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READING TESTS

TEST 3: IELTS Actual Reading Test with Answers

1 – THE PLIGHT OF RICE 

A.

Rice is a tall grass with a drooping panicle that contains numerous edible grains and has been cultivated in China for more than 6,000 years. A staple throughout Asia and large parts of Africa, it is now grown in flooded paddy fields from sea level to high mountains and harvested three times a year. According to the Food and Health Organisation of the United Nations, around four billion people currently receive a fifth of their calories from rice.

B.

Recently, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have slightly reduced rice consumption due to the adoption of more western diets, but almost all other countries have raised their consumption due to population increase. Yet, since 1984, there have been diminishing rice yields around the world.

C.

From the 1950s to the early 1960s, rice production was also suffering: India was on the brink of famine, and China was already experiencing one. In the late 1950s, Norman Borlaug, an American plant pathologist,  began advising Punjab State in northwestern India to grow a new semi- dwarf variety of wheat. This was so successful that, in 1962, a semi- dwarf variety of rice, called IR8, developed by the Philippine  ·International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), was planted throughout Southeast Asia and India. This semi-dwarf variety heralded the Green Revolution, which saved the lives of millions of people by almost doubling rice yields: from 1.9 metric tons per hectare in 1950-64, to 3.5 metric tons in 1985-98.

D.

IR8 survived because, as a semi-dwarf, it only grows to a moderate height, and it does not thin out, keel over, and drown like traditional varieties. Furthermore, its short thick stem is able to absorb chemical fertilisers, but, as stem growth is limited, the plant expends energy on producing a large panicle of heavy seeds, ensuring a greater crop.

E.

However, even with a massive increase in rice production, semi-dwarf varieties managed to keep up with population growth for only ten years. In Africa, where rice consumption is rising by 20% annually, and where one-third of the population now depends on the cereal, this is disturbing. At the current rate, within the next 20 years, rice will surpass maize as the major source of calories on that continent. Meantime, even in ideal circumstances, paddies worldwide are not producing what they once did, for reasons largely unknown to science. An average 0.8% fall in yields has been noted in rich rice-growing regions; in less ideal ones, flood, drought and salinity have meant yields have fallen drastically, sometimes up to 40%. F. The sequencing of the rice genome took place in 2005, after which the IRRI developed genetically modified flood-resistant varieties of rice, called Sub 1, which produce up to four times more edible grain than non-modified strains. In 2010, a handful of farmers worldwide were planting IRRI Sub 1 rice; now, over five million are doing so. Currently, drought- and salt-resistant varieties are being trialled since most rice is grown in the great river basins of the Brahmaputra, the Irrawaddy, and the Mekong that are all drying up or becoming far saltier.

G.

With global warming, many rice-growing regions are hotter than 20 years ago. Nearly all varieties of rice; including IR8, flower in the afternoon, but the anthers – little sacs that contain male pollen – wither and die in soaring temperatures. IRRI scientists have identified one variety of rice, known as Odisha, that flowers in the early morning and they are in the process of genetically modifying IR8 so it contains Odisha-flowering genes, although it may be some time before this is released.

H.

While there is a clear need for more rice, many states and countries seem less keen to influence agricultural policy directly than they were in the past. Some believe rice demand will dip in wealthier places, as occurred in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; others consider it more prudent to devote resources to tackling obesity or to limiting intensive farming that is environmentally destructive.

I.

Some experts say where there is state intervention it should take the form of reducing subsidies to rice farmers to stimulate production; others propose that small landholdings should be consolidated into more economically viable ones. There is no denying that land reform is pressing, but many governments shy away from it, faring losses at the ballot box, all the while knowing that rural populations are heading for the city in droves anyway. And, as they do so, cities expand, eating up fertile land for food production.

J.

One can only hope that the IRRI and other research institutions will spearhead half a dozen mini green revolutions, independently of uncommitted states.

Questions 1 – 5:
Which section A – I contains the following information?
1/ Rice is only grown at a low elevation.
2/ Rice has been cultivated in Africa for 3,000 years.
3/ Since 1984, rice yields have decreased due to infestations of pests.
4/ Norman Borlaug believed Punjabi farmers should grow semi-dwarf rice.
5/ The Green Revolution increased rice yields by around 100%.

Questions 6-1
Choose NO MORE THAN 1 WORD / NUMBER from the passage for each answer

Questions 12 – 13:
12/ States are more interested in………than stimulating rice production.
A increasing wheat production
B reducing farm subsidies
C confronting obesity
D consolidating land holdings

13/ ……..disappearing as urbanisation speeds up.
A Intensive farming is
B Fertile land is
C Clean water is
D Agricultural institutes are

2- A New Perspective on Bacteria 

A

Microbes are organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye, including bacteria, blue-green algae, yeasts, fungi, viruses, and viroids. A large, diverse group, almost all bacteria are between one and ten μ1 (larger ones reach 0.5 mm). Generally single-celled, with a distinctive cellular structure lacking a true nucleus, most bacterial genetic information is carried on a DNA loop in the cytoplasm2 with the membrane possessing some nuclear properties. There are three main kinds of bacteria – spherical, rod-like, and spiral – known by their Latin names of coccus, bacillus, and spirillum. Bacteria occur alone, in pairs, clusters, chains, or more complex configurations. Some live where oxygen is present; others, where it is absent. The relationship between bacteria and their hosts is symbiotic, benefitting both organisms, or the hosts may be destroyed by parasitic or disease-causing bacteria.

