UNIT READING

MATCHING HEADINGS + T/F/NG

03

IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
PASSAGE 1
The reading passage has five paragraphs, A-E.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 1-5.
List of headings
i. Effect of city life on mental health
ii. Stress reduction in animals
iii. Two types of stress
iv. The fallout of cell death
v. The best type of exercise
vi. How stress can be useful
vii. Managing stress in job interviews
viii. One reason behind bad tempers
ix. Neuron loss in childhood
x. Regrowing the brain with exercise

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E

A
Despite its bad reputation, stress historically had a vital role to play. Commonly referred to as the ‘fight
or flight’ mode, the sudden release of stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol causes the heart to beat
faster, airways to dilate and blood vessels to open up, all of which push the body towards optimal
performance and, ultimately, survival. In the rest of the animal kingdom, this is still often the difference
between life and death. As he springs off to freedom, the lucky gazelle who escapes the lion can thank this
primal evolutionary response.
B
In ordinary modern life, although we’re in little danger of being stalked by wild beasts down city
streets, our bodies react to stress in the same ways. Experiencing anxiety, fear and stress is considered a
normal part of life when it is occasional and temporary, such as feeling anxious and stressed before an
exam or a job interview. It is when these acute reactions are prolonged or cannot be switched off,
however, that serious physical, social and cognitive issues can result. In contrast to the normal everyday
stress of modern life, chronic stress is a pathological state which can significantly interfere with daily living
activities such as work, school and relationships, wreaking havoc on the body’s immune, metabolic and
cardiovascular systems.
C
Of major concern is the impact on the brain. Researchers have found that the hippocampus, the
control centre of memory and our ability to learn, can physically shrink in response to prolonged release of
stress hormones like cortisol which result from chronic stress. Neurons in this area do not just get smaller,
but actually die, which weakens the neural connections, affecting the way memories are organised and
stored in the brain. A chronically stressed person would recognise this as a ‘brain fog’, and it also has
ramifications for other areas such as creativity and adaptability.
D
While this part of the brain gets smaller, another area, the amygdala, which is involved in processing
emotions, can grow with chronic stress. Across species, a larger amygdala has been found to correlate with
aggression and this, coupled with the weakened connection to the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s decision-
making centre, can profoundly impact mood and behaviour. With the link between emotions and decision-
making compromised, a person is much less able to stop and reflect, becoming instead reactive and short-
fused. Think of the difference between being able to tolerate a screaming child and instead giving in to the
desire to scream back.
E
In the past, it was accepted that there was a limited number of neurons in the brain and as they died
off as a result of ageing, stress or substance abuse, for instance, they were lost forever. It turns out,
however, that this is not the case and that stem cells within the brain are actually able to create new
neurons. In other words, lost neurons can be replaced. What makes this discovery even more powerful is
the fact that replenishing neurons is rather straightforward. One of the most powerful stimulants for
neuron growth is physical activity. So, in addition to its role in the reduction of stress hormones in the first
place, and its ability to stimulate the release of endorphins, exercise has now been shown to contribute to
the repair of the chronically stressed brain.

PASSAGE 2
Questions 1-4
The reading passage has five sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-vii in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i. Commercial pressures on people in charge
ii. Mixed views on current changes to museums
iii. Interpreting the facts to meet visitor expectations
iv. The international dimension
v. Collections of factual evidence
vi. Fewer differences between public attractions
vii. Current reviews and suggestions

