IELTS Learning January 5st

IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test Fathom – Word Of The Day For IELTS 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Flowers & Sample Answers 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Advertisements & Sample Answers 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Noise & Sample Answers IELTS Reading Practice Test 29 with Answers IELTS Speaking Part 3 Questions & Answers – Topic: Handwriting IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topics & Questions (January – April 2017) & Sample Answers (Updating) IELTS Writing Actual Test in Australia (December 2016) & Sample Answers Formal Prepositions to score Band 7.0 or Higher in IELTS (Part 2) Fathom – Word Of The Day For IELTS Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:35 AM PST Fathom – Word Of The Day For IELTS Speaking And Writing Fathom/ˈfæðəm/ (Verb) Meaning: (Formal) to understand what something means or the reasons for something after thinking carefully about it Synonyms: Grasp Make sense of something Understand Conclude Collocations: ADVERBS: Fathom how/ out/ why/ where etc VERBS: Try to fathom Examples: It is difficult to fathom how these slings are knotted and connected Fortunately, in trying to fathom out what happened next we have the advantage of the known laws of science. He couldn’t fathom why she was so anxious that no one else should know of his interest in her. She watched him for several moments, then looked about the large dining-room, trying to fathom the reason for his actions. I still can’t fathom out what she meant. Exercises: Try to use the new word “Fathom” in your topic Describe a disagreement you had with a friend You should say: Who you disagreed with What the disagreement was How it happened And explain how this disagreement was resolved Sample Answer: When I was a teen of 17 years old, I used to make friends more due to my extrovert nature. But unfortunately, I also had the most misunderstanding with them. However, I have not lost any of my friends for the disagreements. Once I bought few novels to read in my leisure hours during the summer vacation of the college. During the vacation, one evening two of my college friends reached my home. After having some chats, one of them started looking at my library that I have built since my childhood (I love reading books from my early age and has a huge collection of different types of books). He picked one of the books that I just have started reading since the morning that day. It was Nam, my bosom friend at the college. I helped him greatly in mathematics and physics on the exam before the college closure on the summer. The disagreement began with him when he wanted to take the novel at his home for reading. The novel named – The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was his first choice. I tried to make him realise that I had started reading the novel before they arrive at my home and has already read a substantial portion of the book. But he was determined to take the book. Thus the disagreement continued. Samuel, the other friend of us sat motionlessly and observed us exchanging words with each other. The argument continued for about 15 minutes, and I tried him to persuade in taking some other books but he was determined. He did not change his mind and said that once he started reading the novel but could not finish the book for some reasons. Now he did not want to miss the chance to complete the book and tried me to fathom the reason for his actions. I had completed reading the one fourth of the book and as a quick reader, I proposed him to take the book on the very next day. But he was unchanged in his attitude. He blackmailed me emotionally saying that if I do not allow him to take the book, then he should not consider me as his friend. Finally, I had to give up on his stubbornness and let him take the book on one condition that he should return the book just after he finishes reading and also will not lend someone else (he had lost most of his books by lending others for his extraordinary generosity) as he did earlier with my books. extrovert nature: the quality of being confident and enjoying spending time with other people misunderstanding: ̣an argument or disagreement that is not very serious bosom friend: a very close friend motionlessly: not moving at all Blackmail: making threats or making you feel guilty 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Flowers & Sample Answers Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:11 AM PST FLOWERS 1. Do you love flowers? Why? 2. Which/What is your favorite flower? 3. Do you think flowers are important? 4. Are flowers important in your culture? (Give examples) 5. Do people in your country ever use flowers for special occasions? 6. What are the occasions when people give or receive flowers? 7. In your country, do people (ever) give flowers as a gift? 8. When was the last time you gave flowers to someone? Sample Answers Do you like flowers? (Why?) Yes, I do like flowers. As an introvert, sometimes, I find myself feeling peaceful and relaxed while enjoying nice flowers in my garden. I have a habit of taking pictures of flowers after the rain. I feel most at peace spending chunks of good time on my own, in relative silence, contemplating the beauty of flowers with raindrops through my camera lens. Vocabulary Introvert (n) a shy, reticent person. (a) chunk of (n) a significant amount of something Good-time (n) (of a person) having the pursuit of pleasure as one’s chief aim To contemplate (v) to look thoughtfully for a long time at 2. Which/What is your favorite flower? White roses are truly my favorite flower. They are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. However, their beauty has also made them a gesture of remembrance. Therefore, a bouquet of white rose is a perfect way to say “I’m thinking of you”. Vocabulary Gesture (n) a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning (a) Bouquet of (flowers) (phrase) an attractively arranged bunch of flowers, especially one presented as a gift or carried at a ceremony 3. Do you think flowers are important? For an introvert