Viewpoint Questions hay còn gọi là những dạng Câu hỏi trong IELTS READING mà thể hiện quan điểm của tác giả, dễ thấy nhất của dạng Viewpoint Questions đó chính là dạng Yes No Not Given.

Bên cạnh cung cấp chuyên đề Viewpoint Questions trong IELTS Reading, IELTS TUTOR cũng hướng dẫn thêm cách viết bài IELTS Writing không bị dư chữ.

You are advised to spend about 10 minutes on the following passage.

As time marches on, the nature of people's jobs changes and the characteristics of organisations change — and as a result, so do people's careers. According to Schein, these changes can be characterised as developments along three basic dimensions summarised in his career cone. First, careers often involve vertical movement - that is, promotions up an organisational hierarchy (such as from assistant manager to manager). Naturally, different people working in different settings experience vertical movement at tremendously different rates. Not only may people be prepared for advancement at different times, but also organisations may have different opportunities for promotion. In today's organisations, in which layers of management are being reduced all the time, there are fewer rungs in the organisational ladder, making opportunities for vertical movement more limited than they used to be.

Second, careers often involve horizontal movement. This reflects changes in specific job functions, or sometimes, in major fields or specialties. For example, individuals who start out in marketing may move into the related field of sales. In recent years, growing numbers of people have been willing to make such horizontal moves, even though doing so may involve a considerable amount of retraining. This trend may result from several sources, such as people's needs to seek fulfilment by doing a different kind of work, or by their belief that they might sooner be able to make a vertical movement by first moving horizontally into a field with greater opportunities for advancement.

Finally, careers involve what Schein terms radial movement - shifts toward or away from the inner circle of management in an organization, the base of power. Such movement often follows vertical movement (i.e. promotion), but not always. For example, a manager of engineering operations for a television network, who works as its headquarters, may be promoted to the vice-president at one of the network's local affiliates. The promotion in this case is real, but the individual is now farther away from the organization's inner circle of poster than before (both literally in terms of miles and figuratively in terms of influence).

At the same time careers develop along these three dimensions, they also seem to move through repeated cycles of stability and change. Soon after an individual has been hired or promoted to a new positron, a stage of career growth occurs. During this period, individuals consolidate their recent gains by acquiring the new skills and information needed to perform their current jobs effectively. As this process is completed, they enter a state of stabilisation, in which they are performing their jobs to their fullest capacity and things are on an even keel (for the time being, at least). This is followed by a period of transition, in which individuals prepare themselves psychologically for their next move upward. During this period, they anticipate the demand of their next stage and get ready to meet them. When the expected promotion arrives, the cycle starts over again. In short, the careers of many individuals are marked by a process in which they grow into each new position, become acclimatised to it and then begin preparations for the next step of the ladder. (525 words) .

Questions 1-7
Classify the following career changes as associated with:
V Vertical movement

H Horizontal movement

R Radial movement
Then write your answer in the space provided in your booklet.

1. Accountant to financial director
2. Librarian to publishing editor
3. Head office manager to overseas affiliated director
4. Accounts director to branch manager
5. Class teacher to head teacher
6. Factory worker to foreman
7. Nurse to hospital registrar

Questions 8-18
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.

Summary

Vertical movement is defined as (8)............... involving promotion up (9)........... Both speed and timing of vertical movement vary and today there are (10).............. for vertical movement.

A change in (11)..............functions or field of work is called horizontal movement. Individuals often find that further study or (12)............. may be necessary in order to learn new skills and acquire new types of expertise. Two reasons for making horizontal career changes are to obtain greater (13)............... and/or to facilitate further (14)...................
Sometimes, vertical movement is associated with (15).....................in which a person is transferred to a branch or an affiliate. This movement away from the (16).............. base involves both distance and level of (17)..................
Whichever type of movement a person experiences, he or she will undergo a process of (18).............before they are ready for the next career change.

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

Public transport plays a central role in any efficient urban transport system. In developing countries, where at least 16 cities are expected to have more than 12 million people each by the end of this decade, failing to give priority to public transport would be disastrous.

The term 'public transport' covers many different types of vehicles, but most commonly refers to buses and trains. Rail services fall into four major categories: rapid rail (also called the underground, tube, metro or subway), which operates on exclusive rights-of-way in tunnels or on elevated tracks; trams, which move with other traffic on regular streets; light rail, which is a quieter, more modern version of trams that can run either on exclusive rights-of-way or with other traffics; and suburban or regional trains, which connect a city with surrounding areas.

The recent trend in many cities is toward light rail over 'heavy' rapid-rail systems. Whereas metros require exclusive rights-of-way, which often means building costly-elevated or underground lines and stations, light rail can be built on regular city streets.

The concept of public transport also includes organised car pools, in which several people share the cost of riding together in the same private automobile. For US commuters in areas with inadequate bus and train services, this is the only 'public' transport option. But even where other systems are comprehensive, there is vast potential for car-pooling. Recent research shows that in cities the world over, private cars during commuting hours on average carry just 1.2-1.3 persons per vehicle.

Public transport modes vary in fuel use and exhaust emission and in the space they require, but if carrying reasonable numbers of passengers, they all perform better than single-occupant private cars on each of these counts.

Although energy requirements vary according to the size and design, buses and trains require far less fuel per passenger for each kilometre of travel. In the United States, for example, a light-rail vehicle needs an estimated 640 BTUs. Pool with four occupants nerds 1.140 BTUs. A single-occupant automobile, by contrast, burns nearly 4580 BTUs per passenger kilometre.