1. Section B
2. Section C
3. Section D
 4. Section E

Section A
The conviction that historical relics provide infallible testimony about the past is rooted in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective and value free. As one
writer observes: 'Although it is now evident that artifacts are as easily altered as chronicles, public faith in
their veracity endures: a tangible relic seems ipso facto real! Such conviction was, until recently, reflected
in museum displays. Museums used to look — and some still do — much like storage rooms of objects
packed together in showcases: good for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but
not for the ordinary visitor. to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information accompanying the
objects often made little sense to the lay visitor. The content and format of explanations dated back to a
time when the museum was the exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.
Section B
Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented have altered. The key
word in heritage display is now 'experience the more exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the
senses. Good examples of this approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York; the National Museum of
Photography, Elm and Television in Bradford; and the imperial War Museum in London. In the US the trend
emerged much earlier. Williamsburg has been a prototype for many heritage developments in other parts
of the world. No one can predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites, the re-enactment
of historical events is increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual reality experiences,
which will present visitors with a vivid image of the period of their choice, in which they themselves can act
as if part of the historical environment. Such developments have been criticised as an intolerable
vulgarisation. but the success of many historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the
majority of the public does not share this opinion.
Section C
In a related development, the sharp distinction between museum and heritage sites on the one hand,
and theme parks on the other. is gradually evaporating. They already borrow ideas and concepts from one
another. For example, museums have adopted storylines for exhibitions, sites have accepted 'theming' as a
relevant tool, and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based presentations in
zoos, animals are no longer kept in cages, but in great spaces, either ln the open air or in enormous
greenhouses, such as the jungle and desert environments .In Burgers' Zoo In Holland. This particular trend
is regarded as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the twentieth
century.
Section D
Theme parks are undergoing other changes, too, as they try to present more serious social and cultural
issues, and move away from fantasy. This development is a response to market forces and, although
museums and heritage sites have a special. rather distinct, role to fulfill, they are also operating in a very
competitive environment, where visitors make choices on how and where to spend their free time.
Heritage and museum experts do not have to invent stories and recreate historical environments to attract
their visitors: their assets are already in place. However, exhibits must be both based on artefacts and facts
as we know them, and attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of
interpreting history are thus in a difficult position, as they must steer a narrow course between the
demands of 'evidence' and 'attractiveness especially given the increasing need in the heritage industry for
income generating activities.
Section E
 It could be claimed that in order to make everything in heritage more `real` historical accuracy must be
increasingly altered. For example, Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with
Malay facial features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum of Natural
History in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant gesture to his wife. Such
presentations tell us more about contemporary perceptions of the world than about our ancestors. There
is one compensation, however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: If they did not
provide the interpretation, visitors would do it for themselves. based on their own ideas. misconceptions
and prejudices. And no matter how exciting the result, it would contain a lot more bias than the
presentations provided by experts.
Section F
Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of history has to do with the
transitory nature of the materials themselves. The simple fact is that not everything from history survives
the historical process. Castles, palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of ordinary
people. The same applies to the famishing and other contents of the premises. In a town like Leyden in
Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by approximately the same number of inhabitants
as today, people lived within the walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden.
In most of the houses, several families lived together in circumstances beyond our imagination. Yet In
museums, line period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle of the upper class of that era. No wonder
that people who stroll around exhibitions are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that
life was so much better in the past. This notion is induced by the bias in its representation in museums and
heritage centers.

