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| IELTS Reading Practice Test-4 With Answers |
READING PASSAGE 1
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which
are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Bondi Beach
A
Bondi
Beach, Australia’s most famous beach, is located in the suburb of Bondi, in the
Local Government Area of Waverley, seven kilometers from the centre of Sydney.
“Bondi” or “Boondi” is an Aboriginal word meaning water breaking over rocks or
the sound of breaking waves. The Australian Museum records that Bondi means a
place where a flight of nullas took place. There are Aboriginal Rock carving on
the northern end of the beach at Ben Buckler and south of Bondi Beach near
McKenzies Beach on the coastal walk.
B
The
indigenous people of the area at the time of European settlement have generally
been welcomed to as the Sydney people or the Eora (Eora means “the people”).
One theory describes the Eora as a sub-group of the Darug language group which
occupied the Cumberland Plain west to the Blue Mountains. However, another
theory suggests that they were a distinct language group of their own. There is
no clear evidence for the name or names of the particular band(s) of the Eora
that roamed what is now the Waverley area. A number of place names within
Waverley, most famously Bondi, have been based on words derived from Aboriginal
languages of the Sydney region.
C
From
the mid-1800s Bondi Beach was a favourite location for family outings and
picnics. The beginnings of the suburb go back to 1809, when the early road
builder, William Roberts, received from Governor Bligh a grant of 81 hectares
of what is now most of the business and residential area of Bondi Beach. In
1851, Edward Smith Hall and Francis O’Brien purchased 200 acres of the Bondi
area that embraced almost the whole frontage of Bondi Beach, and it was named
the “The Bondi Estate.” Between 1855 and 1877 O’Brien purchased Hall’s share of
the land, renamed the land the “O’Brien Estate,” and made the beach and the
surrounding land available to the public as a picnic ground and amusement
resort. As the beach became increasingly popular, O’Brien threatened to stop
public beach access. However, the Municipal Council believed that the
Government needed to intervene to make the beach a public reserve.
D
During
the 1900s beach became associated with health, leisure and democracy – a
playground everyone could enjoy equally. Bondi Beach was a working-class suburb
throughout most of the twentieth century with migrant people from New Zealand
comprising the majority of the local population. The first tramway reached the
beach in 1884. Following this, tram became the first public transportation in
Bondi. As an alternative, this action changed the rule that only rich people can
enjoy the beach. By the 1930s Bondi was drawing not only local visitors but
also people from elsewhere in Australia and overseas. Advertising at the time
referred to Bondi Beach as the “Playground of the Pacific”.
E
There
is a growing trend that people prefer having to relax near seaside instead of
living unhealthily in cities. The increasing popularity of sea bathing during
the late 1800s and early 1900s raised concerns about public safety and how to
prevent people from drowning. In response, the world’s first formally
documented surf lifesaving club, the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club, was
formed in 1907. This was powerfully reinforced by the dramatic events of “Black
Sunday” at Bondi in 1938. Some 35,000 people were on the beach and a large
group of lifesavers were about to start a surf race when three freak waves hit
the beach, sweeping hundreds of people out to sea. Lifesavers rescued 300
people. The largest mass rescue in the history of surf bathing, it confirmed
the place of the lifesaver in the national imagination.
F
Bondi
Beach is the endpoint of the City to Surf Fun Run which is held each year in
August. Australian surf carnivals further instilled this image. A Royal Surf
Carnival was held at Bondi Beach for Queen Elizabeth II during her first
visited in Australia in 1954. Since 1867, there have been over fifty visits by
a member of the British Royal Family to Australia. In addition to many
activities, the Bondi Beach Markets is open every Sunday. Many wealthy people
spend Christmas Day at the beach. However, the shortage of houses occurs when
lots of people crushed to the seaside. Manly is the seashore town which solved
this problem. However, people still choose Bondi as the satisfied destination
rather than Manly.
G
Bondi
Beach has a commercial area along Campbell Parade and adjacent side streets,
featuring many popular cafes, restaurants, and hotels, with views of the
contemporary beach. It is depicted as wholly modern and European. In the last
decade, Bondi Beaches’ unique position has seen a dramatic rise in svelte
houses and apartments to take advantage of the views and scent of the sea. The
valley running down to the beach is the famous world over for its view of
distinctive red-tiled roofs. Those architectures are deeply influenced by
British coastal town.