B

In general, humans view bacteria suspiciously, yet it is now thought they partly owe their existence to microbes living long, Jong ago. During photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen that humans need to fuel blood cells. Most geologists believe the early atmosphere on Earth contained very little oxygen until around 21⁄2 billion years ago when microbes bloomed. Ancestral forms of cyanobacteria, for example, evolved into chloroplasts – the cells that carry out photosynthesis. Once plants inhabited the oceans, oxygen levels rose dramatically, so complex life forms could eventually be sustained. The air humans breathe today is oxygen-rich, and the majority of airborne microbes are harmless, but the air does contain industrial pollutants, allergens, and infectious microbes or pathogens that cause illness

C

The fact is that scientists barely understand microbes. Bacteria have been proven to exist only in the past 350 years; viruses were discovered just over 100 years ago, but in the past three decades, the ubiquity of microbes has been established with bacteria found kilometres below the Earth’s crust and in the upper atmosphere. Surprisingly, they survive in dry deserts and the frozen reaches of Antarctica; they dwell in rain and snow clouds, as well as inside every living creature. Air samples taken in 2006 from two cities in Texas contained at least 1,800 distinct species of bacteria, making the air as rich as the soil. These species originated both in Texas and as far away as western China. It now seems that the number of microbe species far exceeds the number of stars.

D

Inside every human being, there are trillions of bacteria with their weight estimated at 1.36 kg in an average adult, or about as heavy as the brain. Although tiny, 90% of cells in a human are bacterial. With around eight million genes, these bacteria outnumber genes in human cells by 300 times. The large intestine contains the most bacteria – almost 34,000 species – but the crook of the elbow harbours over 2,000 species. Many bacteria are helpful: digesting food; aiding the immune system; creating moisturiser; and, manufacturing vitamins. Some have highly specialised functions, like Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, which breaks down plant starch, so an infant can make the transition from mother’s milk to a more varied diet. Undeniably, some bacteria are life-threatening. One, known as golden staph, Staphylococcus aureus, plagues hospitals, where it infects instruments and devours human tissue until patients die from toxic shock. Worse, it is still resistant to antibiotics.

E

Antibiotics themselves are bacteria. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered that a mould in his laboratory produced a chemical he named penicillin. In 1951, William Bouw collected soil from the jungles of Borneo that eventually became vancomycin. Pharmaceutical companies still hunt for beneficial bacteria, but Michael Fischbach from the University of California believes that the human body itself is a ready supply.

F

Scientific ignorance about bacteria is largely due to an inability to cultivate many of them in a laboratory, but recent DNA sequencing has meant populations can be analysed by a computer program without having to grow them. Fischbach and his team have created and trained a computer program to identify gene clusters in microbial DNA sequences that might produce useful molecules. Having collected microbial DNA from 242 healthy human volunteers, the scientists sequenced the genomes of 2,340 different species of microbes, most of which were completely new discoveries. In searching the gene clusters, Fischbach et al fund 3,118 common ones that could be used in pharmaceuticals, for example, a gene cluster from the bacterium Lactobacillus gasseri, successfully reared in the lab, produced a molecule they named lactocillin. Later, they discovered the structure of this was very similar to an antibiotic, LFF571, undergoing clinical trials by a major pharmaceutical company. To date, lactocillin has killed harmful bacteria, so it may also be a reliable antibiotic.

G

Naturally, the path to patenting medicine is strewn with failures, but, since bacteria have been living inside humans for millions of years, they are probably safe to reintroduce in new combinations and in large amounts. Undoubtedly, the fight against pathogens, like golden staph, must continue, but as scientists learn more about microbes, respect and excitement for them grow, and their positive applications become ever more probable. 1A micron= 10-6 m 2Material inside a cell.  

Questions 14 – 18:
Which section A-G contains the following information?
14/ examples of bacteria as a patented medicine
15/ a description of bacteria
16/ gene cluster detection and culture
17/ humans are teeming with bacteria
18/ Fischbach’s hypothesis


Questions 19 – 22:
19/ What do almost all bacteria share?
A Their simple configurations
B Their cellular organisation
C Their survival without oxygen
D Their parasitic nature
20/ From the suffix ‘-bacillus’, what shape would you expect the
bacterium Paenibacillus to be?
A spherical
B rod-like
C spiral
D amorphous
21/ Why were ancient bacteria invaluable to humans?
A They contributed to higher levels of oxygen.
B They reduced widespread industrial pollution.
C They protected humans from intestinal ailments.
D They provided scientists with antibiotics.
22/ How prevalent are microbes?
A Not at all
B Somewhat
C Very
D Extremely


Questions 23 – 26:
Choose NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS from the passage for each answer.
23/ Which organ does the total weight of bacteria in a human body equal?
24/ Roughly how many bacterial species live in a human’s large intestine?
25/ In Fischbach’s view, where might useful bacteria come from in the
future?
26/ What do some scientists now feel towards microbes?

3 – READING PASSAGE 3 

A.

In the last century, Vikings have been perceived in numerous different ways – vilified as conquerors and romanticised as adventurers. How Vikings have been employed in nation-building is a topic of some interest.

B.

In English, Vikings are also known as Norse or Norsemen. Their language greatly influenced English, with the nouns, ‘Hell’, ‘husband’, ‘law’, and ‘window’, and the verbs, ‘blunder’, ‘snub’, ‘take’, and ‘want’, all coming from Old Norse. However, the origins of the word ‘Viking’, itself, are obscure: it may mean ‘a Scandinavian pirate’, or it may refer to ‘an inlet’, or a place called Vik, in modem-day Norway, from where the pirates came. These various names – Vikings, Norse, or Norsemen, and doubts about the very word ‘Viking’ suggest historical confusion.

C.

Loosely speaking, the Viking Age endured from the late eighth to the mid-eleventh centuries. Vikings sailed to England in AD 793 to storm coastal monasteries, and subsequently, large swathes of England fell under Viking rule – indeed several Viking kings sat on the English throne. It is generally agreed that the Battle of Hastings, in 1066, when the Norman French invaded, marks the end of the English Viking Age, but the Irish Viking age ended earlier, while Viking colonies in Iceland and Greenland did not dissolve until around AD 1500.

D.

