IELTS 6.0 Lessons Urban-Rural Life

IELTS 6.
WORKSHEET
(Version 2.0)
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Table of Contents
LESSON 1: ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
LESSON 2: ................................................................................................................................................................................ 11
LESSON 3: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 19
LESSON 4: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 28
LESSON 5: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 35
LESSON 6: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 50
LESSON 7: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 58
LESSON 8: ............................................................................................................................................................................... 64
LESSON 9: ................................................................................................................................................................................ 73
LESSON 10: ............................................................................................................................................................................. 89
LESSON 11: .............................................................................................................................................................................. 97
LESSON 12: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 106
LESSON 13: ............................................................................................................................................................................ 110
LESSON 14: ............................................................................................................................................................................ 126
LESSON 15: ............................................................................................................................................................................ 132
LESSON 16: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 137
LESSON 19: ............................................................................................................................................................................ 142
LESSON 20: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 155
LESSON 21: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 167
LESSON 22: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 178
LESSON 23: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 191
LESSON 24: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 201
LESSON 25: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 212
LESSON 26: ........................................................................................................................................................................... 226
LESSON 27: ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 236
LESSON 28: .......................................................................................................................................................................... 247
LESSON 29: .......................................................................................................................................................................... 262
IELTS 6.0- Unit 1: Urban and rural life
Full name:.................................
Lesson 1 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_01_R

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Reading & Grammar focus:
Skills - understand the meaning of prefixes ...... pts/10
- matching heading tasks
- identify the main idea of a paragraph
Exercise 1. [Meaning of prefixes] Read the groups of words that begin with the same prefix.
Match the meanings with the prefixes.
from one thing / place to another future make the opposite of

too much under / less than wrongly / incorrectly
1 over- (overweight, overpaid, overestimate) ________________________
2 mis- (misuse, misunderstand, mispronounce) ________________________
3 sub- (substandard, sub-zero, submarine) ________________________
4 fore- (foresee, forethought, forecast) ________________________
5 de- (deodorant, defrost, demystify) ________________________
6 trans- (transfer, transform, transcribe) ________________________
Exercise 2. [Meaning of prefixes] Read the comments made by different speakers. Match the
descriptions of what the speakers are doing with the comments.
a. complaining that something isn’t good enough

b. describing someone’s stage of life
c. talking about the advantages of being prepared for what is going to happen
d. criticising someone’s lifestyle and health
e. complaining about inaccurate information
f. explaining what someone approves and disapproves of
g. suggesting how to describe something’s history
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1. ‘He’s overweight because he overeats.’
2. ‘The service I’ve received today has been substandard.’
3. ‘I was misquoted and my views were misrepresented.’
4. ‘She’s always been pro-trade and anti-capitalist at the same time.’
5. ‘If you want to sell your old bike, don’t call it “used”. Call it “pre-owned and pre-loved”.
6. ‘My grandparents are enjoying their post-retirement years.’
7. ‘Forewarned is forearmed. That’s always been a favourite idiom of mine.’
Exercise 3. [Identify main ideas of the paragraph] Read the information. Then read the topic
sentences. Choose the correct descriptions of what the paragraphs will be about.
The first sentence in a paragraph is called the topic sentence. This usually contains clues as to what the rest of
the paragraph will be about. In this exercise, you will see five topic sentences (from a five-paragraph text,
which you will read later) and predict what the rest of the paragraph is likely to be about.
1. Topic sentence A
One of the key challenges facing the world is going to be coping with the hundreds of millions
who will flock to the growing number of overpopulated megacities, especially in developing
countries.
The rest of paragraph A is likely to tell us about:
A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

B. consequences of falling populations
C. examples of cities where this has happened
D. reasons why falling populations fall further
E. the lives of people living in the countryside
2. Topic sentence B
A drop in a city’s population usually leads to a few empty or boarded-up and unoccupied
homes, hardly enough to make the headlines or raise eyebrows.
The rest of paragraph B is likely to tell us about

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3. Topic sentence C
That’s just the thing: once a population starts going down, that decline tends to continue.
The rest of paragraph C is likely to tell us about:

4. Topic sentence D
Many cities that are now declining relied heavily on a specific industry for employment of a
large portion of the workforce.
The rest of paragraph D is likely to tell us about:

5. Topic sentence E
It’s this desire to enjoy many of the aspects of an imagined utopia that is prompting many
urban dwellers to pack up and move out to the country.
The rest of paragraph E is likely to tell us about