H
Bondi
Beach hosted the beach volleyball competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics. A
temporary 10,000-seat stadium, a much smaller stadium, 2 warm-up courts, and 3
training courts were set up to host the tournament. The Bondi Beach Volleyball
Stadium was constructed for it and stood for just six weeks. Campaigners oppose
both the social and environmental consequences of the development. The stadium
will divide the beach in two and seriously restrict public access for swimming,
walking, and other forms of outdoor recreation. People protest for their human
rights of having a pure seaside and argue for health life in Bondi.
I
“They’re
prepared to risk lives and risk the Bondi beach environment for the sake of
eight days of volleyball”, said Stephen Uniacke, a construction lawyer involved
in the campaign. Other environmental concerns include the possibility that soil
dredged up from below the sand will acidify when brought to the surface.
Questions
1-5
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement agrees with the
information
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the
information
NOT GIVEN
if there is no information on this
1 The name of
the Bondi beach is first called by the British settlers.
2 The
aboriginal culture in Australia is different when compared with European
culture.
3 Bondi beach
area holds many contemporary hotels
4 The seaside
town in Bondi is affected by British culture for its characteristic red color
5 Living near
Bondi seashore is not beneficial for health.
Questions
6-9
Answer
the questions below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from
the passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet
6 At the end of
the 19th century, which public transport did people use to go to Bondi?
7 When did the
British Royalty first visit Bondi?
8 Which Olympic
event did Bondi hold in the 2000 Sydney Olympic games?
9 What would be
damaged if the stadium was built for that Olympic event?
Questions
10-13
Summary
Complete
the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer
sheet.
Bondi
beach holds the feature sports activities every year, which attracts lo
of 10……………………. Choosing to live at this place during the
holidays. But local accommodation cannot meet with the expanding population, a
nearby town of 11…………………. is the first suburb site to support
the solution, yet people prefer 12…………………… as their best
choice. Its seaside buildings are well-known in the world for the special
scenic colored 13…………………… on buildings and the joyful smell
from the sea.
READING
PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27 which
are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Antarctica – in from the cold?
A
A
little over a century ago, men of the ilk of Scott, Shackleton and Mawson
battled against Antarctica’s blizzards, cold and deprivation. In the name of
Empire and in an age of heroic deeds they created an image of Antarctica that
was to last well into the 20th century – an image of remoteness, hardship,
bleakness and isolation that was the province of only the most courageous of
men. The image was one of a place removed from everyday reality, of a place
with no apparent value to anyone.
B
As
we enter the 21st century, our perception of Antarctica has changed. Although
physically Antarctica is no closer and probably no warmer, and to spend time
there still demands a dedication not seen in ordinary life, the continent and
its surrounding ocean are increasingly seen to an integral part of Planet
Earth, and a key component in the Earth System. Is this because the world seems
a little smaller these days, shrunk by TV and tourism, or is it because
Antarctica really does occupy a central spot on Earth’s mantle? Scientific
research during the past half-century has revealed – and continues to reveal –
that Antarctica’s great mass and low temperature exert a major influence on
climate and ocean circulation, factors which influence the lives of millions of
people all over the globe.
C
Antarctica
was not always cold. The slow break-up of the super-continent Gondwana with the
northward movements of Africa, South America, India and Australia eventually
created enough space around Antarctica for the development of an Antarctic
Circumpolar Current (ACC), that flowed from west to east under the influence of
the prevailing westerly winds. Antarctica cooled, its vegetation perished,
glaciation began and the continent took on its present-day appearance. Today the
ice that overlies the bedrock is up to 4km thick, and surface temperatures as
low as – 89.2deg C have been recorded. The icy blast that howls over the ice
cap and out to sea – the so-called katabatic wind – can reach 300 km/hr,
creating fearsome wind-chill effects.
