IELTS 5.

5- Unit 5: Business and work

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Unit 5 Topic: Business and work WID: IELTS5.5_01_R

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Reading:
Skills - Skim a text to identify facts, opinions and theories ...... pts/10
- Identify key words in statements
- Matching features and sentence endings

Exercise 1. [Skim for facts and opinions] Read the information. Then decide whether the
statements are Opinion or Fact. Write (O) or (F) next to each statement.
1. According to a recent survey, 65% of young people would like to study in a foreign country.
2. Approximately one in three people who take part in voluntary activities say that it has made them
feel better about themselves.
3. Professor Mark Thompson believes that people from wealthy backgrounds tend to volunteer
more than people from poorer ones.
4. It has been proved that the main reason people volunteer is to help other people, although some
people also do it in order to try a new experience.
5. ‘Instead of making people busier and more tired, taking part in voluntary activities may actually
help decreased people’s stress levels,’ comments Clara Coleman, a researcher at Princeford
University.
6. ‘Employers don’t appreciate people who do volunteer work alongside their normal jobs,’ suggests
Joel Gateman.

Exercise 2. [Matching people with opinions] Read the information below. Then look at the
opinions with the key words underlined.

 Rachel Jones, a young volunteer, says, ‘It’s terrible that the government isn’t doing enough to
help refugees.’
 Volunteering can have a beneficial effect on people. Clare Coleman agrees: ‘It can make people
feel less depressed.’
 Some people are not optimistic. Joel Gateman speculates that people will have less time to
volunteer in years to come because they will be working longer hours.
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 ‘Far from being a waste of time, most people find voluntary work increases their job prospects,’
claims Professor Mark Thompson.
 Paula Orman believes that more people are viewing voluntary work as a valuable activity which
helps society in general.

Now, read the paraphrased statements and match the people with their opinions.

A. Clare Coleman B. Joel Gateman C. Mark Thompson

D. Paula Orman E. Rachel Jones

1. If a person takes part in voluntary activities, it is good for the larger area in which they live.

2. The people who are officially in charge of the country should do more to help people.

3. People will not have much free time in the future to spend helping others.

4. Volunteering can improve someone’s changes of finding paid work.

5. People who do voluntary work feel more positive about life.

Exercise 3. [IELTS Reading: Matching features] Read the passage and answer the questions.

Recognizing scientific achievement

There are countless awards and prizes in science. Many institutes offer their own national awards,
and then there are international prizes too. Probably the most famous of all these are the annual
Nobel Prizes. Established in his will, the awards were the creation of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel.
They have recognized significant achievements in disciplines including chemistry, physics and
medicine since 1895. Each prize can be given to more than one scientist, although one cannot be
offered to teams of more than three. Winners attend a formal dinner and receive a gold medal, a
diploma and a sum of money, which could be as much as $1 million.

The UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal was first given 100 years after the birth of quantum physicist Niels
Bohr to commemorate his contribution to science. Unlike the Nobel Prize, it is not an annual award.
The medal has been given out a dozen times since 1985 to people whose research in physics has or
could make a significant impact on the world. In 2010, three different researchers were given the
medal for their outstanding work.

The world’s oldest surviving prize for science is the UK’s Royal Society’s Copley Medal. It is not only
for physicists. It is given each year to any researchers who have made a significant achievement in
an area of science. It was first given in 1731, 170 years before the first Nobel Prize was won. Today,
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it consists of a silver medal and £5000 but the original prize was the interest on £100 donated by
wealthy landowner Sir Godfrey Copley.

Finally, the Ig Nobel prizes aim to recognize research which first makes us smile and then makes us
think. While their research may not change the world, the researchers’ unusual experiments offer
an insight into how something – often small and sometimes unimportant –works. Every year, the
prizes are given out at a humorous award ceremony. Only Sir Andre Geim has won both the Ig Nobel
Prize and Nobel Prize. He won the former for his research into using magnets to raise a frog into the
air. He won the latter with his later work on the discovery of graphene, a form of carbon.

Match the sentences (1-4) with prizes (A-C). You can use a letter more than once.

A. The Ig Nobel Prize

B. The UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal

C. The Copley Medal

1. It recognizes only one field of science. ________

2. It has existed for almost three centuries. ________

3. The prize is awarded at a funny event. ________

4. It was awarded for making an animal fly. ________

Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading: Matching features] Read the passage and answer the questions.

The meaning of culture

A Culture is a term for which it is very difficult to give a precise meaning. The word means so many
different things to different people, so devising a single acceptable definition is more problematic
than may be first thought. The idea of culture as something shared is inherently complex. Even
people neighbouring each other, or sharing a common language, or possessing certain common core
values may actually have as many differences as similarities.