The pollution savings from public transport are even more dramatic. Since both rapid and light rail have electric engines, pollution is measured not from the motor exhaust, but from the power plant generating electricity, which is usually located outside the city, where air quality problems are less serious. For typical US commuter routes, rapid rail emits 30 grams of nitrogen oxides for every 100 kilometres each rail passenger travels, compared with 43 grams tor light rail, 95 grams tor transit buses, and 128 grams for single-occupant automobiles. Public transport's potential for reducing hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions is even greater.

Although diesel buses - especially in developing countries - can be heavy polluters, existing technologies, such as filters, can control their exhaust. Buses can also run on less polluting fuels such as propane (used in parts of Europe) and natural gas (used in Brazil and China). Test buses in the Netherlands that run on natural gas are estimated to emit 90 per cent less nitrogen oxide and 25 per cent less carbon monoxide than diesel engines do.

In addition to reducing fuel consumption and pollution, public transport saves valuable city space. Buses and trains carry more people in each vehicle and, if they operate on their own rights-of-way traffic, an underground metro can carry 70000 passenger past a Catlin point in one hour, light rail can carry up to 35000 by contrast, a lane of private cars with four occupants each can move only about 8000 people an hour, and without such car-pooling the figure is, of course, far lower.

The availability and use of public transport vary widely in cities around the globe. Since variations in distances and city densities affect the total kilometres of travel, the annual number of trips each person takes by public transport provides a better standard for comparing its importance in various cities.

Urban public transport has long been a government priority in Western Europe. All major cities there have high car ownership but well-developed bus and rail systems are available, and overall public transport typically accounts for between 20 and 30 per cent of passenger kilometres. In recent years, several large cities have stepped up their commitment to public transportation, combining further investments with complementary policies to restrict auto use.

Public transport also plays an important role in urban areas of the Third World. In many cities in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, buses make 50-80 per cent of all motorised trips. Buses are sometimes hopelessly overcrowded; it is not uncommon to see several riders clinging to the outside. Yet most Third World cities have lower public transport use per person than inability of small bus fleets to keep up with population growth.

Among the world's major cities, those in Australia and the United States make the least use of alternatives to the private car. Indeed, less than 5 per cent of US trips are by public transport, but in some cities such as New York City and Chicago, where service is provided extensively, it is used heavily. Indeed, nearly one quarter of the entire country's public transport trips are in New York City. (868 words)

Questions 1-12

Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.
Public transport plays a crucial role in modern cities the world over. It has many forms such as rapid rail using (1).................. In some American cities, car-pooling is encouraged to reduce traffic in (2)................ However, in terms of the efficiency of fuel consumption and the reduction of (3)............. public transport performs far better than cars with the (4).............. above the minimum. Because of these advantages, it helps control the (5)............. which is prevalent now in most of the world cities. Besides, public transport uses far less (6)................. The success of public transport relies on (7)............ as well as its use. Therefore, some Western European governments tend to (8)................... the use of private cars with (9)................. at least in urban areas. Most Third World cities are trying hard to cope with the (10)................ of their public transport to meet the demands of the (11)............... Compared with European countries, Australia and America have the highest use of (12)...................

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

Paper is different from other waste produce because it comes from a sustainable resource: trees. Unlike the minerals and oil used to make plastics and metals, trees are replaceable. Paper is also biodegradable, so it does not pose as much threat to the environment when it is discarded. While 45 out of every 100 tonnes of wood fibre used to make paper in Australia comes from waste paper, the rest comes directly from virgin fibre from forests and plantations. By world standards, this is a good performance since the worldwide average is 33 percent waste paper. Governments have encouraged waste paper collection and sorting schemes and at the same time, the paper industry has responded by developing new recycling technologies that have paved the way for even greater utilization of used fibre. As a result, industry’s use of recycled fibres is expected to increase at twice the rate of virgin fibre over the coming years.

Already, waste paper constitutes 70% of paper used for packaging and advances in the technology required to remove ink from the paper have allowed a higher recycled content in newsprint and writing paper. To achieve the benefits of recycling, the community must also contribute. We need to accept a change in the quality of paper products; for example, stationery may be less white and of a rougher texture. There also needs to support from the community for waste paper collection programs. Not only do we need to make the paper available to collectors but it also needs to be separated into different types and sorted from contaminants such as staples, paperclips, string and other miscellaneous items.

There are technical limitations to the amount of paper which can be recycled and some paper products cannot be collected for reuse. These include paper in the form of books and permanent records, photographic paper and paper which is badly contaminated. The four most common sources of paper for recycling are factories and retail stores which gather large amounts of packaging material in which goods are delivered, also offices which have unwanted business documents and computer output, paper converters and printers and lastly households which discard newspapers and packaging material. The paper manufacturer pays a price for the paper and may also incur the collection cost.

Once collected, the paper has to be sorted by hand by people trained to recognise various types of paper. This is necessary because some types of paper can only be made from particular kinds of recycled fibre. The sorted paper then has to be repulped or mixed with water and broken down into its individual fibres. This mixture is called stock and may contain a wide variety of contaminating materials, particularly if it is made from mixed waste paper which has had little sorting. Various machineries are used to remove other materials from the stock. After passing through the repulping process, the fibres from printed waste paper are grey in colour because the printing ink has soaked into the individual fibres. This recycled material can only be used in products where the grey colour does not matter, such as cardboard boxes but if the grey colour is not acceptable, the fibres must be de-inked. This involves adding chemicals such as caustic soda or other alkalis, soaps and detergents, water-hardening agents such as calcium chloride, frothing agents and bleaching agents. Before the recycled fibres can be made into paper, they must be refined or treated in such a way that they bond together.