D
Out
of this extreme environment come some powerful forces that reverberate around
the world. The Earth’s rotation, coupled to the generation of cells of low
pressure off the Antarctic coast, would allow Astronauts a view of Antarctica
that is as beautiful as it is awesome. Spinning away to the northeast, the
cells grow and deepen, whipping up the Southern Ocean into the mountainous seas
so respected by mariners. Recent work is showing that the temperature of the
ocean may be a better predictor of rainfall in Australia than is the pressure
difference between Darwin and Tahiti – the Southern Oscillation Index. By
receiving more accurate predictions, graziers in northern Queensland are able
to avoid overstocking in years when rainfall will be poor. Not only does this
limit their losses but it prevents serious pasture degradation that may take
decades to repair. CSIRO is developing this as a prototype forecasting system,
but we can confidently predict that as we know more about the Antarctic and the
Southern Ocean we will be able to enhance and extend our predictive ability.
E
The
ocean’s surface temperature results from the interplay between deep-water
temperature, air temperature and ice. Each winter between 4 and 19 million
square km of sea ice form, locking up huge quantities of heat close to the
continent. Only now can we start to unravel the influence of sea ice on the
weather that is experienced in southern Australia. But in another way, the
extent of sea ice extends its influence far beyond Antarctica. Antarctic krill
– the small shrimp-like crustaceans that are the staple diet for baleen whales,
penguins, some seals, flighted sea birds and many fish – breed well in years
when sea ice is extensive and poorly when it is not. Many species of baleen
whales and flighted sea birds migrate between the hemispheres and when the
krill are less abundant they do not thrive.
F
The
circulatory system of the world’s oceans is like a huge conveyor belt, moving
water and dissolved minerals and nutrients from one hemisphere to the other,
and from the ocean’s abyssal depths to the surface. The ACC is the longest
current in the world and has the largest flow. Through it, the deep flows of
the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans are joined to form part of single global
thermohaline circulation. During winter, the howling katabatics sometimes scour
the ice off patches of the sea’s surface leaving large ice-locked lagoons, or
‘polynyas’. Recent research has shown that as fresh sea ice forms, it is
continuously stripped away by the wind and maybe blown up to 90km in a single
day. Since only freshwater freezes into ice, the water that remains becomes
increasingly salty and dense, sinking until it spills over the continental
shelf. Coldwater carries more oxygen than warm water, so when it rises, well
into the northern hemisphere, it reoxygenates and revitalises the ocean. The
state of the northern oceans and their biological productivity owe much to what
happens in the Antarctic.
Questions
14-18
The
reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-F
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F, in boxes 14-18 on
your answer sheet.
14 The example
of research on weather prediction on agriculture
15 Antarctic sea
ice brings life back to the world oceans’ vitality.
16 A food chain
that influences the animals living pattern based on Antarctic fresh sea ice
17 The
explanation of how atmosphere pressure above Antarctica can impose an effect on
global climate change
18 Antarctica
was once thought to be a forgotten and insignificant continent
Question
19-21
Summary
Please
match the natural phenomenon with correct determined factor
Choose the correct answer from the box;
Write the correct letter A-F, in boxes 19-21 on
your answer sheet.
19 Globally,
mass Antarctica’s size and …………………… influence climate change
20 ……………………
contributory to western wind
21 Southern
Oscillation Index based on air pressure can predict ………………….. in
Australia
A Antarctic
Circumpolar Current (ACC)
B katabatic winds
C rainfall
D temperature
E glaciers
F pressure
Questions
22-26
Choose
the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write your answer in box 22-26 on your answer sheet.
22 In paragraph
B, the author wants to tell which of the following truth about the Antarctic?
A To
show Antarctica has been a central topic of global warming in Mass media
B To
illustrate its huge sea ice brings food to million lives to places in the world
C To
show it is the heart and its significance to the global climate and current
D To illustrate
it locates in the central spot on Earth geographically
23 Why do
Australian farmers keep an eye on the Antarctic ocean temperature?
A Help
farmers reduce their economic or ecological losses
B
Retrieve grassland decreased in the overgrazing process
C
Prevent animal from dying
D A cell
provides fertilizer for the grassland
24 What is the
final effect of katabatic winds?
