom

discussion

carelessness

involvement

tension


10/12

WRITlNG TASK 1

Vou should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below gives in form ation abou t on line shopping in one year in the

UK I t show s the am ou nts

money spen t on various item s by men and

women and the percen tages for m en and wom en

o f

the to tal m oney spen t

on those item s

Sum marise the in form ation by selectin g and reportin g the m ain features

and make co mpariso ns w he re re le van t

Write at least 150 words.

ONLlNE SHOPPING

G r o c e r y 340.1 762.9

1103

30.8 69.2

Furn i tu re an d f l o o r c o v er in g s 56.5 123.5

180

31.4

68.6

H ea l th an d b eau ty 40.2

81.8

122

33.0

67.0

C lo th in g an d fo otw ear 176.8 348.2

525

33.7

66.3

H o m e w a r e s 85.4 120.6 206

41.5

58.5

B o o k s 168.5 201.5 370

45.5 54.5

E lec tr i c al g oo ds 829.6 324.4 1154

71.9

28.1

D IY g oo ds

259.7

90.3

350 74.2

25.8

M us ic an d v id eo

280.0 148.0 428

65.4

34.6

O t h e r

242.1

187.9

430

56.3

43.7

T o t a l

2479

2389 4868 50.9 49.1

Cop yright © Ver dict Research Ltd, www.verd ic t.co.uk

1 7

P R A C T I C E

T E S T

ACADEMIC

WRITING


11/12

P R A C T I C E

T E S T

ACADEMIC

WRITING

WRITlNG TASK 2

Vou should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic.

These doys it is neither possible nor desirable for most people to stoy in the

some job throughout their working lives

To whot extent do you ogree or disogree with this stotement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge

ar experience.

Write at least 250 words.

1 8

PRACTICE TEST


12/12

P A R T 1

E x am p l e q u es ti on s

• Where do you live?

• What kind of place is it?

• What do you like best about where you live?

• What kinds of jobs do people do where you live?

• Would you say it is a good place to work in?

• How much time do you spend playing or watching sports?

• Which sports are most popular in your country?

• Which sports d id you do when you were at school?

• Do you think ali children should do some sport?

• Do you Iike cooki ng?

• How often do you go to restaurants?

• What kinds of restaurants do you enjoy eating in?

• What does a restaurant need to do to be successful?

P A R T 2

E x am p le tas k

Read the topic card below carefully.

Vou will haveto talk about the topic for one to two minutes. Vou have one minute

to think about what you are going to say. Vou can make notes if you want.

D es c r ib e a s h o p t h a t y o u en jo y g o in g to

V o u s ho uld s ay :

• w h ere th is s h o p is

• w hat i t s e l l s

• h o w o f t en y o u g o th ere

an d ex p la in w h y y o u en jo y v is i t in g t h is s h o p

P A R T 3

E x am p l e q u es t i on s

• Are there certain kinds of shops that are becoming more popular?

• What disadvantages do you think there may be to an increase in consumerism?

• In what ways do you think advertising affects people s attitudes?

• In what ways do you think shopping may change in the future?

P R A C T I C E

T E S T

S P E A K I N G

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