Most paper products must contain some virgin fibre as well as recycled fibres and unlike glass, paper cannot be recycled indefinitely. Most paper is down-cycled which means that a product made from recycled paper is of an inferior quality to the original paper. Recycling paper is beneficial in that it saves some of the energy, labour and capital that go into producing virgin pulp. However, recycling requires the use of fossil fuel, a non-renewable energy source, to collect the waste paper from the community and to process it to produce new paper. And the recycling process still creates emissions which require treatment before they can be disposed of safely. Nevertheless, paper recycling is an important economical and environmental practice but one which must be carried out in a rational and viable manner for it to be useful to both industry and the community. (713 words)

Questions 1-12
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.

From the point of view of recycling, paper has two advantages over minerals and oil in that firstly, it comes from a resource which is ........ (1) ........ and secondly, it is less threatening to our environment when we throw it away because it is ....... (2) ...... Although Australia’s record in the reuse of water paper is good, it is still necessary to use a combination of recycled fibre and ........ (3) ........ to make new paper. In order to support the use of recycled paper, people need to learn to accept paper of generally lower ........ (4) ........ Nevertheless, paper recycling is bound by ........ (5) ........because some paper is not adaptable at all. When waste paper is collected for recycling, it needs to go through the process of being ........ (6) ........ and ........ (7) ........ before it can be made into ........ (8) ........ such as cardboard boxes. The fibres in the ........ (9) ........ can also be, ........ (10) ........ by applying various chemical agents. Even though paper recycling uses such a non-renewable energy source as ........ (11) ........ as well as creates emission, it is an important economical and environmental practice to lower the use of ........ (12) ........

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-15, which are based on Reading Passage below.

The word “security” has both positive and negative connotations. Most of us would say that we crave security for all its positive virtues, both physical and psychological – its evocation of the safety of home, of undying love, or of freedom from need. More negatively, the word nowadays conjures up images of that huge industry which has developed to protect individuals and property from invasion by ‘‘outsiders”, ostensibly malicious and intent on theft or wilful damage.

Increasingly, because they are situated in urban areas of escalating crime, those buildings which used to allow free access to employees and other users (buildings such as offices, schools, colleges or hospitals) now do not. Entry areas which in another age were called “Reception” are now manned by security staff. Receptionists, whose task was to receive visitors and to make them welcome before passing them on to the person they had come to see, have been replaced by those whose task is to bar entry to the unauthorised, the unwanted or the plain unappealing.

Inside, these buildings are divided into “secure zones” which often have all the trappings of combination locks and burglar alarms. These devices bar entry to the uninitiated, hinder circulation, and create parameters of time and space for user access. Within the spaces created by these zones, Individual rooms are themselves under lock and key, which is a particular problem when it means that working space becomes compartmentalised.

To combat the consequent difficulty of access to people at a physical level, we have now developed technological access. Computers sit on every desk and are linked to one another, and in many cases to an external universe of other computers, so that messages can be passed to and fro. Here too security plays a part, since we must not be allowed access to messages destined for others. And so the password was invented. Now correspondence between individuals goes from desk to desk and cannot be accessed by colleagues. Library catalogues can be searched from one’s desk. Papers can be delivered to, and received from, other people at the press of a button.

And yet it seems that, just as work is isolating individuals more and more, organisations are recognising the advantages of “teamwork”; perhaps in order to encourage employees to talk to one another again. Yet, how can groups work in teams if the possibilities for communication are reduced? How can they work together if e-mail provides a convenient electronic shield behind which the blurring of public and private can be exploited by the less scrupulous? If voice-mail walls up messages behind a password? If I can’t leave a message on my colleague’s desk because his office is locked? Teamwork conceals the fact that another kind of security, “job security”, is almost always not on offer. Just as organisations now recognise three kinds of physical resources: those they buy, those they lease long-term and those they rent short-term – so it is with their human resources. Some employees have permanent contracts, some have short-term contracts, and some are regarded simply as casual labour.

Telecommunication systems offer us the direct line, which means that individuals can be contacted without the caller having to talk to anyone else. Voice-mail and the answer-phone mean that individuals can communicate without ever actually talking to one another. If we are unfortunate enough to contact an organisation with a sophisticated touch-tone dialling system, we can buy things and pay for them without ever speaking to a human being.

To combat this closing in on ourselves, we have the Internet, which opens out communication channels more widely than anyone could possibly want or need. An individual’s electronic presence on the Internet is known as the “Home Page” – suggesting the safety and security of an electronic hearth. An elaborate system of 3-dimensional graphics distinguishes this very 2-dimensional medium of “web sites”. The nomenclature itself creates the illusion of a geographical entity, that the person sitting before the computer is travelling when in fact the “site” is coming to him. “Addresses” of one kind or another move to the individual, rather than the individual moving between them, now that location is no longer geographical.

