Chuyên đề IELTS READING GRAPHIC QUESTIONS sẽ bao gồm các dạng câu hỏi có chứa các biểu đồ, bảng biểu, ví dụ như Diagram, Table và Flowchart. Trước khi làm bài tập chuyên đề dạng này, các em nên xem lại hướng dẫn cách làm dạng bài Table Completion trong IELTS READING, và cách làm dạng Classification trong IELTS READING luôn nhé!
1. Bài 1
Read the information about the Numeracy Centre below, and answer Questions 1-8. You arc advised to spend about 15 minutes.
Numeracy Centre
Many business and marketing courses require a knowledge of introductory statistics, computing or mathematics. If you feel inadequately prepared for your course, you can get help from the Numeracy Centre, which offers FREE elementary help in maths and statistics. Grab a timetable from the Centre and drop in when it suits you.
Course A
The first course available to students is a Revision Course in Basic Maths. This 3-hour lecture will review mathematical concepts necessary for elementary statistics, such as fractions, area and percentages up to a Year 8 level of mathematics. It is not necessary to book, so feel free to drop in. This session is FREE!
Course B
For those students doing marketing courses, and other courses requiring statistical analysis, there is the Bridging Course in Statistics for Marketing. This three-day course introduces ideas in elementary statistics to provide a starting point for further developments in statistical skills later on in other courses. The course is run in sessions of three hours, in the form of a one-hour lecture followed by a two-hour tutorial. Examples will be drawn from the reference books listed. The tutorials will be interactive where possible (e.g. drawing random samples from the population of numbered cards in class) with hands-on experience of data manipulation using MINITAB on a bank of PCs.
Course C
Statistics for the Practitioner is slightly different to the previous course, which must be completed before this course. This course is largely non-mathematical. It will instead concentrate on the interpretation and application of statistics rather than on computation. The statistical package MINITAB will be used as a teaching tool. This course will be conducted over two days in the form of workshops and small group discussions, with a strong emphasis on hands-on experience of data manipulation using computers.
Course D
A further course of interest to many students is English for Computer Studies. Students with English as their second language who will be needing elementary computing for their courses are encouraged to enrol in this 8-hour course. Students will learn through workshops giving hands-on experience. The cost of the course is $15 which includes notes and refreshments. (358 words)
Question 1-8
Below is a chart summarising information about the Numeracy Centre courses. Complete the required details using information from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 1-8.
2. Bài 2
Below is the information for overseas students at the Language and Culture Centre in Houston in the USA. Read it through and then answer the questions that follow. You are advised to spend about 15 minutes.
Information for Students at the Language and Culture Centre (LCC)
Campus Activities
LCC Students can enjoy many sports at the university. You will find tennis and handball courts, gymnasiums, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. At the University Centre (UC), you can play pool or table tennis. LCC student teams compete in university intramural sports. The LCC has one of the best soccer teams on campus. Please sign up and play.
You can also see films and plays, attend lectures, and go to concerts on campus. There are many international clubs where you can meet other students from your home country.
Emergencies
WEATHER EMERGENCY
If the University of Houston closes because of emergency weather conditions, the LCC will also close. In the event of an emergency, all LCC students are advised to listen to major radio or television stations for announcements regarding cancellation of classes or the closing of the campus.
TEACHER EMERGENCY
Always wait in the classroom for 15 minutes for your teacher. If the teacher does not come after 15 minutes, you may leave. Please go to your next scheduled class on time.
Withdrawing from the LCC
You may withdraw from the LCC if you have a medical emergency, a family emergency, or if you wish to return to your home country. If you withdraw for one of these reasons, you may receive a partial refund of your tuition. The LCC cannot refund your application fee, contract fee, insurance fee, or late registration fee. A tuition refund must be approved by the director and will be given according to the following schedule:
Health Care
If you are ill, see a doctor at the University Health Centre first. LCC students can visit a doctor at the Health Centre. Medicines are available through the pharmacy. You should use the Health Centre as often as you need to. The Health Centre is located behind the Student Service Centre.
For some health problems, you may need to see an outside doctor. The Health Centre can help you find one. There are many clinics in Houston for minor emergencies. Some of them are open 24 hours a day. For big emergencies, there are good hospitals in Houston.
All LCC students must have health insurance. You must buy health insurance through the LCC unless you have proof of another health insurance plan or financial responsibility for at least $50,000.
LCC policies
ATTENDANCE AND ACADEMIC PROGRESS
The best way to learn English is to come to class regularly and to do your homework. If you miss several days of classes, for any reason, you cannot keep up with the other students. The Language and Culture Centre is a serious academic programme in intensive English and wants all of its students to succeed. Therefore, students are expected to attend all classes regularly, do all classroom assignments, meet all class requirements, and make academic progress. Students who do not meet these standards may be placed on academic probation. Students placed on academic probation will meet with their teacher(s) and with either or both the associate director and foreign student advisor. Students will be informed in writing of the terms and length of their probation.
Students who have 30 hours of absences are in danger of being placed on academic probation. Students failing to meet the terms of their probation will be terminated from the LCC for the remainder of the semester. This will also likely result in loss of student status with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Students who have 50 hours of absences will not receive a Certificate of Successful Completion and will be terminated from the programme.
If a student is absent for ten consecutive days with no explanation, the student will be terminated automatically from the programme. (647 words)
Questions 1 – 7
Complete the following flow charts of actions and their consequences by choosing the appropriate consequence from the list in the box and writing its letter in boxes 1-7 on the next page.
N.B. You may use any consequence more than once.
A. Terminated from the programme
B. May lose student status with US Immigration and Naturalisation Service
C. Receives advice and counselling
D. May be put on academic probation
3. Bài 3
Bài tập thuộc chương trình học của lớp IELTS ONLINE 1 KÈM 1 của IELTS TUTOR
Read the information from the passage 'Reaching for the Sky' below, and answer questions 1-12. You are advised to spend about 15 minutes.
Reaching for the Sky
Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A building reflects the scientific and technological achievements of the age as well as the ideas and aspirations of the designer and client. The appearance of individual buildings, however, is often controversial.
