IELTS Reading Practice 1(Academic) TIME ALLOWED: 1 hour NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 40 Instructions ALL ANSWERS MUST BE WRITTEN ON THE ANSWER SHEET The Test is divided as follows: Questions 1 - 13 Reading Passage 2 Questions 14 - 27 Reading Passage 3 Questions 28 - 40 Start at the beginning of the test and work through it. You should answer all the questions. If you cannot do a particular question, leave it and go on to the next. You can return to it later. READING PASSAGE 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 - 13 which are based on Reading Passage 1. Is There Really a War on Drugs? A In our contemporary society, the media constantly bombards us with horror stories about drugs like crack-cocaine. From them, and probably from no other source, we learn that crack is immediately addictive in every case, we learn that it causes corruption, crazed violence, and almost always leads to death. The government tells us that we are busy fighting a war on drugs and so it gives us various iconic models to despise and detest: we learn to stereotype inner-city minorities as being of drug-infested wastelands and we learn to "witchhunt" drug users within our own communities under the belief that they represent moral sin and pure evil. I believe that these titles and ideals are preposterous and based entirely upon unnecessary and even detrimental ideals promoted by the government to achieve purposes other than those they claim. B In Craig Renarman's and Harry Levine's article entitled "The Crack Attack: Politics and Media in America's Latest Drug Scare," the authors attempt to expose and to deal with some of the societal problems that have resulted from the over-exaggeration of crack-cocaine as an "epidemic problem" in our country. Without detracting attention away from the serious health risks for those few individuals who do use the drug, Renarman and Levine demonstrate how minimally detrimental the current "epidemic" actually is. C Early in the article, the authors summarize crack-cocaine's evolutionary history in 1 the U.S. They specifically discuss how the crack-related deaths of two star-athletes which first called wide-spread attention to the problem during the mid-1980's. Since then, the government has reportedly used crack-cocaine as a political scapegoat for many of the nation's larger inner-city problems. Thefts, violence, and even socioeconomic depression have been blamed on crack. They assert that the government has invested considerably in studies whose results could be used to wage the constant "war on drugs" while to politicians, that war has amounted to nothing more than a perceptual war on poverty and urban crime. D Since politicians have had little else of marketable interest to debate over the years, this aggressive attack on drugs has existed as one of their only colorful means by which to create debate, controversy, and campaign fuel. In other words, when balancing the budget and maintaining an effective foreign policy became too boring to handle, Reinarman and Levine assert that the "crack epidemic" became the focus of politicians with the intent of luring public interest to their flashy anti-drug campaigns. E Finally, in addition to the media's excess attention on the 'war against drugs,' Reinarman and Levine make the point the constant coverage of crack in the news media has only been counterproductive to the alleged goals of any anti-drug program. With descriptions of the "crack high" that glorify it considerably- the politically-charged media campaigns to fight drugs have worked somewhat ironically as huge advertising campaigns for crack-- increasing public awareness and stimulating the interests of venturous junkies. F While Reinarman and Levine are rather adamant about their findings, they do maintain an overt respect for the reality that crack has had other causal factors and outcomes besides those described by them. Their main concern seems to be calling for a more realistic spotlight to be placed upon the problem- so that we can begin to deal with it as no more and no less than what should be. G The "war on drugs" is indeed based upon an exaggeration of facts. Although it is also evident that substances such as crack-cocaine may serve to pose great health risks to those that use them, there is not any widespread "epidemic" use of the drug nor any validity to the apparent myths that it causes such immediate devastation and is life- wrecking in every single case. It is obvious that we do indeed need to maintain a greater and more focused emphasis on the important and more widespread problems in society. Important energies and well- needed monies are being diverted from them to fight in an almost-imaginary battle against a controlled substance. Conclusively, we should allow drugs like crack-cocaine receive their due attention as social problems, but let them receive no more than that!. ___________________________________ 2 Questions 1 - 4 Choose the appropriate letter A - D and write your answers in boxes 1 - 4 on your answer sheet. 1. From the media we learn that crack-cocaine  A. gives us various iconic models to despise and detest. B. represents moral sin can evil. C. is addictive in every case, causes corruption and violence and almost always leads to death. D. bombards us with horror. 2. According to Craig Renarman and Harry Levine,  A. crack-cocaine is an ‗epidemic problem' in our country. B. crack-cocaine does not pose serious health risks for users. C. the current ‗epidemic' is really very serious. D. the current ‗epidemic' is not so serious despite the serious health risks for the few individual users. 3. Based on Paragraph C, we know that  A. crack-cocaine became widely know as a problem since the mid - 1980s. B crack-cocaine has caused many problems - from thefts, violence to socio-economic depression. C. the government has invested little fighting the ‗war on drugs'. D. drugs have led to political as well as social problems. 