PRACTICE IELTS READING TEST 2 WITH ANSWERS
READING PASSAGE 1
You should
spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are
based on Reading Passage 1.
LOOKING IN THE TELESCOPE
A story is told
that around 400 years ago some children were fooling around in an eye glass
shop. They noticed that when they placed lenses one on top of the other, they
were able to see a considerable distance. They played around with the concept for
a while, experimenting with what happened when they varied the distance between
the lenses. Hans Lippershey, the Dutch lens maker
who eventually applied for the first telescope patent, credits
children as having been his motivation for the invention of the first
telescope.
The first
telescopes built in the early 1600s were very primitive inventions allowing the
user to see around 3-times further than the naked eye. It was not too long
however, until Italian astronomer Galileo heard about the invention ‘that through
use of correctly-positioned lenses, allowed people to see things a long way
away’. The tools used in the manufacturing of the first refracting telescope
was all Galileo needed to know and within 24 hours he had developed a better
one. In fact, the process of improvements Galileo made on
Lippershey’s telescope were quite dramatic. Whereas the original
version had a magnification of 3, the new telescope had a magnification of
around 30. Galileo achieved these extraordinary results by figuring out the combination
of the positions of the lenses and also by making his own lenses which were of
better quality. Although he originally thought they were stars, the better
quality lenses – and some scientific analysis – enabled him
to eventually use his telescopes to see the moons of Jupiter.
Galileo’s refracting telescopes – so-called due to the way they handled the
light that passed through them – were the standard at that time.
Some 70 years
later, British scientist Isaac Newton, explored the way a prism refracts 1 white
light into an array of colors. He recognised that a lens was a circular prism
and that the separation of colors limited the effectiveness of the telescopes
in use at the time. Newton created a Reflective Telescope, one that used a
dish-shaped or parabolic mirror to collect light
and concentrate the image before it
was visible in the eyepiece. Thus, lenses used for magnification in
telescopes were replaced by mirrors. Mirrors have since been the standard for
telescopes. In fact, according to telescope researcher Dr. Carl Addams, the
basic designs of telescopes have not changed much in the last 100 years. What
has changed however, is the way technology has been used to improve
them. For example, the larger telescopes in the world today are around 10
metres in diameter and the mirrors placed within them are so finely polished
that even at the microscopic level there are no scratches or bumps on them at
all. To achieve such a flawless surface requires a very
expensive process that operates with the utmost precision.
1 :
The separation or change of direction of a ray of light when passed through a
glass of water.
The mid 1700s,
saw the discovery and production of the Achromatic telescope. This type of
telescope differed from previous ones in the way it handled the
different wavelengths of light. The first person who succeeded in making
achromatic refracting telescopes seems to have been the Englishman, Chester
Moore Hall. The telescope design used two pieces of special optical
glass known as crown and flint Each side of each
piece was ground and polished and then the two pieces were assembled together.
Achromatic lenses bring two wavelengths – typically red and blue –
into focus in the same plane. Makers of achromatic telescopes had
difficulty locating disks of flint glass of suitable purity needed
to construct them. In the late 1700s, prizes were offered by the
French Academy of Sciences for any chemist or glass-manufacturer that
could create perfect discs of optical flint glass however, no one was
able to provide a large disk of suitable purity and clarity.
Currently the
largest telescopes are around eight to ten metres in size.
These extremelyexpensive and sophisticated pieces of equipment are located
primarily throughout Europe and America. Dr Addams believes that the telescopes
of the future will be a gigantic improvement in what is currently considered
state-of-the-art. Telescopes that are 20 or 30 metres in diameter are currently
being planned, and there has been a suggestion put forward by a European firm
that they would like to build a 100-metre telescope. Says Addams, ‘The quality
of the glass needed to build a 100 meter telescope is like building a lens the
size of a football field and having the largest bump in that football field
being a ten-thousandth of a human hair’. The engineering
and technology required to build such a flawless reflective surface
is most impressive.
Questions 1 – 5
Choose
the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write
the correct letter in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1.According to
the writer, the first telescope was
A .
invented by children.
B .
made by a lens maker.
C .
a reflective telescope.
D .
quite a complex piece of equipment.
2. The writer
states that Galileo
A .
improved on the design of the first telescope.
B .
created the first reflective telescope.
C .
took 24 hours to make a reflective telescope.
D .
allowed people to see 3 times further than the first telescope.
3. The Galileo
telescope was better than the first telescope because it
A .
used mirrors rather than glass.
B .
was longer than the first telescope.
C .
used better lens positioning and quality.
D .
used better quality lenses and glass.
4. The writer
states that today large telescopes are
A .
20 or 30 metres in size.
B .
as big as 100 metres.
C .
very costly items.
D .
as good as will ever be built.
5. Large,
powerful telescopes are difficult to build because
A .
designs have not changed in nearly 100 years.