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Exercise 4. [Reading] In Exercise 5, you will complete an IELTS Reading matching headings
task. First, read the descriptions and choose the correct answers to complete the sentences.
1. One of the heading options is The perks of rural life. A paragraph with this heading is likely to
be about ...
A. statistics concerning numbers of people living in the countryside.
B. the benefits of living in the countryside.
2. Another heading option is A widely publicised phenomenon. This paragraph probably focuses
on something that people ...
A. do a lot. B. know about.
3. Divided generations is another option. A paragraph with this heading is likely to focus on
reasons why ...
A. people of different ages spend less time together.
B. younger and older people behave differently from each other.
4. A paragraph with the heading More common than you might think would be about ...
A. something that happens a lot. B. something that people think about a lot.
5. The heading The reasons why populations fall could be used with a paragraph looking at ...
A. the causes of falling populations. B. the results of falling populations.
6. A paragraph headed The impact of migration on rural infrastructure will focus on ...
A. the causes of migration. B. the effects of migration.
7. The heading The effects of economic downturn suggests that the accompanying paragraph
will be about ...
A. what happens when a town gets poorer.
B. why some towns are poor and others are rich.
Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Matching headings] The article has five paragraphs, A–E. Read the
article and match the paragraphs with the headings. There are two extra headings.
A One of the key challenges facing the world is going to be coping with the hundreds of millions
who will flock to the growing number of overpopulated megacities, especially in developing
countries. This has received a great deal of media attention; books have been written,
conferences organised and committees established to debate the causes of urbanisation, and
more importantly, what can be done to improve the fate of those making the move into these
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continually growing conurbations. But the same is not true of a second, and closely related
trend, which raises a serious dilemma: what to do about the cities that are losing people.
B A drop in a city’s population usually leads to a few empty or boarded-up and unoccupied
homes, hardly enough to make the headlines or raise eyebrows. But they’re hardly unusual.
One in ten US cities is actually shrinking. In Japan, larger cities are thriving – and growing –
while many of the smaller ones are in decline, both demographically and economically. In
Latvia, many young adults have turned remarkably anti-provincial and have headed for the
capital, Riga, in large numbers, leaving a number of ghost towns. Almost silently, this trend is
being repeated right across the globe, almost without anyone noticing. Several South Korean
cities are also becoming smaller, and this trend will continue unless birth rates there increase.
C That's just the thing: once a place starts getting smaller, the decline tends to continue. There
are several explanations for this. When young adults leave the town of their birth and don’t
return, the town loses not just those adults, but also the children that they would have had
later had they stayed. As populations drop, the average age of the inhabitants increases until
most people are post-childbearing age. This is what has happened to towns like Christchurch in
the UK. It’s a vicious cycle; it means, of course, fewer youngsters to bring down the average
age, and consequently, the trend gathers momentum and accelerates. Additionally, of course,
higher average age is closely linked with increased mortality, with each death further reducing
the population.
D Many cities that are now declining relied heavily on a specific industry for the employment of
a large portion of the workforce. A classic example is Detroit, once the centre of America’s
thriving car industry, but now a sparsely populated urban wasteland. Flint, another ex-industrial
powerhouse, can no longer provide the jobs its residents need and so many have left, driven
away by unemployment and the prospect of better opportunities elsewhere. For others, a rural
life has a greater appeal and this tempts them to leave the city; living in the countryside
typically affords lower property prices, healthier living and lower rates of crime.
E It’s this desire to enjoy many of the aspects of an imagined utopia that is prompting many
urban dwellers to pack up and move out to the country. Once there, they can grow their own
potatoes, have time to talk to their neighbours and not worry about what their kids are up to.
Technological changes mean that for many professionals, there’s not so much difference
between being in the city and living miles from anywhere, as long as they have a car and a
decent internet connection. Many city-to-country migrants, such as Helen Dobson, who
recently moved out of Manchester, find that they have to put up with substandard wi-fi anyway
– but that’s a different story.
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(i) A widely publicised phenomenon

1. Paragraph A _______ (ii) Divided generations
2. Paragraph B _______ (iii) The reasons why populations fall
3. Paragraph C _______ (iv) The effects of economic downturn
4. Paragraph D _______ (v) More common than you might think
5. Paragraph E _______ (vi) The perks of rural life
(vii) The impact of migration on rural infrastructure
Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Matching headings] The reading passage has four sections, A-D.
Match the headings (i –vii) with the paragraphs (A- D).
NB: There are more paragraph headings than paragraphs so you will not use them all.
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Choose the correct heading from the list below (i-x). Match the headings (i –vii) with the
paragraphs (A- D).
(i) A fatal threat

