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| IELTS Reading Practice Test-22 With Answers |
READING PASSAGE 1
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which
are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Museum
Blockbuster
A
Since
the 1980s, the term “blockbuster” has become the fashionable word for the
special spectacular museum, art gallery or science centre exhibitions. These
exhibitions have the ability to attract large crowds and often large corporate
sponsors. Here is one of some existing definitions of a blockbuster: Put by
Elsen (1984), a blockbuster is a “… large scale loan exhibition that people who
normally don’t go to museums will stand in line for hours to see …” James
Rosenfield, writing in Direct Marketing in 1993, has described a successful
blockbuster exhibition as a “… triumph of both curatorial and marketing skills
…” My own definition for a blockbuster is “a popular, high profile exhibition
on display for a limited period, that attracts the general public, who are
prepared to both stand in line and pay a fee in order to partake in the
exhibition.” What both Elsen and Rosenfield omit in their descriptions of a
blockbuster, is that people are prepared to pay a fee to see a blockbuster and
that the term blockbuster can just as easily apply to a movie or a museum
exhibition.
B
Merely
naming an exhibition or movie a blockbuster, however, does not make it a
blockbuster. The term can only apply when the item in question has had an
overwhelmingly successful response from the public. However, in literature from
both the UK and USA the other words that also start to appear in descriptions
of a blockbuster are “less scholarly”, “non-elitist” and “popularist”.
Detractors argue that blockbusters are designed to appeal to the lowest common
denominator, while others extol the virtues of encouraging scholars to
cooperate on projects and to provide exhibitions that cater for a broad
selection of the community rather than an elite sector.
C
Maintaining
and increasing visitor levels is paramount in the new museology. This requires
continued product development. Not only the creation or hiring of blockbuster
exhibitions but regular exhibition changes and innovations. In addition, the
visiting public has become customers rather than visitors, and the skills that
are valued in museums, science centres and galleries to keep the new customers
coming through the door have changed. High on the list of requirements are
commercial, business, marketing and entrepreneurial skills. Curators are now
administrators. Being a director of an art gallery no longer requires an Arts
Degree. As succinctly summarised in the Economist in 1994 “business nous and
public relation skills” were essential requirements for a director, and the
ability to compete with other museums to stage travelling exhibitions which
draw huge crowds.
D
The
new museology has resulted in the convergence of museums, the heritage
industry, and tourism, profit-making and pleasure-giving. This has given rise
to much debate about the appropriateness of adopting the activities of
institutions so that they more closely reflect the priorities of the market
place and whether it is appropriate to see museums primarily as tourist
attractions. At many institutions, you can now hold office functions in the
display areas, or have dinner with the dinosaurs. Whatever commentators may
think, managers of museums, art galleries and science centres worldwide are
looking for artful ways to blend culture and commerce, and blockbuster
exhibitions are at the top of the list. But while blockbusters are all part of
the new museology, there is proof that you don’t need a museum, science centre
or art gallery to benefit from the drawing power of a blockbuster or to stage a
blockbuster.
E
But
do blockbusters held in public institutions really create a surplus to fund
other activities? If the bottom line is profit, then according to the
accounting records of many major museums and galleries, blockbusters do make
money. For some museums overseas, it may be the money that they need to update
parts of their collections or to repair buildings that are in need of
attention. For others in Australia, it may be the opportunity to illustrate
that they are attempting to pay their way, by recovering part of their
operating costs or funding other operating activities with off-budget revenue.
This makes the economic rationalists cheerful. However, not all exhibitions
that are hailed to be blockbusters will be blockbusters, and some will not make
money. It is also unlikely that the accounting systems of most institutions
will recognise the real cost of either creating or hiring a blockbuster.