PASSAGE 3
Section A
The role of governments in environmental management is difficult but inescapable. Sometimes, the
state tries to manage the resources it owns, and does so badly. Often, however, governments act in an
even more harmful way. They actually subsidise the exploitation and consumption of natural resources. A
whole range of policies, from farm-price support to protection for coal-mining, do environmental damage
and (often) make no economic sense. Scrapping them offers a two-fold bonus: a cleaner environment and
a more efficient economy. Growth and environmentalism can actually go hand in hand, if politicians have
the courage to confront the vested interest that subsidies create.
Section B
No activity affects more of the earth's surface than farming. It shapes a third of the planet's land area,
not counting Antarctica, and the proportion is rising. World food output per head has risen by 4 per cent
between the 1970s and 1980s mainly as a result of increases in yields from land already in cultivation, but
also because more land has been brought under the plough. Higher yields have been achieved by increased
irrigation, better crop breeding, and a doubling in the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers in the 1970s
and 1980s.
Section C
All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. For example, land clearing for
agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertilisers and pesticides may contaminate
water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods tend to exacerbate soil
erosion; and the spread of monoculture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied
by the disappearance of old varieties of food plants which might have provided some insurance against
pests or diseases in future. Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries.
The United States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about
one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity. The country
subsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 per cent of its cropped land to meadow or forest.
Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in America.
Section D
Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming can cause.
In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm output drive up the price of
land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense: about $250 billion, or more than all World Bank
lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per acre, a farmer's easiest option is to use more of
the most readily available inputs: fertilisers and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period
1960-1985 and increased in The Netherlands by 150 per cent. The quantity of pesticides applied has risen
too: by 69 per cent in 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 per cent in the frequency of
application in the three years from 1981.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies. The most
dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984. A study of the
environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the end of fertiliser subsidies had been followed by a
fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes).
The removal of subsidies also stopped land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the
principal causes of erosion. Farms began to diversify. The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to
have been bad for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion.
This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no
charge is made. For further information see our Terms and Conditions In less enlightened countries, and in
the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather than eliminate subsidies, and to introduce new
payments to encourage farmers to treat their land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow.
It may sound strange but such payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow
food crops. Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become
interested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement for petrol (as
ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass). Such fuels produce far less carbon dioxide than coal or
oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. They are therefore less likely to contribute to the greenhouse
effect. But they are rarely competitive with fossil fuels unless subsidised - and growing them does no less
environmental harm than other crops.
Section E
In poor countries, governments aggravate other sorts of damage. Subsidies for pesticides and artificial
fertilisers encourage farmers to use greater quantities than are needed to get the highest economic crop
yield. A study by the International Rice Research Institute of pesticide use by farmers in South East Asia
found that, with pest-resistant varieties of rice, even moderate applications of pesticide frequently cost
farmers more than they saved. Such waste puts farmers on a chemical treadmill: bugs and weeds become
resistant to poisons, so next year's poisons must be more lethal. One cost is to human health. Every year
some 10,000 people die from pesticide poisoning, almost all of them in the developing countries, and
another 400,000 become seriously ill. As for artificial fertilisers, their use world-wide increased by 40 per
cent per unit of farmed land between the mid 1970s and late 1980s, mostly in the developing countries.
Overuse of fertilisers may cause farmers to stop rotating crops or leaving their land fallow. That, in turn,
may make soil erosion worse.
Section F
 A result of the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations is likely to be a reduction of 36 per cent in
the average levels of farm subsidies paid by the rich countries in 1986-1990. Some of the world's food
production will move from Western Europe to regions where subsidies are lower or non-existent, such as
the former communist countries and parts of the developing world. Some environmentalists worry about
this outcome. It will undoubtedly mean more pressure to convert natural habitat into farmland. But it will
also have many desirable environmental effects. The intensity of farming in the rich world should decline,
and the use of chemical inputs will diminish. Crops are more likely to be grown in the environments to
which they are naturally suited. And more farmers in poor countries will have the money and the incentive
to manage their land in ways that are sustainable in the long run. That is important. To feed an increasingly
hungry world, farmers need every incentive to use their soil and water effectively and efficiently.
Questions 1 – 5
Passage 1 has six sections A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D and F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-ix in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i. The probable effects of the new international trade agreement
ii. The environmental impact of modern farming
iii. Farming and soil erosion
iv. The effects of government policy in rich countries
v. Governments and management of the environment
vi. The effects of government policy in poor countries
vii. Farming and food output
viii. The effects of government policy on food output
ix. The new prospects for world trade

1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
Example Section E vi
5 Section F

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–14, which are based on Reading Passage 1
below.1
The students’ problem
(A) The college and university accommodation crisis in Ireland has become ‘so chronic’ that students
are being forced to sleep rough, share a bed with strangers – or give up on studying altogether.
(B) The deputy president of the Union of Students in Ireland, Kevin Donoghue, said the problem has
become particularly acute in Dublin. He told the Irish Mirror: “Students are so desperate, they’re not just
paying through the nose to share rooms – they’re paying to share a bed with complete strangers. It
reached crisis point last year and it’s only getting worse. “We’ve heard of students sleeping rough; on
sofas, floors and in their cars and I have to stress there’s no student in the country that hasn’t been

1 Source: https://ielts-up.com/reading/academic-reading-sample-3.1.html
touched by this crisis. “Commutes – which would once have been considered ridiculous – are now normal,
whether that’s by bus, train or car and those who drive often end up sleeping in their car if they’ve an early
start the next morning.”
(C) Worry is increasing over the problems facing Ireland's 200,000 students as the number increases
over the next 15 years. With 165,000 full-time students in Ireland – and that figure expected to increase to
around 200,000 within the next 15 years –fears remain that there aren’t enough properties to
accommodate current numbers.