1. Paragraph A _______ (ii) A global concern
2. Paragraph B _______ (iii) The evolution of resistance
3. Paragraph C _______ (iv) MRSA in hospitals
4. Paragraph D _______ (v) The present situation
(vi) What is antimicrobial resistance?
(vii) Protecting future generations
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Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Matching headings] Read the passage and answer the questions
LAND OF THE RISING SUN
A. Japan has a significantly better record in terms of average mathematical attainment than
England and Wales. Large sample international comparisons of pupils' attainments since the
1960s have established that not only did Japanese pupils at age 13 have better scores of
average attainment, but there was also a larger proportion of 'low' attainers in England, where,
incidentally, the variation in attainment scores was much greater. The percentage of Gross
National Product spent on education is reasonably similar in the two countries, so how is this
higher and more consistent attainment in maths achieved?
B. Lower secondary schools in Japan cover three school years, from the seventh grade (age 13)
to the ninth grade (age 15). Virtually all pupils at this stage attend state schools: only 3 per cent
are in the private sector. Schools are usually modem in design, set well back from the road and
spacious inside. Classrooms are large and pupils sit at single desks in rows. Lessons last for a
standardised 50 minutes and are always followed by a 10-minute break, which gives the pupils
a chance to let off steam. Teachers begin with a formal address and mutual bowing, and
then concentrate on whole-class teaching.
Classes are large - usually about 40 - and are unstreamed. Pupils stay in the same class for all
lessons throughout the school and develop considerable class identity and loyalty. Pupils attend
the school in their own neighbourhood, which in theory removes ranking by school. In practice
in Tokyo, because of the relative concentration of schools, there is some competition to get
into the 'better' school in a particular area.
C. Traditional ways of teaching form the basis of the lesson and the remarkably quiet classes
take their own notes of the points made and the examples demonstrated. Everyone has their
own copy of the textbook supplied by the central education authority, Monbusho, as part of
the concept of free compulsory education up to the age of 15. These textbooks are, on the
whole, small, presumably inexpensive to produce, but well set out and logically developed.
(One teacher was particularly keen to introduce colour and pictures into maths textbooks: he
felt this would make them more accessible to pupils brought up in a cartoon culture.) Besides
approving textbooks, Monbusho also decides the highly centralised national curriculum
and how it is to be delivered.
D. Lessons all follow the same pattern. At the beginning, the pupils put solutions to the
homework on the board, then the teachers comment, correct or elaborate as necessary. Pupils
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mark their own homework: this is an important principle in Japanese schooling as it enables
pupils to see where and why they made a mistake, so that these can be avoided in future. No
one minds mistakes or ignorance as long as you are prepared to learn from them.
After the homework has been discussed, the teacher explains the topic of the lesson, slowly
and with a lot of repetition and elaboration. Examples are demonstrated on the board;
questions from the textbook are worked through first with the class, and then the class is set
questions from the textbook to do individually. Only rarely are supplementary worksheets
distributed in a maths class. The impression is that the logical nature of the textbooks and
their comprehensive coverage of different types of examples, combined with the
relative homogeneity of the class, renders work sheets unnecessary. At this point, the teacher
would circulate and make sure that all the pupils were coping well.
E. It is remarkable that large, mixed-ability classes could be kept together for maths throughout
all their compulsory schooling from 6 to 15. Teachers say that they give individual help at the
end of a lesson or after school, setting extra work if necessary. In observed lessons, any
strugglers would be assisted by the teacher or quietly seek help from their neighbour. Carefully
fostered class identity makes pupils keen to help each other - anyway, it is in their interests
since the class progresses together.
This scarcely seems adequate help to enable slow learners to keep up. However, the Japanese
attitude towards education runs along the lines of 'if you work hard enough, you can do almost
anything'. Parents are kept closely informed of their children's progress and will play a part in
helping their children to keep up with class, sending them to 'Juku' (private evening tuition) if
extra help is needed and encouraging them to work harder. It seems to work, at least for 95 per
cent of the school population.
F. So what are the major contributing factors in the success of maths teaching? Clearly,
attitudes are important. Education is valued greatly in Japanese culture; maths is recognised as
an important compulsory subject throughout schooling; and the emphasis is on hard work
coupled with a focus on accuracy.
Other relevant points relate to the supportive attitude of a class towards slower pupils, the lack
of competition within a class, and the positive emphasis on learning for oneself and improving
one's own standard. And the view of repetitively boring lessons and learning the facts by heart,
which is sometimes quoted in relation to Japanese classes, may be unfair and unjustified. No
poor maths lessons were observed. They were mainly good and one or two were inspirational.
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The Reading Passage has six sections, A-F. Choose the correct heading for sections B-F from
the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i The influence of Monbusho