F
Blockbusters
require large capital expenditure, and draw on resources across all branches of
an organisation; however, the costs don’t end there. There is a Human Resource
Management cost in addition to a measurable ‘real’ dollar cost. Receiving a
touring exhibition involves large expenditure as well, and draws resources from
across functional management structures in project management style. everyone
from a general labourer to a building servicing unit, the front of the house,
technical, promotion, education and administration staff, are required to
perform additional tasks. Furthermore, as an increasing number of institutions
in Australia try their hand at increasing visitor numbers, memberships (and
therefore revenue), by staging blockbuster exhibitions, it may be less likely
that blockbusters will continue to provide a surplus to subsidise other
activities due to the competitive nature of the market. There are only so many
consumer dollars to go around, and visitors will need to choose between
blockbuster products.
G
Unfortunately,
when the bottom-line is the most important objective to the mounting of
blockbuster exhibitions, this same objective can be hard to maintain. Creating,
mounting or hiring blockbusters is exhausting for staff, with the real costs
throughout an institution difficult to calculate. Although the direct aims may
be financial, creating or hiring a blockbuster has many positive spin-offs; by
raising their profile through a popular blockbuster exhibition, a museum will
be seen in a more favorable light at budget time. Blockbusters mean crowds, and
crowds are good for the local economy, providing increased employment for shops,
hotels, restaurants, the transport industry and retailers. Blockbusters expose
staff to the vagaries and pressures of the market place and may lead to
creative excellence. Either the success or failure of a blockbuster may
highlight the need for managers and policymakers to rethink their strategies.
However, the new museology and the apparent trend towards blockbusters make it
likely that museums, art galleries and particularly science centres will be
seen as part of the entertainment and tourism industry, rather than as cultural
icons deserving of government and philanthropic support.
H
Perhaps
the best pathway to take is one that balances both blockbusters and regular
exhibitions. However, this easy middle ground may only work if you have enough
space, and have alternate sources of funding to continue to support the regular
less exciting fare. Perhaps the advice should be to make sure that your regular
activities and exhibitions are more enticing, and find out what your local
community wants from you. The question (trend) now at most museums and science
centres, is “What blockbusters can we tour to overseas venues and will it be
cost-effective?”
Questions 1-4
The
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-H
Which
paragraphs contains the following information?
Write
the correct letter A-H, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
NB You
may use any letter more than once.
1
A reason for changing the exhibition programs.
2
The time people have to wait in a queue in order to enjoy exhibitions.
3
Terms people used when referring to the blockbuster
4
There was some controversy over confining target groups of a blockbuster.
Questions 5-8
Complete
the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
Instead
of being visitors, people turned out to be 5……………………………., who require the
creation or hiring of blockbuster exhibitions as well as regular exhibition
changes and innovations. Business nous and 6………………………….. simply summarized
in a magazine are not only important factors for directors but also an ability
to attract a crowd of audiences. 7………………………… has contributed to the
linking of museums, the heritage industry, tourism, profit-making and
pleasure-giving. There occurs some controversy over whether it is proper to
consider museums mainly as 8…………………………….
Questions 9-10
Choose TWO letters A-E.
Write
your answer in boxes 9-10 on your answer sheet.
The
list below gives some advantages of a blockbuster.
Which TWO advantages
are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A
To offer sufficient money to repair architectures.
B
To maintain and increase visitor levels.
C
Presenting the mixture in the culture and commerce of art galleries and science
centres worldwide.
D
Being beneficial for the development of local business.
E
Being beneficial for the directors.
Questions 11-13
Choose THREE letters A-F.
Write
your answer in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
The
list below gives some disadvantages of a blockbuster.
Which THREE disadvantages
are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A
People left hesitated to choose exhibitions.
B
Workers has become tired of workloads.
C
The content has become more entertaining rather than cultural.
D
General labourers are required to perform additional tasks
E
Huge amounts of capital invested in specialists.
F
Exposing staff to the fantasies and pressures of the market place.
READING PASSAGE 2
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on
Reading Passage 2 below.