B Anthropologists have proposed over one hundred different definitions. A number of these are
variations on the idea that culture consists of 'shared patterns of behaviour' as may be observed by
the researcher. This is the definition put forward by Margaret Mead, for example, in her study of
indigenous ritual in Samoa. This kind of definition, however, does not take account of the fact that
studying culture is not just a question of observation. It also involves studying the meaning of this
observed behaviour.
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C Accordingly, other anthropologists, such as Max Weber, speak of culture as consisting of systems
of shared meaning; as he puts it, 'man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has
spun.' Similarly, Claude Levi-Strauss also speaks of culture as a product of the implicit beliefs which
underlie it. The problem with this approach is that the meaning of cultural behaviour is not always
easy to establish. Explanations may be offered up to a point, but the underlying assumptions often
remain obscure. Indeed, they are often not understood by insiders. As Chris Argyris and Donald
Schon point out, what people say to explain their cultural behaviour and what really drives this
behaviour are often widely different The search for meaning can therefore be a long and painstaking
process, invoking long periods of observation and interviews in order to build possible theories.

D While there are some cultures which have remained isolated for long periods of time, many
others have built up commercial links with other groups. Eventually, this may lead to adopting
elements of the other group's rituals and behaviour which then become integrated into those of the
original group. Some cultures have clashed with less powerful neighbours only to find that over time
their culture became heavily influenced by these subordinates, like the Romans by the Greeks. In
this way, the original meaning of an aspect of cultural behaviour may be lost in history and may
originally have been part of a belief system very different from that which prevails in the culture
today. This dynamism is, perhaps, the major reason why researching the meaning behind cultural
behaviour is far from easy.

Match each statement 1-4 with the correct person A-D.

List of people Statements

A Margaret Mead 1. ___ Culture is something which is embodied in the way groups
behave.
B Max Weber
2. ___ The reasons people give for their behaviour are often
C Claude Levi-Strauss
different from why it originally developed.
D Chris Argyris and Donald
3. ___ Societies create networks of meaning within which their
Schon
members live.

4. ___ Culture is something which arises from a group's beliefs.

Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Matching sentence endings] Read the passage and answer the
questions.

Remedies from nature

IELTS 5.5- Unit 5: Business and work

All the discussions about saving the world’s biodiversity from extinction, people often forget one
point: the world’s species provide people with a large number of life-saving medicines.

Animal and plant species have given people important medicines such as quinine and aspirin, as well
as many cancer and HIV-fighting drugs. People have used plants and animals as sources of medicine
for thousands of years. For example, medicine plants that people used over 60,000 years ago were
found in an Iraqi cave site. A fur strap found on the arm of a 5,000 year-old Ice Man from the Alps
contained a type of fungus which is able to kill bacteria.

Most people are amazed to discover that our dependence on nature for health has not reduced.
Over the past quarter century, more than half of all the products that drug companies have
developed actually use, or copy, substances from the natural world. Moreover, the World Health
Organization estimates that in many developing countries, 80 percent of the population relies on
traditional medicines from natural sources.

However, scientists generally believe that researchers have fully examined less than one percent of
all species in order to discover their possible users in medical treatments. They believe that nature
still holds many valuable cures for research to discover. In particular, they point to the importance
of tropical rainforests as a potential source of new medicines. Although rainforests cover only six
percent of the earth’s land surface, they contain over half of its biodiversity.

Unfortunately, the ecosystems that provide some of the world’s most important drugs, such as
rainforests and coral reefs, are also the ecosystems that are most at risk today. There are concerns
that warming temperatures mean that few coral reefs will remain by the end of the century.
Meanwhile, agriculture and various major development projects are making the world’s rainforests
vanish at an alarming rate – the world is losing more than 320 km 2 every day. The inevitable result is
that many species with important medicinal powers will become extinct.

Another problem is that most of nature’s medicines do not come from big and beautiful mammals,
such as tigers and elephants. Instead, they come from the least popular of the world’s ecosystem:
plants, fungi and invertebrates. Some particular valuable species are often either poisonous or so
small that we cannot see them without a microscope. This makes campaigning for their preservation
much more difficult.

An additional problem is the fact that medical schools teach their students very little about the
discovery of new treatments. Few young doctors, for example, know that the blood pressure
medicine captopril, one of the best selling drugs of all time, comes from the poison of a Brazilian
snake. Antibiotics, most of which come from nature, are a miracle drug but doctors use far too many
IELTS 5.5- Unit 5: Business and work

of them. This is partly because they do not realize the dangers involved or how closely connected
these drugs are with the natural world.

Nature and medicines are closely connected. We must protect nature. If we don’t, we not only risk
losing many plant and animal species but we are also risking our own health.

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G below.

1. It is many thousands of years A many potential cures will disappear forever.

since ___ B some of the most medically valuable species do not seem
2. People are often very surprised very attractive.
to learn that ___ C natural students learn more about the development of
3. Scientists estimate that ___ treatments.