like me, enjoying the harmonization of various types of flowers with different gorgeous colors in the garden or in florist shops could brighten up my days and lift my spirits. Vocabulary Harmonization (n) a good combination Gorgeous (adj) beautiful, very attractive Brighten up (phrasal verb) make something more pleasant and happy Lift our spirits (expression) make us feel happier 4. Are flowers important in your culture? (Give examples) Definitely. With beautiful meanings, some flowers are chosen to show people’s key virtues. Lotus flowers, for example, have been regarded as the national flower. The lotus plants grow from the marsh but their leaves and flowers grow toward the direction of the sunlight, which symbolizes the purity and faithfulness of people’s spirits. Vocabulary Virtue (n) good qualities or characteristics To regard as (v) to consider or think of in a specified way To symbolize (v) to be a symbol of 5. Do people in your country ever use flowers for special occasions? Flowers are widely used in many occasions and festivals in our country to represent for a blessing, happiness and good luck. Most families have at least one kind of plants or flowers at home. 6. What are the occasions when people give or receive flowers? A bunch of flowers is considered as a gift for a wide range of occasions for both people to send and receive flowers. For example, in a birthday party, Women’s day, or Valentine’s day, colorful flowers are arranged nicely in a small vase and given to each other. Vocabulary A bunch of flowers (phrase) a number of things, typically of the same kind, growing or fastened together. 7. In your country, do people (ever) give flowers as a gift? Yes, they do. As mention above, flowers play an essential role in different occasions as a special gift for people to show love to one another. People, especially girls, are happy and pleased when they receive their favorite flowers from beloved ones on their birthday. 8. When was the last time you gave flowers to someone? It was a couple of weeks ago when I bought a bouquet of flowers as a present for my mom. She was deliriously happy when receiving it and put in in the sitting room so that everyone in my family can admire its beauty too. 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Advertisements & Sample Answers Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:03 AM PST ADVERTISEMENT 1. Are there many advertisements in your country? 2. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now? 3. What are the various places where we see advertisements? 4. How do you feel about advertisements? Sample Answers 1.Are there many advertisements in your country? Definitely, there are. They appear all over the place from the streets to social media with a high density. For example, there is a multitude of colorful flyers sticked on the street walls in Sydney. Vocabulary All over the place (expression) everywhere Density (n) the quantity of people or things in a given area or space. A multitude of (expression) a very large number of people or things Flyers (n) a small handbill advertising an event or product. 2. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now? I guess it’s due to the benefits of the companies. First, advertisements are the easiest way to reach the customers to attract their attentions to a particular brand or product. From that attractive information, customers will be able to choose an appropriate one. Second, it also plays a crucial role in marketing strategy that the company apply to attract customers. Vocabulary To be able to do Sth (v) having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something. To play a (an) crucial/essential/key/main role in (v): of great importance Campaign (n) an organized course of action to achieve a goal 3. What are the various places where we see advertisements? Advertising is here, there, and every where. It gets to people through different types of communication such as flyers and banners on the streets or printed ones on newspaper, magazines or electronic ones on social media. It could be written, verbal or a short movie. Here, there, and every where (expression) everywhere 4. How do you feel about advertisements? Sometimes, I find it a little bit annoyed and disappointing because the quality products are usually overrated. However, there are other beneficial advertisements in supermarkets which has informative contents for customers such as on which days there will be promotions or which new products will be launched. Vocabulary Informative (adj) to provide useful or interesting information Promotions (n) activity that supports or encourages a cause, venture, or aim. Launch (v) to introduce (a new product or publication) to the public for the first time. Overrated (adj) to have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Noise & Sample Answers Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:40 PM PST NOISE 1.Do you mind noises? 2.What types of noise do you come across in your daily life? 3.Are there any sounds that you like? 4.Where can you hear loud noise? 5. Do you think there’s too much noise in modern society? 6. Are cities becoming noisier? Sample Answers 1.Do you mind noises? It’s really hard for me to say no. I mean, I really can’t bear noisy people, noisy places or even noisy things. For me noise is the number-one distractor when it comes to studying or working. You know, they actually just go ahead and interrupt my flow of thoughts. Can’t bear Ving (expression) can’t tolerate something 2. What types of noise you come across in your daily life? Well, I have to say that I face up to a rich variety of noises on a daily basis. The first type of noise is from traffic, especially during the rush hours. The second is noise from factories, construction sites which never fail to distract me from working, thereby reducing my productivity. Face up to (phrasal verb) to confront an unpleasant situation Productivity (n) The quality of being productive 3. Are there any sounds that you like? I think there is one sound that can always lull me to sleep, the rain sound. There are nights I was so stressed out that I can hardly sleep no matter how much I tried, and then I went online searching for some sound for deep sleep or relaxation, and rain sound is always one of the top choices. And since then rain sound has become my go-to on sleepless nights. Vocabulary To lull SO to sleep (v) to calm or send to sleep, typically with soothing sounds or movements To be stressed out (adj) a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Top recommendations (n) to be highly recommended Go-to (adj) ideal, first choice 4. Where can you hear loud noise? From a number of sources. It can come from the crazy drivers down there on the streets. It can come from a building being built. It can come from a music festivals or a DJ party where the crowd totally go wild. It can even come from a crying baby or a fight nextdoor. 