Reading passage 1

This is the first section of your IELTS Reading test. You should spend about twenty minutes on it. Read the
passage and answer questions 11!.
Making time for science
"hronobiology might sound a little futuristic # li$e something from a science fiction no%el& perhaps # but
it's actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has e%er $nown(
shortterm rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna.
This can ta$e many forms. )arine life& for e*ample& is influenced by tidal patterns. +nimals tend to be
acti%e or inacti%e depending on the position of the sun or moon. ,umerous creatures& humans included& are
largely diurnal # that is& they li$e to come out during the hours of sunlight. ,octurnal animals& such as bats
and possums& prefer to forage by night. + third group are $nown as crepuscular( they thri%e in the lowlight
of dawn and dus$ and remain inacti%e at other hours.
-hen it comes to humans& chronobiologists are interested in what is $nown as the circadian rhythm. This is
the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twentyfour hour day.
+side from sleeping at night and wa$ing during the day& each cycle in%ol%es many other factors such as
changes in blood pressure and body temperature. ,ot e%eryone has an identical circadian rhythm. .,ight
people'& for e*ample& often describe how they find it %ery hard to operate during the morning& but become
alert and focused by e%ening. This is a benign %ariation within circadian rhythms $nown as a chronotype.
Scientists ha%e limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands. Recent
therapeutic de%elopments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can
reset our circadian rhythms& for e*ample& but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we
breach these natural rhythms for e*tended periods of time. /lants appear no more malleable in this respect0
studies demonstrate that %egetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in essential
nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser.
1nowledge of chronobiological patterns can ha%e many pragmatic implications for our daytoday li%es.
-hile contemporary li%ing can sometimes appear to sub2ugate biology # after all& who needs circadian
rhythms when we ha%e caffeine pills& energy drin$s& shift wor$ and cities that ne%er sleep3 # $eeping in
synch with our body cloc$ is important.
The a%erage urban resident& for e*ample& rouses at the eyeblearing time of 4.56 a.m.& which researchers
belie%e to be far too early. 7ne study found that e%en rising at 8.55 a.m. has deleterious effects on health
unless e*ercise is performed for !5 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to
8.99 a.m.0 muscle aches& headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study
who awo$e then.
7nce you're up and ready to go& what then3 If you're trying to shed some e*tra pounds& dieticians are
adamant( ne%er s$ip brea$fast. This disorients your circadian rhythm and puts your body in star%ation mode.
The recommended course of action is to follow an intense wor$out with a carbohydraterich brea$fast0 the
other way round and weight loss results are not as pronounced.
)orning is also great for brea$ing out the %itamins. Supplement absorption by the body is not temporal
dependent& but naturopath /am Stone notes that the e*tra boost at brea$fast helps us get energised for the
day ahead. :or impro%ed absorption& Stone suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are
soluble and steering clear of caffeinated be%erages. :inally& Stone warns to ta$e care with storage0 high
potency is best for absorption& and warmth and humidity are $nown to deplete the potency of a supplement.
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+fterdinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition # we ha%e the Italians to than$ for that # but to
prepare for a good night's sleep we are better off putting the bra$es on caffeine consumption as early as !
p.m. -ith a se%en hour halflife& a cup of coffee containing ;5 mg of caffeine ta$en at this hour could still
lea%e 6< mg of caffeine in your ner%ous system at ten o'cloc$ that e%ening. It is essential that& by the time
you are ready to sleep& your body is rid of all traces.
E%enings are important for winding down before sleep0 howe%er& dietician =eraldine =eorgeou warns that
an afterfi%e carbohydratefast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand. This will depri%e your
body of %ital energy needs. 7%erloading your gut could lead to indigestion& though. 7ur digesti%e tracts do
not shut down for the night entirely& but their wor$ slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep.
"onsuming a modest snac$ should be entirely sufficient.
Questions 17
>o the following statements agree with the information gi%en in Reading passage 13
+nswer True& False or Not Given to questions 1#8.
True if the statement agrees with the information
:alse if the statement contradicts the information
,ot gi%en if there is no information on this
Questions
1? "hronobiology is the study of how li%ing things ha%e e%ol%ed o%er time.
9? The rise and fall of sea le%els affects how sea creatures beha%e.
!? )ost animals are acti%e during the daytime.
6? "ircadian rhythms identify how we do different things on different days.
<? + .night person' can still ha%e a healthy circadian rhythm.
4? ,ew therapies can permanently change circadian rhythms without causing harm.
