PRACTICE IELTS READING TEST 1 WITH ANSWERS
READING PASSAGE 1
You should
spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based
on Reading Passage 1.
AUSTRALIA’S PLATYPUS
Of all the
creatures on the earth, the Australian platypus, Omithorbynchusparadoxus ,
is perhaps one of the most mysterious and reclusive. Derived from the
Latin platys meaning ‘flat and broad’
and pous meaning ‘foot’, the platypus has long
been an iconic symbol of Australia. Upon being discovered in
Australia in the 1700s, sketches of this unusual creature were made and sent
back to England whereupon they were considered by experts to be a hoax. Indeed,
the incredible collection of its body parts – broad, flat tail, rubbery snout,
webbed feet and short dense fur – make it one of the world’s most unusual
animals.
Officially
classified as a mammal, the egg-laying platypus is mostly active during the
night, a nocturnal animal. As if this combination of characteristics and
behaviours were not unusual enough, the platypus is the only Australian mammal
known to be venomous. The male platypus has a sharply pointed, moveable spur on
its hind foot which delivers a poison capable of killing smaller
animals and causing severe pain to humans. The spur – about 2 centimetres in
length – is quite similar to the fang of a snake and, if provoked, is
used as a means of defence. Those who have been stung by a platypus’ spur
report an immediate swelling around the wound followed by increased swelling
throughout the affected limb.Excruciating, almost paralysing pain in the
affected area accompanies the sting which, in some victims has been known to
last for a period of months. One report from a victim who was stung
in the palm of the hand states that “…the spur could not be pulled out of the
hand until the platypus was killed.” During the breeding season, the amount of
venom in the male platypus increases. This has led some zoologists to theorise
that the poisonous spur is primarily for asserting dominance amongst
fellow-males. To be stung by a male platypus is a rare event with only a very
small number of people being on the receiving end of this most reclusive
creature.
In the same
area of the hind foot where the male has the poisonous spur, the female
platypus only develops two buds which drop off in their first year of life
never to appear again. The female platypus produces a clutch of one to three
eggs in late winter or spring, incubating them in an underground burrow. The
eggs are 15-18 millimetres long and have a whitish, papery shell like those of
lizards and snakes. The mother is believed to keep the eggs warm by placing
them between her lower belly and curled-up tail for a period of about
10 or 11 days as she rests in an underground nest made of leaves or other
vegetation collected from the water. The baby platypus drinks a rich milk which
is secreted from two round patches of skin midway along the mother’s bell)’. It
is believed that a baby platypus feeds by slurping up milk with rhythmic sweeps
of its stubby bill. When the juveniles first enter the water at the age of
about four months, they are nearly (80-90%) as long as an adult. Male
platypus do not help to raise the young.
In Australia,
the platypus is officially classified as ‘Common but Vulnerable’. As
a species, it is not currently considered to be endangered. However, platypus
populations are believed to have declined or disappeared in many
catchments 1 , particularly in urban and agricultural
landscapes. In most cases, the specific underlying reasons for
the reduction in numbers remain unknown. Platypus surveys have only been
carried out in a few catchments in eastern Australia. It
is therefore impossible to provide
an accurate estimate of the total number of platypus remaining
in the wild. Based on recent studies, the average platypus population density
along relatively good quality streams in the foothills of Victoria’s
Great Dividing Rangeis only around one to two animals per kilometre
of channel. Because platypus are predators near the top of the food
chain and require large amounts of food to survive (up to
about 30% of a given animal’s body weight each day), it is believed that their
numbers are most often limited by the availability of food, mainly in the form
of bottom-dwelling aquatic invertebrates such as shrimps, worms, yabbies,
pea-shell mussels, and immature and adult aquatic insects. Small
frogs and fish eggs are also eaten occasionally, along with some terrestrial
insects that fall into the water from overhanging vegetation.
1 :
Catchments are an area of land drained by a creek or river system, or a place
set aside for collecting water which runs off the surface of the land.
Until the early
twentieth century, platypus were widely killed for (heir fur. The species is
now protected by law throughout Australia. Platypus are wild animals with
specialised living requirements. It is illegal for members of the public to
keep them in captivity. A platypus which has been accidentally captured along a
stream or found wandering in an unusual place should never be taken home and
treated as a pet, even for a brief time. The animal will
not survivethe experience. Only a small number of Australian zoos and
universities hold a permit to maintain platypus in captivity
for legitimate display or research purposes. Current
Australian government policy does not allow’ this species to be
taken overseas for any reason.
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer?
In boxes 1- 5 on your answer sheet, write
YES
if the statement agrees with the information in the
passage
NO
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
NOT GIVEN if
there is no information about the statement in the passage
1
The appearance of the platypus caused experts to
doubt it was real.
