LESSON 1: IELTS READING

1.1. IELTS READING TEST OVERVIEW

1.1.1. THE SKILLS TESTED

The Academic IELTS Reading Module takes 60 minutes and there are 40 questions to
answer. Each question is worth 1 mark.
IELTS reading tests aim to assess the following skills:
1. Reading for gist/main ideas
2. Reading for detail
3. Understanding inferences and implied meaning
4. Recognizing a writer’s opinions
5. Attitudes and purpose
6. Following the development of an argument

1.1.2. THE PASSAGE TYPES

There are three reading passages with a total of 2,150-2,750 words. Texts are taken
from journals, magazines, books, and newspapers. All the topics are of general interest and the
texts have been written for a non-specialist audience. The readings are intended to be about
issues that are appropriate to candidates who will enter postgraduate or undergraduate
courses. At least one text will contain detailed logical argument. One of the texts may contain
non-verbal materials such as graphs, illustrations or diagrams. If there are technical terms
which you may not know in the text then a glossary is provided. The texts and questions
become more difficult through the paper.

1.1.3. THE QUESTIONS

These are the types of question you can expect to see in the test:
1. Short-answer questions
2. Multiple choice
3. Completion (sentence/notes/summary/diagram/flow chart/table)
4. Choosing a heading for a paragraph
5. Identification of writer's views/claims - yes, no or not given
6. Identification of information - true, false or not given
7. Classification
8. Matching lists/phrases.

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1.2. READING QUESTION TYPE 1: MATCHING

There are three types of matching questions.

1. Matching headings for paragraphs or sections of a text.
Type 1 questions require you to sum up the meaning of a paragraph in order to match it to
a bank of possible headings. You may be asked to match every paragraph or section of the
text or just a selection of paragraphs.

Questions 1- 3

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F.

From the list of headings below choose the most suitable heading for paragraphs
A, B and C from the list of headings below.

List of Headings
i. A global problem
ii. A study into factory emissions
iii. The responsibility of citizens
iv. Legislation
v. The limits of federal law
vi. Clean air

Write the appropriate numbers i-vii in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C

2. Matching a heading for the whole text.

Type 2 questions require you to sum up the whole text.

From the list below choose the most suitable title for Reading Passage 2.

Write the appropriate letter A-E in box 4 on your answer sheet.

A. Legislation to reduce harmful emissions

B. Problems of air pollution.
C. air pollution – a global problem.
D. Clean Air
E. Reducing harmful emissions

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3. Matching sentence ending.

Questions 1 – 3

Complete each of the following statements (Questions 1-3) with the best
ending A-F from the box below.

Write the appropriate letters A-F on your answer sheet.

1. Incorporating organic and inorganic matter
2. Spent mushroom compost
3. Adding potassium regularly

A. makes the soil more alkaline.

B. will help to encourage flowering and fruiting.
C. makes roots stronger.
D. encourages vigorous growth.
E. will help hold moisture in the soil.
F. F will improve aeration.

1.2.1. STRATEGIES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

 Quickly read through the paragraph headings so you can see what they say.
 Then, look at the first paragraph.
 Often only the topic sentence needs to be read carefully because the main idea and answer
are there - you may be able to just skim the rest.
 Sometimes, however, the answer is not in the topic sentence and the whole paragraph
needs to be read more carefully.
 If a match is not immediately obvious, move on to the next one.
 If you are unsure between two answers at first, put them both in. You may be able to
eliminate one answer later if it fits another paragraph better.
 If at the end you are still stuck between two answers for a question, pick which fits best.

1.2.2. THINGS TO BEWARE OF

 There are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than paragraphs, so be
careful when matching them.
 Watch out for synonyms - often words in the paragraphs and paragraph headings will not
be the same; they will be synonyms.

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 Having a noun from a heading that is in the paragraph does not guarantee they match - you
still need to read it carefully to check.

Exercise 1
Read and focus on the topic sentences in the text below and then match the
paragraph headings to their paragraphs.

The reading passage has seven paragraphs: A – G. Choose the most suitable paragraph
headings from the list of headings on the right.
Write the appropriate numbers (i –ix) in the text boxes below the headings.
NB. There are more paragraph headings than paragraphs so you will not use them all.

YORUBA TOWNS
A. The Yoruba people of Nigeria classify their towns in two ways. Permanent towns with
their own governments are called “ilu”, whereas temporary settlements, set up to
support work in the country are “aba”. Although ilu tend to be larger than aba, the
distinction is not one of size, some aba are large, while declining ilu can be small, but
of purpose. There is no “typical” Yoruba town, but some features are common to most
towns.
B. In the 19th century most towns were heavily fortified and the foundations of these
walls are sometimes visible. Collecting tolls to enter and exit through the walls was a
major source of revenue for the old town rulers, as were market fees. The markets
were generally located centrally and in small towns, while in large towns there were
permanent stands made of corrugated iron or concrete. The market was usually next
to the local ruler’s palace.
C. The palaces were often very large. In the 1930s, the area of Oyo’s palace covered 17
acres, and consisted of a series of courtyards surrounded by private and public rooms.
After colonization, many of the palaces were completely or partially demolished. Often
the rulers built two storey houses for themselves using some of the palace grounds
for government buildings.
D. The town is divided into different sections. In some towns these are regular,
extending out from the center of the town like spokes on a wheel, while in others,
where space is limited, they are more random. The different areas are further divided
into compounds called “ile”. These vary in size considerably from single dwellings to up
to thirty houses. They tend to be larger in the North. Large areas are devoted to
government administrative buildings. Newer developments such as industrial or
commercial areas or apartment housing for civil servants tends to be build on the edge
of the town.

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E. Houses are rectangular and either have a courtyard in the center or the rooms come
off a central corridor. Most social life occurs in the courtyard. They are usually built
of hardened mud and have roofs of corrugated iron or, in the countryside, thatch.
Buildings of this material are easy to alter, either by knocking down rooms or adding
new ones. And can be improved by coating the walls with cement. Richer people often
build their houses of concrete blocks and, if they can afford to, build two storey
houses. Within compounds there can be quite a mixture of building types. Younger
well-educated people may have well furnished houses while their older relatives live in
mud walled buildings and sleep on mats on the floor.
F. The builder or the most senior man gets a room either near the entrance or, in a two
storied house, next to the balcony. He usually has more than one room. Junior men get
a room each and there are separate rooms for teenage boys and girls to sleep in.
Younger children sleep with their mothers. Any empty room are used as storage, let
out or, if they face the street, used as shops.
G. Amenities vary. In some towns most of the population uses communal water taps and
only the rich have piped water. In others piped water is more normal. Some areas have
toilets, but bucket toilets are common with waste being collected by a “night soil man”.
Access to water and electricity are key political issues.