How much territory Vikings controlled is also in dispute – Scandinavia and Western Europe certainly, but their reach east and south is uncertain. They plundered and settled down the Volga and Dnieper rivers, and traded with modem-day Istanbul, but the archaeological record has yet to verify that Vikings raided as far away as Northwest Africa, as some writers claim.

E.

The issue of control and extent is complex because many Vikings did not return to Scandinavia after raiding but assimilated into local populations, often becoming Christian. To some degree, the Viking Age is defined by religion. Initially, Vikings were polytheists, believing in many gods, but by the end of the age, they had permanently accepted a new monotheistic religious system – Christianity.

F.

This transition from so-called pagan plunderers to civilised Christians is significant and is the view promulgated throughout much of recent history. In the UK, in the 1970s for example, schoolchildren were taught that until the Vikings accepted Christianity they were nasty heathens who rampaged throughout Britain. By contrast, today’s children can visit museums where Vikings are celebrated as merchants, pastoralists, and artists with a unique worldview as well as conquerors.

G.

What are some other interpretations of Vikings? In the nineteenth century, historians in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden constructed their own Viking ages for nationalistic reasons. At that time, all three countries were in crisis. Denmark had been beaten in war and ceded territory to what is now Germany. Norway had become independent from Sweden in 1905 but was economically vulnerable, so Norwegians sought to create a separate identity for themselves in the past as well as the present. The Norwegian historian, Gustav Storm, was adamant it was his forebears and not the Swedes’ or Danes’ who had colonised Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland, in what is now Canada. Sweden, meanwhile, had relinquished Norway to the Norwegians and Finland to the Russians; thus, in the late nineteenth century, Sweden was keen to boost its image with rich archaeological finds to show the glory of its Viking past.

H.

In addition to augmenting nationalism, nineteenth-century thinkers were influenced by an Englishman, Herbert Spencer, who described peoples and cultures in evolutionary terms similar to those of Charles Darwin. Spencer coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’, which includes the notion that, over time, there is not only technological but also moral progress. Therefore, Viking heathens’ adoption of Christianity was considered an advantageous move. These days, historians do not compare cultures in the same way, especially since, in this case, the archaeological record seems to show that heathen Vikings and Christian Europeans were equally brutal.

I.

Views of Vikings change according to not only to forces affecting historians at the time of their research but also according to the materials they read. Since much knowledge of Vikings comes from literature composed up to 300 years after the events they chronicle, some Danish historians cal1 these sources ‘mere legends’.

J.

Vikings did have a written language carved on large stones, but as few of these survive today, the most reliable contemporary sources  on Vikings come from writers from other cultures, like the ninth- century Persian geographer, Ibn Khordadbeh. 

K.

In the last four decades, there have been wildly varying interpretations of the Viking influence in Russia. Most non-Russian scholars believe the Vikings created a kingdom in western Russia and modern-day Ukraine led by a man called Rurik. After AD 862, Rurik’s descendants continued to rule. There is considerable evidence of this colonisation: in Sweden, carved stones, still standing, describe the conquerors’ journeys; both Russian and Ukrainian have loan words from Old Norse; and, Scandinavian first names, like Igor and Olga, are still popular. However, during the Soviet period, there was an emphasis on the Slavic origins of most Russians. (Appearing in the historical record around the sixth century AD, the Slavs are thought to have originated in Eastern Europe.) This Slavic identity was promoted to contrast with that of the neighbouring Viking Swedes, who were enemies during the Cold War.

L.

These days, many Russians consider themselves hybrids. Indeed recent genetic studies support a Norse-colonisation theory: western Russian DNA is consistent with that of the inhabitants of a region north of Stockholm in Sweden.

M. The tools available to modern historians are many and varied, and their findings may seem less open to debate. There are linguistics, numismatics, dendrochronology, archaeozoology, palaeobotany, ice crystallography, climate and DNA analysis to add to the translation of runes and the raising of mighty warships. Despite these, historians remain children of their times.  

Questions 27 – 31:

Questions 32 – 39:
32/ A geographer documents Viking culture as it happens.
33/ A philosopher classifies cultures hierarchically.
34/ Historians assert that Viking history is based more on legends than
facts.
35/ Young people learn about Viking cultural and economic activities.
36/ People see themselves as unrelated to Vikings.
37/ An historian claims Viking colonists to modem-day Canada came from his land.
38/ Viking conquests are exaggerated to bolster the country’s ego after a
territorial loss.
39/ DNA tests show locals are closely related to Swedes.

List of times & places
A In the UK today
B In 19th-century Norway
C In 19th-century Sweden
D In 19th-century England
E In Denmark today
F In 9th-century Persia
G In mid-20th century Soviet Union
H In Russia today

Questions 40:
Which might be a suitable title for passage 3?
A A brief history of Vikings
B Recent Viking discoveries
C A modem fascination with Vikings
D Interpretations of Viking history
E Viking history and nationalism

Categories
READING TESTS

TEST 2: IELTS Actual Reading Test with Answers

1 – THE VALUE OF HANDWRITING  

A  

 ‘When I was in school in the I 970s,’ says Tammy Chou, ‘my end-of- term report included Handwriting as a subject alongside Mathematics and Physical Education, yet, by the time my brother started, a decadelater, it had been subsumed into English. I learnt two scripts: printing and cursive, *while Chris can only print.’ The 2013 Common Core, a curriculum used throughout most of the US, requires the tuition of legible writing (generally printing) only in the first two years of school; thereafter, teaching keyboard skills is a priority.  

B

‘I work in recruitment,’ continues Chou. ‘Sure, these days, applicants submit a digital CV and cover letter, but there’s still information interviewees need to fill out by hand, and I still judge them by the neatness of their writing when they do so. Plus there’s nothing more disheartening than receiving a birthday greeting or a condolence card with a scrawled message.’  