5. Do you think there’s too much noise in modern society? Indeed. I do think the level of noise is increasing overtime mainly due to human activities. The situation gets even worse if you live in a big modern city at a young age. Your auditory must be trained so hard to tolerate such noise everyday. It is really alarming now to raise people’s awareness towards this “invisible” killer. Vocabulary Auditory (n) relating to the sense of hearing Tolerate (v) to accept or endure (someone or something unpleasant or disliked) with forbearance 6. Are cities becoming noisier? Most cities in our country are suffering serious noise pollution due to rapidly increasing population and a massive amount of daily transportation. The consistently intense presence of noise does serious harm to the public health. Vocabulary To do (serious) harm to (v) to damage the health of IELTS Reading Practice Test 29 with Answers Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:11 PM PST Section 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 Working in the movies When people ask French translator Virginie Verdier what she does for a living, it must be tempting to say enigmatically: ‘Oh me? I’m in the movies’. It’s strictly true, but her starring role is behind the scenes. As translating goes, it doesn’t get more entertaining or glamorous than subtitling films. If you’re very lucky, you get to work on the new blockbuster films before they’re in the cinema, and if you’re just plain lucky, you get to work on the blockbuster movies that are going to video or DVD. The process starts when you get the original script and a tape. ‘We would start with translating and adapting the film script. The next step is what we call ‘timing’, which means synchronising the subtitles to the dialogue and pictures.’ This task requires discipline. You play the film, listen to the voice and the subtitles are up on your screen ready to be timed. You insert your subtitle when you hear the corresponding dialogue and delete .it when the dialogue finishes. The video tape carries a time code which runs in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. Think of it as a clock. The subtitling unit has an insert key to capture the time code where you want the subtitle to appear. When you press the delete key, it captures the time code where you want the subtitle to disappear. So each subtitle wouldSubtitling is an exacting part of the translation profession. Melanie Leyshon talks to Virginie Verdier of London translation company VSI about the glamour and the grind. Virginie is quick to point out that this is as exacting as any translating job. You work hard. It’s not all entertainment as you are doing the translating. You need all the skills of a good translator and those of a top-notch editor. You have to be precise and, of course, much more concise than in traditional translation work. ‘have an ‘in’ point and an ‘out’ point which represent the exact time when the subtitle comes in and goes out. This process is then followed by a manual review, subtitle by subtitle, and time- codes are adjusted to improve synchronisation and respect shot changes. This process involves playing the film literally frame by frame as it is essential the subtitles respect the visual rhythm of the film.’ Different subtitlers use different techniques. ‘I would go through the film and do the whole translation and then go right back from the beginning and start the timing process. But you could do it in different stages, translate let’s say 20 minutes of the film, then time this section and translate the next 20 minutes, and so on. It’s just a different method.’ For multi-lingual projects, the timing is done first to create what is called a ‘spotting list’, a subtitle template, which is in effect a list of English subtitles pre-timed and edited for translation purposes. This is then translated and the timing is adapted to the target language with the help of the translator for quality control. ‘Like any translation work, you can’t hurry subtitling,’ says Virginie. ‘If subtitles are translated and timed in a rush, the quality will be affected and it will show.’ Mistakes usually occur when the translator does not master the source language and misunderstands the original dialogue. ‘Our work also involves checking and reworking subtitles when the translation is not up to standard. However, the reason for redoing subtitles is not just because of poor quality translation. We may need to adapt subtitles to a new version of the film: the time code may be different. The film may have been edited or the subtitles may have been created for the cinema rather than video. If subtitles were done for cinema on 35mm, we would need to reformat the timing for video, as subtitles could be out of synch or too fast. If the translation is good, we would obviously respect the work of the original translator.’ On a more practical level, there are general subtitling rules to follow, says Virginie. ‘Subtitles should appear at the bottom of the screen and usually in the centre.’ She say that different countries use different standards and rules. In Scandinavian countries and Holland, for example, subtitles are traditionally left justified. Characters usually appear in white with a thin black border for easy reading against a white or light background. We can also use different colours for each speaker when subtitling for the hearing impaired. Subtitles should have a maximum of two lines and the maximum number of characters on each line should be between 32 and 39. Our company standard is 37 (different companies and countries have different standards).’ Translators often have a favourite genre, whether it’s war films, musicals, comedies (one of the most difficult because of the subtleties and nuances of comedy in different countries), drama or corporate programmes. Each requires a certain tone and style. ‘VSI employs American subtitlers, which is incredibly useful as many of the films we subtitle are American,’ says Virginie. ‘For an English person, it would not be so easy to understand the meaning behind typically American expressions, and vice-versa.’ Questions 1-5 Complete the flow chart below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-5 cm your answer sheet. THE SUBTITLING PROCESS Stage 1: Translate and adapt the script Stage 2: 1……………….………. -matching the subtitles to what said Involves recording time codes by using the 2…………………………………..and…………………………. keys. Stage 3: 3……………………. – in order to make the 4…………..……………………………. better Multi – lingual project Stage 1: Produce something known as a 5………………………………………………………..and translate that Questions 6-9 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 6-9 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 6 For translators, all subtitling work on films is desirable. 7 Subtitling work involves a requirement that does not apply to other translation work. 8 Some subtitling techniques work better than others. 9 Few people are completely successful at subtitling comedies. Questions 10-13 Complete the sentences below with words from Reading Passage I. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 10—13 on your answer sheet. 10 Poor subtitling can be a result of the subtitler not being excellent at…………………..……. 11 To create subtitles for a video version of a film, it may be necessary to………………….….. 12 Subtitles usually have a………………………………………. around them. 13 Speakers can be distinguished from each ocher for the benefit of………………………………… Section 2 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14—26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 on pages 100 and ¡01. Complementary and alternative medicine WHAT DO SCIENTISTS IN BRITAIN THINK ABOUT ALTERNATIVE’ THERAPIES? OR LA KENNEDY READS A SURPRISING SURVEY Is complementary medicine hocus-pocus or does it warrant large-scale scientific investigation? should science range beyond conventional medicine and conduct research on alternative medicine and the supposed growing links between mind and body? This will be hotly debated at the British Association for the Advancement of Science. One Briton in five uses complementary medicine, and according to the most recent Mintel survey, one in ten uses herbalism or homoeopathy. Around £130 million is spent on oils, potions and pills every year in Britain, and the complementary and alternative medicine industry is estimated to be worth £1.6 billion. With the help of Professor Edzard Ernst, Laing chair of complementary medicine at The Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, we asked scientists their views on complementary and alternative medicine. Seventy-five scientists, in fields ranging from molecular biology to neuroscience, replied. Surprisingly, our sample of scientists was twice as likely as the public to use some form of complementary medicine, at around four in 10 compared with two in 10 of the general population. Three quarters of scientific users believed they were effective. Acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy were the most commonly used complementary treatments among scientists and more than 55 per cent believed these were more effective than a placebo and should be available to all on the National Health Service. Scientists appear to place more trust in the more established areas of complementary and alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy, for which there are professional bodies and recognised training, than therapies such as aromatherapy and spiritual healing. ‘Osteopathy is now a registered profession requiring a certified four-year degree before you can advertise and practise,’ said one neuroscientist who used the therapy. Nearly two thirds of the scientists who replied to our survey believed that aromatherapy and homoeopathy were no better than placebos, with almost a half thinking the same of herbalism and spiritual thinking. Some of the comments we received were scathing, even though one in ten of our respondents had used homeopathy. ‘Aromatherapy and homoeopathy are scientifically nonsensical,’ said one molecular biologist from the University of Bristol. Dr Romke Bron, a molecular biologist at the Medical Research Council Centre at King’s College London, added: ‘Homoeopathy is a big scam and I am convinced that if someone sneaked into a homoeopathic pharmacy and swapped labels, nobody would notice anything.’ Two centuries after homeopathy was introduced, it still lacks a watertight demonstration that it works. Scientists are happy that the resulting solutions and sugar baffled by how they can do anything. Both complementary and conventional medicine should be used in routine health care, according to followers of the ‘intergrated health approach’, who want to treat an individual ‘as a whole’. But the scientists who responded to our survey s expressed serious concerns about this approach, with more than half believing that integrated medicine was an attempt to bypass rigorous scientific testing. Dr Bron said: ‘There is an awful lot of bad science going on in alternative medicine and the general public has a hard time to distinguish between scientific myth and fact. It is absolutely paramount to maintain rigorous quality control in health care. Although the majority of alternative health workers mean well, there are just too many frauds out there preying on vulnerable people.’ One molecular biologist from the University of Warwick admitted that ‘by doing this poll I have realised how shamefully little I understand about alternative therapy. Not enough scientific research has been performed. There is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that at least some of the alternative therapies are effective for some people, suggesting this is an area ripe for research.’ When asked if complementary and alternative medicine should get more research funding, scientists believed the top three (acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy) should get money, as should herbalism. It seems that therapies based on physical manipulation or a known action – like the active ingredients in a herb on a receptor in the body – are the ones that the scientific community has faith in. Less than a quarter thought that therapies such as aromatherapy, homoeopathy and spiritual healing should get any funding. Scientists believed that the ‘feelgood’ counselling effect of complementary medicine and the time taken to listen to patients’ problems was what worked, rather than any medicinal effect. In contrast, the average visit to the doctor lasts only eight minutes, says the British Medical Association. Dr Stephen Nurrish, a molecular biologist at University College London, said: ‘Much of the benefit people get from complementary medicine is the time to talk to someone and be listened to sympathetically, something that is now lacking from medicine in general.’ But an anonymous neuroscientist at King’s College London had a more withering view of this benefit: ‘On the validity of complementary and alternative medicines, no one would dispute that ‘feeling good’ is good for your health, but why discriminate between museum-trip therapy, patting-a-dog therapy and aromatherapy? Is it because only the latter has a cadre of professional ‘practitioners’?’ There are other hardline scientists who argue that there should be no such thing as complementary and alternative medicine. As Professor David Moore, director of the Medical Research Council’s Institute for Hearing Research, said: ‘Either a treatment works or it doesn’t. The only way to determine if it works is to test it against appropriate controls (that is, scientifically).’ Questions 14-19 Look at the following views (Questions 14—19) and the list of people below them. Match each view with the person expressing it in the passage. Write the correct letter A—E in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once. 14 Complementary medicine provides something that conventional medicine no longer does. 15 It is hard for people to know whether they are being told the truth or nor. 16 Certain kinds of complementary and alternative medicine are taken seriously because of the number of people making money from them. 17 Nothing can be considered a form of medicine unless it has been proved effective. 18 It seems likely that some forms of alternative medicine do work. 19 One particular kind of alternative medicine is a deliberate attempt to cheat the public. List of People A Dr Romke Bron B a molecular biologist from the University of Warwick C Dr Stephen Nurrish D a neuroscientist at King’s College London E Professor David Moore Questions 20-22 Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-F from the box below. Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet. 20 The British Association for the Advancement of Science will be discussing the issue of 21 A recent survey conducted by a certain organisation addressed the issue of 22 The survey in which the writer of the article was involved gave information on A what makes people use complementary rather than conventional medicine.’ B how many scientists themselves use complementary and alternative medicine. C whether alternative medicine should be investigated scientifically. D research into the use of complementary and conventional medicine together. E how many people use various kinds of complementary medicine. F the extent to which attitudes to alternative medicine are changing Questions 23—26 Classify the following information as being given about A acupuncture B aromatherapy C herbalism D homoeopathy Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet. 23 scientists believe that it is ineffective but harmless. 24 Scientists felt that it could he added to the group of therapies that deserved to be provided with resources for further investigation. 25 Scientists felt that it deserved to be taken seriously because of the organised way in which it has developed. 26 A number of scientists had used it, but harsh criticism was expressed about it Section 3 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27—40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 on the following pages. Questions 27-32 Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs A-F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i-x in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet. List of Headings i An easily understood system ii Doubts dismissed iii Not a totally unconventional view iv Theories compared v A momentous occasion vi A controversial use of terminology Vii Initial confusion viii Previous beliefs replaced ix More straightforward than expected X An obvious thing to do 27 Paragraph A 28 Paragraph B 29 Paragraph C 30 Paragraph D 31 Paragraph E 32 Paragraph F The cloud messenger At six o’clock one evening in December 1802, in a dank and cavernous laboratory in London, an unknown young amateur meteorologist gave the lecture that teas to make him famous A Luke Howard had been speaking for nearly an hour, during which time his audience had found itself in a state of gradually mounting excitement. By the time that he reached the concluding words of his address, the Plough Court laboratory was in an uproar. Everyone in the audience had recognized the importance of what they had just heard, and all were in a mood to have it confirmed aloud by their friends and neighbours in the room. Over the course of the past hour, they had been introduced not only to new explanations of the formation and lifespan of clouds, but also to a poetic new terminology: ‘Cirrus’, ‘Stratus’, ‘Cumulus’, ‘Nimbus’, and the other names, too, the names of intermediate compounds and modified forms, whose differences were based on altitude, air