List of paragraph headings 1. Paragraph A = heading . . .

i. Town facilities 2. Paragraph B = heading . . .
ii. Oyo’s palace 3. Paragraph C = heading . . .
iii. Urban divisions 4. Paragraph D = heading . . .
iv. Architectural features 5. Paragraph E = heading . . .
v. Types of settlements 6. Paragraph F = heading . . .
vi. Historical foundations 7. Paragraph G = heading . . .
vii. Domestic arrangements
viii. City defenses
ix. Various changes
x. Government buildings

Exercise 2
Choose the best heading for each paragraph.

SOCCER VIOLENCE

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A. Fiorentina's exclusion from the UEFA Cup after a match official was injured by a
firecracker thrown during their second-round match with Grasshopper Zurich in
Salerno brought hooliganism back in the media.
B. The Florence clubs are appealing against the decision, arguing that the object was
thrown by rival Salernitana fans and the ban would set a dangerous precedent. But
UEFA will have borne in mind that Fiorentina were playing so far away from home only
because they had been banned from their own ground for crowd trouble in Europe last
season.
C. Whether Fiorentina have been hard done by or not, fan violence is a problem in the
Italian game. Fighting before Sunday's 1-1 draw between Bologna and Roma left eight
people in hospital, two with stab wounds. After the game a Roma supporters' bus was
stoned and set on fire.
D. But Italy is not the only country suffering from what used to be called "the English
disease". At the weekend police in Bucharest fired tear-gas and made 20 arrests
after a pitch invasion at the Steaua-Dinamo derby, reflecting a marked growth in
hooliganism in Romania. The Greek first division match between PAOK Thessaloniki
and Olympiakos Piraeus last week was abandoned after one of the linesmen was left
concussed by home fans furious at a disallowed goal, a decision which brought 10,000
people on to the streets of Salonika in protest. In neighbouring Albania, Skenderbeu
Korce were fined and docked three points last month after a brawl involving players,
fans and the referee.
E. Hooliganism is taking its toll on the South American game too. An Argentinian judge
suspended all second division matches this month in an effort to combat rising
violence. The same judge halted the first division for two weeks in May for the same
reason.
F. Football violence has claimed 37 lives in Argentina in the Nineties and leading clubs
routinely have to dole out free tickets and cash to their gangsterish fans, known as
barras bravas, whose activities include extortion. This is leading to a frightening
atmosphere. A recent survey in Brazil found that 61 per cent of fans said they stayed
away from matches because they were too scared to attend.
G. FIFA is considering the postponement of the Confederations Cup, scheduled for
January, which may persuade the world champions France to take part, a FIFA
spokesman said yesterday.

List of Headings 1. Paragraph A = heading . . .

i. A climate of fear 2. Paragraph B = heading . . .
ii. Fan violence returns 3. Paragraph C = heading . . .
iii. FIFA's response 4. Paragraph D = heading . . .
iv. Cancelling the cup 5. Paragraph E = heading . . .
v. Legal action is taken 6. Paragraph F = heading . . .

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 vi.Not just the fans 7. Paragraph G = heading . . .
vii.Italy has a serious problem
viii.Not to blame
ix.Violence in the news again
x. A widespread problem

1.3. READING QUESTION TYPE 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE

Multiple choice questions can test both your global understanding of the text or ask you
for specific information. This means you will have to make the decision yourself whether to
skim or scan the text.
There are three types of multiple choice questions in the IELTS reading exam.
1. Where there is one possible answer.

Questions 1-3

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-3 on your answer
sheet.

1. According to information in the text, asparagines . . .

A. is poisonous.
B. can cause cancer.
C. is harmless unless heated.
D. should only be eaten in small amounts.

2. According to information in the text, acrylamide . . .

A. has been found in lots of fried food.
B. has been found in snacks in Sweden.
C. is only found in western cooking.
D. is in water.

3 According to information in the text, process foods . . .

A. should be avoided.
B. are cheaper.
C. are full of chemicals.
D. are the most tasty foods.

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2. Where there are multiple answers for only one mark.

Question 4

Write TWO letters A-F in box 4 on your answer sheet.

4. Which TWO examples of food is asparagine found in?

A. A peanuts
B. B rice
C. C French fries
D. D asparagus
E. E chocolate
F. F bananas

3. Where there are multiple answers and one mark for each.

Questions 5 – 7

The list below gives some of the problems for dieters raised by Dr Jones.

Which THREE of these problems are mentioned by the writer of text?

A. Accessible junk food.
B. Coffee bars and after-work drinks.
C. Partners.
D. Stress & emotional situations.
E. Saboteurs and false friends.
F. Weakened resolve.

Also note that you may be asked to circle ONE, TWO, THREE or FOUR letters.

1.3.1. STRATEGIES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

 Look through the questions first

 Underline key words from the question
 Then scan the text for those key words that you have underlined

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 The answer should be found close to that word
 The answers will be found in the text in the same order as the questions

1.3.2. THING TO BEWARE OF

 There will be synonyms used in the reading - the words in the IELTS multiple choice
questions may not be the same as in the text

Exercise 3
Read and answer the questions that follow.

AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS: 1850 – 1900

During this period, there was a wide spread expansion of agriculture in Australia.
The selection system was begun, whereby small sections of land were parceled out by lot.
Particularly in New South Wales, this led to conflicts between small holders and the
emerging squatter class, whose abuse of the system often allowed them to take vast
tracts of fertile land.
There were also many positive advances in farming technology as the farmers
adapted agricultural methods to the harsh Australian conditions. One of the most
important was “dry farming”. This was the discovery that repeated ploughing of fallow,
unproductive land could preserve nitrates and moisture, allowing the land to eventually be
cultivated. This, along with the extension of the railways allowed the development of what
are now great inland wheat lands.
The inland areas of Australia are less fertile than most other wheat producing
countries and yields per acre are lower. This slowed their development, but also led to the
development of several labour saving devices. In 1843 John Ridley, a South Australian
farmer, invented “the stripper”, a basic harvesting machine. By the 1860s its use was
widespread. H. V. McKay, then only nineteen, modified the machine so that it was a
complete harvester: cutting, collecting and sorting. McKay developed this early innovation
into a large harvester manufacturing industry centred near Melbourne and exporting
worldwide. Robert Bowyer Smith invented the “stump jump plough”, which let a farmer
plough land which still had tree stumps on it. It did this by replacing the traditional plough
shear with a set of wheels that could go over stumps, if necessary.
The developments in farm machinery were supported by scientific research. During
the late 19th century, South Australian wheat yields were going down. An agricultural
scientist at the colony’s agricultural college, John Custance, found that this was due to a
lack of phosphates and advised the use of soluble superphosphate fertilizer. The
implementation of this scheme revitalised the industry.
From early days it had been obvious that English and European sheep breeds had to
be adapted to Australian conditions, but only near the end of the century was the same

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applied to crops. Prior to this, English and South African strains had been use, with varying
degrees of success. William Farrer, from Cambridge University, was the first to develop
new wheat varieties that were better able to withstand dry Australian conditions. By 1914,
Australia was no longer thought of as a land suitable only for sheep, but as a wheat
growing nation.