The use of an architectural style cannot be said to start or finish on a specific date. Neither is it possible to say exactly what characterises a particular movement. But the origins of what is now generally known as modern architecture can be traced back to the social and technological changes of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Instead of using timber, stone and traditional building techniques, architects began to explore ways of creating buildings by using the latest technology and materials such as steel, glass and concrete strengthened steel bars, known as reinforced concrete. Technological advances also helped bring about the decline of rural industries and an increase in urban populations as people moved to the towns to work in the new factories. Such rapid and uncontrolled growth helped to turn parts of cities into slums.
By the 1920s, architects throughout Europe were reacting against the conditions created by industrialisation. A new style of architecture emerged to reflect more idealistic notions for the future. It was made possible by new materials and construction techniques and was known as Modernism.
By the 1930s, many buildings emerging from this movement were designed in the International Style. This was largely characterised by the bold use of new materials and simple, geometric forms, often with white walls supported by stilt-like pillars. These were stripped of unnecessary decoration that would detract from their primary purpose to be used or lived in.
Walter Gropius, Charles Jeanneret (better known as Le Corbusier) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were among the most influential of the many architects who contributed to the development of Modernism in the first half of the century. But the economic depression of the 1930s and the Second World War (1939-45) prevented their ideas from being widely realised until the economic conditions improved and war-torn cities had to be rebuilt.
By the 1950s, the International Style had developed into a universal approach to building, which standardised the appearance of new buildings in cities across the world.
Unfortunately, this Modernist interest in geometric simplicity and function became exploited for profit. The rediscovery of quick-and-easy-to-handle reinforced concrete and an improved ability to prefabricate building sections meant that builders could meet the budgets of commissioning authorities and handle a renewed demand for development quickly and cheaply. But this led to many badly designed buildings, which discredited the original aims of Modernism.
Influenced by Le Corbusier's ideas on town planning, every large British city built multi-storey housing estates in the 1960s. Mass-produced, low-cost high-rises seemed to offer a solution to the problem of housing a growing inner-city population. But far from meeting human needs, the new estates often proved to be windswept deserts lacking essential social facilities and services. Many of these buildings were poorly designed and constructed and have since been demolished.
By the 1970s, a new respect for the place of buildings within the existing townscape arose. Preserving historic buildings or keeping only their facades (or fronts) grew common. Architects also began to make more use of building styles and materials that were traditional to the area. The architectural style usually referred to as High Tech was also emerging. It celebrated scientific and engineering achievements by openly parading the sophisticated techniques used in construction. Such buildings are commonly made of metal and glass; examples are Stansted airport and the Lloyd's building in London.
Disillusionment at the failure of many of the poor imitations of Modernist architecture led to interest in various styles and ideas from the past and present. By the 1980s, the coexistence of different styles of architecture in the same building became known as Post-Modern. Other architects looked back to the classical tradition. The trend in architecture now favours smaller scale building design that reflects a growing public awareness of environmental issues such as energy efficiency. Like the Modernists, people today recognise that a well-designed environment improves the quality of life but is not necessarily achieved by adopting one well-defined style of architecture.
Twentieth century architecture will mainly be remembered for its tall buildings. They have been made possible by the development of light steel frames and safe passenger lifts. They originated in the US over a century ago to help meet the demand for more economical use of land. As construction techniques improved, the skyscraper became a reality. (762 words)
Questions 1-7
Complete the table below using information from the reading passage. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in the spaces provided in the box.
Questions 8-12
The reading passage describes a number of cause-and-effect relationships. Match each Cause (8-12) in List A with its Effect (A-H) in List B. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
N.B. There are more effects in List B than you will need, so you will not use all of them. You may use any effect more than once if you wish.
List A - Causes
8. A rapid movement of people from rural areas to cities is triggered by technological advance.
9. Buildings become simple and functional.
10. An economic depression and the Second World War hit Europe.
11. Multi-storey housing estates are built according to contemporary ideas on town planning.
12. Less land must be used for building.
List B - Effects
A. The quality of life is improved.
B. Architecture reflects the age.
C. A number of these have been knocked down.
D. Light steel frames and lifts are developed.
E. Historical buildings are preserved.
F. All decoration is removed.
G. Parts of cities become slums.
H. Modern ideas cannot be put into practice until the second half of the 20th century.
8...................
9...................
10.................
11.................
12................
4. Bài 4
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Garbage in, Garbage out
There are many ways of obtaining an understanding of people's behaviour. One of these is studying the objects discarded by a community, objects used in daily lives. The study of refuse of a society is the basis for the science of archaeology in which lives and behaviour of past societies are minutely examined. Some recent studies have indicated the degree to which rubbish is socially defined.
For several years, the University of Arizona, USA, has been running a Garbage Project, in which garbage is collected, sorted out and noted. It began in 1973 with an arrangement where the city of Tucson collected for analysis garbage from randomly selected households in designated census collection districts. Since then the researchers have studied other cities, both in the USA and Mexico, refining the techniques and procedures in response to the challenges of validating and understanding the often unexpected results they have obtained. Garbage is sorted according to an standardised coding form, and the researchers cross-tabulate their findings with information from census and other social surveys.
The Project arouse out of courses designed to teach students at the University the principles of archaeological methodology and to sensitise them to the complex and frequently surprising links between cultural assumptions and physical realities. Often a considerable discrepancy exists between what people say they do—or even think they do—and what they actually do. In one Garbage Project study, none of the Hispanic (Spanish-speaking) women in the sample admitted to using as much as a single serving of commercially-prepared baby food, clearly reflecting cultural expectations about proper mothering. Yet garbage from the Hispanic households with infants contained just as many baby food containers as garbage from non-Hispanic households with infants.
The Project leaders then decided to look not only at what was thrown away, but what happened to it after that. In many countries waste is disposed of in landfills; the rubbish is compacted and buried in the ground. So in 1987, the Project expanded its activities to include the excavation of landfills across the United States and Canada. Surprisingly, no one had ever attempted such excavations before.