A
Increase the moving speed of ocean current
B
Increase salt level near the ocean surface
C Bring
fresh ice into southern oceans
D Pile
up the mountainous ice cap respected by mariners
25 The break of
the continental shelf is due to the
A Salt
and density increase
B Salt
and density decrease
C global
warming resulting in a rising temperature
D fresh
ice melting into ocean water
26 The decrease
in the number of Whales and seabirds is due to
A
killers whales are more active around
B Sea
birds are affected by high sea level salty
C less
sea ice reduces the productivity of food source
D seals
fail to reproduce babies
READING
PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are
based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Talc Powder
A
Peter
Brigg discovers how talc from Luzenac’s Trimouns in France finds its way into
food and agricultural products – from chewing gum to olive oil. High in the
French Pyrenees, some 1,700m above sea level, lies Trimouns, a huge deposit of
hydrated magnesium silicate – talc to you and me. Talc from Trimouns, and from
ten other Luzenac mines across the globe, is used in the manufacture of a vast
array of everyday products extending from paper, paint and plaster to
cosmetics, plastics and car tyres. And of course, there is always talc’s
best-known end use: talcum powder for babies’ bottoms. But the true versatility
of this remarkable mineral is nowhere better displayed than in its sometimes
surprising use in certain niche markets in the food and agriculture industries.
B
Take,
for example, the chewing gum business. Every year, Talc de Luzenac France –
which owns and operates the Trimouns mine and is a member of international
Luzenac Group (the art of Rio Tinto minerals) – supplies about 6,000 tones of
talc to chewing gum manufacturers in Europe. “We’ve been selling to this sector
of the market since the 1960s,” says Laurent Fournier, a sales manager in
Luzenac’s Specialties business unit in Toulouse. “Admittedly, in terms of our
total annual sales of talc, the amount we supply to chewing gum manufacturers
is relatively small, but we see is as a valuable niche market: one where
customers place a premium on securing suppliers from a reliable, high-quality
source. Because of this, long term allegiance to a proven supplier is very much
a feature of this sector of the talc market.” Switching sources – in the way
that you might choose to buy, say, paperclips from Supplier A rather than from
Supplier B – is not an easy option for chewing gum manufacturers,” Fournier says.
“The cost of reformulating is high, so when customers are using a talc grade
that works, even if it’s expensive, they are understandably reluctant to
switch.”
C
But
how is talc actually used in the manufacture of chewing gum? Patrick Delord, an
engineer with a degree in agronomics, who has been with Luzenac for 22 years
and is now senior market development manager, Agriculture and Food, in Europe,
explains that chewing gums has four main components. “The most important of
them is the gum base,” he says. “It’s the gum base that puts the chew into
chewing gum. It binds all the ingredients together, creating a soft, smooth
texture. To this the manufacturer the adds sweeteners, softeners and
flavourings. Our talc is used as a filler in the gum base. The amount varies
between, say, ten and 35 per cent, depending on the type of gum. Fruit
flavoured chewing gum, for example, is slightly acidic and would react with the
calcium carbonate that the manufacturer might otherwise use as a filler. Talc,
on the other hand, makes an ideal filler because it’s non-reactive chemically.
In the factory, talc is also used to dust the gum base pellets and to stop the
chewing gum sticking during the lamination and packing process,” Delord adds.
D
The
chewing gum business is, however, just one example of talc’s use in the food
sector. For the past 20 years or so, olive oil processors in Spain have been
taking advantage of talc’s unique characteristics to help them boost the amount
of oil they extract from crushed olives. According to Patrick Delord, talc is
especially useful for treating what he calls “difficult” olives. After the
olives are harvested – preferably early in the morning because their taste is
better if they are gathered in the cool of the day – they are taken to the
processing plant. There they are crushed and then stirred for 30-45 minutes. In
the old days, the resulting paste was passed through an olive press but
nowadays it’s more common to add water and centrifuge the mixture to separate
the water and oil from the solid matter. The oil and water are then allowed to
settle so that the olive oil layer can be decanted off and bottle. “Difficult”
olives are those that are more reluctant than the norm to yield up their full
oil content. This may be attributable to the particular species of olive, or to
its water content and the time of year the olives are collected – at the
beginning and the end of the season their water content is often either too
high or too low. These olives are easy to recognize because they produce a lot
of extra foam during the stirring process, a consequence of an excess of a fine
sold that acts as a natural emulsifier. The oil in this emulsion is lost when the
water is disposed of. Not only that, if the wastewater is disposed of directly
into local fields – often the case in many smaller processing operations – the
emulsified oil may take some time to biodegrade and so be harmful to the
environment.