ii Helping less successful students
E.g. Section A – iv
iii The success of compulsory education
1 Section B
iv Research findings concerning achievements in maths
2 Section C
v The typical format of a maths lesson
3 Section D
vi Comparative expenditure on maths education
4 Section E
vii Background to middle-years education in Japan
5 Section F
viii The key to Japanese successes in maths education
ix The role of homework correction
http://mini-ielts.com/323/reading/land-of-the-rising-sun
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 2 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_02_W

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Academic Writing:
Skills - identify the main features of a line graph ......
pts/10
- achieve a high score for Task Achievement
- describe changes and compare using adjectives and adverbs
Exercise 1. [Language for trends] Complete the sentences with an adjective or adverb from
the box.
sharp dramatically negligible

notably modest steadily
1. There was a _______________ increase in profits last year. (sudden, big change)
2. Numbers of young people using the product grew _______________. (change at a consistent
rate)
3. Sales declined _______________, despite increased advertising. (big change)
4. The difference between the figures for 2012 and 2013 was _______________. (practically no
difference)
5. The graph shows a _______________ rise over the spring and summer period. (small change)
6. _______________, production was moved out of the country before 2015. (important
change)
Exercise 2. [Language for trends] Choose the correct words in italics to complete the report.
Sales results
Sales began the year at 30,000 units in January and increased (slight / slightly) to 32,000 units in
February. There was a (sharp / sharply) rise to 38,000 in March due to the introduction of a new
price discounting scheme. This was followed by a (slight / slightly) fall in April when sales
dropped to 36,000 units. Our competitors launched a rival product in the spring and this
resulted in a (dramatic/ dramatically) fall to 25,000 in May. But we ran a summer advertising
campaign and sales increased (steady / steadily) by 2,000 units a month throughout June, July
and August until they stood at 33,000 in September. The (dramatic / dramatically) rise to
45,000 in October resulted from the launch of our new autumn range. But then we experienced
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problems meeting demand and sales fell (sharp / sharply) in November and remained (steady /
steadily) at 39,000 in December.
Exercise 3. [Language for trends] Each of the following sentences contains mistakes. Rewrite
the sentences and correct the mistake.
1. Sales of chicken burgers dramatic increase over the period.
2. There was a significantly increase in the population.
3. There was significant increase in the population of Grant Bishopston.
4. X-boxes experienced a rapid grow from the beginning of November.
6. Figures saw a remain constant over the whole period.
7. Rainfall sees wildly fluctuation each year in Bundaland.
Exercise 4. [Language for trends] Complete the second sentence so that it has the same
meaning as the first. Write two or three words.
1. Sales grew rapidly in the first quarter, then slowed down considerably.
→ The _______________ sales was rapid in the first quarter, then slowed down considerably.
2. There was a lot of fluctuation in their income between 2014 and 2016.
→ Their income _______________ between 2014 and 2016.
3. The popularity of the sport declined considerably over the following few years.
→ There was a _______________ in the popularity of the sport over the following few years.
4. Ownership of tablets surged dramatically between October and December.
→ There was a _______________ ownership of tablets between October and December.
5. There was a gradual increase in levels of interest after 2013.
→ Levels of interest _______________ after 2013.
6. Despite the levelling-off of sales in 2012, production was increased.
→ Although sales _______________ in 2012, production was increased.
7. There was a significant decline in profits in the second quarter.
→ Profits _______________ the second quarter.
8. The price suddenly surged at the end of 2016.
→ The price _______________ up at the end of 2016.
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Exercise 5. [Identify the main features of a line graph] Look at the chart. Choose the correct
responses to the questions.
1. What is being measured in the chart?