2
The amount of venom in a male platypus changes during the year.
3
Most platypus live in Eastern Australia.
4
Snake venom and platypus venom are very similar.
5
Because their environment is specialised, platypus cannot be kept as pets.
Questions 6 -9
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
Male and Female
Platypus
Platypus are unique Australian animals. Although all platypus
share many similarities, the male and female are somewhat different from each
other. For example, on the hind feet, the male has a 6 while
the young female has 7 .
In the 8 the mother
keeps her eggs warm and, once born, supplies her 9 .
On the other hand, the male platypus does not help raise the young at all.
Questions 10 -13
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading
Passage 1.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
Even though the platypus is not endangered, it is
considered 10 .
Platypus numbers in 11 areas
have declined in many catchments.
Platypus numbers are low which is probably due to a lack
of 12 .
Platypus captivity for research and study purposes requires
a 13 .
READING PASSAGE 2
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on ReadingPassage 2.
A. Almost
every living creature sleeps. For humans, it is typically something we dislike
doing when we are younger and, as we age, something
we increasingly look forward to at the end of each day. On the one
hand, it is something that we absolutely need to sustain our life and
on the other, we tend to feel guilty if we spend more time in bed than we
should. Sleep researcher Professor Stanley Limpton believes that 7 hours – the
average amount of sleep most people get per night – is not enough. Limpton
points out that the average person is now getting 2 hours less sleep than those
who lived 100 years ago and contends that this lack of sleep is one of the main
reasons so many people are often clumsy, unhappy, irritable and agitated. Other
scientists share Limpton’s thinking. Many other researchers feel that we are
not getting enough sleep and the negative impacts are
being regularly felt around the world in the workplace and in the
home.
B. The first
experiments in recorded scientific history on the effects of people not getting
enough sleep took place in the late 1800s. According to records, three
volunteers were deprived of sleep for a total of 90 hours. Later on, in 1920
more experiments in sleep deprivation were conducted by scientists where
several people were deprived of sleep for a period of 60 hours. The
results of many sleep deprivation experiments have been recorded and conducted
by American ‘sleep scientist’ Nathaniel Kleitman. Often referred to as ‘the
father of modern sleep research’, Kleitman’s work has formed
the foundation for many areas of current sleep research. In
one experiment, Kleitman examined thirty five volunteers who had been awake for
60 hours and also conducted an experiment on himself, remaining awake for a
total of 100 hours. It was revealed that people who are
sleep-deprived for periods of more than 60 hours try to fall asleep in
any environment and show- signs of mentaldisturbances, visions and
hallucinations. As the length of sleep deprivation increases, so too does
the mental decline in an individual. Having studied a
group of 3 sleep deprived people, sleep researcher Dr. Tim Oswald, concluded
that chronic sleep deprivation often leads to drastic consequences. Oswald’s
experiments reinstated the necessity of sleep for proper human
functioning.
C. Studies
of sleep patterns in some of the more remote areas of the world have also been
a subject of interest amongst sleep researchers. It is well-known that during
the summer months in both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles
the phenomenon known as the midnight sun occurs. Given fair weather
conditions, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours. One summer,
Dr. Peter Suedfeld traveled to the Arctic and conducted
a series of research projects. All participants were
required to get rid of all clocks, watches and any other timekeeping devices
and conduct work and sleep according to their own ‘body dock’. Those
involved in the experiment were required to note down when they- had a nap and
when they actually went to bed. The results were that most people slept around
10 hours per day and all participants reported feeling completely invigorated
and refreshed.
D. The affect of
sleep interruptions have also been a focal point of some
sleep research. In urban societies, traffic and aircraft noise are
often referred to as ‘the bane of urban existence’.Tom Grimstead took
people who were classified as ‘good sleepers’ from quiet neighbourhoods and
introduced into their bedrooms and night the noise equivalents of
a major urban road. An actimeter –
a device which measures the amount of movement in sleep – was used to
gauge the quality of the participant’s sleep. The
participants emerged from the experiment in a depressed-like state
after four days. Grimstead reported that participants had depression and mood
scores similar to people with clinical depression…a reduction in
certain performance tasks was also noted’.
E. Another
area of interest in the field of sleep study involves such famous people as
Thomas Edison and Winston Churchill who, reportedly, were known to be and have
been classified as short sleepers . A short sleeper is
one who claims to be able to get by with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night.
Dr David Joske. secretary’ of the British Sleep Association believes that
‘genetically short sleepers may have some natural resistance to the effects of
sleep deprivation but it is not entirely certain why some people seem
to require more and others less՝. Determining what makes up the
differences between short and long sleepers has been difficult for researchers.
