Quiz

D.Education ielts read-03

D.Education English lessons software

THE ACADEMIC READING TEST
This is a 1 hour test in 3 sections with 40 questions based on 3 reading texts
The length of the Academic reading test will be between 2000 and 2750 words. Candidates are given a question paper and an answer paper. They may write on the question paper but they may not remove it from the test room after the test. All answers must be put onto the reading answer sheet before the end of the hour - there is no extra time after the 1 hour set for the academic reading test for the transfer of answers to the answer paper.
A variety of question types is used.
You should spend about 20 minutes per each passage.
Please try to complete the test within the time limit.(60 minutes) .
Now write in the gaps the right answer or (sometimes) click on the right answer and then click OK. Read the instruction in every question.
When you finish all the questions click on the button 'VERIFY' to see your report.

To verify the results of the quiz, press the button on the right

question 1

Test 03 Section 1
IELTS Academic Reading Test 03 Passage 1

PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 1 - 13, which are based on

The Brain and Intelligence

Human intelligence is an elusive quality. We all think we know it when we see it, but try to pin down that quality to a firm, testable definition and suddenly, even for the most experienced researchers, the concept disappears. But now a team of British and German scientists believe they have firmly nailed down at least part of the notion of intelligence. They claim to have found a location for intelligence, whatever it is, in the brain.

For many years researchers have believed that intelligence is a quality which is spread throughout the whole human brain. Traditional psychologists such as Benjamin Martin believe that this accounts for incidences where physical damage to the brain need not affect intelligence at all. By using advanced scanning equipment, however, researchers led by John Duncan of the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge now think that it is much more localized, and at the front of the brain in particular.

Duncan and his team have attempted to link intelligence to the activity of nerve cells in the brain by giving subjects a series of problem-solving tests. These tests are of the standard sort used to test and measure intelligence. They resemble puzzles, where sequences of numbers or letters have to be rearranged or continued, or patterns of shapes have to be inverted. While subjects are carrying out these intelligence tasks, their heads are scanned to see where electrical activity and blood flow in the brain are concentrated. It turns out that activity was concentrated in the frontal cortex and so, Duncan and his team presume, intelligence is situated there, too.

This new idea has not been met with universal acceptance, however. The usual definition of intelligence was set by Charles Spearman 100 years ago. This was the quality that allows some people to be very good at a whole variety of things — music, mathematics, practical problem solving and so on — while others are not. He called this quality general intelligence, or the ‘g factor’ for short. It was a contentious idea even at the time, but still no-one has come up with a better definition. Nonetheless, because the notion intelligence is imprecisely defined, the idea that there is fixed location for intelligence has to be questioned.

The questioning comes in an article in the prestigious journal Science, the same edition as Duncan’s own article. Yale psychologist Robert Sternberg points out that many people who are clearly intelligent, such as lead politicians and lawyers, do very badly in intelligence tests. Conversely, one might argue, there are plenty of academics who are good at intelligence tests but who cannot even tie their own shoe laces! Sternberg implies that the idea that being a successful politician or lawyer does not require intelligence flies in the face of reason. Rather more likely is the idea that so-called intelligence tests can have little to do with many practical manifestations of intelligence. The skills of verbal and mathematical analysis measured by these tests can tell us very little about the skills of social interaction and people-handling which are equally essential for success and are, therefore, equally valid qualities of intelligence.

Sternberg makes a further criticism of the conclusions drawn by Duncan’s team. The mental-atlas approach really does not tell us anything about intelligence. The fact that we know a computer’s ‘intelligence’ is produced by a computer chip and that we can say where this chip is, does not tell us anything about the computer’s intelligence or ability. We could easily move the location of the chip and this would not change the computer’s ‘intelligence’. As Benjamin Martin points out, this may be what happens in reality when following physical damage to one area of the brain knowledge and ability appear able to relocate.

You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 1 - 13.

Classify the following statements as referring to Write the appropriate LETTERS in gaps 1 - 8.

STATEMENTS
-A John Duncan - B Charles Spearman - C Benjamin Martin
-D Robert Sternberg - E The writer of the article

Questions 1 - 8
1 Intelligence can be located throughout the brain.
2 Intelligence makes you good at many different things.
3 Intelligence tests examine limited skills.
4 Intelligence is located at the front of the brain.
5 It is difficult to describe what intelligence is.
6 Intelligence tests can be bad at measuring the
intellect of professionals.
7 Intelligence and other abilities can reposition
following injury to the brain.
8 Intelligence is a characteristic required by those doing well
in legal and political professions.

question 2

Questions 9 - 13
Using information contained in the text, complete the following sentences using
NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

9 Spearman's ideas about intelligence are
10 The writer suggests that, in addition to academic ability, intelligence
includes a proficiency in
11 Sternberg believes that intelligence is not affected by its
12 Researchers trying to find the site of intelligence in the brain employed
13 The concept of intelligence cannot be clearly

question 3

Test 03 section 2

IELTS Academic Reading Test 03 - Passage 2

PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14—26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

GREYING POPULATION STAYS IN THE PINK

Elderly people are growing healthier, happier and more independent, say American scientists. The results of a 14-year study to be announced later this month reveal that the diseases associated with old age are afflicting fewer and fewer people and when they do strike, it is much later in life.