The
Lost City
Thanks
to modern remote-sensing techniques, a ruined city in Turkey is slowly
revealing itself as one of the greatest and most mysterious cities of the
ancient world. Sally Palmer uncovers more.
A
The
low granite mountain, known as Kerkenes Dag, juts from the northern edge of the
Cappadocian plain in Turkey. Sprawled over the mountainside are the ruins of an
enormous city, contained by crumbling defensive walls seven kilometers long.
Many respected archaeologists believe these are the remains of the fabled city
of Pteria, the sixth-century BC stronghold of the Medes that the Greek
historian Herodotus described in his famous work The Histories. The
short-lived city came under Median control and only fifty years later was
sacked, burned and its strong stone walls destroyed.
B
British
archaeologist Dr Geoffrey Summers has spent ten years studying the site.
Excavating the ruins is a challenge because of the vast area they cover. The 7
km perimeter walls run around a site covering 271 hectares. Dr Summers quickly
realised it would take far too long to excavate the site using traditional
techniques alone. So he decided to use modern technology as well to map the
entire site, both above and beneath the surface, to locate the most interesting
areas and priorities to start digging.
C
In
1993, Dr Summers hired a special hand-held balloon with a remote-controlled
camera attached. He walked over the entire site holding the balloon and taking
photos. The one afternoon, he rented a hot-air balloon and floated over the
site, taking yet more pictures. By the end of the 1994 season, Dr Summers and
his team had a jigsaw of aerial photographs of the whole site. The next stage
was to use remote sensing, which would let them work out what lay below the
intriguing outlines and ruined walls. “Archaeology is a discipline that lends
itself very well to remote sensing because it revolves around space,” says
Scott Branting, an associate director of the project. He started working with
Dr Summers in 1995.
D
The
project used two main remote-sensing techniques. The first is magnetometry,
which works on the principle that magnetic fields at the surface of the Earth
are influenced by what is buried beneath. It measures localised variations in
the direction and intensity of this magnetic field. “The Earth’s magnetic field
can vary from place to place, depending on what happened there in the past,”
says Branting. “if something containing iron oxide was heavily burnt, by
natural or human actions, the iron particles in it can be permanently
reoriented, like a compass needle, to align with the Earth’s magnetic field
present at that point in time and space.’ The magnetometer detects differences
in the orientations and intensities of these iron particles from the
present-day magnetic field and uses them to produce an image of what lies below
ground.
E
Kirkenes
Dag lends itself particularly well to magnetometry because it was all burnt at
once in a savage fire. In places, the heat was sufficient to turn sandstone to
glass and to melt granite. The fire was so hot that there were strong magnetic
signatures set to the Earth’s magnetic field from the time – around 547 BC –
resulting in extremely clear pictures. Furthermore, the city was never rebuilt.
“if you have multiple layers confusing picture because you have different walls
from different periods giving signatures that all go in different directions,”
says Branting. “We only have one going down about 1.5 meters, so we can get a
good picture of this fairly short-lived city.”
F
The
other main sub-surface mapping technique, which is still being used at the
site, is resistivity. This technique measures the way electrical pulses are
conducted through sub-surface oil. It’s done by shooting pulses into the ground
through a thin metal probe. Different materials have different electrical
conductivity. For example, stone and mudbrick are poor conductors, but looser,
damp soil conducts very well. By walking around the site and taking about four
readings per metre, it is possible to get a detailed idea of what is where
beneath the surface. The teams then build up pictures of walls, hearths and
other remains. “It helps a lot if it has rained because the electrical pulse
can get through more easily,” says Branting. “Then if something is more
resistant, it really shows up.” This is one of the reasons that the project has
a spring season when most of the resistivity work is done. Unfortunately,
testing resistivity is a lot slower than magnetometry. “If we did resistivity
over the whole site it would take about 100 years,” says Branting.
Consequently, the team is concentrating on areas where they want to clarify
pictures from the magnetometry.