1. What is dry farming?

A. Preserving nitrates and moisture. C. Cultivating fallow land.
B. Ploughing the land again and again.

2. What did H. V. McKay do?

A. Export the stripper. C. Cut, collect and sort wheat.
B. Improve the stripper.

3. What was the stump jump plough’s innovation?

A. It could cut through tree stumps. C. It allowed farmers to cultivate land
B. To put the plough shear on wheels. that hadn’t been fully cleared.

4. What did John Custance recommend?

A. Improving wheat yields. C. Fertilizing the soil.
B. Revitalising the industry.

5. Why was William Farrer’s wheat better?

A. It was drought resistant. C. It was drier for Australian
B. It wasn’t from England or South conditions.
Africa.

Exercise 4
Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS: A TEENAGE TIME BOMB

They are just four, five and SIX years old right now, but already they are making
criminologists nervous. They are growing up, too frequently, in abusive or broken homes,
with little adult supervision and few positive role models. Left to themselves, they spend
much of their time hanging out on the streets or soaking up violent TV shows. By the year
2005 they will be teenagers--a group that tends to be, in the view of Northeastern
University criminologist James Alan Fox, “temporary sociopaths-impulsive and immature.”
If they also have easy access to guns and drugs, they can be extremely dangerous.

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 For all the heartening news offered by recent crime statistics, there is an ominous
flip side. While the crime rate is dropping for adults, it is soaring for teens. Between 1990
and 1994, the rate at which adults age 25 and older committed homicides declined 22%;
yet the rate jumped 16% for youths between 14 and 17, the age group that in the early
‘90s supplanted 18- to 24-year-olds as the most crime-prone. And that is precisely the age
group that will be booming in the next decade. There are currently 39 million children
under 10 in the U.S., more than at any time since the 1950s. “This is the calm before the
crime storm, says Fox. “So long as we fool ourselves in thinking that we’re winning the war
against crime, we may be blindsided by this bloodbath of teenage violence that is lurking in
the future.”
Demographics don’t have to be destiny, but other social trends do little to
contradict the dire predictions. Nearly all the factors that contribute to youth crime--
single-parent households, child abuse, deteriorating inner- city schools--are getting worse.
At the same time, government is becoming less, not more, interested in spending money to
help break the cycle of poverty and crime. All of which has led John J. DiIulio Jr., a
professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton, to warn about a new !generation of
”superpredators,” youngsters who are coming of age in actual and “moral poverty,” without
“the benefit of parents, teachers, coaches and clergy to teach them right or wrong and
show them unconditional love.”
Predicting a generation’s future crime patterns is, of course, risky, especially when
outside factors (Will crack use be up or down? Will gun laws be tightened?) remain
unpredictable. Michael Tonry, a professor of ‘law and public policy at the University of
Minnesota, argues that the demographic doomsayers are unduly alarmist. “There will be a
slightly larger number of people relative to the overall population who are at high risk for
doing bad things, so that’s going to have some effect,” he concedes. “But it’s not going to
be an apocalyptic effect.” Norval Morris, professor of law and criminology at the
University of Chicago, finds DiIulio’s notion of super-predators too simplistic: “The human
animal in young males is quite a violent animal all over the world. The people who put forth
the theory of moral poverty lack a sense of history and comparative criminology.”
Yet other students of the inner city are more pessimistic. “All the basic elements
that spawn teenage crime are still in place, and in many cases the indicators are worse,”
says Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace, an examination of poverty in the South
Bronx. “There’s a dramatic increase of children in foster care, and that’s a very high-risk
group of kids. We’re not creating new jobs, and we’re not improving education to suit poor
people for the jobs that exist.”
Can anything defuse the demographic time bomb? Fox urges “reinvesting in
children”: improving schools, creating after-school programs and providing other
alternatives to gangs and drugs. DiIulio, a law-and-order conservative, advocates tougher
prosecution and wants to strengthen religious institutions to instill better values. Yet he
opposes the Gingrich- led effort to make deep cuts in social programs. “A failure to

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maintain existing welfare and health commitment for kids,” he says, “is to guarantee that
the next wave of juvenile predators will be even worse than we’re dealing with today.”
Dilulio urges fellow conservatives to think of Medicaid not as a health-care program but as
“an anticrime policy.”

1. Young children are making criminologists nervous because . . .

A. they are committing too much B. they are impulsive and immature.
crime. C. they may grow up to be criminals.

2. The general crime rate in the US is . . .

A. increasing B. decreasing C. not changing

3. The age group which commits the highest rate of crime is . . .

A. 14 - 17. B. 18 - 24. C. 24 +.

4. James Fox believes that the improvement in crime figures could . . .

A. make us complacent in the fight C. result in a decrease in teenage
against crime. violence.
B. result in an increase in teenage
violence.

5. According to paragraph 3, the government . . .

A. is doing everything it can to solve C. is not doing enough to solve the
the problem. problem.
B. is not interested in solving the
problem.

6. In comparison with James Fox, Michael Tonry is . . .

A. more pessimistic. C. equally pessimistic.
B. less pessimistic.

7. Jonathan Kozol believes that . . .

A. there is no solution to the problem. C. employment and education can
B. employment and education are not improve the situation.
the answer.

8. Professor DiIulio thinks that spending on social programs . . .

A. should continue as it is C. is irrelevant to crime rates.
B. should be decreased.

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1.4. READING QUESTION TYPE 3: YES, NO, NOT GIVEN or TRUE,
FALSE, NOT GIVEN

You will be given a list of statements which are either opinions or facts and you have to
decide for:
1. if they are opinions, whether they are the opinions of the writer or not or not given in the
text.
For type 1 the writer’s views may not be directly stated, so you may have to work out what
is implied.

Questions 1-3

Do the following statements reflect the situation as described by the

writer in the reading passage?

In boxes 1–3 on your answer sheet write

YES if the statement reflects the situation as described by the

writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to know what the situation is from the
passage

1. Increasing the tunnel toll of the new tunnel will result in more people
using the other tunnels.
2. The congestion at peak hours was worse before the new tunnel was
built.
3. The cost of running a car does not deter purchasing.

2. if they are facts, whether they are true, false or not given in the text.
The questions will be in the same order as the text.

Questions 4-6

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the

reading passage?

In boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement is true according to the passage

FALSE if the statement is false according to the passage
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

4. Most people spend about two hours a day traveling to and from work.

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 5. The problems of road rage have doubled in the last 10 years.
6. More road accidents happen where drivers are familiar with the roads.