temperature and the shaping powers of upward radiation. There was much that needed to be taken on board. B Clouds, as everyone in the room would already have known, were staging posts m the rise and fall of water as it made its way on endless compensating journeys between the earth and the fruitful sky. Yet the nature of the means of their exact construction remained a mystery to most observers who, on the whole, were still in thrall to the vesicular or ‘bubble’ theory that had dominated meteorological thinking for the better part of a century. The earlier speculations, in all their strangeness, had mostly been forgotten or were treated as historical curiosities to be glanced at, derided and then abandoned. Howard, however, was adamant that clouds were formed from actual solid drops of water and ice, condensed from their vaporous forms by the fall in temperature which they encountered as they ascended through the rapidly cooling lower atmosphere. Balloon pioneers during the 1780s had continued just how cold it could get up in the realm of the clouds: the temperature fell some 6.5″C for every thousand metres they ascended. By the rime the middle of a major cumulus cloud had been reached, the temperature would have dropped to below freezing, while the oxygen concentration of the air would be starting to thin quire dangerously. That was what the balloonists meant by ‘dizzy heights’. C Howard was not, of course, the first to insist that clouds were best understood as entities with physical properties of their own, obeying the same essential laws which governed the rest of the natural world (with one or two interesting anomalies: water, after all, is a very strange material). It had long been accepted by many of the more scientifically minded that clouds, despite their distance and their seeming intangibility, should be studied and apprehended like any other objects in creation. D There was more, however, and better. Luke Howard also claimed that there was a fixed and constant number of basic cloud types, and this number was not (as the audience might have anticipated) in the hundreds or the thousands, like the teeming clouds themselves, with each as individual as a thumbprint. Had this been the case, it would render them both unclassifiable and unaccountable; just so many stains upon the sky. Howard’s claim, on the contrary, was that there were just three basic families of cloud, into which every one of the thousands of ambiguous forms could be categorized with certainty. The clouds obeyed a system and, once recognized in outline, their basic forms would be ‘as distinguishable from each other as a tree from a hill, or the latter from a lake’, for each displayed the simplest possible visual characteristics. E The names which Howard devised tor them were designed to convey a descriptive sense of each cloud type’s outward characteristics (a practice derived from the usual procedures of natural history classification), and were taken from the Latin, for ease of adoption by the learned of different nations’: Cirrus (from the Latin for fibre or hair), Cumulus (from the Latin for heap or pile) and Stratus (from the Latin for layer or sheet). Clouds were thus divided into tendrils, heaps and layers: the three formations at the heart of their design. Howard then went on to name four other cloud types, all of which were either modifications or aggregates of the three major families of formation. Clouds continually unite, pass into one another and disperse, but always in recognizable stages. The rain cloud Nimbus, for example (from the Latin for cloud), was, according to Howard, a rainy combination of all three types, although Nimbus was reclassified as nimbostratus by meteorologists in 1932, by which time the science of rain had developed beyond all recognition. The modification of clouds was a major new idea, and what struck the audience most vividly about it was its elegant and powerful fittingness. All of what they had just heard seemed so clear and so self-evident. Some must have wondered how it was that no one – not even in antiquity – had named or graded the clouds before, or if they had, why their efforts had left no trace in the language. How could it he that the task had been waiting for Howard, who had succeeded in wringing a kind of exactitude from out of the vaporous clouds? Their forms, though shapeless and unresolved, had at last, it seemed, been securely grasped. Howard had given a set of names to a radical fluidity and impermanence that seemed every bit as magical, to that first audience, as the Eskimo’s fabled vocabulary of snow. Questions 33-36 Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33—36 on your answer sheet. 33. Reaching situation known as the 33………………………. . 35. not much 35………………………. . 36. temperature down 36…………………….. per …………………….. . ieltsmaterial.com - ielts reading practice 29Questions 37-40 Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs labelled A-F Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once. 37 an example of a modification made to work done by Howard 38 a comparison between Howard’s work and another classification system. 39 a reference to the fact that Howard presented a very large amount of information 40 an assumption that the audience asked themselves a question ANSWER KEY FOR IELTS READING PRACTICE TEST READING Passage 1 Questions 1-5 1 Answer: timing Note 3sr paragraph, 2nd sentence: ‘Synchronising the subtitles to the dialogue and pictures’ means ‘matching the subtitles to what is said and seen’. 2 Answer: insert; delete Note 3rd paragraph: ‘You insert… disappear.’ You press the insert key to record the time on the tape when you want the subtitle to appear on the screen, and the delete key to record the time on the tape when you want it to disappear from the screen. 3 Answer: (a) manual review Note 3rd paragraph: ‘This process is then …’. After setting the places where each subtitle appears and disappears, you then check each one by pressing the necessary keys. 4 Answer: synchronisation Note 3rd paragraph: This process is then …’. While checking all the subtitles, some may be ‘adjusted’ (changed a bit) to ‘improve synchronisation’ – to make sure that the subtitles match the dialogue and the pictures better. 