8? ,aturallyproduced %egetables ha%e more nutritional %alue.
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Questions 813
"hoose the correct letter& +& @& " or >.
Questions
A? -hat did researchers identify as the ideal time to wa$e up in the morning3
+? 4.56
@? 8.55
"? 8.99
>? 8.!5
;? In order to lose weight& we should
+? a%oid eating brea$fast
@? eat a low carbohydrate brea$fast
"? e*ercise before brea$fast
>? e*ercise after brea$fast
15? -hich is ,7T mentioned as a way to impro%e supplement absorption3
+? a%oiding drin$s containing caffeine while ta$ing supplements
@? ta$ing supplements at brea$fast
"? ta$ing supplements with foods that can dissol%e them
>? storing supplements in a cool& dry en%ironment
11? The best time to stop drin$ing coffee is
+? midafternoon
@? 15 p.m.
"? only when feeling an*ious
>? after dinner
19? In the e%ening& we should
+? stay away from carbohydrates
@? stop e*ercising
"? eat as much as possible
>? eat a light meal
1!? -hich of the following phrases best describes the main aim of Reading /assage 13
+? to suggest healthier ways of eating& sleeping and e*ercising
@? to describe how modern life has made chronobiology largely irrele%ant
"? to introduce chronobiology and describe some practical applications
>? to plan a daily schedule that can alter our natural chronobiological rhythms
AMA ENTRANCE TEST | IELTS READING TEST 3
Reading passage
This is the second section of your IELTS +cademic Reading test. You should spend about twenty minutes
on it. Read the passage and answer questions 1694.
T!e Triune "rain
The first of our three brains to e%ol%e is what scientists call the reptilian corte*. This brain sustains the
elementary acti%ities of animal sur%i%al such as respiration& adequate rest and a beating heart. -e are not
required to consciously Bthin$C about these acti%ities. The reptilian corte* also houses the Bstartle centreC& a
mechanism that facilitates swift reactions to une*pected occurrences in our surroundings. That panic$ed
lurch you e*perience when a door slams shut somewhere in the house& or the heightened awareness you feel
when a twig crac$s in a nearby bush while out on an e%ening stroll are both e*amples of the reptilian corte*
at wor$. -hen it comes to our interaction with others& the reptilian brain offers up only the most basic
impulses( aggression& mating& and territorial defence. There is no great difference& in this sense& between a
crocodile defending its spot along the ri%er and a turf war between two urban gangs.
+lthough the liDard may sta$e a claim to its habitat& it e*erts total indifference toward the wellbeing of its
young. Listen to the anguished squeal of a dolphin separated from its pod or witness the sight of elephants
mourning their dead& howe%er& and it is clear that a new de%elopment is at play. Scientists ha%e identified
this as the limbic corte*. Enique to mammals& the limbic corte* impels creatures to nurture their offspring
by deli%ering feelings of tenderness and warmth to the parent when children are nearby. These same
sensations also cause mammals to de%elop %arious types of social relations and $inship networ$s. -hen we
are with others of Bour $indC # be it at soccer practice& church& school or a nightclub # we e*perience
positi%e sensations of togetherness& solidarity and comfort. If we spend too long away from these networ$s&
then loneliness sets in and encourages us to see$ companionship.
7nly human capabilities e*tend far beyond the scope of these two corte*es. Fumans eat& sleep and play& but
we also spea$& plot& rationalise and debate finer points of morality. 7ur unique abilities are the result of an
e*pansi%e third brain # the neocorte* # which engages with logic& reason and ideas. The power of the
neocorte* comes from its ability to thin$ beyond the present& concrete moment. -hile other mammals are
mainly restricted to impulsi%e actions Galthough some& such as apes& can learn and remember simple
lessons?& humans can thin$ about the Bbig pictureC. -e can string together simple lessons Gfor e*ample& an
apple drops downwards from a tree0 hurting others causes unhappiness? to de%elop comple* theories of
physical or social phenomena Gsuch as the laws of gra%ity and a concern for human rights?.
The neocorte* is also responsible for the process by which we decide on and commit to particular courses of
action. Strung together o%er time& these choices can accumulate into feats of progress un$nown to other
animals. +nticipating a better grade on the following morning's e*am& a student can ignore the limbic urge
to socialise and go to sleep early instead. 7%er three years& this ongoing sacrifice translates into a first class
degree and a scholarship to graduate school0 o%er a lifetime& it can mean groundbrea$ing contributions to
human $nowledge and de%elopment. The ability to sacrifice our dri%e for immediate satisfaction in order to
benefit later is a product of the neocorte*.