4. Politicians use the drug issue  A. to attack the drug dealers at the market. B. to lure the public interest to their flashy anti-drug campaign. C. to balance the budget and maintain an effective foreign policy. D. to attack drug users only. Questions 5 - 6 Complete the table below describing the causes and effects. Write your answers in boxes 5 - 6 on your answer sheet. CAUSES EFFECTS Example Answer crack-cocaine corruption, violence and deaths media's excess attention on the ‗war 5 against drugs' Politically-charged media campaigns to 6 fight drugs ©Copyright Hesheng International Service 3 Questions 7 - 13 Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 7 - 13 on your answer sheet write YES if the statement agrees with the writer NO if the statement does not agree with the writer. NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage 7. In our contemporary society, people all over the world should launch a war on drugs. 8. Drug users within our won communities represent moral sin and pure evil. 9. The ‗war on drugs' waged by the government is really a perceptual war on poverty and urban crimes. 10. Drug uses may lead to poverty and divorce. 11. We should spend more money and maintain a more focused emphasis on the importance and more wide-spread problems in society rather than on an almost- imaginary battle against drugs. 12. We should not pay too much attention to drug users, instead, we should fight against the drug dealers. 13. Drugs like crack-cocaine has received much more attention than is necessary. READING PASSAGE 2 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 - 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2. Questions 14 - 17 Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 14 - 17 on your answer sheet. Smog is also called haze or ground level ozone. It poses  14  for millions of people in the world. The term smog was first used to refer to  15  in urban areas resulting from the emission of sulphur dioxide. Much of the smog problem today is what is known as  16 . The primary health problems associated with smog are  17 . Smog Driving by any large city in the world, you will see smog. Sometimes it looks like a big gray or brown cloud hanging in the air. It is called haze or smog or ground level ozone, and it's a genuine health problem for millions of people around the world. Here is a guide for understanding its formation and consequences. 4 The term smog was first used by H.A. Des Voex in 1905 to describe the foggy conditions in urban areas resulting from the emission of sulfur dioxide from the newly created smokestacks of the industrial revolution. Much of the smog problem today is what is known as photochemical smog. Basically, the term refers to a complex chemical reaction whereby sunlight breaks down chemical compounds such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO ) into their constituent parts. Once broken down, the X now free oxygen molecules can link up with the oxygen in the air (O ) and create ozone, 2 which is a variation of oxygen, with one additional oxygen molecule attached to it. Hence, the chemical name of ozone is O . 3 Both VOCs and NO occur naturally, and can contribute to ground level ozone problems. x However, anthropogenic (human initiated) sources remain the focal point of policy analysis. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) represent a group of chemical compounds that share some common characteristics. First, the organic designation means that the compound is almost always composed of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) molecules. Volatile means the compound is easily evaporated. A quick reflective moment on the evaporative nature of two primary problematic VOCs in terms of ground level ozone, gas and oil, brings to mind the evaporative quality of the property. You can not fill up you gas tank without noticing the odor. The major man-made source of VOC emissions is motor vehicles. Evaporation of gasoline, solvents, oil-based paints, and hydrocarbons from the petrochemical industry are also significant sources. Interestingly enough, indoor air pollution resulting from VOCs emanating from products such as oil based paint and carpeting represents as great or greater a threat to human health. Like VOCs, NO are mainly produced by oil and gas, but in the case of NO X x contributions to ground level ozone, a combustion process proceeds the emission. For example,the exhaust from fossil fuel combustion in our motor vehicles is the primary source, followed by fuel burning in homes, businesses, factories and power plants. Respiratory ailments from asthma to bronchitis represent the primary health problems associated with human exposure to ground level ozone. The American Lung Association notes that anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 people are admitted to emergency rooms each year suffering ozone exposure related illnesses. Children are especially susceptible to ozone related illnesses because on average they spend more time outdoors than adults and their airways are narrower than adults. Questions 18 - 20 Reading Passage 2 has five paragraphs A - E. Choose the most suitable headings for Paragraphs B, C, and E from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i -v) in boxes 18 - 20 on your answer sheet. NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the following headings more than once. __________________ 5 List of Headings (i) Health problems caused by smog (ii) Smog the term and its formation (iii) Defining smog (iv) NOX and its sources (v) VOCs and their sources Example Paragraph A Answer (iii) 18. Paragraph B 19. Paragraph C 20. Paragraph E Questions 21 - 24 Complete the notes below with words taken from Reading Passage 2. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 21 - 24 on your answer sheet. VOCs and NOX I. VOC s: sources of emission i. The major man-made source:  21  ii.  22  : evaporation of gasoline, solvents etc. iii.  23  resulting from VOCs emanating from products like oil-based paint and carpeting. II. NOX: mainly produced by  24  Questions 25 - 27 Complete the diagram below. Use NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 25 - 27 on your answer sheet. 