The researchers discovered that far from being sites of chemical and biological activity, the interiors of waste landfills are rather inactive, with the possible exception of those established in swamps. Newspapers buried 20 or more years previously usually remained perfectly legible, and a remarkable amount of food wastes of similar age also remained intact.
While discarded household products such as paints, pesticides, cleaners and cosmetics result in a fair amount of hazardous substances being contained in municipal landfills, toxic leachates pose considerably less danger than people fear, provided that a landfill is properly sited and constructed. Garbage Project researchers have found that the leachates do not migrate far, and tend to get absorbed by the other materials in the immediate surrounds.
The composition of landfills is also strikingly different from what is commonly believed. In a 1990 US survey, people were asked whether particular items were a major cause of garbage problems. Disposable nappies (baby diapers) were identified as a major cause by 41 per cent of the survey respondents, plastic bottles by 29 per cent, all forms of paper by six per cent, and construction debris by zero per cent. Yet Garbage Project data shows that disposable nappies make up less than two per cent of the volume of landfills and plastic bottles less than one per cent. On the other hand, over 40 per cent of the volume of landfills is composed of paper and around 12 per cent is construction debris.
Packaging—the paper and plastic wrapping around goods bought— has also been seen as a serious cause of pollution. But while some packaging is excessive, the Garbage Project researchers note that most manufacturers use as little as possible, because less is cheaper. They also point out that modern product packaging frequently functions to reduce the overall size of the solid-waste stream.
This apparent paradox is illustrated by the results of a comparison of garbage from a large and socially diverse sample of households in Mexico City with a similarly large and diverse sample in three United States cities. Even after correcting for differences in family size, US households generated far less garbage than the Mexican ones. Because they are much more dependent on processed and packaged foods than Mexican households, US households produce much less food debris. (And most of the leaves, husks, etc. that the US processor has removed from the food can be used in the manufacture of other products, rather than entering the waste stream as is the likely fate with fresh produce purchased by households.)
One criticism made of Western societies is that the people are wasteful, and throw things away while they are still useable. This, however, does not seem to be true. Garbage Project data showed that furniture and consumer appliances were entering the solid waste stream at a rate very much less than would be expected from production and service-life figures. So, the researchers set up a study to track the fate of such items, and thus gained an insight into the huge informal and commercial trade in used goods that rarely turns up in official calculations and statistics.
The Garbage Project's work shows how many misconceptions exist about garbage. The researchers are therefore critical of attempts to promote one type of waste management, such as source reduction or recycling, over others, such as incineration or landfilling. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and what may be appropriate for one locality may not be appropriate for another. (935 words)
Questions 1-8
Complete the following notes using information from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS or NUMBERS in the blanks in your booklet.
THE GARBAGE PROJECT
- Started in 1973
- Organised by (1)............
- First studied garbage in the city of (2)............., since then has studied it in other cities in the USA and (3)............
- Method: garbage collected and sorted, the information noted on (4).............
- Findings compared with (5)........... and other social surveys.
- Reasons for Project: show students the (6)............ of archaeological (7)..............
- From 1987 Garbage Project studied (8)..............in the USA and Canada.
Questions 9-12
Complete the following sentences using information in the passage. Choose the appropriate phrases (A-C) from the list in the box and write its letter in the blanks in your booklet.
A. more ... than
B. less ... than / fewer ... than
C. as many ... as / as much ... as
9. Hispanic women used........... baby food............. they said they did.
10. After excavating landfills, the Garbage Project researchers found that there were............ plastic bottles........... people thought.
11. Mexican families create ...................garbage ................American families.
12. Consumer appliances are reused............. was officially predicted.
Questions 13-15
Some of the wrong ideas that the passage states people have about garbage are on the next page. Match each misconception (I-IV) with TWO counterarguments (A-M) used in the passage to argue against them. Write your answers in the spaces provided. One example has been given.
Misconceptions
I. Landfills are dangerous because they are full of germs and chemicals.
II. Household items, like disposable nappies, are a major cause of garbage problems.
III. Packaging is wasteful and causes excess garbage.
IV. Western societies waste many usable items.
Counterarguments
A. 40% of landfills is paper.
B. Perishable items are often almost unchanged, even after long periods of time.
C. People throw away furniture and consumer appliances
D. Processing and packaging cuts down on other garbage
E. Chemicals become less dangerous after 20 years.
F. Disposable nappies make up less than 2% of landfill
G. Fresh food creates less waste debris.
H. Chemicals do not spread far in landfills.
I. Plastic bottles are a bigger waste problem than nappies.
J. There are many businesses that collect and resell things people no longer want.
K. Manufacturers cut their costs by using as little packaging as possible
L. Household goods constituted a smaller than expected part of solid waste.
M. People use fewer disposable nappies now than in past years.
Example: Counterarguments for Misconception I: B & H
13. Counterarguments for Misconception II: ..............
14. Counterarguments for Misconception III:...................
15. Counterarguments for Misconception IV:..................
5. Bài 5
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Destination for International English Students
At any given time, more than a million international students around the world are engaged in the study of English language in a predominantly English-speaking country. The five most popular destinations, in older of popularity, are the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The reasons for choosing to study English abroad differ with each individual, as do the reasons for the choice of destination.
Numerous studies conducted in Britain and the United States show that the country of choice depends to a large extent on economic factors. While this should not provoke much surprise, careful analysis of the data suggests that students and their parents are most influenced by the preconceptions they have of the countries considered for study abroad, which, in turn, influence the amount they or their parents are prepared to outlay for the experience. The strength of international business connections between countries also gives a good indication of where students will seek tuition. In the main, students tend to follow the traditional pattern of study for their national group.
The United States attracts the most diverse array of nationalities to its English language classrooms - this heterogeneity being largely due to its immense pulling power as the world's foremost economy and the resulting extensive focus on U.S. culture. Furthermore, throughout the non-European world, in Asia and North and South America especially, the course books used to teach English in most elementary and high schools introduce students to American English and the American accent from a very early age. Canada also benefits from worldwide North American exposure, but has the most homogenous group of students most with French as their first language. Before furthering their English skills, students in Europe study from predominantly British English material; most Europeans, naturally, opt for neighbouring Britain, but many Asian, Middle-Eastern, and African students decide upon the same route too.