An example of this is the mobile phone. I am now not available either at home or at work, but wherever I take my mobile phone. Yet, even now, we cannot escape the security of wanting to “locate” the person at the other end. It is no coincidence that almost everyone we see answering or initiating a mobile phone call in public begins by saying where he or she is. (765 words)

Questions 1-4

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in questions 1-4

1. According to the author, one thing we long for is …................

A. the safety of the home

B. security

C. open access

D. positive virtues

2. Access to many buildings …......................

A. is unauthorised

B. is becoming more difficult

C. is a cause of crime in many urban areas

D. used to be called “Reception”

3. Buildings used to permit access to any users, …....................

A. but now they do not

B. and still do now

C. especially offices and schools

D. especially in urban areas

4. Secure zones ….............................

A. don’t allow access to the user

B. compartmentalise the user

C. are often like traps

D. are not accessible to everybody

Questions 5-12

Complete the text below, which is a summary of paragraphs 4-6. Choose your answers from the word list on the next page and write them in questions 5-12.

N.B. There are more words and phrases than spaces, so you will not be able to use them all. You may use any word or phrase more than once.

The problem of physical access to buildings has now been ____5____ by technology. Messages are sent between_______ 6____, with passwords not allowing____7____to read someone else’s messages. But, while individuals are becoming increasingly ____8____ socially by the way they do their job, at the same time more value is being put on___ 9____. However, e-mail and voice-mail have led to a____10____ opportunities for person-to-person communication. And the fact that job security is generally not available nowadays is hidden by the very concept of____________ 11____. Human resources are now regarded in______ 12____ physical ones.

Word List

just the same way as

decrease in

similar

computers

overcame

physical

reducing of

teamwork

solved

cut-off

isolating

no different from

computer

combat

other people

Questions 13-15

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in questions 13-15.

13. The writer does not like___________________

14. An Individual’s Home Page indicates their___________________ on the Internet.

15. Devices like mobile phones mean that location is_____________________.

You are advised to spend about 10 minutes on the following passage.

Malnutrition during weaning age - when breast milk is being replaced by semi-solid foods - is highly prevalent in children of poor households in many developing countries. While the aetiology is complex and multifactorial, the immediate causes are recognised as feeding at less than adequate levels for child growth and development, and recurrent infections, including diarrhoea, resulting mainly from ingestion of contaminated foods. As a result, many young children, particularly between six months to two years of age, experience weight loss and impaired growth and development.

Studies by investigators in various countries have concentrated on traditional food preparation methods and have resulted in offering cheap and practical answers to these problems based on familiar, indigenous and culturally acceptable home processing practices.

Two such answers have arisen. Firstly, cereal fermentation is used for reducing the risk of contamination under the existing inappropriate conditions for food preparation and storage in many households. Secondly, a tiny amount of sprouted grains is used in preparation of weaning foods as a magic way to lessen the viscosity without decreasing energy density.

REDUCING CONTAMINATION THROUGH FERMENTATION

A method to eliminate pathogenic bacteria and inhibit their growth during storage of weaning preparations can benefit nutrition and health in young children considerably. Use of fermented foods for feeding children of weaning age appears to be an effective solution. Fermented foods have lower levels of diarrhoeal germ contamination. They are suitable for child feeding, and can be safely stored for much longer periods of time than fresh foods. The practice has been a traditional way of food preservation in many parts of the world. The anti-microbial properties of fermented foods and their relative higher safety level, documented since the early 1900s, have been indicated in a number of studies.

In Ghana, it is common to ferment maize dough before cooking it as porridge. In Kenya, cereal-based porridge and milk are traditionally fermented. Preserving milk in the form of yoghurt has been known to many households living in hot climates.

What are the underlying mechanisms by which fermentation processes help to prevent or reduce contamination? A possible answer suggests that during the fermentation process foods become more acid. This explains why diarrhoea-causing bacteria are not able to grow in fermented foods as rapidly as in unfermented ones. It is also hypothesized that some of the germs present in the foods are killed or inhibited from growing through the action of anti-microbial substances produced during fermentation (Dialogue on Diarrhoea, 1990). The fermented foods can, therefore, be kept for a longer time, compared to fresh ones. It has been shown that while contamination levels in cooked unfermented foods increase with storage time, fermented foods remain less contaminated.

Whatever the underlying mechanisms, the fact is that the exercise reduces contamination without adding to the household cost both in terms of time and money. Its preparation is easy. The cereal flour is mixed with water to form a dough which is left to be fermented; addition of yeast, or mixing with a small portion of previously fermented dough is sometimes needed. The dough can then be cooked into porridge for feeding to the child.

Although beneficial, unfortunately the practice is going out of fashion partly because of current emphasis on the use of fresh foods, particularly for children. For example, a study on the use of fermented foods for young children in Kenya (Dialogue on Diarrhoea, 1990) demonstrated that while foods are still frequently fermented at home for child feeding, their use is becoming less popular, particularly in urban areas where commercial products are more available. Clearly they now need to be promoted. (603 words)

Questions 1-7

Read the summary and then select the best word or phrase from the box on the next page to fill each gap according to the information in the reading passage.

N. B. There are more words and phrases than gaps. You may use a word or phrase more than once if you wish.

Summary

Malnutrition and the resulting impaired growth and development in children of weaning age in developing countries results not only from… (1)… but also from infections caused by… (2)… Studies have addressed the problem of inadequate intake by using sprouted grains in food preparation. Contamination has been tackled with… (3)… Both of these methods are or were used traditionally, and are practical and inexpensive. Fermented foods have higher… (4)…, and also have anti-microbial qualities. This means that contamination is decreased and that their… (5)… is increased. Fermentation occurs when… (6)… is left to stand, occasionally with simple additives. There is, however, a trend away from this… (7)… to commercial products.