C  

Psychologists and neuroscientists may concur with Chou for different reasons. They believe children learn to read faster when they start to write by hand, and they generate new ideas and retain information better. Karin James conducted an experiment at Indiana University in the US in which children who had not learnt to read were shown a letter on a card and asked to reproduce it by tracing, by drawing it on another piece of paper, or by typing it on a keyboard. Then, their brains were scanned while viewing the original image again. Children  who had produced the freehand letter showed increased neural activity in the left fusiform gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the posterior parietal cortex – areas activated when adults read or write, whereas all other children displayed significantly weaker activation of the same areas. James speculates that in handwriting, there is variation in the production of any letter, so the brain has to learn each personal font – each variant of ‘F’, for example, that is still ‘F’. Recognition of variation may establish the eventual representation more permanently than recognising a uniform letter printed by computer. Victoria Berninger at the University of Washington studied children in the first two grades of school to demonstrate that printing, cursive, and keyboarding are associated with separate brain patterns. Furthermore, children who wrote by hand did so much faster than the typists, who had not been taught to touch type. Not only did the typists produce fewer words but also the quality of their ideas was consistently lower. Scans from the older children’s brains exhibited enhanced neural activity when their handwriting was neater than average, and, importantly, the parts of their brains activated are those crucial to working memory. Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer have shown in laboratories and live classrooms that tertiary students learn better when they take notes by hand rather than inputting via keyboard. As a result, some institutions ban laptops and tablets in lectures and prohibit smartphone photography of lecture notes. Mueller and Oppenheimer also believe handwriting aids contemplation as well as memory storage.

D

Some learners of English whose native script is not the Roman alphabet have difficulty in forming several English letters: the lower case ‘b’ and ‘d’, ‘p’ and ‘q’, ‘n’ and ‘u’, ‘m’ and ‘w’ may be confused. This condition affects a tiny minority of first-language learners and sufferers of brain damage. Called dysgraphia, it appears less frequently when writers use cursive instead of printing, which is why cursive has been posited as a cure for dyslexia.

E

Berninger is of the opinion that cursive, endangered in American schools, promotes self-control, which printing may not, and which typing – especially with the ‘delete’ function – unequivocally does not. In a world saturated with texting, where many have observed that people are losing the ability to filter their thoughts, a little more restraint would be a good thing. A rare-book and manuscript librarian, Valerie Hotchkiss, worries about the cost to our heritage as knowledge of cursive fades. Her library contains archives from the literary giants Mark Twain, Marcel Proust, HG Wells, and others. If the young generation does not lea cursive, its ability to decipher older documents may be compromised, and culture lost.

F 

Paul Bloom, from Yale University, is less convinced about the long- term benefits of handwriting. In the 1950s – indeed in Tammy Chou’s  idyllic 1970s – when children spent hours practising their copperplate, what were they doing with it? Mainly copying mindlessly. For Bloom, education, in the complex digital age, has moved on.  

Questions 1 – 5:

Questions 6-9

Questions 10 – 14:

2- Growing up in New Zealand 

A.

It has long been known that the first one thousand days of life are the most critical in ensuring a person’s healthy future; precisely what happens during this period to any individual has been less well documented. To allocate resources appropriately, public health and education policies need to be based upon quantifiable data, so the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development began a longitudinal study of these early days, with the view to extending it for two decades. Born between March 2009 and May 20I0, the 6,846 babies recruited came from a densely populated area of New Zealand, and it is hoped they will be followed until they reach the age of 21.

B.

By 2014, fur reports, collectively known as Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ), had been published, showing New Zealand to be a complex, changing country, with the participants and their families’ being markedly different from those of previous generations.

C.

Of the 6,846 babies, the majority were identified as European New Zealanders, but one quarter was Maori (indigenous New Zealanders), 20% were Pacific (originating in islands in the Pacific), and one in six were Asian. Almost 50% of the children had more than one ethnicity.

D.

The first three reports of GUiNZ ae descriptive, portraying the cohort before birth, at nine months, and at two years of age. Already, the first report, Before we are born, has made history as it contains interviews with the children’s mothers and fathers. The fourth report, which is more analytical, explores the definition of vulnerability for children in their first one thousand days.

E.

Before we are born, published in 2010, describes the hopes, dreams, and realities that prospective parents have. It shows that the average age of both parents having a child was 30, and around two-thirds of parents were in legally binding relationships. However, one-third of the children were born to either a mother or a father who did not grow up in New Zealand – a significant difference from previous longitudinal studies in which a vast majority of parents were New Zealanders born and bred. Around 60% of the births in the cohort were planned, and most families hoped to have two or three children. During pregnancy, some women changed their behaviour, with regard to smoking, alcohol, and exercise, but many did not. Such information will be useful for public health campaigns.

F.

Now we are born is the second report. Fifty-two percent of its babies were male and 48% female, with nearly a quarter delivered by caesarean section. The World Health Organisation and New Zealand guidelines recommend babies be breastfed exclusively for six months, but the median age for this in the GUiNZ cohort was fur months since almost one-third of mothers had returned to full-time work. By nine months, the babies were all eating solid food. While 54% of them were living in accommodation their families owned, their parents had almost all experienced a drop in income, sometimes a steep one, mostly due to mothers’ not working. Over 90% of the babies were immunised, and almost all were in very good health. Of the mothers, however, 11% had experienced post-natal depression – an alarming statistic, perhaps, but, once again, useful for mental health campaigns. Many of the babies were put in childcare while their mothers worked or studied, and the providers varied by ethnicity: children who were Maori or Pacific were more likely to be looked after by grandparents; European New Zealanders tended to be sent to daycare.

G.

Now we are two, the third report, provides more insights into the children’s development – physically, emotionally, behaviourally, and cognitively. Major changes in home environments are documented, like the socio-economic situation, and childcare arrangements. Information was collected both from direct observations of the children and from parental interviews. Once again, a high proportion of New Zealand two-year-olds were in very good health. Two-thirds of the children knew their gender, and used their own name or expressed independence in some way. The most common first word was a variation on ‘Mum’, and the most common favourite first food was a banana. Bilingual or multi-lingual children were in a large minority of 40%. Digital exposure was high: one in seven two-year-olds had used a laptop or a children’s computer, and 80% watched TV or DVDs daily; by contrast, 66% had books read to them each day.

