Scanning Practice

An Aid to Reading

Copyright Mascot Corporation Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Purpose of this Tool

This tool provides you with valuable practice in scanning. To do well in IELTS academic Reading you must have welldeveloped scanning skills. Make sure you are familiar with how to scan (you might like to review Reading Lesson 3, Locating Answers Quickly) Your goal is to scan the following passages for the listed words and synonyms. (Note: The passages are of standard IELTS length, around 1000 words).

Instructions
1. You may want to print this document. 2. Take careful notice of the Words to Find BEFORE you proceed to the following passage. 3. Scan the passage for the key words OR synonyms of the key words. Take note of the line number. 4. You should take no longer than 30 seconds to find the exact word and no longer than 60 seconds to find the synonym! 5. Check your answers with the supplied answers.

Passage 1:
WORDS TO FIND
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

twenty five thousand ophthalmic carbon dioxide phenomenon pond

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

device operation knife artificial release

The Power of Light

The last century has seen many technological discoveries. The oddest and perhaps most useful however was made in 1954 the laser. Laser light is so powerful that it has reached the moon, and so fiery that it can burn a hole through asbestos and bricks. 5 The word laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission or Radiation. There are two commonly used lasers: one, a glass tube filled with helium, nitrogen or carbon dioxide gas; the other, a rod of synthetic ruby crystal enclosed in an enameled steel box. Both types have shutter-like devices controlling 10 the release of light. When the gases or ruby crystals are exposed to intense bolts of light much like the emission of light in a camera - an extraordinary phenomenon occurs. It occurs in the subatomic particles orbiting the nucleus. There are no non-technical words to 15 describe this phenomenon among the orbiting particles of the material being lased. Scientists point out that the bolts of light so excite these particles that they work themselves up to an energy level much higher than normal. Then, when they relax to their normal state, they discharge the excess energy in the form of light waves. 20 An ordinary fluorescent light is also an example of energy which escapes from particles of mercury vapour excited by a current of electricity. The difference however, is that ordinary white light shooting from a bulb in all directions exhausts its energy before it reaches the far corners of a room. Like ripples in a pond, light travels in waves. The distance from one crest to the next is called a wavelength. 25 Because ordinary white light is made up of waves having different wavelengths, the waves tumble over one another while traveling in every direction. A laser, on the other hand, prevents light from spreading out and wasting its energy. Inside the laser is a mechanism that holds light down to a single wavelength, will all the light waves moving in the same direction. The result is a light with waves that never 30 collide but instead lend each other strength. The strong, straight rays of laser light have amazing powers at either long or short range. Because they can travel for immense distances without dispersing, a laser beam traveling 408, 773 kilometers to the moon lights up a spot only 3 or 4 35 kilometers wide. Assuming it were possible for an ordinary searchlight to be shone over the same distance, it would spread out over twenty five thousand miles. Over short ranges, a focused laser light can generate tremendous heat, three times hotter than the temperature of the sun. 40 The most accurate device used for measuring is also a laser. For example, a test conducted over a distance of 30 kilometers, revealed that the laser was only out by 1.4 millimeters. A laser is more is more precise than radar. With a radar, the time an electronic pulse takes to reach and return from a target tells the distance of the

target. A flash of light from a laser also reveals distance by bouncing back from a 45 target but with far greater accuracy. A radar tracking satellite only a hundred miles out in space has an error of about twenty feet, but a laser range-finder can measure to within 15 centimeters the distance to a satellite equipped with light-reflecting mirrors. 50 The world of medical science has benefited from the laser. Medical lasers are now used as a kind of scalpel. The first use of the laser as a medical cutting instrument started with the Excimer laser. Originally used for etching silicone computer chips in the 1970s, in 1982, Dr. Rangaswamy Srinivasin, James Wynne, and Samuel Blum, saw the potential of the Excimer laser in interacting with biological tissue. 55 Srinivasin and his team saw that you could remove tissue with a laser without causing any heat damage to the neighboring material. A New York City ophthalmologist, Steven Trokel, saw the potential of the laser in connection with the human eye, in particular the cornea. This led to Trokel performing the first laser surgery on a patient's eyes in 1987. Trokel patented the Excimer laser for vision 60 correction. The next ten years were spent perfecting the equipment and the techniques used in laser eye surgery. In 1996, the first Excimer laser for ophthalmic refractive use was approved in the United States. Since the laser can be controlled and can have such a small contact area it is ideal 65 for fine cutting and depth control. Medical lasers can also be used to reattach retinas and can be used in conjunction with fiber optics to place the laser beam where it needs to be. They are used to great effect in stitching up incisions after surgery by fusing the skin together. Dentists are using them increasingly. There are a variety of uses, from cavity removal to teeth whitening lasers have been used 70 to good effect. They are even used to remove bacteria from periodontal pockets and in reshaping the gum line. An invention ranging in usefulness from the correction of a satellite's orbit to the erasure of a typist's mistake must be regarded as one of the greatest technical 75 achievements in history. In the words of Dr. Andreeson, Laser expert, "Lasers unquestionably have uses that we haven't as yet even dreamed of. As a mater of fact, present day lasers are as primitive as airplanes were in 1910. We can be sure that their future is a bright as their brilliant light."