1.4.1. TIPS

 If the fact you are given is clearly in the reading it is True

 If the reading says the opposite of the fact you've been given it is False
 If it is not true or false, it is Not Given

1.4.2. STRATEGIES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

 The questions follow the order of the text.

 Read the question carefully to make sure you fully understand what it is saying.
 Scan the text to find where the answer is using key words from the question
 When you find where the answer is, read the text carefully to identify if you think it is T, F or
NG.
 The questions will probably use synonyms rather than the words in the text.
 Look out for controlling words such as “only”, “all’, “never” etc. For example, if the fact in
the question says 'some' and the fact in the text says 'all', then it is F.
 Do not spend a long time looking for the answer to one question; it is probably NG, if you
cannot find it.
 Make sure you use the correct code; 'Yes', 'No', 'No Information' is sometimes used (these
question are slightly different and you look for opinions rather than facts).

Exercise 5
Read the following text and answer the questions to the right of the reading using the
drop down menu to choose either True, False, or Not Given.

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text? Mark them:
 T if the statement agrees with the text
 F if the statement does not agree with the text
 NG if there is no information about this in the text

CHILIES

Chilies originate in South America and have been eaten for at least 9,500 years.
Organised cultivation began around 5,400BC. Christopher Columbus was the first European

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to encounter chilies, when he landed on the island of Hispaniola in 1492. He thought it was
a type of pepper and called it the “red pepper”, a name still used today. After their
introduction to Europe they were an immediate sensation and were quickly incorporated
into the diet. From there they spread to Africa, India and East Asia.
The reason for the chili’s “hotness” lies in a chemical called Capsaisin. Capsaisin
causes temporary irritation to the trigeminal cells, which are the pain receptors in the
mouth, nose and throat. After the pain messages are transmitted to the brain, endorphins,
natural pain killers, are released and these not only kill the pain but give the chili eater a
short lived natural high. Other side effects include: an increased heart rate, a running
nose and increased salivation and sweating, which can have a cooling effect in hot climates.
The reason for the presence of capsaisin is thought to be to deter animals from eating the
fruit. Only mammals feel the burning effects; birds feel nothing. As birds have a better
method of distributing the seeds, which pass intact through their guts, capsaisin would
seem to be a result of natural selection.
The smaller chilies tend to be the hottest. This may reflect the fact that they
tend to grow closer to the ground and are therefore more vulnerable to animals. The heat
of a chili is measured on the Scoville scale. The hottest types such as the Habenero and
the Scotch Bonnet rate between 100,000 and 300,000, the world famous Tabasco sauceÒ
rates at 15,000 to 30,000, about the same as the Thai prik khee nu, while the popular
Jalapeno is between 5,000 and 15,000. Powdered chili is 500 to 1,000 and the mild
capsicins and paprikas can range between 100 and 0.

1. Chilies became popular as soon as they were brought into Europe.

2. Capsaisin damages the mouth.
3. Chilies can be part of a bird’s diet.
4. All large chilies grow high off the ground.
5. People breed chilies for their heat.

Exercise 6
Look at this reading and answer the questions that follow.

UN WARNS OVER IMPACT OF RAPIDLY AGEING POPULATIONS

The world needs to do more to prepare for the impact of a rapidly ageing
population, the UN has warned - particularly in developing countries. Within 10 years the
number of people aged over 60 will pass one billion, a report by the UN Population Fund
said. The demographic shift will present huge challenges to countries' welfare, pension and

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healthcare systems. The UN agency also said more had to be done to tackle "abuse,
neglect and violence against older persons".
The number of older people worldwide is growing faster than any other age group.
The report, Ageing in the 21st Century: A Celebration and a Challenge, estimates that one
in nine people around the world are older than 60. The elderly population is expected to
swell by 200 million in the next decade to surpass one billion, and reach two billion by
2050. This rising proportion of older people is a consequence of success - improved
nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, education and economic well-being are contributing
factors, the report says.
But the UN and a charity that also contributed to the report, HelpAge
International, say the ageing population is being widely mismanaged. "In many developing
countries with large populations of young people, the challenge is that governments have
not put policies and practices in place to support their current older populations or made
enough preparations for 2050," the agencies said in a joint statement.
The report warns that the skills and experience of older people are being wasted,
with many under-employed and vulnerable to discrimination. HelpAge said more countries
needed to introduce pension schemes to ensure economic independence and reduce poverty
in old age. It stressed that it was not enough to simply pass legislation - the new schemes
needed to be funded properly.
The UN report used India as an example, saying it needed to take urgent steps in
this area. Almost two-thirds of India's population is under 30. But it also has 100 million
elderly people - a figure that is expected to increase threefold by 2050. Traditionally,
people in India live in large, extended families and elderly people have been well looked
after. But the trend now is to have smaller, nuclear families and many of the country's
elderly are finding themselves cast out, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi.
There are more and more cases of physical and mental abuse, including neglect,
suffered by the elderly at the hands of their families. It is slowly becoming a widespread
social problem, particularly in urban areas, one which India still has not got to grips with,
our correspondent says.
By contrast, the UN report cited the case of Bolivia as an example of good practice
in the developing world. All Bolivians over the age of 60 get a pension that is the equivalent
of about $30 (£19) a month. Bolivia suffers from frequent flooding and landslides, and
older people there have been organized into "Brigadas Blancas" - White Haired Brigades.
They help with preparations for emergencies, and accessing humanitarian aid.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading?
Mark:
 TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information
 FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information
 NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

16
1. The growth of the elderly population is going to make it extremely difficult to provide
adequate social service provision
2. Approximately thirty per cent of the population are over 60 years old
3. Developed countries are much better prepared than developing countries for 2050
4. More financing is necessary to ensure new pension schemes are successful
5. Elderly people in India are not always being looked after as well as they were in the past
6. India is starting to deal with the neglect of its elderly population
7. Bolivian Families tend to look after their elderly relatives better than many other countries

Exercise 7: REVIEW TYPE 1

Match the headings to paragraphs A, B and C

A. Acupuncture's place in society E. An American president's contribution to

B. The first medical records in China acupuncture
C. A journalist's contribution to F. The rise and fall of the reputation of
acupuncture acupuncture
D. Early developments in the practice of G. Why acupuncture became fashionable
acupuncture once more

1. The exact origins of acupuncture are uncertain. One story has it that arrows wounds
received by soldiers in battle were found to have cured previous ailments that had
proved to be untreatable in any other way. This seems somewhat fanciful and it is
probable that it dates all the way back to the Neolithic era or even the Stone Age,
even if it is uncertain acupuncture was used medically at this point in time. The best
evidence we have is the discovery of sharpened stones which it is claimed performed
the same functions as needles in later ages. The earliest records from historical times
come from pictograms, where it is evident that by 200 BC metal was being used instead
of stone and bone needles. Support for this comes from the earliest Chinese medical
texts that date from the same era and which provide further evidence that
acupuncture was an established medical practice by this time.