(D) Mr. Donoghue added: “The lack of places to live is actually forcing school-leavers out of college
altogether. Either they don’t go in the first place or end up having to drop out because they can’t get a
room and commuting is just too expensive, stressful and difficult.”
(E) Claims have emerged from the country that some students have been forced to sleep in cars, or out
on the streets, because of the enormous increases to rent in the capital. Those who have been lucky
enough to find a place to live have had to do so ‘blind’ by paying for accommodation, months in advance,
they haven’t even seen just so they will have a roof over their head over the coming year.
(F) According to the Irish Independent, it’s the ‘Google effect’ which is to blame. As Google and other
blue-chip companies open offices in and around Dublin’s docklands area, which are ‘on the doorstep of the
city’, international professionals have been flocking to the area which will boast 2,600 more apartments,
on 50 acres of undeveloped land, over the next three to 10 years.
(G) Rent in the area soared by 15 per cent last year and a two-bedroom apartment overlooking the
Grand Canal costs €2,100 (£1,500) per month to rent. Another two-bedroom apartment at Hanover Dock
costs €2,350 (almost £1,700) with a three-bedroom penthouse – measuring some 136 square metres – sits
at €4,500 (£3,200) per month in rent.
(H) Ireland’s Higher Education Authority admitted this was the first time they had seen circumstances
‘so extreme’ and the Fianna Fáil party leader, Michael Martin, urged on the Government to intervene. He
said: “It is very worrying that all of the progress in opening up access to higher education in the last decade
– particularly for the working poor – is being derailed because of an entirely foreseeable accommodation
crisis.
Questions 1-8
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Choose the most suitable paragraph headings from the list of headings and write the correct letter,
A–H, in boxes 1–8 on your answer sheet.
1. Cons of the commuting __________
2. Thing that students have to go through __________
3. Commutes have become common in Ireland nowadays __________
4. Danger of the overflow __________
5. Cause of the problems __________
6. Pricing data __________
7. Regression __________
8. Eyeless choice __________

Questions 9–14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9–14 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

9. The accommodation problem in Ireland is especially bad in Dublin.

10. Commutes are considered ridiculous.
11. The number of students in Ireland is not likely to increase in the future.
12. Due to the opening of the new offices around Dublin, the number of local restaurants will go up
significantly over the next 3 to 10 years.
13. The rent price went up by 15% last year.
14. Michael Martin stated that crisis could have been omitted if the government reacted properly.

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2
below.2
Life lessons from villains, crooks and gangsters
(A) A notorious Mexican drug baron’s audacious escape from prison in July doesn’t, at first, appear to
have much to teach corporate boards. But some in the business world suggest otherwise. Beyond the
morally reprehensible side of criminals' work, some business gurus say organised crime syndicates,
computer hackers, pirates and others operating outside the law could teach legitimate corporations a thing
or two about how to hustle and respond to rapid change.
(B) Far from encouraging illegality, these gurus argue that – in the same way big corporations
sometimes emulate start-ups – business leaders could learn from the underworld about flexibility,
innovation and the ability to pivot quickly. “There is a nimbleness to criminal organisations that legacy
corporations [with large, complex layers of management] don’t have,” said Marc Goodman, head of the
Future Crimes Institute and global cyber-crime advisor. While traditional businesses focus on rules they
have to follow, criminals look to circumvent them. “For criminals, the sky is the limit and that creates the
opportunity to think much, much bigger.”
(C) Joaquin Guzman, the head of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel, for instance, slipped out of his prison
cell through a tiny hole in his shower that led to a mile-long tunnel fitted with lights and ventilation.
Making a break for it required creative thinking, long-term planning and perseverance – essential skills
similar to those needed to achieve success in big business.
(D) While Devin Liddell, who heads brand strategy for Seattle-based design consultancy, Teague,
condemns the violence and other illegal activities he became curious as to how criminal groups endure.
Some cartels stay in business despite multiple efforts by law enforcement on both sides of the US border
and millions of dollars from international agencies to shut them down. Liddell genuinely believes there’s a
lesson in longevity here. One strategy he underlined was how the bad guys respond to change. In order to
bypass the border between Mexico and the US, for example, the Sinaloa cartel went to great lengths. It
built a vast underground tunnel, hired family members as border agents and even used a catapult to
circumvent a high-tech fence.
(E) By contrast, many legitimate businesses fail because they hesitate to adapt quickly to changing
market winds. One high-profile example is movie and game rental company Blockbuster, which didn’t keep
up with the market and lost business to mail order video rentals and streaming technologies. The brand