H.

The fourth report evaluates twelve environmental risk factors that increase the likelihood of poor developmental outcomes for children and draws on experiences in Western Europe, where the specific factors were collated. This, however, was the first time for their use in a New Zealand context. The factors include: being born to an adolescent mother; having one or both parents on income-tested benefits; and, living in cramped conditions.

I.

In addition to descriptive ones, future reports will focus on children who move in and out of vulnerability to see how these transitions affect their later life.

J.

To date, GUiNZ has been highly successful with only a very small dropout rate for participants – even those living abroad, predominantly in Australia, have continued to provide information. The portrait GUiNZ paints of a country and its people are indeed revealing.   

Questions 15 – 20: TRUE – FALSE – NOT GIVEN
15/ Findings from studies like GUiNZ will inform public policy.
16/ Exactly 6,846 babies formed the GUiNZ cohort.
17/ GUiNZ will probably end when the children reach ten.
18/ Eventually, there will be 21 reports in GUiNZ.
19/ So far, GUiNZ has shown New Zealanders today to be rather similar to those of 25 years ago.
20/ Parents who took part in GUiNZ believe New Zealand is a good place to raise children.


Questions 21 – 27:
A Report 1.
B Report 2.
C Report 3.
D Report 4.

21/ This is unique because it contains interviews with both parents.
22/ This looks at how children might be at risk.
23/ This suggests having a child may lead to financial hardship.
24/ Information for this came from direct observations of children.
25/ This shows many children use electronic devices.
26/ This was modelled on criteria used in Western Europe.
27/ This suggests having a teenage mother could negatively affect a child.

3 – LET THERE BE LIGHT? 

A

‘Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st will be Jit by LED lamps.’ So stated the Nobel Prize Committee on awarding the 2014 prize for physics to the inventors of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Around the world, LED systems are replacing most kinds of conventional lighting since they use about half the electricity, and the US Department of Energy expects LEDs to account for 74% of US lighting sales by 2030. However, with lower running costs, LEDs may be left on longer, or installed in places that were previously unlit. Historically, when there has been an improvement in lighting technology, far more outdoor illumination has occurred. Furthermore, many LEDs are brighter than other lights, and they produce a blue-wavelength light that animals misinterpret as the dawn. According to the American Medical Association, there has been a noticeable rise in obesity, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease in people like shift workers exposed to too much artificial light of any kind. It is likely more pervasive LEDs will contribute to a further rise.

B

In some cities, a brown haze of industrial pollution prevents enjoyment of the night sky; in others, a yellow haze from lighting has the same effect, and it is thought that almost 70% of people can no longer see the Milky Way. When a small earthquake disabled power plants in Los Angeles a few years ago, the director of the Griffith Observatory was bombarded with phone calls by locals who reported an unusual phenomenon they thought was caused by the quake – a brilliantly illuminated night sky, in which around 7,000 stars were visible. In fact, this was just an ordinary starry night, seldom seen in LA due to light pollution! Certainly, light pollution makes professional astronomy difficult, but it also endangers humans’ age-old connection to the stars. It is conceivable that children who do not experience a truly starry night may not speculate about the universe, nor may they learn about nocturnal creatures.

C

Excessive illumination impacts upon the nocturnal world. Around 30% of vertebrates and over 60% of invertebrates are nocturnal; many of the remainders are crepuscular – most active at dawn and dusk. Night lighting, hundreds of thousands of times greater than its natural level, has drastically reduced insect, bird, bat, lizard, frog, turtle, and fish life, with even dairy cows producing less milk in brightly-lit sheds. Night lighting has a vacuum-cleaner effect on insects, particularly moths, drawing them from as far away as 122 metres. As insects play an important role in pollination, and in providing food for birds, their destruction is a grave concern. Using low-pressure sodium-vapour lamps or UV-filtered bulbs would reduce insect mortality, but an alternative light source does not help amphibians: fogs exposed to any night light experience altered feeding and mating behaviour, making them easy prey. Furthermore, birds and insects use the sun, the moon, and the stars to navigate. It is estimated that around 500 million migratory birds are killed each year by collisions with brightly-lit structures, like skyscrapers or radio towers. In Toronto, Canada, the Fatal Light Awareness Program educates building owners about reducing such deaths by darkening their buildings at the peak of the migratory season. Still, over 1,500 birds may be killed within one night when this does not happen. Non-migratory birds are also adversely affected by light pollution – sleep is difficult, and waking up only occurs when the sun has overpowered artificial lighting, resulting in the birds’ being too late to catch insects. Leatherback turtles, which have lived on Earth for over 150 million years, are now endangered as their hatchlings are meant to follow light reflected from the moon and stars to go from their sandy nests to the sea. Instead, they follow street lamps or hotel lights, resulting in death by dehydration, predation, or accidents, since they wander onto the road in the opposite direction from the sea.

D

Currently, eight percent of all energy generated in the US is dedicated to public outdoor lighting, and much evidence shows that lighting and energy use are growing at around four percent a year, exceeding population growth. In some newly-industrialised countries, lighting use is rising by 20%. Unfortunately, as the developing world urbanises, it also lights up brightly, rather than opting for sustainability.

E

There are several organisations devoted to restoring the night sky: one is the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), based in Arizona, US. The IDA draws attention to the hazards of light pollution and works with manufacturers, planners, legislators, and citizens to encourage lighting only what is necessary when necessary. With 58 chapters in sixteen countries, the IDA has been the driving force behind the establishment of nine world reserves, most recently the 1,720-square-kilometre Rhon Biosphere Reserve in Germany. IDA campaigns have also reduced street lighting in several US states and changed national legislation in Italy.