Passage 1:
ANSWERS
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. device (line 28 mechanism) operation (lines 59, 61 & 68 surgery) knife (line 51 scalpel) artificial (line 8 synthetic) release (line 18 discharge)

1. 2. 3. 4.

twenty five thousand (line 36) ophthalmic (line 61) carbon dioxide (line 8) phenomenon (lines 13 & 15) 5. pond (line 23)

Passage 2:
WORDS TO FIND
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. knife distressed movable in-depth exclusively

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

twelve inherent computer five portable

Identifying Criminals
The skill of the police artist in sketching a suspect from witnesses' descriptions has been an invaluable identification tool, particularly when the suspect has never had contact with the law and is not on record in police files. On many occasions, the drawing of a suspect based upon verbal input has resulted in criminals being brought to justice. 5 As valuable as a sketch has proved, a freehand drawing is laborious taking from several hours to a full day with the details relating to the suspect being a verbal image communicated by a witness who often lacks descriptive ability, is emotionally distraught and may even be uncooperative. Given the inherent difficulties, a short cut was suggested: instead of drawing eyes, lips, a nose and other facial features, an artist should pre-draw hundreds of individual features resulting in ultimately a whole face according to the oral description of a witness This would enable the witness to select those features that match most closely that of the suspects. The technical services division of the Los Angeles county sheriffs department were among the first to adopt the new theory. Fingerprints, with their infinite patterns and varieties had been standardised, it was supposed that faces too, could be also standardised. In his spare time, Hugh C. McDonald began the arduous task of analysing thousands of photographs of the human face in order to organize the features into key groups. The ambitious program was stifled in the 1940s due to World War II but was revived again in the mid-1950s. After a five year design period, officials from a manufacturing company in California provided the financing, facilities and technical know-how which helped to bring the idea to completion. After countless numbers of experiments, a total of 544 different facial components were realised and the whole project was named Identi-Kit. The component parts were then arranged into twelve categories including age lines, beards and moustaches, chin lines, eyes, face colours and other facial features. These were then placed into a portable box which allowed a user to reproduce 62 billion composite pictures. During his exhaustive search, McDonald uncovered a number of immutable laws governing the construction of the face. For example, if a witness says that the suspect was a short, fat man with a thin face, you can be certain that the witness is wrong. His work also uncovered that one or more known features will suggest those features which are unknown. With the knowledge of natures usual order, a bank teller who only saw a tall man with a nylon stocking over his face, may be able to construct his face based on a pointy chin and high forehead. Likewise hair colour also contributes to the final constructed product some hair colours, such as blonde or red, are more readily identifiable than others such as black and brown. When it was released into the marketplace, Identi-Kit was enthusiastically adopted in tens of thousands of police departments all over the word. In England in 1961, Scotland Yard publicly issued sketches constructed by an Identi-Kit. The body of a 53 year old woman with an ornate oriental dagger piercing her head had been found in a dimly lit souvenir shop

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in London. Scotland Yard detectives located two persons who had seen a swarthy, thinjawed East Indian talking with her in the shop the day of the murder. A detective-sergeant who had only recently completed the Identi-Kit training course constructed two sketches of the suspect one from each of the two witnesses. Four days later the sketches were widely distributed across TV and newspaper and amongst Scotland police. A constable spotted a man resembling the sketches. The man was taken into custody and in time, confessed to the murder. Even though a court will not convict on evidence based solely on Identi-Kit, it has been a great tool in helping police and detectives to locate criminals. Substantial improvements in photography have led to even more sophisticated methods of assisting law enforcers with the identification of criminals namely, Photofit. The same principles apply as with IdentiKit, except the computer has made the process more efficient. Instead of constructing an image manually, data and photographs of existing criminals are stored in gigantic memories and quickly and easily matched. The process is very much the same, indeed, accessing the databases still proceeds along the lines of the 'characteristic features' that were employed at the turn of the century. Another big difference is the quality of the reconstructions. Far more than simply pieces of a face stuck together, the end result is more like a completed photo bearing much more detail.