Australia and New Zealand are often overlooked, but hundreds of thousands of international students have discovered the delights of studying in the Southern Hemisphere. The majority are Asian for reasons that are not difficult to comprehend: the proximity of the two countries to Asia, (Jakarta, the capital of Australia's closest Asian neighbor, Indonesia, is only 5506 kilometres from Sydney), the comparatively inexpensive cost of living and tuition, and perhaps of most importance to many Asian students whose English study is a prelude to tertiary study, the growing awareness that courses at antipodean universities and colleges are of an exceptionally high standard. In addition, revised entry procedures for overseas students have made it possible for an increasing number to attend classes to improve their English for alternative reasons.
Australia and New Zealand have roughly the same mix of students in their language classrooms, but not all students of English who choose these countries are from Asia. The emerging global consciousness of the late twentieth century has meant that students from as far as Sweden and Brazil are choosing to combine a taste for exotic travel with the study of English 'down under' and in 'the land of the long white cloud'. But even the Asian economic downturn in the 1990s has not significantly altered the demographic composition of the majority of English language classrooms within the region.
Nor have the economic problems in Asia caused appreciable drops in full-time college and university attendances by Asian students in these two countries. This is partly because there has always been a greater demand for enrolment at Australian and New Zealand tertiary institutions than places available to overseas students. In addition, the economic squeeze seems to have had a compensatory effect. It has clearly caused a reduction in the number of students from affected countries who are financially able to study overseas. However, there has been a slight but noticeable shift towards Australia and New Zealand by less wealthy Asian students who might otherwise have chosen the United States for English study.
The US and Britain will always be the first choice of most students wishing to study the English language abroad, and it is too early to tell whether the trend will continue. However, economic considerations undoubtedly wield great influence upon Asian and non-Asian students alike. If student expectations can be met in less traditional study destinations, and as the world continues to shrink, future international students of English will be advantaged because the choice of viable study destinations will be wider. (727 words)
Questions 1-4
Complete the missing information in the table below by referring to the reading passage. Write your answers in the spaces provided in the table.
6. Bài 6
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Fashion and Society
In all societies the body is 'dressed', and everywhere dress and adornment play symbolic and aesthetic roles. The colour of clothing often has special meaning: a white wedding dress symbolising purity, black clothing indicating remembrance of a dead relative. Uniforms symbolise association with a particular profession. For many centuries purple, the colour representing royalty, was to be worn by no one else. And of course, dress has always been used to emphasise the wearer's beauty, although beauty has taken many different forms in different societies. In the 16th century in Europe, for
example, Flemish painters celebrated women with bony shoulders, protruding stomachs and long faces, while women shaved or plucked their hairlines to obtain the fashionable egg-domed forehead. These traits are considered ugly by today's fashion.
The earliest forms of 'clothing' seem to have been adornments such as body painting, ornaments, scarifications (scarring), tattooing, masks and often constricting neck and waist bands. Many of these deformed, reformed or otherwise modified the body. The bodies of men and of children, not just those of women, were altered -- there seems to be a widespread human desire to transcend the body's limitations, to make it what it is, by nature, not.
Dress in general seems then to fulfil a number of social functions. This is true of modern as well as of ancient dress. What is added to dress as we ourselves know it in the West is fashion, of which the key feature is rapid and continual changing of styles. The growth of the European city in the 14th century saw the birth of fashionable dress. Previously, loose robes had been worn by both sexes, and styles were simple and unchanging. Dress distinguished rich from poor, rulers from ruled only in that working people wore more wool and no silk, rougher materials and less ornamentation than their masters.
However, by the 14th century, with the expansion in trade, the growth of city life, and the increasing sophistication of the royal and aristocratic courts, rapidly changing styles appeared in western Europe. These were associated with developments in tailored and fitted clothing; once clothing became fitted, it was possible to change the styling of garments almost endlessly. By the 15th and 16th centuries, it began to seem shameful to wear outdated clothes, and those who could afford to do discarded clothing simply because it had gone out of style. Cloth, which was enormously expensive, was literally, and symbolised, wealth in medieval society.
In modern Western societies, no form of clothing does not feel the impact of fashion; fashion sets the terms of all dress behaviour -- even uniforms have been designed by Paris dressmakers, even nuns have shortened their skirts, even the poor seldom go in rags -- they wear cheap versions of the fashions that went out a few years ago and are therefore to be found in second-hand shops and jumble sales.
Even the determinedly unfashionable wear clothes that represent a reaction against what is in fashion. To be unfashionable is not to ignore fashion; it is rather to protest against social values of the fashionable. The hippies of the 1960s created a unique appearance out of an assortment of second-hand clothes, craft work and army surplus, as a protest against the wastefulness of the consumer society. They rejected the way mass production ignored individuality, and also the wastefulness of the luxury.
Looked at in historical perspective, the styles of fashion display a crazy relativism. At one time the rich wear cloth of gold embroidered with pearls, at another beige cashmere and grey suiting. In one epoch men parade in elaborately curled hair, high heels and rouge, at another to do so is to court outcaste status and physical abuse. It is in some sense inherently ironic that a new fashion starts from rejection of the old and often an eager embracing of what was previously considered ugly. Up to the early twentieth century, the tan had always been the sign of a worker, and therefore avoided by those with pretensions and refinement, who were wealthy enough not to have to work in the sun. However, in the 1920s, the tan became the visible sign of those who could afford foreign travel. The tan symbolised health as well as wealth in the 1930s. Recently its carcinogenic dangers have become known, and in any case it is no longer truly chic because many more people than in earlier decades can afford holidays in the sun.