Enderstanding the triune brain can help us appreciate the different natures of brain damage and
psychological disorders. The most de%astating form of brain damage& for e*ample& is a condition in which
someone is understood to be brain dead. In this state a person appears merely unconscious # sleeping&
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perhaps # but this is illusory. Fere& the reptilian brain is functioning on autopilot despite the permanent loss
of other corte*es.
>isturbances to the limbic corte* are registered in a different manner. /ups with limbic damage can mo%e
around and feed themsel%es well enough but do not register the presence of their littermates. Scientists ha%e
obser%ed how& after a limbic lobotomy& Bone impaired mon$ey stepped on his outraged peers as if treading
on a log or a roc$C. In our own species& limbic damage is closely related to sociopathic beha%iour.
Sociopaths in possession of fullyfunctioning neocorte*es are often shrewd and emotionally intelligent
people but lac$ any ability to relate to& empathise with or e*press concern for others.
7ne of the neurological wonders of history occurred when a railway wor$er named /hineas =age sur%i%ed
an incident during which a metal rod s$ewered his s$ull& ta$ing a considerable amount of his neocorte* with
it. Though =age continued to li%e and wor$ as before& his fellow employees obser%ed a shift in the
equilibrium of his personality. =age's animal propensities were now sharply pronounced while his
intellectual abilities suffered0 garrulous or obscene 2o$es replaced his once quic$ wit. ,ew findings suggest&
howe%er& that =age managed to soften these abrupt changes o%er time and redisco%er an appropriate social
manner. This would indicate that reparati%e therapy has the potential to help patients with ad%anced brain
trauma to gain an impro%ed quality of life.
Questions 1#
"lassify the following as typical of
+ the reptilian corte*
@ the limbic corte*
" the neocorte*
+nswer $& " or %& to questions 16#99.
Questions
16? gi%ing up shortterm happiness for future gains
1<? maintaining the bodily functions necessary for life
14? e*periencing the pain of losing another
18? forming communities and social groups
1A? ma$ing a decision and carrying it out
1;? guarding areas of land
95? de%eloping e*planations for things
91? loo$ing after one's young
99? responding quic$ly to sudden mo%ement and noise
Questions 3&
"omplete the sentences below. Ese no more than t'o 'ords from the passage for each answer.
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Questions
9!? + person with only a functioning reptilian corte* is $nown as ...............
96? ............... in humans is associated with limbic disruption.
9<? +n industrial accident caused /hineas =age to lose part of his ...............
94? +fter his accident& cowor$ers noticed an imbalance between =age's ............... and higherorder thin$ing.
Reading passage 3
This is the third section of your IELTS +cademic Reading test. You should spend about twenty minutes on
it. Read the passage and answer questions 9865.
(elium)s future up in t!e air
+? In recent years we ha%e all been e*posed to dire media reports concerning the impending demise of
global coal and oil reser%es& but the depletion of another $ey nonrenewable resource continues without
recei%ing much press at all. Felium # an inert& odourless& monatomic element $nown to lay people as the
substance that ma$es balloons float and %oices squea$ when inhaled # could be gone from this planet within
a generation.
@? Felium itself is not rare0 there is actually a plentiful supply of it in the cosmos. In fact& 96 per cent of our
gala*y's elemental mass consists of helium& which ma$es it the second most abundant element in our
uni%erse. @ecause of its lightness& howe%er& most helium %anished from our own planet many years ago.
"onsequently& only a miniscule proportion # 5.555<9H& to be e*act # remains in earth's atmosphere. Felium
is the byproduct of millennia of radioacti%e decay from the elements thorium and uranium. The helium is
mostly trapped in subterranean natural gas bun$ers and commercially e*tracted through a method $nown as
fractional distillation.
"? The loss of helium on Earth would affect society greatly. >efying the perception of it as a no%elty
substance for parties and gimmic$s& the element actually has many %ital applications in society. /robably the
most well$nown commercial usage is in airships and blimps Gnonflammable helium replaced hydrogen as
the lifting gas du 2our after the Findenburg catastrophe in 1;!9& during which an airship burst into flames
and crashed to the ground $illing some passengers and crew?. @ut helium is also instrumental in deepsea
di%ing& where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the dangers of inhaling ordinary air under high pressure0
as a cleaning agent for roc$et engines0 and& in its most pre%alent use& as a coolant for superconducting
magnets in hospital )RI Gmagnetic resonance imaging? scanners.