2. While it enjoyed several hundred years of popularity and acceptance in China, from
around 1300 onwards it gradually fell from grace and lost status. It began to be seen
as a more technical profession and became associated with the lower-classes and
unskilled practitioners and was superseded by the more scholarly and medically
acceptable practice of herbalism. Ironically, just as it was falling out of fashion in
China, it began to interest some physicians in the West who wrote textbooks in praise
of this novel form of pain relief and initially regarded as a great lost art. Though there

17
 too it caused controversy, not so much because of its low status, but rather because
many remained sceptical of its efficacy - something that remains true to this day. In
more recent times, acupuncture has remained controversial and has fallen in and out of
fashion around the world.
3. Around the time of President Nixon’s visit to China in the early 1970s, it once more
became a matter of interest and excited international attention. This was partially due
to a series of articles published in The New York Timeswritten by a journalist who had
visited China with President Nixon and used acupuncture for pain relief after having
had his appendix removed. It was also part of a more general movement of the time
where the world at large became interested in all things Chinese. Most of all, though,
the traditional nature of acupuncture led to its being accepted by the increasingly
significant section of society who distrusted conventional practices in medicine and
were looking for alternatives.

1. Paragraph 1 = heading . . .
2. Paragraph 2= heading . . .
3. Paragraph 3 = heading . . .

Exercise 8: REVIEW TYPES 2 – 3

MAKING TIME FOR SCIENCE

Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science fiction
novel, perhaps – but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes
life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora
and fauna.

This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns.
Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon.
Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out
during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as bats and possums, prefer to
forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the lowlight of
dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours.

18
 When it comes to humans, chronobiologists are interested in what is known as the
circadian rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo
within the passage of a twenty-four hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking
during the day, each cycle involves many other factors such as changes in blood pressure
and body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. ‘Night people’, for
example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but
become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms
known as a chronotype.

Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological

demands. Recent therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines
and melatonin administration can reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies
can tell the difference and health suffers when we breach these natural rhythms for
extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this respect; studies
demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in
essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser.

Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for

our day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate biology
– after all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy drinks, shift
work and cities that never sleep? – keeping in synch with our body clock is important.

The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04
a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at
7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes
afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches,
headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who
awoke then.

Once you’re up and ready to go, what then? If you’re trying to shed some extra
pounds, dieticians are adamant: never skip breakfast. This disorients your circadian
rhythm and puts your body in starvation mode. The recommended course of action is to
follow an intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round and
weight loss results are not as pronounced.

Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Supplement absorption by the
body is not temporal-dependent, but naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost at
breakfast helps us get energised for the day ahead. For improved absorption, Stone
suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are soluble and steering clear of
caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns to take care with storage; high potency is

19
best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the potency of a
supplement.

After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition – we have the Italians to

thank for that – but to prepare for a good night’s sleep we are better off putting the
brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m. With a seven hour half-life, a cup of
coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine
in your nervous system at ten o’clock that evening. It is essential that, by the time you are
ready to sleep, your body is rid of all traces.

Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietician Geraldine
Georgeou warns that an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than
chronobiological demand. This will deprive your body of vital energy needs. Overloading
your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the
night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a
modest snack should be entirely sufficient.

Questions 1 - 7

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

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. Chronobiology is the study of how living things have evolved over time.
2. The rise and fall of sea levels affects how sea creatures behave.
3. Most animals are active during the daytime.
4. Circadian rhythms identify how we do different things on different days.
5. A ‘night person’ can still have a healthy circadian rhythm.
6. New therapies can permanently change circadian rhythms without causing harm.
7. Naturally-produced vegetables have more nutritional value.

Questions 8–13

20
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

8. What did researchers identify as the ideal time to wake up in the morning?
A. 6.04
B. 7.00
C. 7.22
D. 7.30

9. In order to lose weight, we should

A. avoid eating breakfast
B. eat a low carbohydrate breakfast
C. exercise before breakfast
D. exercise after breakfast

10. Which is NOT mentioned as a way to improve supplement absorption?

A. avoiding drinks containing caffeine while taking supplements
B. taking supplements at breakfast
C. taking supplements with foods that can dissolve them
D. storing supplements in a cool, dry environment

11. The best time to stop drinking coffee is . . .

A. mid-afternoon
B. 10 p.m.
C. only when feeling anxious
D. after dinner

12. In the evening, we should . . .

A. stay away from carbohydrates
B. stop exercising
C. eat as much as possible
D. eat a light meal

13. Which of the following phrases best describes the main aim of Reading Passage 1?
A. to suggest healthier ways of eating, sleeping and exercising
B. to describe how modern life has made chronobiology largely irrelevant
C. to introduce chronobiology and describe some practical applications
D. to plan a daily schedule that can alter our natural chronobiological rhythms

21
1.5. READING QUESTION TYPE 5: SHORT ANSWER

These questions will usually tell you to write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS. So you can answer with one word, two words or three words but no more. However,
this is not always the case, so check the rubric carefully. For these questions, like the multiple
choice questions, you have to apply both skimming and scanning techniques. Also note that the
answers should not require a hyphenated word (e.g. non-smoker) or a contraction (e.g.
They’ve). If the answer requires a number, you can write it as a numeral (e.g. 6) or a word (e.g.
six) or a combination of a numeral and a word (e.g. 6 million).

There are two types of short answer questions in the IELTS reading exam:

1. Questions

Questions 1 and 2

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, answering the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1 and 2 on your answer sheet.

How old was Spencer when he did his first degree?

Which teacher was instrumental in Spencer’s success?

2. Lists

Questions 3 – 5

List FOUR reasons for Spencer being a child prodigy.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 3-5 on your answer sheet.

3.........................
4.........................
5.........................

22
1.5.1. STRATEGIES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

 Read the instructions carefully.

 Skim all the questions quickly. As you do this:
 underline the key words.
 decide what information you need to find in the text.
 look out for question words like ‘where’ and ‘who’ which indicate you should focus
on specific things like places and people.
 Go back to the first question and decide what part of the text you need to read.
 Read the part carefully to find the answer.
 You may use your own words. You don’t have to write a complete sentence but it does have
to be grammatically correct.

1.5.2. THINGS TO BEWARE OF

 If you don’t know the meaning of any of the words in the questions, look at the other
questions. They might have some associated vocabulary in them to help you guess the
meaning.
 The answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more.
 If you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect.

23
Exercise 9
Read the text and answer the following questions in no more than three words.

EDUCATION INDUSTRY REVIVING UP

A recent newspaper investigation into the growing number of foreign fee-paying

students raises some issues for timely reflection. To be blunt, we need to prepare
ourselves for a sudden and major increase in population. This new population may not be
permanent but it will continue to increase in numbers and make itself at home in New
Zealand for the main purpose of intellectual advancement. It will, in effect, be a rotating
population but one that produces an increase in the total population at any one time.