Despite the apparent irrationality, fashion cements social solidarity and imposes group norms. It forces us to recognise that human body is not only a biological entity but an organism culture. To dress the way that others do is to signal that we have many of their morals and values. Conversely, deviations in dress are usually considered shocking and disturbing. In Western countries, a man wearing a pink suit to a job interview would not be considered for a position at a bank. He would be thought too frivolous for the job. Likewise, even in these 'liberated' times, a man in a skirt in many Western cultures causes considerable anxiety, hostility on laughter.
However, while fashion in every age is normative, there is still room for clothing to express individual taste. In any period, within the range of stylish clothing, there is some choice of colour, fabric and style. This is even more true last century, because in the twentieth century, fashion, without losing its obsession with the new and the different, was mass-produced. Originally, fashion was largely for the rich, but since the industrial period, the mass production of fashionably styled clothes has made possible the use of fashion as a means of self-enhancement and self-expression for the majority. (951 words)
Questions 1-5
Complete the table below on the early history of fashion, using phrases from the following box.
A. Unfashionable clothes thrown away
B. Loose robes
C. Fitted clothing
D. Rapidly changing styles appeared
E. Up to the 14th century
F. Brightly coloured clothing
G. Simple decorations worn
H. Styles began to change slowly
I. 15th and 16th centuries
J. Growth of cities
Question 6-9
The following table contains several of the writer's arguments from the reading passage. Match the argument with the evidence used in the passage to support it by using the appropriate Ietter (A-I)
N.B. There are more statements of evidence than you need.
Argument
6. People who wear unusual or unexpected clothing make other people led ill it ease.
Supported by ................................
7. Clothing can carry symbolic meaning in colour or decoration.
Supported by ................................
8. A change in fashion often means accepting what used to be thought unattractive.
Supported by ................................
9. People who wear unfashionable clothes may do so for a reason.
Supported by ................................
Evidence
A. Fashion is now mass-produced.
B. Today people are wary of men who wear bright coloured clothes to work.
C. At some times wealthy people wear bright, heavily ornamented clothes; at other times they wear dark clothing in simple styles.
D. Pale skin became unfashionable and suntanned skin became more fashionable.
E. Many people can afford holidays in the sun.
F. Black clothes are worn when some-one has died.
G. Hippies wore second-hand clothes to protest against wastefulness.
H. Styles were simple and unchanging.
I. They are against the main current of the wearing trend.
7. Bài 7
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Hazardous Compound Helps to Preserve Crumbling Books
Librarians may be able to save millions of books from slowing crumbling with a new chemical process that uses a hazardous flammable compound, diethyl zinc (DEZ). Chemists in the US have successfully completed an 18-month trial of the technique, which neutralises the acid in paper which causes book to decay.
The method was developed by the Dutch chemical giant, Akzo, in collaboration with the US Library of Congress. It can treat 1000 books at a time at a fraction of the cost of microfilming.
The world’s libraries and archives are today stocked mainly with books that are destroying themselves because of a new way of making paper that was introduced in the middle of the last century. In this process, wood pulp became the main source of cellulose from which paper was made, replacing the cotton or linen rags used previously.
Unfortunately, book publishers were unaware that wood pulp's straight acidity would eventually threaten their work. The acid attacks the cellulose polymer of paper, breaking it down into shorter and shorter pieces until the paper's structure collapses.
The only answer is to neutralise the acids in the paper by chemical means. This has generally been done by unbinding the book, treating it page by page with carbonate solution, and then rebinding it. The cost can be as much as $200 per volume. Akzo's method can be done without taking the binding off the book.
On the face of it, DEZ would seem the last chemical that should be brought in contact with paper.This volatile liquid bursts into flames when coming in contact with air. However, it is not DEZ's sensitivity to oxidation which is the key to its use as preserving agent, but its ability to neutralise acids by forming zinc salts with them.
Because DEZ is volatile, it permeates the pores in paper. When it meets an acid molecule, such as sulphuric acid, it reacts to form zinc sulphate and ethane gas. DEZ is such a strong base that it will react with any acid, including the weaker organic ones. It will also react with any residual water in the paper to form zinc oxide. This is an added bonus for the book conservators, since it buffers the paper against future permeation by acidic gases from the atmosphere such as sulphur dioxide.
Not only will DEZ protect against acid attack but it is also capable of neutralising alkalis, which threaten some kinds of paper. It can do this because zinc oxide is amphoteric—capable of reacting with either acids or alkalis.
The Akzo method treats closed books and protects every page. It adds about 2 per cent of zinc oxide to the weight of the book. Much of this deposited near the edges of the pages, the parts of which are most affected by the acid from readers' fingers or environmental pollution. The only risk in the Akzo process comes from the DEZ itself; this caused a fire at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre where earlier tests on the method were carried out.
For the process, the books are gently heated under vacuum for a day to remove residual traces of moisture. The chamber is then flushed with dry nitrogen gas for five hours to remove the remaining air before DEZ is introduced at a lower pressure into the gas stream. DEZ is passed through for about eight hours. Unreacted DEZ is tapped out of the exit gases and recycled, while the ethane is burned off.
When the process is complete, the chamber is purged with nitrogen to remove residual DEZ. The whole process takes about three days. The cost per book is about $2, considerably less even than the $40 for microfilming.
This work was originally funded by the US Library of Congress, which has over 10 million books now at risk. According to Dick Miller, Akzo's director for book preservation, tests have shown that the method can deal with hundreds of books at a time. A million books a year could be rescued by the new process, for which Akzo has been granted exclusive rights. The treated books should then survive for hundreds of years.
Another national institution, the British Library, launched an adopt-a-book scheme to help it meet the costs of processing books. The British Library has so far raised over $80.000. But if the traditional method is used, this will barely cover a twentieth of 1 per cent of the 2 million books the Library needs to treat.
Edmund King of the British Library's preservation service says that the Library has developed another method which coats the individual fibres of the paper with ethyl acrylate polymer, protecting the books not only against acid attack but actually making them stronger. The British Library is now seeking an industrial partner to exploit its work. (805 words)
Questions 1-4
The text describes a chemical, diethyl zinc (DEZ). From the list below, choose FOUR attributes of DEZ as described in the passage. Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in any order in your booklet.