G
Remote
sensing does not reveal everything about Kerkenes Dag, but it shows the most
interesting sub-surface areas of the site. The archaeologists can then excavate
these using traditional techniques. One surprise came when they dug out one of
the fates in the defensive walls. “Our observations in early seasons led us to
assume that wall, such as would be found at most other cities in the Ancient
Near East,” says Dr Summers. “When we started to excavate we were staggered to
discover that the walls were made entirely from stone and that the gate would
have stood at least ten metres high. After ten years of study, Pteria is
gradually giving up its secrets.”
Questions 14-17
The
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G
Which
paragraph contains the following information?
Write
the correct letter A-G, in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.
14
The reason why various investigative methods are introduced.
15
An example of an unexpected discovery.
16
The methods to survey the surface of the site from above.
17
The reason why experts want to study the site.
Questions 18-25
Complete
the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 18-25 on your answer sheet.
Exploring the Ancient
City of Pteria
The
relevant work was done ten years ago. To begin with, experts took photos of the
site from the ground and then from a distance in a 18…………………………… To find
out what lay below the surface, they used two leading techniques. One was magnetometer,
which identifies changes in the magnetic field. These changes occur when
the 19…………………………… in buried structures have changed direction as a result
of great heat. They match with the magnetic field, which is similar to
a 20………………………….
The
other one was resistivity, which uses a 21…………………………….. to fire electrical
pulses into the earth. The principle is that building materials
like 22………………………… and stone do not conduct electricity well,
while 23……………………………. does this much better. Archaeologists preferred to
use this technique during the 24……………………………………, when conditions are more
favourable. Resistivity is mainly being used to 25……………………………….. some
images generated by the magnetometer.
Question 26
Choose
the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write
the correct letter in box 26 on your answer sheet.
How
do modern remote-sensing techniques help at the site?
A
They avoid the need for experts to dig any part of the site.
B
They bring parts of the site into the light so that key areas can be researched
further.
C
They show minute buried objects for the archaeologists to dig up.
D
They make the investigation more flexible as they can be used at any time of
year.
READING
PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on
Reading Passage 3 below.
Knowledge in medicine
A
What
counts as knowledge? What do we mean when we say that we know something? What
is the status of different kinds of knowledge? In order to explore these
questions, we are going to focus on one particular area of knowledge –
medicine.
B
How
do you know when you are ill? This may seem to be an absurd question. You know
you are ill because you feel ill; your body tells you that you are ill. You may
know that you feel pain or discomfort but knowing you are ill is a bit more
complex. At times, people experience the symptoms of illness, but in fact, they
are simply tired or over-worked or they may just have a hangover. At other
times, people may be suffering from a disease and fail to be aware of the illness
until it has reached a late stage in its development. So how do we know we are
ill, and what counts as knowledge?
C
Think
about this example. You feel unwell. You have a bad cough and always seem to be
tired. Perhaps it could be stress at work, or maybe you should give up smoking.
You feel worse. You visit the doctor who listens to your chest and heart, takes
your temperature and blood pressure, and then finally prescribes antibiotics
for your cough.
D
Things
do not improve but you struggle on thinking you should pull yourself together,
perhaps things will ease off at work soon. A return visit to your doctor shocks
you. This time the doctor, drawing on years of training and experience,
diagnoses pneumonia. This means that you will need bed rest and a considerable
time off work. The scenario is transformed. Although you still have the same
symptoms, you no longer think that these are caused by pressure at work. You
know have proof that you are ill. This is the result of the combination of your
own subjective experience and the diagnosis of someone who has the status of a
medical expert. You have a medically authenticated diagnosis and it appears
that you are seriously ill; you know you are ill and have the evidence upon
which to base this knowledge.