F

Except in some parks and observatory zones, the IDA does not defend complete darkness, acknowledging that urban areas operate around the clock. For transport, lighting is particularly important. Nonetheless, there is an appreciable difference between harsh, glaring lights and those that illuminate the ground without streaming into the sky. The US Department of Transportation recently conducted research into highway safety and found that a highway lit well only at interchanges was as safe as one lit along its entire length. In addition, reflective signage and strategic white paint improved safety more than adding lights. Research by the US Department of Justice showed that outdoor lighting may not deter crime. Its only real benefit is in citizens’ perceptions: lighting reduces the fear of crime, not crime itself. Indeed, bright lights may compromise the safety, as they make victims and property more visible. The IDA recommends that where streetlights stay on all night, they have a lower lumen rating, or are controlled with dimmers; and, that they point downwards, or are fitted with directional metal shields. For private dwellings, low-lumen nightlights should be activated only when motion is detected.

G

It is not merely the firefly, the fruit bat, or the fog that suffers from light pollution – many human beings no longer experience filling stars or any but the brightest stars, nor consequently ponder their own place in the universe. Hopefully, prize-winning LED lights will be modified and used circumspectly to return to us all the splendour of the night sky.   

Questions 28 – 32:
Which section A-G contains the following information?
28/ A light-hearted example of ignorance about the night sky
29/ An explanation of how lighting may not equate with safety
30/ A description of the activities of the International Dark-sky Association
31/ An example of baby animals affected by too much night light
32/ A list of the possible drawbacks of new lighting technology

Questions 33-35

Choose ONE WORD OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
33/ Too much ……………….. light has led to a rise in serious illness.
34/ Approximately ……………….. % of humans are unable to see the
Milky Way.
35/ About ……………… million migratory birds die crashing into lit-up tall buildings each year.

Questions 36-39: YES – NO – NOT GIVEN
36/ It is alarming that so many animals are killed by night lighting.
37/ It is good that developing countries now have brighter lighting.
38/ Italians need not worry about reduced street lighting.
39/ Bright lights along the road are necessary for safe driving.

Question 40
According to the writer, how much night lighting should there be in relation to what there is?
A Much more
B A little more
C A little less
D Much less

Categories
READING TESTS

TEST 1: IELTS Actual Reading Test 2024 with Answers

Passage 1: Video Practice Test!

Passage 2: Video Practice Test!

Passage 3:  Video Practice Test!

1 – READING PASSAGE 1
A.In 1979 the Chinese government introduced a policy that no other
country had ever introduced before. Each couple was restricted by law to having to only one child. This one-child policy, although highly controversial, is believed to have helped prevent the rapidly growing Chinese population from becoming unsustainable.

B.In 2015 the one-child policy was finally relaxed, allowing couples to now have two children. According to the Communist Party of China, 400 million births have been prevented since the policy was introduced, and the Chinese population has become sustainable. Meanwhile, other developing countries like India and Nigeria, where such a policy has never been nationally enforced, continue to struggle with population explosions.

C.On a statistical level, it is easy to suggest that the one-child policy has been rather successful in China. It has lessened the negative environmental impact that rapid industrialisation and population growth have had on China since being implemented. However,
there are plenty of grounds for criticism, especially from human rights activists, as well as advocates for freedom of choice. The main question raised by such a move is should a government be allowed to control family size, or is that too much control over individual liberty?

D. In the poorer rural areas of China, where life has changed very little for hundreds of years, farmers often used to rely on their children to help out on the farm. It was common for couples to have many children because infant mortality was high and the burden of work could not be handled by just a few people. It was generally considered that a girl was bad luck in this case because she would not be able to do as much manual labour. However backwards this way of thinking may seem to many people, the sad reality was that the instances of infanticide of female babies began to rise rapidly in the 1980s in China, as a result of the one- child policy.

E. Despite this raising other important concerns such as gender
inequality in China, the growing problem of infanticide did lead to
change; the government relaxed the one-child policy so that a
couple could have a second child, but only if their first child was a
girl. On the other hand, the government has also faced heavy
criticism of its methods of trying to enforce the one-child policy in
the past. In rural areas, it was very difficult for the government to
enforce the policy, and so only really applied in urban areas of the
country.

F. In extreme cases, the government in China would force pregnant
women who already had one child to have an abortion. However, they were also forced to introduce laws in 2005 outlawing sex- selective abortions, which were increasingly common choices being made by couples who knew the sex of their baby to be female before birth.

G. Whilst true statistics are difficult to obtain from China, it is thought that there are now 60 million more men than women in China. This gender imbalance is almost certainly an indirect result of the one-child policy. Another theory suggests that there are unofficially millions of more women in China who were never registered with local authorities by their parents through fear of being fined or losing their child.

H. The necessity of having children in some parts of China is something many in the West have trouble understanding. After all, increasing numbers of adults in the West now choose not to have children purely for environmental reasons.

I. Research by statisticians at Oregon State University in America fund that because of the average American’s huge carbon footprint, having a child in America increased a person’s long-term carbon output by up to 20 times. T put this into greater context, the long-term pollution output of a child born in the U.S. can be up to 160 times higher than that of a child born in Bangladesh.

J. One of the reasons in China for changing the one-child policy to a two-child policy in 2015 was that the original policy was almost redundant anyway. The original legislation was only aimed at a single generation. Under the ruling, any couple in China who were both sole children to their respective parents were allowed to have two children. Therefore the two-child policy was already in effect for most couples already by 2015.

K.China has a rapidly developing economy, and with such development comes a higher average carbon output per person. This leads some authorities to worry that the already-strained environment in China will suffer even more in decades to come. Having said that, as China continues to experience such rapid economic development, Chinese people are enjoying increased personal wealth and financial stability. With that may also come the philosophy of choice, such as having the luxury to choose not to have children purely for environmental reasons, just like in the U.S.