Attributes of DEZ
A. It bursts into flames when coming in contact with air.
B. It forms a protective Iayer of zinc oxide on the surface of the paper.
C. It changes acid into zinc sulphate throughout the paper.
D. It reacts with acids to produce zinc salts and water.
E. It can react with both acids and alkalis.
F. The chemical reactions it causes make books heavier.
G. It coats the fibres of the paper with ethyl acrylate polymer.
H. It tends to retain water within the paper structure.
The four attributes of DEZ are:
1.....................................
2.....................................
3.....................................
4.....................................
Questions 5-12
Complete the flow charts using phrases from the box. Write the appropriate letters (A-L) in boxes 5-12 in your booklet. There are more phrases than you will need. Each phrase may be used more than once.
A. Books are cooled
B. Books are heated
C. Unused / Leftover DEZ gas removed
D. Unused / Leftover DEZ gas burned
E. Unused / Leftover gas reused
F. Dry nitrogen gas circulated
G. Each page treated with carbonate solution
H. Each page treated with DEZ
I. Akzo preservation method
J. British Library preservation method
K. Ethane gas removed and burned
L. Traditional preservation method
8. Bài 8
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
The Dam That Changed Australia
Section 1
Inland Australia has had a problem with drought from the time of white settlement in 1788 until today, and this is why the Snowy Mountains Scheme was conceived and founded. Before the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a large proportion of the snow fields on the roof of Australia melted into the Snowy River every year, and the water flowed into the sea, not into the dry interior where people needed it so desperately. This was first recognised by the Polish geologist and explorer Strezlecki in 1840, who commented that there could be no development of the inland without irrigation. The rivers would have to be diverted if irrigation were to succeed.
Before Federation in 1901, Australia consisted of a group of colonies, all anxious to protect their own interests. After Federation the states retained rights to the water, and thus to what might happen to the rivers. Arguments between New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia led to a deadlocked Premiers' Conference in 1947. Despite this serious dispute, the Federal Parliament passed the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Power Act just two years later on July 7. The project was officially commenced on October 17 that year, barely three months after the Act had been passed.
The Scheme set out to harness water for electricity and to divert it back to the dry inland area for irrigation. To do this, thousands of kilometres of tunnels had to be drilled through the mountains, and sixteen major dams and seven hydroelectric power stations built over a period of nineteen years. The first of these was Guthega Power Station, commissioned in 1954, and the last, Tumut III.
Section 2
The Snowy Mountains Scheme was to alter the fact of Australia forever. One important danger was the recruitment of people from outside Australia to work on the scheme. In 1949, while the world was still recovering from the effects of World War II, the Australian government needed immense numbers of people to work on the Snowy. It sought labour from
overseas, and 60,000 of the 100,000 people who worked on the scheme came from outside the country.
They came from thirty different countries: from Italy, Yugoslavia, and Germany, from sophisticated cities like Budapest, Paris and Vienna, and from tiny hamlets. These European workers left countries which had fought against each other during the war, and which had vastly different cultures, and they found themselves in a country which was still defining itself. They were adventurous young men, some highly skilled, some not, and they came to a place which offered both enormous challenges and primitive conditions. Many were housed in tents in the early days of the Scheme, although some fortunate men were placed in barracks. The food was basic, female company extremely scarce and entertainment lacking.
Section 3
Many new arrivals spoke only limited English, and were offered English classes after work. The men needed primarily to understand instructions, and safety lectures were conducted in English and other languages. In fact, a great deal of communication understood was sign language, especially when the conditions were noisy. The signs were peculiar to the business at hand: for example, a thumb placed near the mouth means water, but did not indicate whether the water was needed on the drill the man was using, or for a drink.
The constant reference to the men who worked on the Snowy is appropriate because few women worked on the scheme, and those who were employed usually held office jobs. Women, however, were active in the community, and the members of the Country Women’s Association gave English lessons. Other English instruction was provided by the Australian Broadcasting Commission which ran daily broadcasts to help the newcomers with the language.
Section 4
These circumstances could have caused great social trouble, but there were relatively few serious problems. The men worked long and hard, and many saved their money with a view to settling in Australia or returning home. At a reunion in 1999, many were happy to remember the hardships of those days, but it was all seen through a glow of achievement. This satisfaction was felt not only by the men who worked directly on the project, but by the women, many of whom had been wives and mothers during the scheme, and indicated that they had felt very much part of it.
The children of these couples went to school in Happy Jack, a town notable for having the highest school in Australia, and highest birth rate. In one memorable year, there were thirty babies born to the eighty families in Happy Jack. Older children went to school in Cooma, the nearest major town.
Section 5
The scheme is very unlikely to be repeated. The expense of putting the power stations underground would now be prohibitive, and our current information about ecology would require a different approach to the treatment of the rivers. Other hydro-electric schemes like the Tennessee Valley Authority preceded the Snowy Mountains Scheme, and others have followed. The Snowy Mountains Scheme is the only hydroelectric scheme in the world to be totally financed from the sale of its electricity.
As well as being a great engineering feat, the Scheme is a monument to people from around the world who dared to challenge their lives. Some are working and living in Australia, many have retired there, some have returned to their countries of origin. Every one of them contributed to altering Australian society forever. (914 words)
Questions 1-5
Complete the table below. Write the date or event for each answer. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS or NUMBERS for each answer. Write your answers in the table.
9. Bài 9
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Did Tea and Beer Bring about Industrialisation?
Alan Macfarlane thinks that he could rewrite history. The professor of anthropological science at King's College Cambridge has, like other historians, spent decades trying to understand the enigma of Industrial Revolution. Why did this particular important event - the world-changing birth of industry - happen in Britain? And why did it happen at the end of the 18th century?
Macfarlane compares the question to a puzzle. He claims that there were about 20 different factors and all of them needed to be present before the revolution could happen. The chief conditions are to be found in history textbooks. For industry to 'take off', there needed to be technology and power to drive factories, large urban population to provide cheap labour, easy transport to move goods around, an efficient middle-class willing to buy mass-produced objects, a market-driven economy, and a political system that allowed this to happen. While this was the case for England, other nations, such as Japan, Holland and France, also met some of these criteria. All these factors must have been necessary but not sufficient to cause the revolution. Holland has everything except coal, while China also had many of these factors. Most historians, however, are convinced that one or two missing factors are needed to solve the puzzle.