If you think, as even some Asian students do, that Auckland is already too Asian
(one in eight Aucklanders is now Asian), be prepared for it becoming too European or too
South American. Our booming education industry still catches some locals by surprise and,
depending on your point of view about racial diversity, it may or may not be of comfort to
know that it has only just begun.

The only limitations to its growth will be the decisions and behaviour of
organizations serving these students from overseas who want to study here - whether it is
English language or IT skills. And I do not mean just the education function itself: it
includes health, transport, property and entertainment. The list increases into all aspects
of society as more students arrive from the major continents.

My own company has grown 500 per cent in the past four years and our board is
anticipating an even higher rate over the next five years. I see no reason we should
consider industry growth expectations below this. Early next month we will open a new
international language school in Queen St designed to give students internationally
accredited English language skills so they can stay longer and study IT courses. Some will
go on to our universities.

This one new school alone will inject an extra $60 million-odd annually into
Auckland's economy. What does this industry growth mean? It could mean a $10 billion
(contribution to gross domestic product) industry by the end of this decade, employing
100,000 New Zealanders directly and many more indirectly.

24
 The conditions which have created this opportunity are many, but underlying them
all are the standards which shape education in this country. Some will argue that whimsical
circumstances, such as a favourable exchange rate or our distance from the troubled
areas of the world, have caused it all. But without the right internationally recognised
education standards we would have no such booming industry.

Make no mistake, this is our trump card. As long as we are known for quality
education we can develop what we have started regardless of almost any other change of
circumstance. Undoubtedly, there are financial benefits for society. But we would be blind
not to acknowledge and address the many other implications which the newspaper article
began to identify.

The growth opportunity is so good that we must effectively evolve as an industry

and fast, too. We must eliminate the clumsy, experimental mistake-ridden phase of youth.
Fundamentally we must leap from childhood to maturity.

But how? Experiences in my company lead me to suggest three main areas to

address - total service, performance regulation and long-term planning. By total service I
mean accepting some responsibility for students inside and outside of campus. Within two
years, my company expects at least 1000 overseas students to be studying at all our six
campuses. We must take some responsibility for this size of customer base, as any normal
company would.

This means we must attract other suppliers as dedicated partners with us -

property, insurance, healthcare, transport, social support, the list goes on. Education New
Zealand has a valuable role here.

This type of care begins in the students' countries of origin, ensuring they have
correct information about our country and how different it will be in many small and large
ways. Our company, intent on achieving this, is introducing marketing programmes in three
continents. Performance regulation will be vital in our leap to adulthood. We cannot leave it
up to the Government; it will mean a private sector-Government partnership.

I am also not surprised to hear calls for the Government to introduce an industry
levy - frankly, just another tax - to "protect" standards. We should keep in mind that
foreign students are happy to come here because of our stable Government, virtually non-
existent corruption, and education standards. For the Government to come to our support
with an extra levy imposition reminds me of an old saying: When a sufficient number of
management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster
is not left to chance.

25
 Long-term planning usually begins with a vision agreed by the industry and I will
support any immediate efforts in this area. We now have an industry that is arguably our
country's third largest export earner. We need to know where we can take this industry,
how it fits with society and its place in an increasingly systemic world where people move
more freely and technology drives a global economy.

1. Where should the type of care the writer discusses initially come from?
2. What will be very important in the education sector's rise to maturity?
3. What does the government want to bring in?
4. Give one reason why students are content to study in New Zealand?
5. What does the ongoing preparation usually start with?
6. How big an export industry is English language teaching?

1.6. READING QUESTION TYPE 6: GAP-FILL

There are three types of gap-fill questions in the reading exam.

1. Completing a notes/table/form/summary/flow chart/diagram.

These questions will ask to complete a notes/table/form/summary/flow chart/diagram.
Each gap may have NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. A list of words or phrases may or may
not be provided.

Questions 7 - 11

Complete the table below using the words from the box. Write the
appropriate letters A-G against Questions 7 - 11.

Health Problem Food

High blood pressure & cholesterol (7) . . . . . . .
Cancer of the colon (8) . . . . . . .
Heart Disease (9) . . . . . . .
Infections (10) . . . . . . .
Diabetes (11) . . . . . . .

A. oats & rice

26
 B. honey
C. corn & wheat
D. spices
E. nuts & seeds
F. herbs
G. oils

2. Completing sentences.
These questions are similar to the short answer questions in that they will always tell you to
write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. They will also tell you to use words
provided in a list or those from the reading passage.
Questions 1 – 3

Complete the sentences below with words taken from the passage.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1 - 3 on your answer sheet.

1. Bulbs should be stored . . . . . . .

2. Seeds may deteriorate if exposed to . . . . . . . .
3. Summer flowering annuals should not be planted until after . . . . . . . .

3. Completing a summary.
These questions will ask to complete a text summary. Each gap may have NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS. A list of words or phrases may or may not be provided.

Questions 4 - 6

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading passage for
each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 4 -6 on your answer sheet.

Some foods like shellfish, meats and (4) . . . . . . . . . .

may cause food poisoning if they have been infected by (5) . . . . . . . . . .
One of the most common types of food poisoning is (6) . . . . . . . . . .

27
1.5.1. STRATEGIES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

 Read through the questions carefully to make sure you understand it.
 Work out which section of the reading the questions comes from (in this example, the
whole of the text is summarized but in the real test you'll need to look through the reading
to find the right paragraphs).
 Carefully read each gap and think about what form will fit i.e. should it be an adjective,
noun, infinitive, present participle etc? And what type of word is needed i.e. is it an amount,
a change, an action?

1.5.2. THINGS TO BEWARE OF

 make sure the answer does not exceed the stated word limit. Articles and unneeded
adjectives can sometimes be left out to achieve this.
 make sure the answer fits into the statement grammatically.
 be aware that the statement will not use the same words as the text.
 As the statement you are given in IELTS sentence completion tasks will not be taken exactly
from the reading, you need to be aware of paraphrasing and synonyms. These will both be
used in the questions.
o Paraphrase: to repeat something written or spoken using different words
o Synonym: a word or phrase which has the same or nearly the same meaning as
another word or phrase in the same language
So when you look at the question, you will need to find a paraphrase of that sentence and
probably some synonyms in the reading in order to find the right one, and then work out
the answer.

Exercise 10

Complete the following statements using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

28
 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF AUSTRALIA

European settlement of Australia began in 1788 when a British penal colony was
established on the east coast. From this starting point Australia grew rapidly and
continually, expanding across the entire continent.

A number of reasons contributed to Britain's decision to colonise Australia. The

most important factor was Britain's need to relieve its overcrowded prisons. Several
violent incidents at overcrowded prisons convinced the British government of the need to
separate unruly elements from the rest of the prison populace.