A. movement from the city to the countryside
B. movement from the countryside to the city
C. the number of people living in Country A, Country B and Country C
2. How is the number of people measured?
A. 100s B. 1,000s C. 1,000,000s
3. What is the most noticeable trend?
A. Movement increased a little.
B. Movement increased considerably.
C. Movement increased in only two countries.
4. According to the chart, what is a prediction for the future?
A. Country C will have a bigger population than Country A.
B. More people will live in rural areas in Country A.
C. Movement in Country B will remain stable.
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5. What would be appropriate to include in conclusion / summary of this chart?

A. In conclusion, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people moving
to cities.
B. In summary, Country B will stay the same.
C. Overall, the number of people moving to the countryside has increased dramatically.
Exercise 6. [Describe changes and compare using adjectives and adverbs] Look at the chart.
Choose the correct adverbs to complete the sentences.
1. Between 2000 and 2015, Country B’s population movement (gradually/ markedly/
surprisingly) increased from 10 million to about 25 million.
2. By 2025, the number of people moving from the countryside to the city in Country B will
have tailed off (dramatically/ inconsistently/ slightly) to around 30 million people.
3. Since 2005, the movement from rural to urban areas in Country C has risen (gradually/
significantly/ steadily), reaching about 80 million in 2020.
4. The number of people leaving the countryside for the city in Country C is expected to surpass
the number in Country A and continue to climb (predictably/ sharply/ slowly), reaching about
95 million in 2025.
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5. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of people moving from rural to urban areas in Country
A is expected to rise (abruptly/ markedly/ steadily) from just over 70 million to just under 80
million. However, it is predicted to have fallen behind Country C by 2025.
Exercise 7. [Accurate and inaccurate information – Describe a line chart] Look at the chart. Do
the sentences contain accurate or inaccurate information? Choose True or False.
1. Country A’s population movement fluctuated before 2015 and is predicted to rise in the next
few years.
2. The movement of people from villages to cities in Country B is forecast to peak in 2020, and
will probably decline in the foreseeable future.
3. From a low figure of below 10 million people in 2000, the number of people expected to
move from the countryside to cities in Country C will probably exceed 100 million in the years
after 2025.
4. Country C had fewer people moving to cities than Country B and Country A in 2005, and in
2025 there will also be fewer people moving to cities in Country C than in these countries.
5. Country C experienced a steep rise in the number of people leaving the countryside for the
city between 2005 and 2015; the number increased from about 10 million to about 50 million,
and this trend is likely to continue well into the next decade.
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IELTS WRITING TASK 1 PRACTICE

Look at the line graphs. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting main features,
and make comparisons where relevant.
1. The graph below shows the consumption of fish and some different kinds of meat in a
European country between 1979 and 2004.
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2. The graph shows the amount of money spent on books in Germany, France, Italy and Austria
between 1995 and 2005.
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3. The chart below shows the percentage of difference in income between men and women
from 1978 and 2008.
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 3 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_03_L

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Listening skills
- Understand and use future time conditionals
Skills
- Successfully deal with Section 1: Form completion tasks ...... pts/10
- Develop your paraphrasing skills for multiple-choice
questions
Exercise 1. [Future time conditionals] Complete the sentences with words in the box.
as long as you as soon as they can if provided will
1. _____________ have friends and family nearby, I don’t think it matters where you live really.
2. I don’t think we _____________ ever live on other planets unless technology improves
dramatically.
3. _____________ local or national governments don’t introduce new laws, pollution will
increase to dangerous levels.
4. I think most young people who live in small towns want to move to big cities _____________.
5. I don’t think overcrowding will be a problem in cities, _____________ local and national
governments build enough houses for people.
Exercise 2. [Future time conditionals] Complete the sentences with the correct form of words
in the brackets.
1. If we meet at 9:30, we (have) _________________plenty of time.
2. If you (find) _________________ a skeleton in the cellar, don't mention it to anyone.
3. The flight may be cancelled if the fog (get) _________________thick.
4. If you pass your examination, we (have) _________________a celebration.
5. Lisa will find the milk if she (look) _________________ for it in the fridge.
6. What (happen) _________________if I press this button?
7. The door will not be unlocked unless you (press)_________________ the green button.
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8. I will vote for her if I (have) _________________ a vote.