The missing factors, he proposes, are to be found in every kitchen cupboard. Tea and beer, two of the nation's favourite drinks, drove the revolution. Tannin, the active ingredient in tea, and hops, used in making beer, both contain antiseptic properties. This, plus the fact that both are made with boiled water, helped prevent epidemic of waterborne diseases, such as dysentery, in densely-populated areas.
Historians had noticed one interesting factor around the mid-18th century that required explanation. Between about 1650 and 1740, the population was static. But then there was a burst in population. The infant mortality rate halved in the space of 20 years and this happened in both rural areas and cities, and across all classes. Four possible causes have been suggested. There could have been a sudden change in the viruses and bacteria present at that time, but this is unlikely. Was there a revolution in medical science? But this was a century before Lister introduced antiseptic surgery. Was there a change in environmental conditions? There were improvements in agri-culture that wiped out malaria, but there were small gains. Sanitation did not become widespread until the 19th century. The only option left was food. But the height and weight of statistics show a decline. So the food got worse. Efforts to explain this sudden reduction in child deaths appeared to draw a blank.
This population burst seemed to happen at just the right time to provide labour for the Industrial Revolution. But why? When the Industrial Revolution started, it was economically efficient to have people crowded together forming towns and cities. But with crowded living conditions come diseases, particularly from human waste. Some research in the historical records revealed that there was a change in the incidence of waterborne diseases at that time, especially dysentery. Macfarlane deduced that whatever the British were drinking must have been important in controlling diseases. They drank beer and ale. For a long time, the English were protected by the strong antibacterial agent in hops, which were added to make beer last. But in the late 17th century a tax was introduced on malt. The poor turned to water and gin, and in the 1720s the mortality rate began to rise again. Then it suddenly dropped again. What was the cause?
Macfarlane looked to Japan, which was also developing large cities about the same time, and also had no sanitation. Waterborne diseases in the Japanese population were far fewer than those in Britain. Could it be the prevalence of tea in their culture. That was when Macfarlane thought about the role of tea in Britain. The history of tea in Britain provided an extraordinary coincidence of dates. Tea was relatively expensive until Britain started direct trade with China in the early 18th century. By the 1740s, about the time that infant mortality was falling, the drink was common. Macfarlane guesses that the fact that water had to be boiled, together with the stomach-purifying properties of tea so eloquently described in Buddhist texts, meant that the breast milk provided by mothers was healthier than it had ever been. No other European nation drank tea so often as the British, which, by Macfarlane's logic, pushed the other nations out of the race for the Industrial Revolution.
But, if tea is a factor in the puzzle, why didn't this cause an industrial revolution in Japan? Macfarlane notes that in the 17th century, Japan had large cities, high literacy rates and even a futures market. However, Japan decided against a work-based revolution, by giving up labour-saving devices, even animals, to avoid putting people out of work. Astonishingly, the nation that we now think of as one of the most technologically advanced, entered the 19th century having almost abandoned the wheel. While Britain was undergoing the Industrial Revolution, Macfarlane notes wryIy, Japan was undergoing an industrious one.
The Cambridge academic considers the mystery solved. He adds that he thinks the UN should encourage aid agencies to take tea to the world's troubled spots, along with rehydration sachets and food rations. (890 words)
Questions 1-5
Complete the following table using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage. Write your answers in the blanks.
10. Bài 10
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
The Beam-operated Traffic System
Section 1
The number of people killed each year on the road is more than for all other types of avoidable deaths except for those whose lives are cut short by tobacco use. Yet road deaths is tolerated - so great is our need to travel about swiftly and economically.
Oddly, modern vehicle engine design - the combustion engine - has remained largely unchanged since it was conceived over 100 years ago. A huge amount of money and effort is being channelled into alternative engine designs, the most popular being based around substitute fuels such as heavy water, or the electric battery charged by the indirect burning of conventional fuels, or by solar power.
Nevertheless, such innovations will do little to halt the carnage on the road. What is needed is a radical rethinking of the road system itself.
Section 2
The Beam-Operated Traffic System, proposed by a group of Swedish engineers, does away with tarred road and independently controlled vehicles, and replaces them with innumerable small carriages suspended from electrified rails along a vast interconnected web of steel beams crisscrossing the skyline. The entire system would be computer-controlled and operate without human intervention.
Section 3
The most preferable means of propulsion is via electrified rails along the beams. Although electric transport systems still need fossil fuels to be burnt or dams to be built, they add much less to air pollution than burning of petrol within conventional engines. In addition, they help keep polluted air out of cities and restrict it to the point of origin where it can be more easily dealt with. Furthermore, electric motors are typically 90% efficient, compared to internal combustion engines, which are at most 30% efficient. They are also better at accelerating and climbing hills. This efficiency is no less true of beam systems than of single vehicles.
Section 4
A relatively high traffic throughput can be maintained - automated systems can react faster than can human drivers - and the increased speed of movement is expected to compensate for loss of privacy. It is estimated that at peak travel times passenger capacity could be more than double that of current subway systems.
It might be possible to arrange for two simultaneous methods of vehicle hire: one in which large carriages (literally buses) run to a timetable, and another providing for hire of small independently occupied cars at a slightly higher cost. Travellers could order a car by swiping a card through a machine, which recognizes a personal number code.
Section 5
Monorail systems are not new, but they have so far been built as adjuncts to existing city road systems. They usually provide a limited service, which is often costly and fails to address the major concern of traffic choking the city.
The Beam-Operated Traffic System, on the other hand, provides a complete solution to city transportation. Included in its scope is provision for the movement of pedestrians at any point and to any point within the system. A city relieved of roads carrying fast moving cars and trucks can be given over to pedestrians and cyclists who can walk or pedal as far as they wish before hailing a quickly approaching beam-operated car. Cyclists could use fold-up bicycles for this purpose.