In the last 14 years, the National Long-term Health Care Survey has gathered data on the health and lifestyles of more than 20,000 men and women over 65. Researchers, now analyzing the results of data gathered in 1994, say arthritis, high blood pressure and circulation problems — the major medical complaints in this age group — are troubling a smaller proportion every year. And the data confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate. Other diseases of old age — dementia, stroke, arteriosclerosis and emphysema — are also troubling fewer and fewer people.

‘It really raises the question of what should be considered normal ageing,’ says Kenneth Manton, a demographer from Duke University in North Carolina. He says the problems doctors accepted as normal in a 65-year-old in 1982 are often not appearing until people are 70 or 75.

Clearly, certain diseases are beating a retreat in the face of medical advances. But there may be other contributing factors. Improvements in childhood nutrition in the first quarter of the twentieth century, for example, gave today’s elderly people a better start in life than their predecessors.

On the downside, the data also reveals failures in public health that have caused surges in some illnesses. An increase in some cancers and bronchitis may reflect changing smoking habits and poorer air quality, say the researchers. ‘These may be subtle influences,’ says Manton, ‘but our subjects have been exposed to worse and worse pollution for over 60 years. It's not surprising we see some effect.’

One interesting correlation Manton uncovered is that better-educated people are likely to live longer. For example, 65-year-old women with fewer than eight years of schooling are expected, on average, to live to 82. Those who continued their education live an extra seven years. Although some of this can be attributed to a higher income, Manton believes it is mainly because educated people seek more medical attention.

The survey also assessed how independent people over 65 were, and again found a striking trend. Almost 80% of those in the 1994 survey could complete everyday activities ranging from eating and dressing unaided to complex tasks such as cooking and managing their finances. That represents a significant drop in the number of disabled old people in the population. If the trends apparent in the United States 14 years ago had continued,
researchers calculate there would be an additional one million disabled elderly people in today’s population. According to Manton, slowing the trend has saved the United States government’s Medicare system more than $200 billion, suggesting that the greying of America’s population may prove less of a financial burden than expected.

The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in the use of simple home medical aids. For instance, the use of raised toilet seats has more than doubled since the start of the study, and the use of bath seats has grown by more than 50%. These developments also bring some health benefits, according to a report from the MacArthur Foundation’s research group on successful ageing. The group found that those elderly people who were able to retain a sense of independence were more likely to stay healthy in old age.

Maintaining a level of daily physical activity may help mental functioning, says Carl Cotman, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. He found that rats that exercise on a treadmill have raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor coursing through their brains. Cotman believes this hormone, which keeps neurons functioning, may prevent the brains of active humans from deteriorating.

As part of the same study, Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found a connection between self-esteem and stress in people over 70. In laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of their lives pumped out lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Chronically high levels of these hormones have been linked to heart disease.

But independence can have drawbacks. Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests that older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when they need it.

‘Like much research into ageing, these results support common sense,’ says Seeman. They also show that we may be underestimating the impact of these simple factors. ‘The sort of thing that your grandmother always told you turns out to be right on target,’ she says.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26.

Questions 14-22
complete the summary using the list of words A-Q, below
Write the correct letter, A-Q, in the gaps 14-22 .

LIST OF WORDS
-A cost - B falling - C technology - D undernourished - E earlier -F later
-G disabled - H more - I increasing - J nutrition - K education - L constant
- M medicine - N pollution -O environmental - P health - Q independent

Research carried out by scientists in the United States has shown that the proportion of people over 65 suffering from the most common age-related medical problems is 14 and that the speed of this change is 15 It also seems that these diseases are affecting people 16 in life than they did in the past. This is largely due to developments in 17 but other factors such as improved 18 may also be playing a part. Increases in some other illnesses may be due to changes in personal habits and to 19 The research establishes a link between levels
of 20 and life expectancy. It also shows that there has been a considerable reduction in the number of elderly people who are 21 which means that the 22 involved in supporting this section of the population may be less than previously predicted.

question 4

Questions 23-26
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
Write the correct letter, A-H, in the gaps 23-26 .

ENDINGS
A may cause heart disease.
B can be helped by hormone treatment.
C may cause rises in levels of stress hormones.
D have cost the United States government more than $200 billion.
E may help prevent mental decline.
F may get stronger at night.
G allow old people to be more independent.
H can reduce stress in difficult situations.