5 Answer: spotting list Note 5th paragraph: This is all the subtitles in English, all timed to fit in at the correct places in the film; these subtitles are then translated info the required language by a translator, who does not have to fit them into the correct places because this has already been done. Questions 6-9 6 Answer: TRUE Note 1st paragraph: ‘As translating goes … DVD’. The writer says that if you work as a translator, there is nothing more ‘entertaining or glamorous’ than subtitling films. The best work is on new blockbuster films before they come out, but you are also lucky if you work on films being translated for video or DVD. All translators therefore want to do any work that involves subtitling films. 7 Answer: TRUE Note 3rd paragraph: ‘You have to be more concise’, you have to say things in fewer words than in traditional translation work. 8 Answer: FALSE Note 4th paragraph: Two different methods are described. The second is said to be ‘just a different method’, which means that it is neither better nor worse than the first. It is simply a different approach. The two methods are therefore equally effective. 9 Answer: NOT GIVEN Note Last paragraph: Comedies are said to be particularly difficult to translate and provide subtitles for, but we are not told whether or not only a few people manage to do it successfully. ► Questions 10—13 10 Answer: the source language Note 6th paragraph: ‘Mistakes usually occur… If the translator ‘does not master’ (is not excellent at) the source language, they will make mistakes when subtitling. 11 Answer: reformat the timing Note 6th paragraph: ‘If subtitles were done … ‘. The timing of the subtitles has to be changed when a video version of the film is made because the subtitles for the film version may not match those required for the video version for technical reasons. 12 Answer: thin black border Note 7th paragraph: ‘Characters usually appear… A border is something that surrounds something. Most subtitles have white letters with a thin black border round them, we are told. 13 Answer: the hearing impaired Note 7th paragraph: We can also use … The words spoken by different characters can be put into different colours for each character, so that people who are deaf or cannot hear well will know which character Is speaking while they are reading the subtitles. READING Passage 2 Question 14-19 14 Answer: C Note 10th paragraph: Dr Nurrish says that complementary medicine gives people the chance to ‘talk to someone and be listened to sympathetically’, and that this opportunity is ‘lacking’ (Is not available) in medicine In general. 15 Answer: A Note 7th paragraph: Dr Bron says that in the field of alternative medicine, ‘the general public has a hard time to distinguish between scientific myth and fact’. Some things they are told are not true, but they may not know that. 16 Answer: D Note 11th paragraph: The neuroscientist has a ‘withering’ (very critical) opinion of alternative medicine. He says that the only difference between aromatherapy (‘the latter’) and the other kinds of therapy he mentions is that aromatherapy has a ‘cadre of professional practitioners’ – there are a number of people who earn a living from aromatherapy – whereas this is not the case with the other kinds of therapy. He suggests that the other kinds of therapy are not taken seriously and that aromatherapy should not be taken seriously either. 17 Answer: E Note Last paragraph: Professor Moore says ‘there should be no such thing as complementary or alternative medicine’ – it should not exist. He thinks that every form of treatment that has been scientifically proved to work should be considered medicine and that any form of treatment that has not been scientifically tested cannot be considered medicine of any kind. 18 Answer: B Note 8th paragraph: The molecular biologist says that there is enough ‘anecdotal evidence'(evidence from what people have said about their own experiences) that some alternative therapies ‘are effective'(do work) and that therefore research should be done into them. 19 Answer: A Note 5th paragraph: Dr Bron says that homoeopathy is a ‘scam’ (a clever and illegal way of cheating people out of money), and that claims made about the content of homoeopathic treatments cannot be trusted. Questions 20-22 20 Answer: C Note 1st paragraph: ‘This’ at the beginning of the last sentence refers to the question of whether complementary or alternative medicine can be considered to ‘warrant’ (deserve) ‘scientific investigation’ and whether scientists should ‘conduct research’ into it. 21 Answer: E Note 2nd paragraph: The Mintel survey found that one in five British people (20%) used complementary medicine, so, clearly, the number of people using it was one of the subjects of that survey. 22 Answer: B Note 3rd paragraph: The writer says that ‘our sample’ – the scientists asked in the survey the writer was involved in – used complementary medicine more than the general public. It therefore tried to find out how many scientists used it. Questions 23-26 Task location: Spread throughout the text 23 Answer: D Note 6th paragraph: Scientists felt that homoeopathy has not been definitely proved to work and are ‘baffled by how’ – they cannot understand how – it could be effective, but they think it has ‘no side effects’ – no unpleasant and unintended results. 24 Answer: C Note 9th paragraph: The scientists felt that acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy should all receive money for research, ‘as should herbalism’ – and herbalism should receive money for research too. 25 Answer: A Note 4th paragraph: Acupuncture is said to be one of the ‘more established areas’ that scientists ‘place more trust in’ because they have ‘professional bodies’ (organisations to run them) and ‘recognised training’. 26 Answer: D Note 5th paragraph: ‘Some of the comments … scathing’. The writer says that 10% of the scientists they asked in their survey had used homoeopathy, but that comments made about it were ‘scathing’ (extremely critical). READING Passage 3 ► Questions 27—32 27 Answer: v Note A ‘momentous occasion’ is an important event that has important results. The paragraph describes the event – Luke Howard’s talk at the laboratory – and its effect on the audience, who realised that what they were hearing was of great importance. 