Section 6
Since traffic will be designated an area high above the ground, human activities can take place below the transit system in complete safety, leading to a dramatic drop in the number of deaths and injuries sustained while in transit and while walking about the city. Existing roads can be dug up and grassed over, or planted with low growing bushes and trees. The look of the city is expected to improve considerably for both pedestrians and for people using the System.
Section 7
It is true that the initial outlay for a section of a beam-operated system will be more than for a similar stretch of tarred road. However, costs for the proposed system must necessarily include vehicle costs, which are not factored into road-building budgets. Saving made will include all tunnels, since it costs about US $120,000 per kilometre to build a new six-lane road tunnel. Subway train tunnels cost about half that amount, because they are smaller in size. Tunnels carrying beamed traffic will have a narrower cross-sectional diameter and can be dug at less depth than existing tunnels, further reducing the costs.
The only major drawbacks to the proposal are entrenched beliefs that resist change, the potential for vandalism, and the loss of revenue for car manufacturers. Video camera surveillance is a possible answer to vandalism, while the last objection could be overcome by giving car manufacturers beam-operated vehicle building contracts. 60% of all people on earth live in cities; we must loosen the immediate environment from the grip of the road-bound car. (797 words)
Questions 1-6
Complete the following flow charts by using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
11. Bài 11
You should spend about 15 minutes on the following passage.
Hemp Revival
The hemp plant, one of the world's oldest industrial resources, is back. The rediscovery of this renewable resource is making it the fibre of choice for future textiles, personal care products, building materials, paper and fuel.
Hemp has been grown for paper, textiles, food and medicine throughout human history. The earliest known woven fabric, made of hemp, dates back to the eighth millennium (8000-7000 BC). The majority of all sails, clothes, tents, rugs, towels, paper, rope, twine, art canvas, paints, varnishes and lighting oil were made from hemp. Hemp seeds were regularly used as a source of food and protein for centuries.
Hemp's drastic decline in use and importance within a matter of fifty years is widely considered to have been brought about by the timber and petrochemical industries in America. By the mid-1930s, changes in technology were beginning to impact on the hemp industry. Mechanical stripping equipment and machines to conserve hemp's high-cellulose pulp became available and affordable. Timber and paper holding companies stood to lose billions of dollars if hemp were to be grown on a large scale. A resurgence of the hemp industry also threatened the emerging petrochemical companies which have patented the chemicals for pulp processing. Newspaper articles began to appear, linking hemp with violent crime. The term used, however, was 'marijuana' to distance it from hemp used for industrial purposes. Because few people realised that marijuana and hemp come from the same plant species, virtually nobody suspected that Marijuana Prohibition of 1938 would destroy the hemp industry.
Supporting the theory that marijuana was banned to destroy the hemp industry, were two articles written just before the Marijuana Prohibition, claiming that hemp was on the verge of becoming a super crop. These articles, which appeared in well-respected magazines, praised the usefulness and potential of hemp. 'Hemp can be used to produce more than 25,000 products', and 'hemp will prove for both farmer and public, the most profitable and desirable crop that can be grown'. This was the first time that 'billion dollar' was used to describe the value of a crop. Less than one year after these articles were written, the Marijuana Prohibition took effect. To what extent a conspiracy was involved is still being debated, but the important thing is that for thousands of years, hemp was used extensively. Then over a short period, it became illegal in many parts of the world.
Now, however, the focus is on the development of hemp as an industrial resource. Initially, a distinction needs to be made between the two types of hemp. Cannabis has evolved into two basic species. Plants grown for fibre and seed are universally called hemp. Cannabis grown for its drug content is commonly called marijuana or drug cannabis. Drug-type cannabis varies widely in THC content from approximately 1%-2% in unselected strains to 10% in the best modern varieties (as cited from Watson 1994). Hemp contains virtually none of the active ingredients of drug-type cannabis (THC). It is not feasible to 'get high' on hemp and most marijuana produces very low-quality fibre. Hemp should never be confused with marijuana, as their roles cannot be reversed.
It is evident that hemp is an extraordinary fibre. Both stems and seeds can be utilised. Most significantly, hemp can be grown without pesticides and herbicides. The plant also has the ability to suppress weeds and soil-borne diseases. Based on the hemp industry which has been established overseas, there is a large demand for hemp products and hemp is proving to be a highly profitable industry. On an annual basis, one acre of hemp will procedure as much fibre as 2 to 3 acres of cotton. The fibre is stronger and softer than cotton, lasts twice as long and will not mildew. Cotton grows only in warm climates and requires more water and more fertiliser than hemp as well as large quantities of pesticide and herbicide.
Hemp can also be used to produce fibreboard that is stronger and lighter than wood, and is fire retardant. Unlike paper from wood pulp, hemp paper contains no dioxin, or other toxic residue, and a single acre of hemp can produce the same amount of paper as four acres of trees. The trees take 20 years to harvest and hemp takes a year. On annual basis, one acre of hemp will produce as much paper as 2 to 4 acres of trees. From tissue paper to cardboard, all types of paper products can be produced from hemp. The quality of hemp paper is superior to tree-based paper. Hemp paper will last hundreds of years without degrading and it can be recycled many more times than tree-based paper.
Today, industrialised nations around the world are waking up to the enormous potential of hemp. While some countries, like China and India, have never had laws against hemp cultivation, others are legalising industrial hemp after many years of lumping it together with marijuana. The products and fabrics that are emerging from international hemp industry are finding strong demand in an eco-aware global community. Hemp is indeed an agricultural crop for the twenty-first century. (849 words)
Questions 1-5
Reorder the information listed in the box and show the correct sequence of events according to the passage. The first one has been done as an example.
A. Timber and petrochemical industries threatened
B. Attitudes praise hemp as a potential billion-dollar crop
C. Widespread cultivation of hemp
D. Prohibition of marijuana
E. Newspaper articles link hemp to violent crime
F. Development of stripping machines
Questions 6-7
Complete the following table using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
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