A. porridge
B. malnutrition
C. fermentation
D. new technology
E. contaminated food
F. diarrhoeal germs
G. traditional food

H. storage life

I. sprouted grains

J. inadequate food intake

K. acidity

L. unfermented food

M. weaning

N. dough

You are advised to spend about 10 minutes on the following passage.

The British political scene is dominated by two major parties that have quite different political agendas. However, the ideological distance between the Labor Party and the Conservative Party has become less marked, and their policies more difficult to tell apart in recent years. In fact, it would be true to say that both parties consist of conservative, moderate and radical elements, and therefore the general public is often perplexed about which party to vote for. Nonetheless, it is usual to find that a British voter will lean towards supporting one of these two parties and remain faithful to that party for life.

The Labour Party's manifest objective is to safeguard the interests of the common working men and women, and, in effect, give them political representation in Parliament. The Party has always had strong connections with the trade unions, and, before coming to power, was always passionately committed to the concept of a welfare society in which people who are less fortunate than others are politically and financially assisted in their quest for a more equitable slice of the economic pie. The main problem is that such socialist agendas are extremely expensive to implement and maintain, even in a comparatively wealthy country with a large working and, hence, tax-paying population base. Welfare societies tend towards bankruptcy unless government spending is kept in check. Fortunately, the present government recognizes this, and has resisted reckless spending.

The Conservative Party, on the other hand, argues that the best way to ensure a fair division of wealth in the country is to allow more freedom to create it. This, in turn, means more opportunities, jobs created, etc., and therefore more wealth available to all. Just how the poor are to share in the distribution of this wealth (beyond being given, at least in theory, the opportunity to create it) is, however, less well understood. Practice, of course, may make nonsense of even the best theoretical intentions, and often the less politically powerful are badly catered for under governments implementing 'free-for-all' policies.

It is surprising, given the current homogeneity of the two major parties, that less attention than elsewhere in Europe is paid to the smaller political parties such as the Greens and the Liberal Democrats. This may be because British voters distrust parties with platforms based around one or two major current issues alone; the Green Party, for example, is almost solely concerned with the environment. Moreover, when it comes to casting a vote, history shows that the British public tends to resist change and, thus, the status quo is maintained. (431 words)

Questions 1-10
Complete the summary of the reading passage. Choose your answers from the box on the next page.

NB There are more words than you will need to fill the gaps. You may use a word more than once if you wish.

Summary

Two parties (1)............ the British political scene: the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Although (2)............. there are many similarities to be seen in their policies, British voters tend to stay (3)............... for life to the party of their choice. The (4).............. Party, encouraged by the trade (5)..............., supports a welfare-based (6)............., whereas the (7)...............Party believes that (8).............. to pursue the creation of wealth ensures that all will eventually benefit from the opportunities created. Oddly, Britons do not follow Europeans by paying much (9)...................to smaller political parties, perhaps because their policies are based on just a few (10)................ political issues.

supporters

control

support

money

opportunities

welfare

policy

majority

politicians

voters

unions

now

Conservative

now

general public

Labour

loyal

attention

recently

leaning

Green

current

freedom

society

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

It is estimated that on average, each airplane in the US commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year. In fact, aircraft often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and extends away in opposite directions. Although record keeping is poor, smaller business and private airplanes are thought to be struck less frequently because of their small size because they often can avoid weather that is conducive to lightning strikes.

The last confirmed commercial plane crash in the US directly attributed to lightning occured in 1967, when lightning caused a catastrophic fuel tank explosion. Since then, much has been learned about how lightning can effect airplanes. As a result, protection techniques have improved. Today, airplanes receive a rigorous set of lightning certification tests to verify the safety of their designs. Nothing serious should happen because of the careful lightning protection engineered into the aircraft and its sensitive components. Initially, the lightning will attach to an extremity such as the nose or wing tip. The airplane then flies through the lightning flash, which reattaches itself to the fuselage at other locations while the airplane is in the electric 'circuit' between the cloud regions of opposite polarity. The current will travel through the conductive exterior skin and structures of the aircraft and exit off some other extremity, such as the tail. Pilots occasionally report temporary flickering of lights or short-lived interference with instruments.

Most aircraft skins consist primarily of aluminium, which conducts electricity very well. By making sure that no gaps exist in this conductive path, the engineer can assure that most of the lightning current will remain on the exterior of the aircraft. Some modern aircraft are made of advanced composite materials, which by themselves are significantly less conductive than aluminium. In this case, the composites contain an embedded layer of conductive fibres or screens designed to carry lightning currents.

Modern passenger jets have miles of wires and dozens of computers and other instruments that control everything from the engines to the passengers' headsets. These computers, like all computers, are sometimes susceptible to upset from power surges. So, in addition to safeguarding the aircraft's exterior, the lightning protection engineer must make sure that no damaging surges or transients can reach the sensitive equipment inside the aircraft. Lightning travelling on the exterior skin of an aircraft has the potential to induce transients into wires or equipment beneath the skin. These transients are called lightning indirect effects. Careful shielding, grounding and the application of surge suppression devices avert problems caused by indirect effects in cables and equipment when necessary. Every circuit and piece of equipment that is critical or essential to the safe flight and landing of an aircraft must be verified by the manufacturers to be protected against lightning in accordance with regulations set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or a similar authority in the country of the aircraft's origin.