28 Answer: viii Note The paragraph refers to theories about cloud formation that people were still ‘in thrall to’ (still strongly believed in), such as the vesicular or bubble theory. Howard’s ideas showed these theories to be incorrect. In addition, the popular theories at the time had replaced the ‘earlier speculations’ – theories that had appeared before them but were now forgotten or considered strange. 29 Answer: iii Note It is stated in the paragraph that Howard’s theory that clouds should be regarded as having things in common with the rest of the natural world was not a new one, and that ‘many of the more scientifically minded’ people held the same view. 30 Answer: ix Note We are told that people may have thought that classifying clouds would involve hundreds or thousands of different types of cloud, but that Howard showed that there were ‘just three basic families of cloud’. Therefore, he showed that classifying clouds was a less complex matter than people might have expected. 31 Answer: i Note At the beginning of the paragraph, we are told that Howard’s system for classifying clouds involved giving them names that were connected with what they looked like and using Latin names because people of many nationalities would understand them. The rest of the paragraph gives examples of his names. 32 Answer: x Note We are told that Howard’s system was ‘clear and self-evident’ to the audience and that, because it was so clearly the right way to describe clouds, they wondered why nobody had done it before. Questions 33-36 33 Answer: dizzy heights Note Paragraph B, last sentence. This is what the situation shown in the diagram was called by balloonists, we are told. 34 Answer: major cumulus cloud Note The situation described is when a balloon has gone up so high in the sky that it ¡s now in the middle of this type of cloud. 35 Answer: oxygen Note At this point, the ‘oxygen concentration’ in the air begins to ‘thin quite dangerously’ – there begins to be so little oxygen that breathing becomes difficult. 36 Answer: 6.5°C; thousand/1000 metres Note As the balloon goes up into the air, the air temperature goes down at the rate described. Questions 37-40 37 Answer: E Note Paragraph E, last sentence: The cloud type that Howard called Nimbus was later given a different name – nimbostratus – by meteorologists. 38 Answer: F Note Paragraph F, last sentence: Howard’s system for naming clouds is said to have been similar in a way to the system of words used by Eskimos for different types of snow. 39 Answer: A Note The paragraph lists all the kinds of information that Howard gave. In the last sentence, we are told that there was ‘much that needed to be taken on board’, which means that there was a lot of information for the audience to understand and think about. 40 Answer: F Note ‘Some must have wondered…’. The writer is saying that he is certain that people in the audience asked themselves why nobody had come up with a system for naming and grading clouds before Howard. IELTS Speaking Part 3 Questions & Answers – Topic: Handwriting Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:47 PM PST Read all IELTS Part 3 Topics & Questions below and practice with your IELTS speaking partner IELTS QUESTIONS ABOUT HANDWRITING Is handwriting still important? I personally believe that handwriting is crucial for some reasons. It’s a basic tool in many subjects such as doing homeworks, tests or taking notes. So poor handwriting skills or illegible writing can create trouble for students when they study. Handwriting is able to help students memorize everything better than typing. Besides, handwriting is in extricably linked to reading skills .It promotes a child’s visual memory, especially ones having difficulty reading. Mastering handwriting helps children recognize different letters quickly and help them to become good readers What are the disadvantages of handwriting? I see that the first and foremost disadvantage of handwriting is hard work and time-consuming. When we write very long text, we’ll feel pain of fingers and it takes longer time to finish than typing. Besides, We can save all kinds of documents on computers as they have huge storage and extremely safe with password . The last thing is that handwriting is linked to learning to spell but spell check is a function that all computers have so handwriting doesn’t help with this Is it possible to improve school student’s handwriting once they have established a style? Well, I do agree with that. In the short term it will almost certainly lead to a reduction in the student’s writing speed. They should take continuously practice of the new writing style and will become faster and automatic.. Is being left-handed the cause of the problem? In my opinion, that’s not a problem. The majority of left-handers write as well as their right-handed peers. Many reseaches also show that lefties have the upper hand in creativity, imagination as their thinking is different from righties. So that’s the reason why there are more and more left- handed people. Are handwriting problems more common in boys? Yes, I believe so. While girls are careful in everything, boys seem to be more careless. Therefore,girls seem to master good handwriting earlier than boys but boys can catch up if they are given appropriate help. What is the future of handwriting? Well, I think that the future of handwriting varies from place to place. At big cities , advanced technologies like laptop or smart phone allow people to quickly take note and save documents safely. So people would no longer write longhand notes and penmanship is likely to be lost. On the other hand, handwriting would still enjoy popularity as it helps poor people to write and learn how to spell. Besides, as the saying goes The pen is mightier than the keyboard so I think handwriting’d still be used in the future Do you think that handwriting express per