Says Joske, ‘When we brought long and short sleepers into controlled
environments which were dark and soundproof we found that all participants slept
between nine and ten hours, which seemed to preclude the short
sleeper category.’
F. A study
in Norway was undertaken on a number of bus drivers. They were hooked up to
various computers which monitored their states of being awake. The
study revealed that bus drivers were asleep for as much as 25% of the
time they were driving the bus. What the drivers w ere having was
a series of ‘micro-sleeps’ – short periods of time of 10 to 20
seconds where they would be classified as being asleep. In the micro-sleep state,
the individual may appear awake, even with their eyes open but in
fact they are actually sleeping.
Questions 14-18
Reading
Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs, A-F.
Choose
the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write
the correct number i-ix in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
List
of Headings
i.
Research into short periods of sleep
ii.
Famous people, short sleepers
iii.
Measuring sleep movement
iv.
Sleep experiments over the past century
v.
Monitoring the effects of sleep deprivation
vi.
Antarctic and Arctic sleep means quality sleep
vii.
Challenging research in reduced normal sleeping hours
viii.
Are we getting enough sleep?
ix.
The impact of noise on sleep
x.
Sleep experiments in an isolated area
Example: Paragraph
A; Answer: viii
14
Paragraph B
15
Paragraph C
16
Paragraph D
17
Paragraph E
18
Paragraph F
Questions 19 – 23
Look
at the following list of statements (Questions 19-23) and the list of people
below.
Match
each statement with the correct company.
Write
the correct letter A-D in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.
NB You may
use any letter more than once.
List
of Researchers
A David
Joske
B Stanley
Limpton
C Tim
Oswald
D Tom
Grimstead
19
People need to increase their average amount of sleep.
20
Extended periods of no sleep causes serious health problems.
21
Some need more sleep and others seem to get by with less sleep.
22
The quality of sleep can be measured by an individual’s sleep activity.
23
Most people need to sleep the same number of hours.
Questions 24 and 25
Choose TWO letters A-F.
Write
your answers in boxes 24 and 25 on your answer sheet.
The
list below lists some health issues associated with lack of sleep.
Which TWO of
these health issues are mentioned by the writer?
A .
heart problems
B .
nervous disorders
C .
dizziness
D .
depression
E .
problems with mental state
F .
increased blood pressure
Question 26
Choose
the correct letter, A-E
Write
the correct letter in box 26 on your answer sheet.
Which
of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 2?
A .
The importance of sleep
B .
Studies in sleep
C .
How much sleep we need
D .
The effect of sleep patterns
E .
Modern perspectives on sleep
READING PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3.
THE SEARCH FOR
FRESH WATER
The
assertion that water has always been the essence of life is nothing
new. Water comes in many forms: spring water, sea and river water, rainwater,
and fog and dew water. Yet water is becoming scarce and this scarcity is
becoming a very real worry for governments all around the world. The reality is
that one of the main obstacles to the economic development of a
particular country is its lack of an adequate supply of fresh water.
Current figures show that an inhabitant of a wealthy, modern town consumes
100-400 litres of water daily. In some developing countries the amount of water
consumed does not exceed 20-30 litres per day. Rich or
poor, annual water consumption has continued to grow,
increasing fourfold over the last 50 years.
The
world’s fresh water supplies are drawn from a number of sources. The largest
cache of the estimated 35 million km3 fresh water reserve is located in
glaciers and snow. The amount contained in these ‘storehouses’ has been
estimated to be around 24 million km3. Ground water is also a big contributor
to the world’s fresh water supplies amounting to an estimated 10.5 million km3.
Considering that the total volume of water, salt and fresh, is
estimated to be around 400 million km3 it can be clearly seen that the amount
of fresh water available in the world is only the proverbial ‘drop in
the bucket՝. Artesian wells, rivers and lakes only account for about 0.1 and
0.5 million km3 respectively, all of which include
atmospheric precipitationsuch as rain and snow.
Since
water is such an important commodity, various attempts
to acquire stores of it have been tried with varying degrees of
success. The question of what are the alternative water
sources available to us today is not an easy one to answer but is
certainly worthy of our best efforts to find one. One such area of interest has
been desalination – the turning of salt water into drinkable water. As there is
much more salt water on the earth than dry land, the idea of using desalinated
seawater seems a logical one. However, some estimates put the annualquantity
of desalinated water at only around ten cubic kilometres – a tiny amount given
the amount of sea water available. In parts of Senegal, for example,
the greenhouse effect has been one way to desalinate seawater whereby the
salt in the water is separated from the water through a process of
evaporation. As part of the process, water vapour forms on large
panes of glass at outside air temperature and is
transported via gravity into drums. This method yields only
a few cubic meters per day of fresh water but is
surprisingly energyefficient. In larger scale production
however, the energy efficiency plummets. The best systems bum at
least a tonne of fossil fuel to produce approximately one
hundred cubic metres of fresh water. This amounts to almost $ 1 per cubic metre
– a considerable cost.