4. Destroying different ecosystems D medical students learn more about the development of
means that ___ treatments.

5. What is making the problem E people discovered how powerful natural substances can be.
worse is the fact that ___ F researching new treatments takes considerable time.
6. The writer thinks the situation G many possible medicines from from natural world are still
will improve if ___ unknown.

H medical knowledge is not growing quickly enough to fight

new diseases.

I modern medicine still makes so much use of nature.

Exercise 10. [IELTS Reading: Matching sentence endings] Read the passage and match the
sentence beginnings with the endings.

Supported Open Learning

IELTS 5.5- Unit 5: Business and work

A Having decided to study towards a master’s degree with the Open University, you may now be
wondering what it will entail and what commitment it will require from you. Let’s start with
explaining how the Open University will support your learning.

B The method of study you will use with the Open University is called ‘supported open learning’.
This means that the course is carefully structured and you are taken through the components step
by step. Each course is made up of a number of components, and could include: written texts, study
guides, set books (which you will have to buy before the course begins), readers, videos, audio
tapes, computer software, and CD-ROM. You will be learning mostly on your own, in your own time,
and in the space that you have organized yourself, but with the support of your tutor and services
from the Open University.

C Supported open learning involves you in becoming an active learner, taking responsibility for
motivating yourself, pacing your studies, and managing your workload to suit your own
circumstances. There are deadlines to meet such as assignment submission and exam dates, but
matters such as how, when and where you study are very much up to you. In order to learn
effectively from this method, you need to become actively involved in your own learning process.
This means both assessing what you have learned as you go, and testing out new ideas and
concepts. One way of doing so is by keeping in regular contact with your tutor letting him or her
know if you are experiencing difficulties with your studies, or are having problems that may affect
your ability to study.

D Most of you will have gained a first degree already and may feel that studying for a Master’s
degree will entail more of the same. However, besides differences between the two levels of study,
it may be several years since you completed your first degree and it is important to realized that
your circumstances may have changed radically from when you were last a student. Your experience
of being a student this time around may be very different. The majority of students studying for a
Master’s degree with the OU completed their first degree as a full time student at a traditional
university. Studying was their main occupation. This time, things may be very different. You may be
in full time employment, possibly in a position of some responsibility, which entails working long
hours and perhaps bringing work home with you. You may have a family and other domestic
responsibilities. What you will definitely have less of, is spare time.

E Students studying at a distance are expected to be able to cope with increased independent
learning, and be able to use their tutor as a resource rather than a provider of knowledge. Many
courses include project work, which means planning and executing a small piece of research.
IELTS 5.5- Unit 5: Business and work

Although your tutor will expect to see the plan for your project, and may check up on your progress,
there may not be an opportunity for lengthy discussions or feedback as your project develops.

F You will have to organize your time and motivate yourself to keep to your timetable, if you want to
avoid last minute panics. Likewise, the amount of secondary reading you do will be your own
responsibility and, if time is scarce, it can be tempting to cut corners and miss out on some essential
background reading. One of the advantages of supported open learning is that it allows you to have
more autonomy as a student, and gives you the flexibility to study how, where, and, to some extent,
when you choose to do so. The reverse side of the coin, however, is that you need self-discipline in
order to meet deadlines and submit work on time – you are responsible for your own learning.

Complete each of the following statements with the best ending A-G from the box below.

12. Being an active learner means ___ A. doing project work

13. Most students doing a Master’s degree at B. attending tutorials

the Open University will not be ___. C. doing necessary reading
14. You will be required to do some investigation D. completing work within time limits
when ___.
E. supervising your own learning
15. If you are short of time, you may make the
F. studying full time
mistake of not ___.
G. preparing for exams

Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Matching sentence endings – Matching features] Read the passage and
answer the questions.
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IELTS 5.5- Unit 5: Business and work

A. Complete each sentence with the correct ending A—H.

List of sentence endings

1. The GNCTU ___
2. The London Working Men's
Association ___
3. The Chartist National Convention ___
4. The first Chartist petition ___
5. The Newport Rising ___
6. The Lancashire Plug Plot ___
7. The third Chartist petition ___
A. was not debated in parliament.
B. was a response to the government's rejection of
the 1842 Chartist petition.
C. was a failed attempt to establish a universal
workers' movement.
D. was an example of the unrest following the
rejection of the 1839 petition.
E. was a response to the transportation of a number
of Chartist leaders.
F. made an empty threat of industrial action.
G. was rejected in parliament by a large majority
H. anticipated many of the demands of later Chartist
petitions.

B. Look at the following statements (Questions 8-11) and the list of people in the box below.

Match each statement with the correct person A-C. NB You may use any letter more than once.

List of people 8. He led the Chartist movement in the North of England.

A William Lovett 9. He was head of the London Working Men's Association.

B Thomas Attwoo 10. He campaigned for parliamentary reform in the Midlands.

C Fergus O'Connor 11. He was the movement's figurehead when the third 'Monster' petition was
compiled.
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