E
This
scenario shows many different sources of knowledge. For example, you decide to
consult the doctor in the first place because you feel unwell – this is
personal knowledge about your own body. However, the doctor’s expert diagnosis
is based on experience and training, with sources of knowledge as diverse as
other experts, laboratory reports, medical textbooks and years of experience.
F
One
source of knowledge is the experience of our own bodies; the personal knowledge
we have of changes that might be significant, as well as the subjective
experiences are mediated by other forms of knowledge such as the words we have
available to describe our experience, and the common sense of our families and
friends as well as that drawn from popular culture. Over the past decade, for
example, Western culture has seen a significant emphasis on stress-related
illness in the media. Reference to being ‘stressed out’ has become a common
response in daily exchanges in the workplace and has become part of popular
common-sense knowledge. It is thus not surprising that we might seek such an
explanation of physical symptoms of discomfort.
G
We
might also rely on the observations of others who know us. Comments from
friends and family such as ‘you do look ill’ or ‘that’s a bad cough’ might be
another source of knowledge. Complementary health practices, such as holistic
medicine, produce their own sets of knowledge upon which we might also draw in
deciding the nature and degree of our ill health and about possible treatments.
H
Perhaps
the most influential and authoritative source of knowledge is the medical
knowledge provided by the general practitioner. We expect the doctor to have
access to expert knowledge. This is socially sanctioned. It would not be
acceptable to notify our employer that we simply felt too unwell to turn up for
work or that our faith healer, astrologer, therapist or even our priest thought
it was not a good idea. We need an expert medical diagnosis in order to obtain
the necessary certificate if we need to be off work for more than the statutory
self-certification period. The knowledge of the medical sciences is privileged
in this respect in contemporary Western culture. Medical practitioners are also
seen as having the required expert knowledge that permits them legally to
prescribe drugs and treatment to which patients would not otherwise have
access. However, there is a range of different knowledge upon which we draw
when making decisions about our own state of health.
I
However,
there is more than existing knowledge in this little story; new knowledge is
constructed within it. Given the doctor’s medical training and background, she
may hypothesize ‘is this now pneumonia?’ and then proceed to look for evidence
about it. She will use observations and instruments to assess the evidence and
– critically – interpret it in light of her training and experience. This
results in new knowledge and new experience both for you and for the doctor.
This will then be added to the doctor’s medical knowledge and may help in the
future diagnosis of pneumonia.
Questions 27-32
Complete
the table
Choose NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet
|
Source of
knowledge |
Examples |
|
Personal
experience |
Symptoms of
a 27………………………… and tiredness Doctor’s
measurement by taking 28……………………………. and temperature Common judgment from 29……………………………
around you |
|
Scientific
evidence |
Medical knowledge
from the general 30………………………. e.g. doctor’s
medical 31………………………… Examine the
medical hypothesis with the previous drill and 32……………………… |
Questions 33-40
The
Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I
Which
paragraph contains the following information?
Write
the correct letter A-I, in boxes 33-40 on your answer sheet.
33
the contrast between the nature of personal judgment and the nature of doctor’s
diagnosis
34
a reference of culture about pressure
35
sick leave will not be permitted without the professional diagnosis
36
how doctors’ opinions are regarded in society
37
the illness of patients can become part of new knowledge
38
a description of knowledge drawn from non-specialized sources other than
personal knowledge
39
an example of collective judgment from personal experience and professional
doctor
40
a reference that some people do not realize they are ill
ANSWERS
1. C
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. customers
6. public relation skills
7. museology/(the new)
museology
8. tourist attractions
9. A
10. D
11. B
12. C
13. E
14. B
15. G
16. C
17. A
18. hot-air balloon
19. iron particles
20. compass/compass needle
21. thin metal probe
22. mudbrick
23. looser damp soil
24. spring season
25. clarify
26. B
27. bad cough
28. blood pressure
29. families and friends
30. Practitioner
31. Diagnosis
32. background
33. E
34. F
35. H
36. H
37. I
38. G
39. D
40. B
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