The other main area of concern is the fuel system, where even a tiny spark could be disastrous. Engineers thus take extreme precautions to ensure that lightning currents cannot cause sparks in any portion of an aircraft's fuel system. The aircraft's skin around the fuel tanks must be thick enough to withstand a burn through. All of the structural joints and fasteners must be tightly designed to prevent sparks, because lightning current passes from one section to another. Access doors, fuel filler caps and any vents must be designed and tested to withstand lightning. All the pipes and fuel lines that carry fuel to the engines, and the engines themselves, must be protected against lightning. In addition, new fuels that produce less explosive vapours are now widely used.

The aircraft's radome — the nose cone that contains radar and other flight instruments — is another area to which lightning protection engineers pay special attention. In order to function, radar cannot be contained within a conductive enclosure. Instead, lightning diverter strips applied along the outer surface of the radome protect this area. These strips can consist of solid metal bars or a series of closely spaced buttons of conductive material affixed to a plastic strip that is bonded adhesively to the radome. In many ways, diverter strips function like a lightning rod on a building.

Private general aviation planes should avoid flying through or near thunderstorms. The severe turbulence found in storm cells alone should make the pilot of a small plane very wary. The FAA has a separate set of regulations governing the lightning protection of private aircraft that do not transport passengers. A basic level of protection is provided for the airframe, fuel system and engines. Traditionally, most small, commercially made aircraft have aluminium skins and do not contain computerised engine and flight controls, and they are thus inherently less susceptible to lightning; however, numerous reports of non-catastrophic damage to wing tips, propellers and navigation lights have been recorded.

The growing class of kit-built composite aircraft also raises some concerns. Because the FAA considers owner-assembled, kit-built aircraft 'experimental', they are not subject to lightning protection regulations. Many kit-built planes are made of fibreglass or graphite-reinforced composites. At LTI, we routinely test protected fibreglass and composite panels with simulated lightning currents. The results of these tests show that lightning can damage inadequately protected composites. Pilots of unprotected fibreglass or composite aircraft should not fly anywhere near a lightning storm or in other types of clouds, because non-thunderstorm clouds may contain sufficient electric charge to produce lightning. (931 words)

Question 1-12
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.

Lightning strikes occur most often to (1).............. when they pass through (2)................ in the sky. Since the 1960s, (3)................ have been developed to ensure the safety of aircraft as well as the passengers. The electrical current goes through the exterior skin of the plane because they are made of (4)............. or other (5)............ Careful shielding has been made on the fuselage to protect the electrical equipment in the plane from (6)................ The most dangerous part of an aircraft is its (7)....................., therefore, fuel tanks and (8)............. must be protected against any (9)............ (10).................. are adopted to protect the aircraft's radome in which important flight equipment such as radar is contained. Although private air-craft are (11).............. to lightning, the FAA still issues very strict lightning protection regulations about safety. Nevertheless, some owner-assembled and kit-built planes are still flying in the sky with the permission of (12)............................

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

The role of urban design in successful pet ownership

This paper summarises the findings of an investigation into the role of urban design in successful pet ownership. There are several reasons why planners should consider pets in decisions about residential and open space development.

People are not generally aware of the popularity of pet ownership in Australia. The Morgan Research surveys estimate that in 1902, 37% of Australian households owned one or more dogs, and 30% owned one or more cats. 53% of all households owned either a dog or a cat. Pet-owning households are clearly a substantial group within the community.

Research shows that pets play an important role in teaching children about sharing, caring, communication and responsibility. They also act as companions and protectors, stress relievers and in some cases help to foster family cohesion. While pets are traditionally associated with family-type households, they are just as important to households without children; indeed they are often surrogates for children in childless families. This applies particularly to the elderly, who usually form very close associations with their pets. In an era when the population is aging and more people are living alone, pets can provide valuable relief from loneliness.

Urban pet management has been the subject of extensive debate among veterinarians and those involved in local government for some time. Part of the reason is that people complain more readily about other people's pets than ever before. Emphasis on urban consolidation has meant that smaller homes and back gardens and multi-dwelling developments not only discourage people from owning pets but also place greater demands on scarce public open space. Pet owners may face tougher restrictions from either their local council or resident management committee.

The term socially responsible pet ownership has emerged to describe a set of responsibilities to which pet owners are now expected to adhere. In meeting their responsibilities, pet owners need to consider:

• Providing an enriching environment to reduce unwanted behaviour; e.g. excessive barking.
• Confining dogs to their premises. The advantages of this include protection from catching disease, being run over and fighting. Ideally cats should be confined to the house at night for their own protection where practicable.
• Training pets to alter unacceptable behaviour.
• Exercising dogs, especially if they spend long periods on their own.

It might be tempting to prescribe different pets for different types of housing. Some people already have firm views about pets and housing type.

Mostly in relation to dogs, the only environment for a dog is in conventional detached housing or a “big” dog is only suitable in the country. However, suitability is as much dependent on the quality of space as it is on the quantity.

A dwelling that overlooks areas of activity is ideal for pets because it increases the amount of stimulation that can be received from the property. e.g. dwellings that overlook a park or are adjacent to a busy street. This is one way to alleviate boredom and the negative behaviours that sometimes result.

Preferably a dog should have access to some outdoor space. Open space is not essential for a cat provided an enriching environment is maintained indoors, e.g. a bay window or an internal fernery. Ideally dogs should have access to all areas of open space on a property. On the whole, a dog's behaviour is likely to be better if he or she can see the street. Although the dog may bark at passers-by in the street, there will be less likelihood of excessive barking that might arise through boredom. Providing a dog with surveillance of the street also enhances public security, a very positive benefit.