9. If you go to Paris, where you (stay) _________________?
10. If you (swim) _________________ in this lake, you'll shiver from cold.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Listen to a telephone conversation between a

volunteer and an agent at a volunteering organisation. Complete the notes. Write NO MORE
THAN TWO WORDS AND / OR A NUMBER for each answer.
World Care Volunteering
Location: Africa
Name: Hannah (1) __________
DoB: 9th (2) __________1977
Address: Garden Flat, 15 Hotwell Road, Bristol, (3) __________
Tel: (4) __________
When available: (5) __________
Package interested in: (6) __________
Current job: (7) __________
Experience: (8) __________ years
Prices:
1 week from £300, 2 weeks from (9) £__________
1 month: (10) £__________
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Complete the form below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
PACKHAM’S SHIPPING AGENCY – customer quotation form
Name: Jacob (1) ___________
Address to be collected from: (2) ___________ College, Downlands Rd
Town: Bristol
Postcode: (3) ___________
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Contents: clothes
(6) …………
(7) …………
Total estimated value: (8) £…………
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Complete the form below. Write NO MORE
THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER for each answer.
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Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD
AND/ OR A NUMBER for each answer.
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Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions]

Questions 1-6: You will hear a talk on local radio about a ‘short film’ festival in the town of
Adbourne. Choose the correct answer A, B or C.
Adbourne Film Festival
1 Why was the Film Festival started?
A To encourage local people to make films.
B To bring more tourists to the town.
C To use money released from another project.
2 What is the price range for tickets?
A £1.00-£2.50 B 50p - £2.00 C £1.50-£2.5
3 As well as online, tickets for the films can be obtained
A from the local library.
B from several different shops.
C from the two festival cinemas.
4 Last year’s winning film was about
A farms of the future.
B schools and the environment.
C green transport options.
5 This year the competition prize is
A a stay in a hotel. B film-making equipment. C a sum of money.
6 The deadline for entering a film in the competition is the end of
A May. B June. C July.
Questions 7-8: Choose TWO letters, A-E.
What TWO main criteria are used to judge the film competition?
A Ability to persuade.
B Quality of the story.
C Memorable characters.
D Quality of photography.
E Originality.
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What TWO changes will be made to the competition next year?
A A new way of judging.
B A different length of film.
C An additional age category.
D Different performance times.
E New locations for performances.

Which TWO hobbies was Thor Heyerdahl very interested in as a youth?
A camping B climbing C collecting D hunting E reading
Which do the speakers say are the TWO reasons why Heyerdahl went to live on an island?
A to examine ancient carvings
B to experience an isolated place
C to formulate a new theory
D to learn survival skills
E to study the impact of an extreme environment
Questions 5-10: Choose the correct letter A, B or C.
The later life of Thor Heyerdahl
5. According to Victor and Olivia, academics thought that Polynesian migration from the east
was impossible due to
A the fact that Eastern countries were far away.
B the lack of materials for boat building.
C the direction of the winds and currents.
6. Which do the speakers agree was the main reason for Heyerdahl’s raft journey?
A to overcome a research setback
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B to demonstrate a personal quality

C to test a new theory
7. What was most important to Heyerdahl about his raft journey?
A the fact that he was the first person to do it
B the speed of crossing the Pacific
C the use of authentic construction methods
8. Why did Heyerdahl go to Easter Island?
A to build a stone statue
B to sail a reed boat
C to learn the local language
9. In Olivia’s opinion, Heyerdahl’s greatest influence was on
A theories about Polynesian origins.
B the development of archaeological methodology.
C establishing archaeology as an academic subject.
10. Which criticism do the speakers make of William Oliver’s textbook?
A Its style is out of date.
B Its content is over-simplified.
C Its methodology is flawed.
Exercise 9. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions] Choose the correct letter, A, B, С or D.
31. What does the lecturer provide for those who are interested in doing extra reading?
A. Personal consultation sessions. B. Extra materials, such as a booklist.
C. Mid-term examination. D. Free glasses.
32. In the past, time management meant you needed to
A. reduce your stress. B. plan for every hour of the week.
C. own a good watch. D. set goals and try to achieve these goals.
33. Today, wise time management means you need to
25
A. set goals and work in a systematic way.