Questions 1 – 7: TRUE – FALSE – NOT GIVEN

1/ China’s one-child policy is believed to have kept population growth in
the country at sustainable levels.
2/ The negative environmental impact of population growth in China is less because of the one-child policy.
3/ The number of cases of infanticide of female babies decreased in China
during the 1980s.
4/ In India effective population control is becoming an increasingly important concern for the government.
5/ Estimates suggest that there are 60 million more men than women living in China.
6/ Long-term pollution output of a child born in the U.S. is roughly the
same as for a child born in Bangladesh.
7/ The original one-child legislation in China was designed to apply to one
generation only.

Questions 8-12
8/ According to the passage, there is a criticism of the one-child policy,
particularly from
A other countries.
B family planning organisations.
C Chinese citizens.
D human rights activists.
9/ One other important concern raised by infanticide of female babies is
A housing prices.
B gender inequality.
C the wellbeing of mothers.
D the loneliness of children in China.
10/ Laws passed in 2005 banned
A parents having three children.
B sex-selective abortions.
C all abortion in China.
D same-sex marriage.
11/ The author suggests that increasing numbers of westerners are choosing not to have children
A before the age of 30.
B before marriage.
C for environmental reasons.
D because it is too expensive.
12/ The passage suggests that there is a link between a rapidly developing
economy and a higher
A average carbon output per person.
B demand for electronic goods.
C desire for couples to have more children.
D level of crime in urban areas.

Questions 13:
13/ Which of the following is the most likely title for the passage?
A The Environmental Impact of Big Families
B China Reinstates the One-Child Policy
C A Brief History of Family Management
D The End of China’s One-Child Policy
E The Story of the Chinese Power

2- The Effects of Deforestation

A
Every year it is estimated that roughly 5.2 million hectares (52,000 km2 of the forest is lost worldwide. That is a net figure, meaning it represents the area of the forest not replaced. T put this size in context, that is an area of land the size of Croatia lost every single year. There is a wide range of negative effects from deforestation that range from the smallest biological processes right up to the health of our planet as a whole. On a human level, millions of lives are affected every year by flooding and landslides that often result from deforestation.
B
There are 5 million people living in areas deemed at risk of flooding in England and Wales. Global warming, in part, worsened by deforestation, is responsible for higher rainfalls in Britain in recent decades. Although it can be argued that demand for cheap housing has meant more houses are being built in at-risk areas, the extent of the flooding is increasing. The presence of forests and trees along streams and rivers acts like a net. The trees catch and store water, but also hold the soil together, preventing erosion. By removing the trees, the land is more easily eroded increasing the risk of landslides and also, after precipitation, less water is intercepted when trees are absent and so more enters rivers, increasing the risk of flooding.
C
It is well documented that forests are essential to the atmospheric balance of our planet, and therefore our own wellbeing too. Scientists agree unequivocally that global warming is a real and serious threat to our planet. Deforestation releases 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. One-third of the carbon dioxide emissions created by human activity comes from deforestation around the globe.
D
In his book Collapse, about the disappearance of various ancient civilisations, writer Jared Diamond theorises about the decline of the natives of Easter Island. European missionaries first arrived on the
island in 1722. Research suggested that the island, whose population
was in the region of two to three thousand at the time, had once been
much higher at fifteen thousand people. This small native population
survived on the island despite there being no trees at all. Archaeological digs uncovered evidence of trees once flourishing on the island. The uncontrolled deforestation not only led to the eradication of all such natural resources from the island but also greatly impacted the number of people the island could sustain. This underlines the importance of forest management, not only for useful building materials but also for food as well.
E
Forestry management is important to make sure that stocks are not depleted and that whatever is cut down is replaced. Without sustainable development of forests, the levels of deforestation are only going to worsen as the global population continues to rise, creating a higher demand for the products of forests. Just as important though is consumer awareness. Simple changes in consumer activity can make a huge difference. These changes in behaviour include, but are not limited to, recycling all recyclable material; buying recycled products and looking for the FSC sustainably sourced forest products logo on any wood or paper products.
F
Japan is often used as a model of exemplary forest management. During the Edo period between 1603 and 1868 drastic action was taken to reverse the country’s serious exploitative deforestation problem. Whilst the solution was quite complex, one key aspect of its success was the encouragement of cooperation between villagers. This process of collaboration and re-education of the population saved Japan’s forests. According to the World Bank, 68.5% of Japanese land area is covered by forest, making it one of the best performing economically developed nations in this regard.
G
There is, of course, a negative impact of Japan’s forest management. There is still a high demand for wood products in the country, and the majority of these resources are simply imported from other, poorer nations. Indonesia is a prime example of a country that has lost large swaths of its forest cover due to foreign demand from countries like Japan. This is in addition to other issues such as poor domestic forest management, weaker laws and local corruption. Located around the Equator, Indonesia has an ideal climate for the rainforest. Sadly much of this natural resource is lost every year. Forest cover is now down to less than 51% from 65.4% in 1990. This alone is proof that more needs to be done globally to manage forests.
H
China is leading the way in recent years for replenishing their forests. The Chinese government began the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in 1978, with aims to complete the planting of a green wall, measuring 2,800 miles in length by its completion in 2050. Of course, this program is in many ways forced by nature itself; the expansion of the Gobi Desert threatened to destroy thousands of square miles of grassland annually through desertification. This is a process often exacerbated by deforestation in the first place, and so represents an attempt to buck the trend. Forested land in China rose from 17% to 22% from 1990 to 2015 making China one of the few developing nations to reverse the negative trend.

Questions 14 – 20:

Questions 21 – 26:

The effects of deforestation are widespread and various. Some examples
include flooding at a local scale to the wider effects of global warming on a
worldwide scale. In Britain, for example, 21 …………………. people live in areas at risk of flooding. This risk is increased by deforestation. Trees catch and 22 ………………… water lowering the chance of flooding. By removing trees land erosion is also higher, increasing the chance of 23 ………………… Deforestation also affects global warming by contributing 15% of the 24 …………………. of greenhouse gasses. To make sure that the cutting down of trees is done in a sustainable way, good
forestry 25 …………………. is important. In most countries, more trees are cut down every year than planted. One country that is reversing this trend is China, making it one of the few nations to 26 ………………….. the more common negative trend.