Although
there are several different areas from which water can be sourced,
paradoxically the most extensive are the most difficult to tap. The atmosphere,
for example, contains vast amounts of fresh water composed of 2% condensed
water in the form of clouds and 98% water vapour. The vastness of this
water source is comparable to the renewable liquid water resources of
all inhabited lands. The amounts are easy to calculate, but being able and
knowing how to economically obtain this water in liquid form is most
challenging. One approach in drawing water from the atmosphere is fog
nets. Places such as the coastal desens of West Africa and areas of Chile and
Peru have favourable condensation conditions. In these areas,
ocean humidity condenses in the form of fog on the mid-range
mountains (over 500m). This fog composed of droplets of suspended water can be
collected in nets. In the 1960s, a University in Northern Chile conducted the
first major experiments with fog nets. Drawing on the knowledge
gained from these experiments, further testing was done which culminated in one
village using fog nets to yield a healthy daily average of 11,000 litres of
water. On a smaller scale, fog-collecting nets have recently been
used in the Canary Islands and Namibia.
Unfortunately, due
to its need for a combination of several factors, fog is not
readily available.Dew however appears far more frequently and is
less subject to the constraints of climate and geography. In order
for dew to form there needs to be some humidity in the air and a
reasonably clear sky. Many hot areas of countries that suffer from a lack of
water such as the Sahel region of Northern Africa for example,
experience significant quantities of dew. When the temperature is
lowered over a short space of time by ten degrees or so, the water-harvesting
possibilities from the air yield an amazing ten grams of water from each cubic
meter of air – significant drops in air temperature make for greater
yields. Unlike fog, dew formation can occur even in
a relatively dry atmosphere, such as a desert. All it takes is for
the right mix of temperatures between the earth and the air to combine and dew
formation occurs.
Questions 27 -29
Choose
the correct letter, A, B. C or D
Write
your answers in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.
27. As a
method of obtaining fresh water, fog
A .
forms best when the air is dry.
B .
is easier to collect than dew.
C .
is being tried in a large-scale way in Senegal.
D .
is not easy to collect.
28. Small-scale
‘greenhouse effect’ desalination
A .
uses a considerable amount of energy.
B .
is the most effective way to obtain larger water reserves.
C .
uses very little energy.
D .
burns quite a lot of fossil fuel.
29. One of
the largest stores of fresh water in the world is
A .
rivers and lakes.
B .
atmospheric rain and snow.
C .
ground water.
D .
artesian wells.
Questions 30 – 34
Complete
each sentence with the correct ending A-F from the box below.
Write
the correct letter A-F in boxes 30-34 on your
answer sheet.
A. is quite
popular due to it not being too affected by temperature and location.
B. is being
tried via an evaporation process.
C. is not energy
efficient.
D. is best for
poorer countries.
E. is made up of
both clouds and water vapour.
F. is increased
when temperatures fall rapidly.
30
Turning salt water into drinking water
31
Large-scale fresh water production through evaporation
32
Water available in the atmosphere
33
The use of dew as a water source
34
The amount of water collected from dew
Questions 35 – 40
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In
boxes 35-40 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
35 .
The amount of water consumed by wealthier countries is just as much as poorer
countries.
36 .
Glaciers, rivers, artesian wells and ground water are all sources of fresh
water.
37 .
Large bodies of water, such as the sea, have yielded the most fresh water.
38 .
The collection of water through the use of fog nets is becoming increasingly
more popular around the world.
39 .
If the sky is cloudy, dew will not form.
40 .
Dew and fog are major sources of water in smaller villages and isolated areas.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ANSWERS
1. YES
|
21. A
|
2. YES
|
22. D
|
3. NOT
GIVEN
|
23. A
|
4. NOT
GIVEN
|
24. D E (IN
ANY ORDER)
|
5. YES
|
25. D E (IN
ANY ORDER)
|
6. (movable/moveable)
spur
|
26. B
|
7. two
buds
|
27. D
|
8. (underground)
nest
|
28. C
|
9. (rich)
milk
|
29. C
|
10. common
but vulnerable
|
30. B
|
11. urban
and agricultural
|
31. C
|
12. food
|
32. E
|
13. permit/permission
|
33. A
|
14. v
|
34. F
|
15. x
|
35. NOT
GIVEN
|
16. ix
|
36. TRUE
|
17. vii
|
37. FALSE
|
18. i
|
38. NOT
GIVEN
|
19. B
|
39. TRUE
|
20. C
|
40. NOT
GIVEN
|
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