With adequate fencing, a dog will be confined to the property. Cats are less easily constrained and are discussed below. The standard paling fence will restrain almost all dogs. They are recommended for side and rear boundaries. Solid front fences limit the view of the outside world and are not recommended. The dog will tend to be less roused by sound stimuli if he or she can see passers-by or activities in the street. However, it is important to ensure that the dog cannot get through the fence. Furthermore, all gates should be fitted with a return spring self-closing device.

Cats are not as easily restrained as dogs as they are more agile and have quite different notions of territoriality. Mostly this does not create a problem, although difficulties may arise in environmentally sensitive areas where cats may prey on wildlife. It is recommended that cats be confined to the house at night for their own protection.

The pleasures and benefits of pet ownership should be available to everyone. However, owning a pet brings with it responsibilities to which we are increasingly being called. It is hoped that the guidelines will encourage people to think about pets in decisions about residential and community development. If they do, pet ownership will not be prejudiced by the push or urban consolidation. (832 words)

Question 1-12

Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.

Pet ownership has long been regarded as popular by (1).......... In general, aged people and children like pets very much. In (2)............, pets are normally raised as (3).............. by adults. With increasing numbers of pets in urban areas taking dwindling (4).............., pet owners will encounter (5)............ issued by government or community authorities. They are required to control their pets' behaviours, such as (6)................., that disturb their neighbours. Thus, some people are forced to choose pets according to their (7)............. Ideally, (8)............. is most suitable for raising dogs. However, too much quietness will bore the dogs because of the lack of (9).......... to them and thus cause them to perform some (10)................. Compared with dogs, cats are less restricted not only because of their agility but also because of their (11)............ With adequate control, pets can be very beneficial to anyone even in the time of (12).............

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

Tourism, holiday making and travel are these days more significant social phenomena than most commentators have considered. On the face of it, there could not be a more trivial subject for a book. And indeed since social scientists have had considerable difficulty explaining weightier topics, such as work or politics, it might be thought that they would have great difficulties in accounting for more trivial phenomena such as holiday making. However, there are interesting parallels with the study of deviance. This involves the investigation of bizarre and idiosyncratic social practices which happen to be defined as deviant in some societies but not necessarily in others. The assumption is that the investigation of deviance can reveal interesting and significant aspects of 'normal' societies. It could be said that a similar analysis can be applied to tourism.

Tourism is a leisure activity which presupposes its opposite, namely regulated and organised work. It is one manifestation of how work and leisure are organised as separate and regulated spheres of social practice in 'modern' societies. Indeed acting as a tourist is one of the defining characteristics of being 'modern' and the popular concept of tourism is that it is organised within popular places and occurs for regularised periods of time. Tourist relationships arise from a movement of people to, and their stay in, various destinations. This necessarily involves some movement, that is the journey, and a period of stay in a new place or places. The journey and the activities are by definition outside the normal places of residence and work and are of a short-term and temporary nature, and there is a clear intention to return 'home' within a relatively short period of time.

A substantial proportion of the population of modern societies engages in such tourist practices; new socialised forms of provision have developed in order to cope with the mass character of the gazes of tourists, as opposed to the individual, and be gazed upon because there is an anticipation, especially through daydreaming ad fantasy, of intense pleasures, either on a different scale or involving different senses from those customarily encountered. Such anticipation is constructed and sustained through a variety of non-tourist practices, such as films, TV, literature, magazines, records and videos which construct and reinforce this daydreaming.

Tourists tend to visit features of landscape and townscape which separate them off from everyday experience. Such aspects are viewed because they are taken to be in some sense out of the ordinary. The viewing of these tourist sights often involves different forms of social patterning, with a much greater sensitivity to visual elements of landscape or townscape than is normally found in everyday life. People linger over these sights in a way that they would not normally do in their home environment and the vision is objectified or captured through photographs, postcards, films and so on which enable the memory to be endlessly reproduced and recaptured.

One of the earliest dissertations on the subject of tourism is Boorstin's analysis of the 'pseudo-event' (1964) where he argues that contemporary Americans cannot experience 'reality' directly but thrive on 'pseudo-event'. Isolated from the host environment and the local people, the mass tourist travels in guided groups and finds pleasure in inauthentic contrived attractions, gullibly enjoying the pseudo-events and disregarding the real world outside. Over time, the images generated of different tourist sights come to constitute a closed self-perpetuating system of illusions which provide the tourist with the basis for selecting and evaluating potential places to visit. Such visits are made, says Boorstin, within the 'environmental bubble' of the familiar American-style hotel which insulates the tourist from the strangeness of the host environment.

To service the burgeoning tourist industry, an array of professionals has developed who attempt to reproduce ever-new objects for the tourist to look at. These objects or places are located in a complex and changing hierarchy. This depends upon the interplay between, on the one hand, competition between interests involved in the provision of such objects and, on the other hand, changing class, gender, and generational distinctions of taste within the potential population of visitors. It has been said that to be a tourist is one of the characteristics of the 'modern experience'. Not to 'go away' is like not possessing a car or a nice house. Travel is a marker of status in modern societies and is also thought to be necessary for good health. The role of the professional, therefore, is to cater for the needs and tastes of the tourists in accordance with their class and overall expectations. (761 words)

Questions 1-9
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the passage.

Tourism is a hot topic worth (1)........... because it reflects the (2)........ of modern societies. Now people tend to separate (3)............. from (4)............. Compared with (5)...............travellers, tourists possess a (6)............ with an anticipation of daydreaming, which is intensified by many (7)............. such as films and magazines. Tourists are tired of the places similar to their (8)........... Nevertheless, the very nature of mass tourist travels can only provide them with (9)............. especially when they are led around by tourist professionals.