B .
it is difficult to locate the flint glass needed for them.
C .
the area needed to house the telescope is simply too large.
D .
the lenses must be extremely reflective.
Questions 6 – 10
Classify
the following features as belonging to
A. the
Achromatic telescope
B. the
Reflective telescope
C. the
Refracting telescope
Write
the correct letter A, B or C, in boxes 6-10 on
your answer sheet.
6 .
The first telescopes made.
7 .
Uses a series of lenses one on top of the other.
8 .
Highly polished lenses.
9 .
First use of mirrors to collect light.
10 .
Two pieces of glass stuck together.
Questions 11 – 13
Complete
the summary below using words from the passage.
Choose NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet
There
have been a number of changes in telescopes since they were first invented. For
example, Galileo’s telescope increased magnification of the previously made
telescope by a factor of 30. He did this by altering the lenses 11 and
also constructing lenses 12 .
Other
improvements followed but the most significant step forward, and still a major
factor today in telescope design, has been the inclusion of 13 .
READING PASSAGE 2
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 –
27 which are based on Reading Passage 2.
A. The intense rate
of change in the world gives rise to numerous new products – many of them
electronic. What is brand new and state-of-the-art one month is quickly
relegated to old model’ status the next. Within the world of computing, this
frenetic pace of change has led to millions of out-dated, worthless products.
Keystone, an American-based research company reported. In 2005, one
computer became obsolete for every new one introduced in die market. By the
year 2010, experts estimate that in the USA there will be over 500
million obsolete computers. Most of these computers will be destined for
landfills, incinerators or hazardous waste exports.’ Old, outdated keyboards,
monitors and hard drives all combine to produce what is now widely known as
‘e-waste’ and the way to appropriately dispose of them is proving to
be a challenge.
B. Most
computers are a complicated assembly of hundreds of different materials, many
of which are highly toxic. Most computer users are unaware that these toxic
metals, acids, plastics and other substances have been shown to be the cause of
various blood diseases and cancers, Amongst workers involved in the recycling
of computer products, there has been a proliferation of blood
diseases Printed circuit boards for example, contain heavy metals such as
antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin and copper. Environmentalist Kieran
Shaw estimates there is hardly any other product for which the sum of the
environmental impacts of raw material, extraction, industrial refining and
production, use and disposal is so extensive as for printed circuit boards.
C. Workers
involved in the disposal of computers via incineration are themselves
being exposed to significantly high levels of toxicity. Copper, for
example, is a catalyst in the releaseof harmful chemicals
when exposed to the high tempera lures of incineration. In US and
Canadian environments, incineration is one of the greatest sources of heavy
metal contamination of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, another form of
incineration, smelting, can present dangers similar to incineration.
Concerns have been expressed that the Noranda .Smelter in Quebec, Canada is
producing atmospheric pollutants from the residual presence of plastics in the
e-scrap.
D. In an effort to
explore other alternatives, landfills have been tried, Studies have Shown
however, that even the best landfills are not completely safe, In feet the
shortcomings of dealing with waste via modern landfills are well
documented. The main ‘offender’ in the area of metal leaching is mercury. In
varying degrees, mercury escapes or leaches from
certain electronic devices such as circuit breakers, condensers and computer
circuit boards into the soil, According to Phil Stevenson, managing director of
CleanCo a recycling plant in the UK, ‘Everyone knows that landfills leak – it
has become common knowledge Even the best, state-of-the-art landfills are not
completely tight throughout their lifetimes, to one degree or another, a
certain amount of chemical and metal leaching occurs The situation is
far worse for older or less stringent dump sites. If uncontrolled fires are
allowed to burn through these landfill areas, other toxic chemicals such as
lead and cadmium are released.
E. An
overwhelming majority of the world’s hazardous e-waste is generated
by the industrialised market economies. Because labour costs are
cheap and government regulations in some countries are decidedly lax, the
exporting of e-waste has been practiced as another method to deal
with its disposal. In the USA for example, Datatek, a researchcompany,
estimated that it was 12 times cheaper to ship old computer monitors to China
than it was to recycle them. Data on the prevalence of this activity is scarce
due to past bad publicity and dealers of e-scrap not bothering to determine
the final destination of the products they sell in 1989 the
world community established the Basel Convention on the Transboundary
Movement of Hazardous Waste for final Disposal to stop the
industrialised nations of the OECD from dumping their waste on and in
less-developed countries.
F. Europe has
taken the lead on e-waste management by requiring governments
to implement laws controlling the production and disposal of
electrical products. The European Union (EL) lias drafted legislation on Waste
from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the WE EE Directive) based on
a concept known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EFR),
Essentially, EFR places the responsibility’ of the production and disposal
squarely on the shoulders of the producers of electronic products, it requires
that producers consider carefully the environmental impact of the
products they bring to the marketplace. The aim of EPR is to encourage
producers of electrical equipment to prevent pollution and
reduce resource and energy use at each stage of the
product file cycle. The lead in Europe has been necessary’
because WERE is about three times higher than the growth of any
other municipal waste streams.