Additionally, Australia was of strategic importance to Britain, and it provided a

base for the Royal Navy in the eastern sea. Also, Australia could be used as an entry point
to the economic opportunities of the surrounding region. All these points figured in the
decision by Lord Sydney, secretary of state of home affairs, to authorise the colonisation.

To this affect, on May 13, 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip, commanding eleven ships full of
convicts, left Britain for Australia. He successfully landed a full fleet at Botany Bay on
January 18, 1788. However, they left the bay eight days later because of its openness and
poor soil, and settled instead at Port Jackson, a few kilometres north. The ships landed
1,373 people, including 732 convicts, and the settlement became Sydney. Australia Day is
now celebrated on 26 January each year, to commemorate this first fleet landing.

1. Britain decided to send people to live and govern Australia due to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

factors.
2. Australia was originally founded as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. The major consideration in colonizing Australia was Britain’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. It was thought that Australia could be utilised as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to the
neigbouring region.
5. Lord Sydney took every factor into account when he gave official permission
for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of Australia.
6. Botany Bay was abandoned by the settlers due to the lack of cover and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Exercise 11

29
Look at the words in the table and decide which word will fit in the reading gap fill
summary.

AIR RAGE

The first recorded case of an airline passenger turning seriously violent during a
flight, a phenomenon now widely known as “air rage”, happened in 1947 on a flight from
Havana to Miami. A drunken man assaulted another passenger and bit a flight attendant.
However, the man escaped punishment because it was not then clear under whose legal
control a crime committed on plane was, the country where the plane was registered or the
country where the crime was committed. In 1963, at the Tokyo convention, it was decided
that the laws of the country where the plane is registered take precedence.
The frequency of air rage has expanded out of proportion to the growth of air
travel. Until recently few statistic were gathered about air rage, but those that have been
indicate that passengers are increasingly likely to cause trouble or engage in violent acts.
For example, in 1998 there were 266 air rage incidents out of approximately four million
passengers, a 400% increase from 1995. In the same period American Airlines showed a
200% rise. Air travel is predicted to rise by 5% internationally by 2010 leading to
increased airport congestion. This, coupled with the flying public’s increased aggression,
means that air rage may become a major issue in coming years.
Aside from discomfort and disruption, air rage poses some very real dangers to
flying. The most extreme of these is when out of control passengers enter the cockpit.
This has actually happened on a number of occasions, the worst of which have resulted in
the death and injury of pilots or the intruder taking control of the plane, almost resulting
in crashes. In addition, berserk passengers sometimes attempt to open the emergency
doors while in flight, putting the whole aircraft in danger. These are extreme examples
and cases of air rage more commonly result in physical assaults on fellow passengers and
crew such as throwing objects, punching, stabbing or scalding with hot coffee.

Predicted rose incident passenger found assault

Established occurring hoped increased injury passengers

The first time that an (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of air rage was recorded was in the 1940’s,
but the passenger was never actually charged for an offence because there were no clear rules
in place to specify where to prosecute. It was later (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that it would be the
country where the plane is registered. Air rage has (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . significantly since this
time, growing by a staggering 400% from 1995 to 1998. Air rage is (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to be a
major problem in the future as air travel increases, as do levels of aggression. Angry
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . can put everyone in danger including the pilots, the crew and the other
passengers, with some form of (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . being the most common consequence.

30
Exercise 12 review 1 – 6
Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

LESSONS FROM THE TITANIC

A. From the comfort of our modern lives we tend to look back at the turn of the
twentieth century as a dangerous time for sea travellers. With limited communication
facilities, and shipping technology still in its infancy in the early nineteen hundreds, we
consider ocean travel to have been a risky business. But to the people of the time it
was one of the safest forms of transport. At the time of the Titanic’s maiden voyage in
1912, there had only been four lives lost in the previous forty years on passenger ships
on the North Atlantic crossing. And the Titanic was confidently proclaimed to be
unsinkable. She represented the pinnacle of technological advance at the time. Her
builders, crew and passengers had no doubt that she was the finest ship ever built. But
still she did sink on April 14, 1912, taking 1,517 of her passengers and crew with her.
B. The RMS Titanic left Southampton for New York on April 10, 1912. On board were
some of the richest and most famous people of the time who had paid large sums of
money to sail on the first voyage of the most luxurious ship in the world. Imagine her
placed on her end: she was larger at 269 metres than many of the tallest buildings of
the day. And with nine decks, she was as high as an eleven storey building. The Titanic
carried 329 first class, 285 second class and 710 third class passengers with 899 crew
members, under the care of the very experienced Captain Edward J. Smith. She also
carried enough food to feed a small town, including 40,000 fresh eggs, 36,000 apples,
111,000 lbs of fresh meat and 2,200 lbs of coffee for the five day journey.
C. RMS Titanic was believed to be unsinkable because the hull was divided into sixteen
watertight compartments. Even if two of these compartments flooded, the ship could
still float. The ship’s owners could not imagine that, in the case of an accident, the
Titanic would not be able to float until she was rescued. It was largely as a result of
this confidence in the ship and in the safety of ocean travel that the disaster could
claim such a great loss of life.
D. In the ten hours prior to the Titanic’s fatal collision with an iceberg at 11.40pm, six
warnings of icebergs in her path were received by the Titanic's wireless operators.
Only one of these messages was formally posted on the bridge; the others were in
various locations across the ship. If the combined information in these messages of
iceberg positions had been plotted, the ice field which lay across the Titanic’s path
would have been apparent. Instead, the lack of formal procedures for dealing with
information from a relatively new piece of technology, the wireless, meant that the