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Passage 2:
ANSWERS
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. knife (line 43 dagger) distressed (line 8 distraught) movable (line 27 portable) in-depth (line 30 exhaustive) exclusively (line 52 solely)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

twelve (line 26) inherent (line 9) computer (line 56) five (line 21) portable (line 27)

Passage 3:
WORDS TO FIND
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. study dampness small branches hint carried out

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

six possibility semi-arid ashes modest

Trees That Tell A Story

From a position high up over an area of land, scientists are able to make very accurate assumptions about mineral deposits by studying the plant life that grows nearby. The science of geobotany the study of rocks and growing things has proved that flora can indicate not only the location but also the amount and richness of the mineral. Based on the notion that minerals are reflected chemically via surface vegetation, geobotany has made it relatively easy for scientists to locate mineral sources. In British Columbia, Canada a number of scientists gathered various samples of flora leaves, roots and pine cones. The samples were returned to a laboratory where they were scientifically analysed for their mineral content. A careful investigation revealed 4 parts per million (p.p.m.) traces of gold in the roots, 2 p.p.m in the branches and an average of 1.6 p.p.m in pine cones. Those cones growing nearest the trunk contained more gold than on the outer tips of the branches. The strong indication of gold in the area due to the analysis of the nearby pine trees led to geologists boring for further gold deposits. Further examination revealed several gold veinlets well worth mining. Certain other specific types of pines growing in the area were also examined and revealed similar parts per million of gold. Thus, geologists extrapolated a hypothesis: wherever certain groups pine trees are growing, there is a high possibility that gold may be located underneath. This tree-identification method has worked very successfully yielding other gold-bearing areas. There is another valuable substance that scientists are in search of, uranium. Rock testing, boring and Geiger-counter techniques are all expensive ways to look for deposits. However, it has been proven that wherever uranium is found, soil is also rich in sulphur and selenium. Geobotanists figured that by exploring known uranium areas they could learn whether or not vegetation would provide a clue to the new locations of the sought-after mineral. An analysis of trees, plants, flowers and shrubs at a test location in New Mexico was undertaken. Plants known to require sulphur for flourishing growth were examined in detail. Cuttings were burned to ashes, then chemically treated for the removal of selenium and sulphur. The material left over was shown to be uranium. Once again, vegetation was proven to be an indicator that the desired mineral was beneath the ground. While scientists were able to determine uranium was located in New Mexico, what was not known was the amount. In order to determine the amount, roots of trees were thought to be a good place to start the analysis. It is common for tree roots in a semi-arid land like New Mexico to sometimes bore down 30 meters in search of life-giving moisture. Roots of the trees in various regions were dug from as deep as possible and cut off at each successive meter downwards. When tested, the roots gave stronger and stronger indications of the presence of uranium at deeper and deeper levels. The same investigations were carried out in other area where only modest deposits of uranium were known to occur. This time the surrounding flora was only barely alive. The roots were pathetically weak and the trees

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contained only very little uranium. Scientists then knew with some certainty that plants indicating the location of uranium could also be used to evaluate the concentration of the deposit. Certain visible vegetation has also been proven to show not only where and how much, but also an exact outline of the amounts of copper in a given area. Teams of American Geobotanists flying over parts of California photographed certain areas of vegetation. They saw Mexican blue oak and evergreen Emory oak both growing to heights of approximately six meters. The incredible growth of this vegetation known to grow well where soils were oxidized ore is abundant confirmed that copper was below the ground. Another prolific plant in the area was the California poppy. Tests on twigs and roots of the tow kinds of oak produced evidence of a heavy concentration of copper. The poppies contained some copper but not enough to encourage scientific prospectors thus they discouraged prospecting and saved a considerable amount of monetary outlay - they proved to be as valuable as the oaks. Many other vital minerals are being found today by Geobotanists. New combinations of vegetation indicating deposits of metals are still being uncovered. Some scientists believe that in the search for specific minerals there may be a best season for observing vegetation. Perhaps colour itself the intensity and hue of various plants will be a clue to mineral deposits. Plants are certainly helping to take the guess work out of mineral and metal exploration.

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Passage 3:
ANSWERS
Scan the text looking for the exact words: Scan the text looking for synonyms of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. study (line 10 investigation) dampness (line 37 moisture) small branches (line 53 twigs) hint (lines 27 & 61 clue) carried out (line 29 undertaken)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

six (line 51) possibility (line 19) semi-arid (line 36) ashes (line 30) modest (line 41)