3 – Film Noir ?

A.After the Second World War, a curious change came over the outlook of Hollywood films. Rather than the positive, happy- ending stories that dominated the silver screen before the war, pessimism and negativity had entered American cinema. This post-war disillusionment was evident in Hollywood and the movement became known as film noir.

B.One would be mistaken to call film noir a genre. Unlike westerns
or romantic comedies. film noir cannot be defined by conventional uses of setting or conflict in a way that is common to genre films. Film noir is more of a movement. pinned to one specific point in time in much the same way as Soviet Montage or German Expressionism was. Instead, the defining quality of film noir was linked to tone, lighting and an often a sombre mood.

C.True film noir refers to Hollywood films of the 1940s and early 1950s that dealt with dark themes such as crime and corruption. These films were essentially critiquing certain aspects of American society in a way film had never done before. Since that time there have occasionally been other great noir films made, such as Chinatown, but the mood and tone are often different to the original film noir movies. One possible reason for this is the time in which the films were made. A common perception of art is that it reflects the society and time in which it is made. That makes film noir of the Forties and Fifties quite inimitable because, luckily, the world has not had to endure a war of the scale and destruction of the Second World War again.

D. Paul Schrader, a writer of films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, sees film noir as one of Hollywood’s best and least-known periods. In his essay Notes on Film Nair, he admits that classifying film noir is almost impossible because many films considered as film noir vary greatly in style. He observed that there were four main traditions in film noir. First were the films specifically about war and post-war disillusionment. Schrader believes these films were not only a reflection of the war but also a delayed reaction to the great economic depression of the 1930s. The trend in Hollywood throughout this period and into the war was to produce films aimed at keeping people’s spirits up, hence the positivity. As soon as the war ended, crime fiction started to become popular, which mirrored growing disillusionment in America. Films such as The Blue Dahlia and Dead Reckoning picked up on a trend started during the war with The Maltese Falcon in 1941, which is seen as the first example of film noir.

E.Another film noir tradition was post-war realism. This style of the film was similar to some European films of the same era, such as Italy’s neorealist films like Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and Roberto Rossellini’s Open City. Part of this style was created by filming in real locations and away from constructed sets. The honesty of this style of film suited the post-war mood in America and is demonstrated well in Jules Dassin’s Night and the City, much of which was filmed in and around London.

F. The third tradition of film noir according to Paul Schrader involves what he characterises as ‘The German Influence’. Especially during the 1920s German Expressionism was one of the most unique and creative firms of cinema. Many German, Austrian and Polish directors immigrated to America before or during the rise of Hitler and in part due to the increasing control and prevention of artistic freedom. Many of them, such as Fritz Lang and Billy Wilder, would find their way into the Hollywood system and to this day remain some of the most celebrated directors of all time.

G. It was the lighting developed in German Expressionism, in particular, that was most influential on film noir. The interplay of light and shadow created by chiaroscuro was highly suggestive of hidden darkness and was largely responsible for creating the mood and feeling of film noir. But it was the coupling of expressionist lighting with realistic settings that really gave film noir its authenticity. It is no surprise then that two of the most popular film noir feature films, Sunset Boulevard and Ace in the Hole, were both directed by Billy Wilder.

H. The final tradition of film noir noted by Schrader is what he dubs ‘The Hard-Boiled Tradition’. He notes how American literature of the time was the driving force behind much of this style of film noir. Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain were tough, cynical and uncompromising and their work reflects this type of attitude. If German Expressionism influenced the visual aspect of film noir, it was this hard-boiled writing style that influenced the characters, stories and scripts depicted on screen. Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay for the film noir classic Double Indemnity from a James M. Cain story. This writing team, with Billy Wilder, again directing, was the perfect combination for one of Hollywood’s most celebrated films.

Questions 28 – 32: YES – NO – NOT GIVEN

27/ The First World War had a big influence on the types of films being
made in Hollywood.
28/ Film noir is an official genre.
29/ True film noir can be from any time and be about any kind of social
issue.
30/ Filmmaker Paul Schrader believes that film noir is almost impossible to classify.
31/ Mixing light and shadow was mainly responsible for creating a unique
mood and feeling of film noir.
32/ During the 1950sflm noir was the most successful type of film at the
box office.

Questions 33-37
Choose 2 WORDS AND / OR A NUMBER for each answer.
THE FOUR TRADITIONS OF FILM NOIR
War and post-war disillusionment:
A delayed 33 ……………….. to the great economic depression. The Hollywood trend during the depression and war was to produce
films aimed at keeping people’s spirits up.
Post-war realism:
Part of the style was created by shooting the films in real locations instead of on sets. Similar to European film styles such as 34 ………………….. in Italy.
The German Influence:
Many directors from Germany, Austria and Poland 35 …………………… to America during the 1920s and 1930s. The use of lighting styles developed by German Expressionist films was very influential on film noir. Combining chiaroscuro lighting with filming in real locations gave film noir its 36 ……………………
The hard-boiled tradition:
These films were heavily influenced by popular literature of the time
by writers like Ernest Hemingway. The hard-boiled writing style influenced the depiction of 37 ……………………, stories and scripts in film noir.

Questions 38-40: YES – NO – NOT GIVEN
38/ After the war, instead of the positive films that existed in
Hollywood before
39/ The honesty of post-war realism in film noir
40/ Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, is

A suited the mood in America well.
B one of Hollywood’s most notable films.
C there were a lot more romantic comedies released in America.
D was something most people were not ready for.
E negativity had entered Hollywood films.
F a film that very few people know about today.