23 Home medical aids
24 Regular amounts of exercise
25 Feelings of control over life
26 Feelings of loneliness

question 5

Test 03 Section3

IELTS Academic Reading Test 03 - Passage 3

PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27—40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below

Numeration
One of the first great intellectual feats of a young child is learning how to talk, closely followed by learning how to count. From earliest childhood we are so bound up with our system of numeration that it is a feat of imagination to consider the problems faced by early humans who had not yet developed this facility. Careful consideration of our system of numeration leads to the conviction that, rather than being a facility that comes naturally to a person, it is one of the great and remarkable achievements of the human race.

It is impossible to learn the sequence of events that led to our developing the concept of number. Even the earliest of tribes had a system of numeration that, if not advanced, was sufficient for the tasks that they had to perform. Our ancestors had little use for actual numbers; instead their considerations would have been more of the kind Is this enough? rather than How many? when they were engaged in food gathering, for example. However, when early humans first began to reflect on the nature of things around them, they discovered that they needed an idea of number simply to keep their thoughts in order. As they began to settle, grow plants and herd animals, the need for a sophisticated number system became paramount. It will never be known how and when this numeration ability developed, but it is certain that numeration was well developed by the time humans had formed even semi-permanent settlements.

Evidence of early stages of arithmetic and numeration can be readily found. The indigenous peoples of Tasmania were only able to count one, two, many; those of South Africa counted one, two, Iwo and one, two twos, two twos and one, and so on. But in real situations the number and words are often accompanied by gestures to help resolve any confusion. For example, when using the one, two, many type of system, the word many would mean, Look at my hands and see how many fingers I am showing you. This basic approach is limited in the range of numbers that it can express, but this range will generally suffice when dealing with the simpler aspects of human existence.

The lack of ability of some cultures to deal with large numbers is not really surprising. European languages, when traced back to their earlier version, are very poor in number words and expressions. The ancient Gothic word for ten, tachund, is used to express the number 100 as tachund tachund. By the seventh century, the word teon had become interchangeable with the tachund or hund of the Anglo-Saxon language, and so 100 was denoted as hund teontig, or ten times ten. The average person in the seventh century in Europe was not as familiar with numbers as we are today. In fact, to qualify as a witness in a court of law a man had to be able to count to nine!

Perhaps the most fundamental step in developing a sense of number is not the ability to count, but rather to see that a number is really an abstract idea instead of a simple attachment to a group of particular objects. It must have been within the grasp of the earliest humans to conceive that four birds are distinct from two birds; however, it is not an elementary step to associate the number 4, as connected with four birds, to the number 4, as connected with four rocks. Associating a number as one of the qualities of a specific object is a great hindrance to the development of a true number sense. When the number 4 can be registered in the mind as a specific word, independent of the object being referenced, the individual is ready to take the first step toward the development of a notational system for numbers and, from there, to arithmetic.

Traces of the very first stages in the development of numeration can be seen in several living languages today. The numeration system of the Tsimshian language in British Columbia contains seven distinct sets of words for numbers according to the class of the item being counted: for counting flat objects and animals, for round objects and time, for people, for long objects and trees, for canoes, for measures, and for counting when no particular object is being numerated. It seems that the last is a later development while the first six groups show the relics of an older system. This diversity of number names can also be found in some widely used languages such as Japanese.

Intermixed with the development of a number sense is the development of an ability to count. Counting is not directly related to the formation of a number concept because it is possible to count by matching the items being counted against a group of pebbles, grains of corn, or the counter’s fingers. These aids would have been indispensable to very early people who would have found the process impossible without some form of mechanical aid. Such aids, while different, are still used even by the most educated in today’s society due to their convenience. All counting ultimately involves reference to something other than the things being counted. At first it may have been grains or pebbles but now it is a memorized sequence of words that happen to be the names of the numbers.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40.

Questions 2 7-31
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below
Write the correct letter, A-G, in the gaps 27-31.

ENDINGS
A was necessary in order to fulfill a civic role.
B was necessary when people began farming.
C was necessary for the development of arithmetic.
D persists in all societies.
E was used when the range of number words was restricted.
F can be traced back to early European languages.
G was a characteristic of early numeration systems.

27 A developed system of numbering
28 An additional hand signal
29 In seventh-century Europe, the ability to count to a certain number
30 Thinking about numbers as concepts separate from physical objects
31 Expressing number differently according to class of item

question 6

Questions 32-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In gaps 32-40 , 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

32 For the earliest tribes, the concept of sufficiency was more
Important than the concept of quantity.
33 Indigenous Tasmanians used only four terms to
indicate numbers of objects.
34 Some peoples with simple number systems use body language to prevent
misunderstanding of expressions of number.
35 All cultures have been able to express large numbers clearly.
36 The word 'thousand' has Anglo-Saxon origins.
37 In general, people in seventh-century Europe had poor counting ability.
38 In the Tsimshian language, the number for long objects and canoes is expressed with the same word.
39 The Tsimshian language contains both older and newer
systems of counting.
40 Early peoples found it easier to count by using their fingers rather
than a group of pebbles.