E
“If
you add between a half and two per cent of talc by weight during the stirring
process, it absorbs the natural emulsifier in the olives and so boosts the
amount of oil you can extract,” says Delord. “In addition, talc’s flat,
‘platey’ structure helps increase the size of the oil droplets liberated during
stirring, which again improves the yield. However, because talc is chemically
inert, it doesn’t affect the colour, taste, appearance or composition of the
resulting olive oil.”
F
If
the use of talc in olive oil processing and in chewing gum is long-established,
new applications in the food and agriculture industries are also constantly
being sought by Luzenac. One such promising new market is fruit crop
protection, being pioneered in the US. Just like people, fruit can get
sunburned. In fact, in very sunny regions up to 45 per cent of a typical crop
can be affected by heat stress and sunburn. However, in the case of fruit, it’s
not so much the ultraviolet rays which harm the crop as the high surface
temperature that the sun’s rays create.
G
To
combat this, farmers normally use either chemicals or spray a continuous fine
canopy of mist above the fruit trees or bushes. The trouble is, this uses a lot
of water – normally a precious commodity in hot, sunny areas – and it is
therefore expensive. What’s more, the ground can quickly become waterlogged.
“So our idea was to coat the fruit with talc to protect it from the sun,” says
Greg Hunter, a marketing specialist who has been with Luzenac for ten years.
“But to do this, several technical challenges had first to be overcome. Talc is
very hydrophobic: it doesn’t like water. So in order to have a viable product
we needed a wettable powder – something that would go readily into suspension
so that is could be sprayed onto the fruit. It also had to break the surface
tension of the cutin (the natural waxy, waterproof layer on the fruit) and of
course, it had to wash off easily when the fruit was harvested. No-one’s going
to want an apple that’s covered in talc.”
H
Initial
trials in the state of Washington in 2003 showed that when the product was
sprayed onto Granny Smith apples, it reduced their surface temperature and
lowered the incidence of sunburn by up to 60 per cent. Today the new product,
known as Envelop Maximum SPF, is in its second commercial year on the US
market. Apple growers are the primary target although Hunter believes grape
growers represent another sector with long term potential. He is also hopeful
of extending sales to overseas markets such as Australia, South America and
southern Europe.
Questions
27-32
Use
the information in the passage to match each use of talc powder with current
application from A, B or C.
Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 27-32 on
your answer sheet.
NB You
may use any letter more than once.
A Fruit
protection
B Chewing gum business
C Olive oil extraction
27 Talc is used
to increase the size of drops.
28 Talc is
applied to reduce foaming.
29 Talc is
employed as a filler of base.
30 Talc is modified
and prevented sunburn.
31 Talc is added
to stop the stickiness.
32 Talc is used
to increase production.
Questions
33-38
Complete
the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 33-38 on your answer sheet.
Spanish
olive oil industry has been using talc in the oil extraction process for
about 33…..………………years. It is useful in dealing with difficult
olives which often produce a high amount of 34……………………because of
the high content of solid materials. When smaller factories release 35…………………..,
it could be 36………………………….to the environment because it is hard
to 37…………………..and usually takes time as it contains emulsified.
However, talc power added in the process is able to absorb the emulsifier oil.
It improves the oil extraction production because with the aid of talc powder,
size of oil 38……………………….increased.
Questions
39-40
Answer
the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 39-40 on your answer sheet.
39 In which
process is talc used to clear the stickiness of chewing gum?
40 Which group of farmers does Envelop intend to target in a long view?
ANSWERS
1. FALSE
2. NOT GIVEN
3. NOT GIVEN
4. TRUE
5. FALSE
6. tram
7. 1954
8. beach volleyball
9. environment
10. wealthy people
11. manly
12. Bondi
13. tiled roofs
14. D
15. F
16. E
17. C
18. A
19. D
20. A
21. C
22. C
23. A
24. C
25. C
26. C
27. C
28. C
29. B
30. A
31. B
32. C
33. 20
34. foam
35. waste water
36. harmful
37. biodegrade
38. droplets
39. Lamination and packing
40. Grape growers
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