>? The possibility of losing helium fore%er poses the threat of a real crisis because its unique qualities are
e*traordinarily difficult& if not impossible to duplicate Gcertainly& no biosynthetic ersatD product is close to
approaching the point of feasibility for helium& e%en as similar de%elopments continue apace for oil and
coal?. Felium is e%en cheerfully derided as a BlonerC element since it does not adhere to other molecules li$e
its cousin& hydrogen. +ccording to >r. Lee Sobot$a& helium is the Bmost noble of gases& meaning it's %ery
stable and nonreacti%e for the most part I it has a closed electronic configuration& a %ery tightly bound
atom. It is this co%eting of its own electrons that pre%ents combination with other elements'. +nother
important attribute is helium's unique boiling point& which is lower than that for any other element. The
worsening global shortage could render millions of dollars of high%alue& lifesa%ing equipment totally
useless. The dwindling supplies ha%e already resulted in the postponement of research and de%elopment
pro2ects in physics laboratories and manufacturing plants around the world. There is an enormous supply
and demand imbalance partly brought about by the e*pansion of hightech manufacturing in +sia.
E? The source of the problem is the Felium /ri%atisation +ct GF/+?& an +merican law passed in 1;;4 that
requires the E.S. ,ational Felium Reser%e to liquidate its helium assets by 951< regardless of the mar$et
AMA ENTRANCE TEST | IELTS READING TEST 6
price. +lthough intended to settle the original cost of the reser%e by a E.S. "ongress ignorant of its
ramifications& the result of this fire sale is that global helium prices are so artificially deflated that few can be
bothered recycling the substance or using it 2udiciously. >eflated %alues also mean that natural gas
e*tractors see no reason to capture helium. )uch is lost in the process of e*traction. +s Sobot$a notes(
JKtLhe go%ernment had the good %ision to store helium& and the question now is( -ill the corporations ha%e
the %ision to capture it when e*tracting natural gas& and consumers the wisdom to recycle3 This ta$es long
term %ision because present mar$et forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practiceC. :or ,obelpriDe
laureate Robert Richardson& the E.S. go%ernment must be pre%ailed upon to repeal its pri%atisation policy as
the country supplies o%er A5 per cent of global helium& mostly from the ,ational Felium Reser%e. :or
Richardson& a twenty to fiftyfold increase in prices would pro%ide incenti%es to recycle.
:? + number of steps need to be ta$en in order to a%ert a costly predicament in the coming decades. :irstly&
all e*isting supplies of helium ought to be conser%ed and released only by permit& with medical uses
recei%ing precedence o%er other commercial or recreational demands. Secondly& conser%ation should be
obligatory and enforced by a regulatory agency. +t the moment some users& such as hospitals& tend to
recycle diligently while others& such as ,+S+& squander massi%e amounts of helium. Lastly& research into
alternati%es to helium must begin in earnest.
Questions 731
Reading passage ! has si* paragraphs& $#F. -hich paragraph contains the following information3
Questions
98? a use for helium which ma$es an acti%ity safer
9A? the possibility of creating an alternati%e to helium
9;? a term which describes the process of how helium is ta$en out of the ground
!5? a reason why users of helium do not ma$e efforts to conser%e it
!1? a contrast between helium's chemical properties and how nonscientists thin$ about it
Questions 33*
>o the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading passage !3 +nswer +es& No or
Not given to questions !9!<.
+es if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
No if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
Not given if it is impossible to say what the writer thin$s about this
AMA ENTRANCE TEST | IELTS READING TEST 7
Questions
!9? Felium chooses to be on its own.
!!? Felium is a %ery cold substance.
!6? Fightech industries in +sia use more helium than laboratories and manufacturers in other parts of the
world.
!<? The ES "ongress understood the possible consequences of the F/+.
Questions 3&#,
"omplete the summary below. "hoose no more than two words from the passage for each answer.
Questions
Sobot$a argues that big business and users of helium need to help loo$ after helium stoc$s because G!4?
IIIIII.. will not be encouraged through buying and selling alone. Richardson belie%es that the G!8?
IIIIII.. needs to be withdrawn& as the E.S. pro%ides most of the world's helium. Fe argues that
higher costs would mean people ha%e G!A? IIIIII.. to use the resource many times o%er.
/eople should need a G!;? IIIIII.. to access helium that we still ha%e. :urthermore& a G65?
IIIIII.. should ensure that helium is used carefully.
AMA ENTRANCE TEST | IELTS READING TEST 8