6 Ozone exposure  25  people  26  fewer adults more children Reasons: i. they spend more time outdoors. ii.  27  READING PASSAGE 3 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 - 40 which are based on Reading Passage 3. Marine Parks A The issue of whether we should allow marine parks to stay open has been widely debated in our community recently. It is an important issue because it concerns fundamental moral and economic questions about the way we use our native wildlife. A variety of different arguments have been put forward about this issue. This essay will consider arguments for having marine parks and point to some of the problems with these views. It will then put forward reasons for the introduction of laws which prohibit these unnecessary and cruel institutions. B It has been argued that dolphin parks provide the only opportunity for much of the public to see marine mammals. Most Australians, so this argument goes, live in cities and never get to see these animals. It is claimed that marine parks allow the average Australian to appreciate our marine wildlife. However, as some tourists state, dolphins, whales and seals can be viewed in the wild at a number of places on the Australian coast. In fact, there are more places where they can be seen in the wild than places where they can be seen in captivity. Moreover, most Australians would have to travel less to get to these locations than they would to get to the marine parks on the Gold Coast. In addition, places where there are wild marine mammals do not charge an exorbitant entry fee - they are free. C Dr Alison Lane, the director of the Cairns Marine Science Institute, contends that we need marine parks for scientific research. She argues that much of our knowledge of 7 marine mammals comes from studies which were undertaken at marine parks. The knowledge which is obtained at marine parks, so this argument goes, can be useful for planning for the conservation of marine mammal species. However, as Jones - director of a marine animal research project explains, park research is only useful for understanding captive animals and is not useful for learning about animals in the wild. Dolphin and whale biology changes in marine park conditions. Their diets are different, they have significantly lower life spans and they are more prone to disease. In addition, marine mammals in dolphin parks are trained and this means that their patterns of social behaviour are changed. Therefore research undertaken at marine parks is generally not reliable. D It is the contention of the Marine Park Owners Association that marine parks attract a lot of foreign tourists. This position goes on to assert that these tourists spend a lot of money, increasing our foreign exchange earnings and assisting our national balance of payments. However, foreign tourists would still come to Australia if the parks were closed down. Indeed, surveys of overseas tourists show that they come here for a variety of other reasons and not to visit places like Seaworld. Tourists come here to see our native wildlife in its natural environment and not to see it in cages and cement pools. They can see animals in those condition in their own countries Furthermore, we should be promoting our beautiful natural environment to tourists and not the ugly concrete marine park venues. E Dolphin parks are unnecessary and cruel. The dolphins and whales in these parks are kept in very small, cramped ponds, whereas in the wild they are used to roaming long distances across the seas. Furthermore, the concrete walls of the pools interfere with the animals' sonar systems of communication. In addition, keeping them in pools is a terrible restriction of the freedom of fellow creatures who may have very high levels of intelligence and a sophisticated language ability. Moreover, there are many documented cases of marine mammals helping humans who are in danger at sea or helping fisherman with their work. F In conclusion, these parks should be closed, or at the very least, no new animals should be captured for marine parks in the future. Our society is no longer prepared to tolerate unnecessary cruelty to animals for science and entertainment. If we continue with our past crimes against these creatures we will be remembered as cruel and inhuman by the generations of the future. (685 words) Questions 28 - 32 Complete the summary of arguments below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 28 - 32 on your answer sheet. A variety of different arguments have been put forward about marine parks. In the case of dolphin parks, some argue that they provide  28  to see these animals. Those against 8 marine parks, on the other hand, claim that these sea animals can be viewed  29  Another argument for marine parks contends that we need  30  for scientific research, while those against hold that park research is only useful for animals in captivity. Still another argument put forward by the Marine Park Owners Association is that marine parks attract many  31  Contrary to this claim are surveys showing that tourists come here for a variety of  32 . Questions 33 - 34 Answer questions 33 - 35 by writing the appropriate letters A - F in boxes 33 - 34 on your answer sheet. 33. Which paragraph puts forward arguments over the use of marine parks for scientific research? 34. Which paragraph describes the writer's suggestions? Questions 35 - 37 Choose the appropriate letters A - D and write your answers in boxes 35 - 37 on your answer sheet. 35. The issue of whether we should allow marine parks to stay open  A is still controversial and has not been decided in our community. B. has already been decided through debate. C. has led to the introduction of new laws. D. is unnecessary and cruel. 36. According to those against marine parks, dolphins can  A. only be seen in marine parks. B. only be seen in captivity. C. be seen at more places in the wild than in captivity. D. only be seen by travelling to remote places on the coast. 37. According to the writer, dolphins  A. live a better life in pools. B. are restricted in marine parks. C. do not like the communication systems of the ponds. D. roam long distances in the ponds. 9 Questions 38 - 40 Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 38 - 40 on your answer sheet write YES if the statement agrees with the writer NO if the statement does not agree with the writer. NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage 38. At marine parks visitors have to pay a high entry fee to see the animals. 39. Keeping dolphins and whales in pools will reduce the animal's intelligence and sophisticated language ability. 40. Marine animals can still be used for science and entertainment only. 10