G . WEE
legislation will phase-out the use of toxic substances such as
mercury, cadmium and lead in electronic and electrical goods by the year 2008.
It will require producers of electrical equipment to
be responsible financially for the collection, recycling and disposal
of their products. It has stipulated that products containing any lead,
mercury, cadmium and other toxic substances must not be incinerated. It
encourages producers to integrate an increasing quantity of recycled
material in any new products they produce. In fact, between 70% and 90% by
weight of all collected equipment must be recycled or re-used. These directives
will go a long way toward improving the e-waste problem in Europe and other
governments of the world should look seriously at implementation of some or all
of the legislation.
Questions 14 – 20
Reading
Passage 2 has 7 paragraphs, A-G.
Choose
the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write
the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 14-20 on
your answer sheet.
List
of Headings
i.
Exporting e-waste
ii.
The hazards of burning computer junk
iii.
Blame developed countries for e-waste
iv.
Landfills are not satisfactory
v.
Producer’s legal responsibility
vi.
The dangers of computer circuit boards
vii.
Electronic changes bring waste
viii.
European e-waste laws
ix.
The dangerous substances found in computers
x.
Landfills and mercury leaching
xi.
New products must contain recycled products
14
Paragraph A
15
Paragraph B
16
Paragraph C
17
Paragraph D
18
Paragraph E
19
Paragraph F
20
Paragraph G
Questions 21 – 24
Look
at the following list of statements (Questions 21-24) and the list of companies
below.
Match
each statement with the correct company.
Write
the correct letter A-D in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.
NB You may
use any letter more than once.
List
of companies
A. Noranda
Smelter
B. Datatek
C. Keystone
D. CleanCo
21
waste sites without strict dumping rules leads to big
problems
22
e-waste should be re-located to other countries
23
most old computers will be buried or burned
24
it is impossible to contain metal waste in soil
Questions 25 – 27
Choose THREE letters, A-G,
Write
the correct letters in boxes 25-27 on your answer sheet.
According
to the information in the text, which THREE of the following
pollution laws have been proposed in Europe?
A
Manufacturers will have to pay for disposal of their
products.
B
Manufacturers must dispose of the electronic goods they produce.
C
Products made in Europe must be completely recyclable.
D
Consumers are responsible for the disposal of the products they purchase.
E
Disposal of products containing mercury should be incinerated.
F
Other governments around the world will implement the EU laws.
G
A large percentage of old products must be included in new products.
READING PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which
are based on Reading Passage 3.
PREPARING FOR THE THREAT
It
is an unfortunate fact that over the past 20 pars, around 260 million people a
year have been affected by natural disasters around the world. Regrettably, a
vast majority of the victims of this staggering number are from
developing countries. Whether it be earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes
or tsunamis, over the past twenty years, natural disasters have been happening
more frequently and affecting more people than ever before. It
follows that the international community should address
the issue of ‘disaster preparedness’
and establisha process by which natural disasters are dealt
with.
On
December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake centered off the coast of the
Indonesian island of Sumatra caused a series of deadly tsunamis in
the Indian Ocean. The damage from this extraordinary disaster was estimated to
be in the vicinity of US $ 13 billion – the equivalent to the
combined GDP 1 of the world’s developing countries for an
entire year. In a matter of seconds, the tsunami waves wiped out the long years
of struggle for development, and the world was once again reminded of the
fearsome and destructive power of natural disasters.
1 Gross Domestic Product
is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.
The
United Nations designated the 1990s as the International Decade for
Natural Disaster Reduction, and has been active in promoting and developing
international cooperation on disaster preparedness. The UN’s
Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster
Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation was adopted in 1994. Among the
guidelines, developing countries are encouraged to organise
and implement their domesticresources for disaster reduction
activities and donor developed countries are encouraged to give
greater priority to disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness
in their assistanceprograms and budgets, including through increasing
financial contributions.
In
January, 2005 the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) met in Kobe,
Hyogo Prefecture to discuss and debate how the
international community should address issues of disaster
preparedness and mitigation. The meeting itself attended by over 4,000
delegates representing some 168 countries occurred almost 10 years to the day
after the Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe. The January meeting of the WCDR in
Kobe provided experts and scientists from over 150 countries, government
officials, Non- Government Organisation (NGOs) and United Nations
representatives an opportunity to review the Yokohama Strategy. It
recorded on the 2005-15 Yokohama Strategy Action Plan that
participant countries and agencies should work over the next 10 years to reduce vulnerabilityto
natural disasters. The Action Plan encourages as a first step, the integration
of disaster prevention programs in all development
and policy-making plaits for all countries. Jim Edgeland, UN
representative stated, “Disaster risk reduction is not an additional expense –
it is an essential investment in our common future, but the benefits of this
investment will be calculated not only in dollars or euros or yen saved, but
most importantly, in saved lives in every corner of the globe.”