B. work faster.
C. set an overview of your assignment.
D. make a list, plan for everything and try to stick to this plan.
34. In this college, students are assigned ____________ at the end of each semester.
A. team projects. B. final term examinations.
C. essays. D. time management courses.
35. One sign he lecturer mentions that students feel under pressure is
A. library books go missing. B. students get angry for no reason.
C. lower class attendance rates. D. trouble at the library.
36. What kind of suggestion does the lecturer give to the students?
A. Making a very detailed plan of their daily activities.
B. Not being so stressed just because there is an assignment.
C. A regular one-hour session in their personal timetables.
D. Wearing comfortable shoes.
37. According to the lecturer, there are three kinds of planners. They are:
A. one weekly planner, one daily planner and one hour planner.
B. one yearly planner, one weekly planner and one daily planner.
C. one term planner, one monthly planner and one weekly planner.
D. one term planner, one weekly and one daily planner.
38. If you want to set an overview of your time, you should need at least
A. one week. B. half a week. C. one month. D. one term.
39. The daily planner of time is mainly concerned with
A. the detailed planning.
B. how to plan all available time.
C. TV schedules.
D. an overview of everything you need to do for several days.
26
40. According to the lecturer, wise time management may have the following benefit:
A. having more time to spend on relaxation and other activities.
B. improving your performance in the final term assignment.
C. helping you write better essays.
D. improving your memory.
27
Full name:.................................
Lesson 4 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_04_S

QR code:
Speaking:
Skills - review all three parts of the Speaking test - analyse good ...... pts/10
and bad answers to parts of the test - correctly use future
time conditionals in the Speaking test - Pronunciation:
stressed syllables
Exercise 1. [Future time conditionals] Rewrite the sentences
1. Vegetarians don't eat meat.
If you're a vegetarian, _____________________________
2. People who live in a cold country don't like hot weather.
If you live ______________________________________
3. Teachers have to work very hard.
If you're a teacher, _______________________________
4. People who do a lot of exercise stay fit and healthy.
If you _________________________________________
5. Mechanics understand engines.
If you're a ______________________________________
6. People who read newspapers know what's happening in the world.
If you __________________________________________
Exercise 2. [Stressed syllables] Practice the conversation with stressed syllables. Record the
dialogue and hand in to the teacher.
Ben: Honey, I’m home!
Maria: Hi! How are you? How was your day at work?
Ben: It was great! I got a promotion! I’ll have more responsibilities in the office, but the best
news is that I’ll have more money at the end of each month.
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Maria: That’s great! Congratulations! I’m really happy.
Ben: Unfortunately, I have to go to a conference this weekend so I won’t be able to go to dinner

with your parents this Friday. Sorry to let you down.
Maria: You’re sorry? You’re sorry?!?! I’m afraid “sorry” isn’t good enough. I’ve already told
them you’re going, Ben!
Ben: I know, I know. And I am sorry about it. But as long as you have the chance to see them it’s
okay, right?
Maria: Fine. But we’re going to dinner with them next Friday. No excuses.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Speaking part 2] Read the task card. Then watch the video and complete the
student’s notes with the words or phrases that you hear. Write no more than two words from
the video for each answer.
Describe a useful website that you visit frequently.

You should say:
• how you found out about the website
• how often you use the website
• what you use the website for
and give your opinion on the website.
A useful website
How you found out about the website:
recommended by a (1)____________/ an (2)___________ suggested using YouTube to watch

(3)__________
How often you use the website:
(4)__________ a week / when I have spare (5)__________
What you use the website for:
learn life skills, e.g. how to be (6)__________, speak English properly, learn English in more
(7)__________
Your opinion:
positive; TED Talks very (8)_________ website, (9)__________ people to be more confident
29
Exercise 4. [IELTS Speaking Part 3] Read the information. Then watch the video of a student
doing IELTS Speaking Part 3. Match the techniques for extending answers with the student’s
answers.
a. expanding on the topic to see the bigger picture

b. explaining what might be happening now and in the future
c. explaining why something happens or happened
d. giving real life examples
e. providing a list of different reasons
f. stating or explaining your own view or preference
1. ‘First of all, I think the environment must be good… And secondly, I think transportation in a
big city must be convenient… And thirdly, I think people should be friendly…’
______________________________________________________________________________
2. ‘People wanted to move to big cities to improve their living standards.’
______________________________________________________________________________
3. ‘I’d prefer to live in countryside because the air is much better.’
______________________________________________________________________________
4. ‘The biggest advantage of cities getting larger is that it can improve the whole economy of
our country.’
______________________________________________________________________________
5. ‘For example, the city I lived in is Hangzhou, and the house price is really high.’
______________________________________________________________________________
6. ‘Maybe some teenagers or young people want to live in a big city and want their next
generation to study in a big city to get a good education.’
______________________________________________________________________________
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Speaking Practice]
Topic 1:
Part 1: Celebrity
1.1. Who is your favorite celebrity in Vietnam?
1.2. Do you like any foreign celebrities?
1.3. Would you want to be a celebrity in the future?
1.4. Do you think we should protect famous people's privacy?
1.5. How do celebrities influence their fans in Vietnam?
Part 2: Describe a person that you admire
You should say:
• Who this person is