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.

Homeopathy is an alternative of medicine founded in the early 19^th century by a German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. Since 1980, homeopathy has experienced strong resurgence of interest in North and South America as well as in Europe. Surveys indicate that more than a third of French physicians prescribed homeopathic remedies and almost 50 per cent of British physicians have referred patients for homeopathic treatment.

Hahnemann's discovery of the principle of homeopathy was accidental. After taking some quinine he noticed that he developed malaria-like symptoms. Since malaria patients were treated with quinine, he speculated that possibly malaria is cured by quinine because it causes malaria-like symptoms in healthy people. He decided to explore the theory by testing other substances used as medicine at the same time, such as arsenic and belladonna. His tests were conducted by either taking the substances internally himself or by administering them to healthy volunteers and then recording all of the symptoms the volunteers experienced. He continued his experiments on a wide range of natural substances, often toxic. These recorded results created 'drug pictures' which formed the basis for the new system of medicine. The next step was to give the tested substances to patients suffering from the same group of symptoms represented by the drug picture recorded. The results were incredible. People were being cured from diseases that had never been cured before. He condensed his theory into a single Latin phrase: similia similius curentur (let likes be cured by likes). This means that a disease can be cured by a medicine which produces in a healthy person symptoms similar to those experienced by a patient.

The process of making remedies is very precise. A homeopathic remedy is normally a single substance. The substances may be made from plants, minerals and even animals, for example snake venom and cuttlefish ink. To make remedies, the raw material is dissolved in a mixture that contains approximately 90% alcohol and 10% water. The mixture is left to stand for 2 to 4 weeks, shaken occasionally then strained. The resulting liquid or tincture is diluted according to very specific measures to a factor of 1:100. For example, to produce a remedy called 1c potency or strength, one drop of the tincture is added to 99 drops of alcohol / water mixture. Between each mixture the remedy is shaken vigorously. Hahnemann believed that through this process, the energy of the substance was released. Once the remedy has been diluted beyond a 12c potency, it is unlikely that even a molecule of the original substance remains. Yet ironically, the more dilute the remedy, the stronger it is. This makes no sense in light of present-day science but regardless of what science tells us is impossible, in practice, the higher the dilution, the stronger and more lasting the effect.

It is this use of high dilutions that has given rise to controversy. Many conventional doctors claim that homeopathy functions only as placebo because the dosage is so small. However, the clinical experience of homeopathy shows that this tiny dose can be effective: it works on unconscious people and infants, and it even works on animals. Controlled clinical studies performed by medical researchers are demonstrating that homeopathy can be an effective method of treatment for many diseases.

The most important part of homeopathic treatments lies in the lengthy interview which the homeopath conducts with the patient. The idea behind this one - to two-hour consultation is to build up a psychological, emotional and physical history of the patient, to discover the underlying patterns of disease. The homeopath then decided which medicine to prescribe based on the closest match between the patient's symptoms and the known symptoms elicited by the medicine in a healthy body. A single dose is given for the shortest period of time necessary to stimulate the body's healing power.

How does the concept of homeopathy differ from that of conventional medicine: Very simply, homeopathy attempts to stimulate the body to recover itself. Instead of looking upon the symptoms as something wrong which must be set right, the homeopath sees them as signs of the way the body is attempting to help itself. Another basic difference between conventional medical therapy and homeopathy is in the medical substances. If the medication is withdrawn, the person returns to illness. For example, a person who takes a pill for high blood pressure every day is not undergoing a cure but is only controlling the symptoms. Homeopathy's aim is the cure: 'The complete restoration of perfect health', as Dr. Hahnemann said.

Homeopath has made significant progress in treating diseases which orthodox medicine finds difficult. Best at dealing with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, skin conditions, migraines and respiratory problems linked to allergies, it has also proved highly successful at treating asthma. But homeopathy is not an appropriate treatment for degenerative diseases such as emphysema. It cannot treat diseases which destroy tissues, although it can be beneficial if used in combination with other treatments. Two of the main advantages of homeopathy, are the low cost of the medications and rarity of adverse reactions. The medicines are inexpensive, safe, and easy to use, so people can learn to handle many of the common diseases for which they currently seek medical help. The resulting savings in costs and the increase in personal independence represent a significant contribution to health care. (889 words)

Questions 1-3

Complete the following description below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in the spaces provided.

Making a Homeopathic Remedy

The remedies come from plants, animals and mineral resources. A single product is mixed with (1)......... and left to stand for 2-4 weeks. This mixture is strained to produce a tincture which can be diluted. One drop of this tincture is added to 99 drops of alcohol / water. This mixture is then (2)........... vigorously. This produces a remedy with a potency of 1c. As the remedy becomes more diluted, it gets (3)..................

Questions 4-7

Complete the following summary. Choose your answers from the box below and write your answers in the spaces provided.

Homeopathy differs from conventional medicine in a number of ways. Conventional medicine views symptoms as an indication of something wrong in the body whereas homeopathy sees them as signs that the body is attempting to (4)............ The uses of medication differ also. Many types of conventional medication (5).......... but if the medicine is taken away, the illness returns. The intention of homeopathy is to bring about a complete cure. Homeopathic remedies are (6)......... than conventional medicine and have fewer (7)............

List of Words and Phrases
cheaper

cure

heal itself

illness

treatments

getting better

control symptoms

more expensive

side effects

stronger

healthy

patients

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