Perhaps
the most significant work done at the WCDR meetings was the drafting
and adoption of the Hyogo Declaration, This document expresses the
united determination of the
international community to rely not only on
advanced technology or facilities for disaster preparedness, but on a
people-centered early warning system. The people-centered system requires
effective communication and education in the building of disaster-resilient
countries and communities.
As
the intergovernmental panels of the WCDR were meeting, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
Forum was also underway. The earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.3, led to
the Joss of over 6,400 lives and widespread destruction affecting
some 460,000 households. This public forum offered a variety of
sessions, during which the lessons learned from the disastrous earthquake were
discussed. Earthquake expert Professor Tomohiro Kawata said, “Because
this disaster happened over a decade ago, the memory of the
devastation can be forgotten. Part of our gathering here today is to make sure
that we do not forget what happened back in 1995.’’ Also included were some
personal stories from the earthquake victims themselves. Earthquake victim
Kumiko Nagota told attendees that her house collapsed in the Kobe earthquake
and she was trapped under it. She tried to call for help but after a while she
lost her voice and just had to wait there until help came. Attendees were told
of bow the town mobilised to facilitate recovery and reconstruction.
An exhibition hall showed pictures of mounds of rubble produced by the
earthquake as well as a display of objects donated by earthquake
victims including a broken clock and a child’s toy that molted in the fires
caused by the earthquake. Said Kawata, “As well as being a memorial, our
facility and, indeed this forum, is a place to learn from earthquake
experiences and incorporate the things we learned into our
preparations for future disasters”. During the forum, it was agreed that in May
2005, a new hub for the coordination of international disaster recovery support
activities wrould be established in Kobe.
Questions 28 – 31
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In
boxes 28-31 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
28
Mostly people from poorer countries are affected by natural
disasters.
29
Present-day natural disasters are more dangerous than disasters of the past.
30
It will take the countries affected by the tsunami many years to rebuild.
31
Being prepared and knowing what to do in a disaster should be a global issue.
Questions 32 – 35
Choose
the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write
the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet
32. According
to the passage, reducing the risk of disasters is important because
A .
countries can then focus on growth and development.
B .
communities will be drawn together in support of each other.
C .
help international communities to be more economically stable.
D .
it will save lives and money.
33. According
to the writer, the most important outcome of the World Conference on Disaster
Reduction (WCDR) was the
A .
discussion and debate amongst the international community attendees.
B .
chance for participants to review the Yokohama Strategy.
C .
writing and acceptance of the Hyogo Declaration.
D .
acknowledgement that disaster risk reduction is an investment in the future.
34. The town
of Kobe was effectively rebuilt due to
A .
the support of the United Nations.
B .
the people of Kobe.
C .
the Government of Japan.
D .
the leadership of Professor Kawata.
35. The
stated purpose of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Forum was
A .
to help others Ire better prepared for any future natural disasters.
B .
for people to learn more about natural disasters.
C .
to remember the Kobe earthquake of 1995.
D .
for people to remember and team from what happened.
Questions 36 – 40
Look
at the following statements (Questions 36 – 40) and the list of disaster
control initiatives below.
Match
each statement with the correct disaster control initiative, A-D.
Write
the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 36-40 on your
answer sheet.
Disaster
Control Initiatives
A. Hyogo Declaration
B. Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Forum
C. World
Conference on Disaster Reduction
D. Yokohama
Strategy for a Safer World
36 .
people should be the early broadcasters of disaster information
37 .
led to a new central area for support in disaster recovery
38 .
a reminder of the impact of disasters
39 .
in times of disaster, developed countries should do more to help less-developed
countries
40 .
national development and disaster prevention should be considered at the same
time
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ANSWERS
1. B
|
21. D
|
2. A
|
22. B
|
3. C
|
23. C
|
4. C
|
24. B
|
5. D
|
25. A B G
(IN ANY ORDER)
|
6. C
|
26. A B G
(IN ANY ORDER)
|
7. C
|
27. A B G
(IN ANY ORDER)
|
8. A
|
28. TRUE
|
9. B
|
29. NOT
GIVEN
|
10. A
|
30. NOT
GIVEN
|
11. positions
|
31. TRUE
|
12. of
better quality
|
32. D
|
13. mirrors
|
33. C
|
14. vii
|
34. B
|
15. ix
|
35. D
|
16. ii
|
36. A
|
17. iv
|
37. B
|
18. i
|
38. B
|
19. v
|
39. D
|
20. viii
|
40. D
|
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