31
 danger was not known until too late. This was not the fault of the Titanic crew.
Procedures for dealing with warnings received through the wireless had not been
formalised across the shipping industry at the time. The fact that the wireless
operators were not even Titanic crew, but rather contracted workers from a wireless
company, made their role in the ship’s operation quite unclear.
E. Captain Smith’s seemingly casual attitude in increasing the speed on this day to a
dangerous 22 knots or 41 kilometres per hour, can then be partly explained by his
ignorance of what lay ahead. But this only partly accounts for his actions, since the
spring weather in Greenland was known to cause huge chunks of ice to break off from
the glaciers. Captain Smith knew that these icebergs would float southward and had
already acknowledged this danger by taking a more southerly route than at other times
of the year. So why was the Titanic travelling at high speed when he knew, if not of the
specific risk, at least of the general risk of icebergs in her path? As with the lack of
coordination of the wireless messages, it was simply standard operating procedure at
the time. Captain Smith was following the practices accepted on the North Atlantic,
practices which had coincided with forty years of safe travel. He believed, wrongly as
we now know, that the ship could turn or stop in time if an iceberg was sighted by the
lookouts.
F. There were around two and a half hours between the time the Titanic rammed into the
iceberg and its final submersion. In this time 705 people were loaded into the twenty
lifeboats. There were 473 empty seats available on lifeboats while over 1,500 people
drowned. These figures raise two important issues. Firstly, why there were not enough
lifeboats to seat every passenger and crew member on board. And secondly, why the
lifeboats were not full.
G. The Titanic had sixteen lifeboats and four collapsible boats which could carry just over
half the number of people on board her maiden voyage and only a third of the Titanic’s
total capacity. Regulations for the number of lifeboats required were based on
outdated British Board of Trade regulations written in 1894 for ships a quarter of the
Titanic’s size, and had never been revised. Under these requirements, the Titanic was
only obliged to carry enough lifeboats to seat 962 people. At design meetings in 1910,
the shipyard’s managing director, Alexander Carlisle, had proposed that forty eight
lifeboats be installed on the Titanic, but the idea had been quickly rejected as too
expensive. Discussion then turned to the ship’s décor, and as Carlisle later described
the incident … ’we spent two hours discussing carpet for the first class cabins and
fifteen minutes discussing lifeboats’.
H. The belief that the Titanic was unsinkable was so strong that passengers and crew
alike clung to the belief even as she was actually sinking. This attitude was not helped
by Captain Smith, who had not acquainted his senior officers with the full situation.
For the first hour after the collision, the majority of people aboard the Titanic,
including senior crew, were not aware that she would sink, that there were insufficient

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 lifeboats or that the nearest ship responding to the Titanic’s distress calls would
arrive two hours after she was on the bottom of the ocean. As a result, the officers in
charge of loading the boats received a very halfhearted response to their early calls
for women and children to board the lifeboats. People felt that they would be safer,
and certainly warmer, aboard the Titanic than perched in a little boat in the North
Atlantic Ocean. Not realising the magnitude of the impending disaster themselves, the
officers allowed several boats to be lowered only half full.
I. Procedures again were at fault, as an additional reason for the officers’ reluctance to
lower the lifeboats at full capacity was that they feared the lifeboats would buckle
under the weight of 65 people. They had not been informed that the lifeboats had
been fully tested prior to departure. Such procedures as assigning passengers and
crew to lifeboats and lifeboat loading drills were simply not part of the standard
operation of ships nor were they included in crew training at this time.
J. As the Titanic sank, another ship, believed to have been the Californian, was seen
motionless less than twenty miles away. The ship failed to respond to the Titanic’s
eight distress rockets. Although the officers of the Californian tried to signal the
Titanic with their flashing Morse lamp, they did not wake up their radio operator to
listen for a distress call. At this time, communication at sea through wireless was new
and the benefits not well appreciated, so the wireless on ships was often not operated
around the clock. In the case of the Californian, the wireless operator slept unaware
while 1,500 Titanic passengers and crew drowned only a few miles away.
K. After the Titanic sank, investigations were held in both Washington and London. In the
end, both inquiries decided that no one could be blamed for the sinking. However, they
did address the fundamental safety issues which had contributed to the enormous loss
of life. As a result, international agreements were drawn up to improve safety
procedures at sea. The new regulations covered 24 hour wireless operation, crew
training, proper lifeboat drills, lifeboat capacity for all on board and the creation of an
international ice patrol.

Questions 1 – 5
Choose the appropriate heading for the following paragraphs.

List of Headings
i Ignorance of the impending disaster vi Iceberg locations not plotted
ii Captain’s orders ignored vii Low priority placed on safety
iii Captain’s over-confidence viii Number of lifeboats adequate
iv Rough sea conditions ix Inadequate training
v Faulty design x Ice warnings ignored

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1. Paragraph D 4. Paragraph H
2. Paragraph E 5. Paragraph I
3. Paragraph G

Questions 6 – 8
Choose the appropriate letters A-D.

6. Which is most at fault for the magnitude of the Titanic disaster?

A. The ship
B. The Titanic’s owners and builders
C. Standard operating procedure
D. The captain and crew
7. The number of lifeboats on the Titanic . . .
A. would have been sufficient if all boats had been filled to capacity
B. met the regulations for much smaller ships but not the Titanic
C. had been designed in 1894 by the British Board of Trade
D. could carry more people than required under the regulations
8. The Titanic was . . .
A. higher than the tallest buildings of her day
B. divided into 16 watertight compartments
C. unsinkable
D. the most technologically advanced liner of her time

Questions 9 - 15
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading
passage?

YES if the statement agrees with the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

9. The enormous loss of life on the Titanic was primarily caused by inadequate equipment,
training and procedures.
10. Nobody had thought of installing enough lifeboats to accommodate all the passengers and
crew in the event of an emergency.
11. Captain Smith didn't inform his officers of the true situation because he didn't want to
cause a panic.
12. The lifeboats would have buckled if they had been fully loaded.

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13. After the Titanic sank the lifeboats which were not full should have returned to rescue as
many people from the water as they could.
14. The Captain of the Californian could have brought his ship to the rescue if he had realised
that the Titanic was sinking.
15. The sinking of the Titanic prompted an overhaul of standard operating procedures which
made ocean travel much safer.

Questions 16 - 18
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, answer the following questions.

16. Alexander Carlisle implied that the Titanic’s owners were more concerned about the ship’s
appearance than what?
17. The laws of which government regulated the lifeboat requirements that the Titanic
conformed to in 1912?
18. What term used in the passage tells the reader that this was the Titanic’s first journey?

Questions 19 - 26
Complete the table below using information from the reading passage. Write NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

REGULATED AFTER
THE TITANIC
PROBLEM CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM DISASTER?
(write YES, NO OR
DOESN'T SAY)
Position of icebergs not (19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . scattered
Doesn’t say
plotted all over the ship
(20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Insufficient lifeboats
regulations . . . . . . . .
a) ignorance of the extent of the danger
(22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lifeboats not full b) fear that the lifeboats would (23) . . . .
(24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Californian didn’t listen to No (25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
the distress calls wireless operation

Questions 27 - 35

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Complete the summary using the words from the chart.

passengers happy float advanced

lifeboats confident dangers ocean
worried inadequate enormous excitement
fast handbook water float
record fast procedures orders
drown size sink safety

THE FINEST SHIP EVER BUILT

The North Atlantic Ocean crossing on the Titanic was expected to set a new standard for (27)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . travel in terms of comfort and (28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . The
shipping industry had an excellent safety (29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . on the North Atlantic
Crossing over the previous forty years and the Titanic was the finest and safest liner ever built.
The Titanic combined the greatest technology of the day with sheer (30)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . ., luxury and new safety features. The Titanic’s owners were (31) . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . that even if the Titanic were letting in (32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . she

would (33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . indefinitely until help arrived. In hindsight we know that

the Titanic was not unsinkable and that technology alone could not save lives when facilities
were (34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . and humans did not follow safe (35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . .
whether because of arrogance or ignorance.

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