2 Source: https://ielts-up.com/reading/academic-reading-sample-1.2.html
has all but faded from view. Liddell argues the difference between the two groups is that criminal
organisations often have improvisation encoded into their daily behaviour, while larger companies think of
innovation as a set process. “This is a leadership challenge,” said Liddell. “How well companies innovate
and organise is a reflection of leadership.”
Left-field thinking
(F) Cash-strapped start-ups also use unorthodox strategies to problem solve and build their businesses
up from scratch. This creativity and innovation is often borne out of necessity, such as tight budgets. Both
criminals and start-up founders “question authority, act outside the system and see new and clever ways
of doing things,” said Goodman. “Either they become Elon Musk or El Chapo.” And, some entrepreneurs
aren’t even afraid to operate in legal grey areas in their effort to disrupt the marketplace. The co-founders
of music streaming service Napster, for example, knowingly broke music copyright rules with their first
online file sharing service, but their technology paved the way for legal innovation as regulators caught up.
(G) Goodman and others believe thinking hard about problem solving before worrying about
restrictions could prevent established companies falling victim to rivals less constrained by tradition. In
their book The Misfit Economy, Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips examine how individuals can apply that
mindset to become more innovative and entrepreneurial within corporate structures. They studied not just
violent criminals like Somali pirates, but others who break the rules in order to find creative solutions to
their business problems, such as people living in the slums of Mumbai or computer hackers. They picked
out five common traits among this group: the ability to hustle, pivot, provoke, hack and copycat.
(H) Clay gives a Saudi entrepreneur named Walid Abdul-Wahab as a prime example. Abdul-Wahab
worked with Amish farmers to bring camel milk to American consumers even before US regulators
approved it. Through perseverance, he eventually found a network of Amish camel milk farmers and
started selling the product via social media. Now his company, Desert Farms, sells to giant mainstream
retailers like Whole Foods Market. Those on the fringe don’t always have the option of traditional,
corporate jobs and that forces them to think more creatively about how to make a living, Clay said. They
must develop grit and resilience in order to last outside the cushy confines of cubicle life. “In many cases
scarcity is the mother of invention,” Clay said.
Questions 14-21
Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs A-H. Match the headings below with the paragraphs. Write
the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 14-21 on your answer sheet.

14. Jailbreak with creative thinking __________

15. Five common traits among rule-breakers __________
16. Comparison between criminals and traditional businessmen __________
17. Can drug baron's escape teach legitimate corporations? __________
18. Great entrepreneur __________
19. How criminal groups deceive the law __________
20. The difference between legal and illegal organisations __________
21. Similarity between criminals and start-up founders __________

Questions 22–25
Complete the sentences below. Write ONLY ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22–25 on your answer sheet.
22. To escape from a prison, Joaquin Guzman had to use such traits as creative thinking, long-term
planning and _______________.
 23. The Sinaloa cartel built a grand underground tunnel and even used a _______________ to avoid
the fence.
24. The main difference between two groups is that criminals, unlike large corporations, often
have _______________ encoded into their daily life.
25. Due to being persuasive, Walid Abdul-Wahab found a _______________ of Amish camel milk
farmers.

Question 26
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
The main goal of this article is to:
A. Show different ways of illegal activity
B. Give an overview of various criminals and their gangs
C. Draw a comparison between legal and illegal business, providing examples
D. Justify criminals with creative thinking