• How you knew this person
• What you like to do together
• Why you admire this person
Part 3:
1. What kinds of people can become role models?
2. What should schools teach to help students become better citizens?
3. What can we learn from old people?
4. What can parents do to give children correct guidance?
5. In your culture, what kinds of people can be leaders?
6. Has there been a change in the characteristics that leaders should have?
7. Many women are earning more money now, does it mean that they can be leaders?
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Topic 2:
Part 1: Transportation
1. What's the most popular means of transportation in your hometown?
2. How often do you take buses?
3. Can you compare the advantages of planes and trains?
4. Is driving to work popular in your country?
5. Do you think people will drive more in the future?
6. Would you ride bikes to work in the future?
Part 2: Describe an important holiday (or festival) that is celebrated in your country.
You should say:
• when this celebration takes place

• what people do during this celebration
• what you especially like and dislike about this celebration
• and explain why it is important.
Part 3:
1. Why is it important to protect traditions?
2. What’s the most important tradition in your country?
3. What kinds of traditions have disappeared in your country?
4. Why should children learn about traditions?
5. What can governments do to protect traditions?
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Topic 3:
Part 1: Birthday
1. How do children celebrate birthdays in your country?
2. How did you celebrate your last birthday?
3. What kinds of birthday gifts do you like to receive?
4. Is there a difference between the way you celebrate your birthday in the past and in the
present?
Part 2: Describe an event that resulted in a positive change in your life.
You should say:
• when it happened
• where it happened
• what the change was
• and explain how you have benefited from this change ( or, explain how you feel about
this change)
Part 3
1. Is your country changing rapidly?
2. What can smart phones do these days?
3. Since most people do work on their computers, why do they still need to go to the office?
4. Do you think people’s work in the future will be heavily affected by technology?
5. Compare the pace of technological progress in the past and in the present.
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Topic 4:
Part 1: Chocolate
1. How often do you eat chocolate?
2. What's your favorite flavor?
3. When was the first time you ate chocolate?
4. Is chocolate popular in Vietnam?
5. Is chocolate good for our health?
Part 2: Describe a time you needed to use imagination
You should say :
what the situation was
why you needed to use imagination
What the difficulties were
and explain how you felt about it
Part 3:
1. Why do most children have a wild imagination?
2. What kinds of books can boost people's imagination?
3. Do you like to watch movies about the future?
4. What can schools do for students' creativity?
34
IELTS 6.0- Unit 2: Health
Full name:.................................
Lesson 5 Topic: Health WID: IELTS6.0_05_R

QR code:
Reading:
Skills - review skimming and scanning skills - correctly answer ...... pts/10
flow-chart and table completion questions - understand
and correctly use quantifiers - use paraphrase to help you
answer sentence completion questions
Exercise 1. [Quantifiers] Complete the sentences. Use the words and phrases in the box.
few of many much of some of

the majority of the whole of whole
1. Not many wanted a new supermarket in the village, but ____________ in the residents were
in favour.
2. __________ the medical group voted for more funds for a new hospital. Nobody was against
it.
3. __________ the employees in the laboratory are over the age of 30.
4. He spends ______________ his free time playing video games.
5. They don’t suffer from _____________ serious health problems.
6. He feels very lonely because only a __________ his friends and relatives have visited him in
hospital.
7. The __________ group acknowledged that more people was needed to continue the
research.
Exercise 2. [Quantifiers – Vocabulary] Put the words in the correct order to complete the
sentences.
1. Serious health implications/have/can/both/of these/problems/.

______________________________________________________
2. Medical profession/the report/agrees/with/the/the whole of/.
______________________________________________________
35
3. Of/are/overweight/or obese/people/the majority/.

______________________________________________________
4. Hospitals/have/by almost/three hours/reduced/waiting/times/many/.
______________________________________________________
5. Place/much of/is/taking/in the/developed world/the increase/in obesity/.
______________________________________________________
6. Addiction/on/of/reports/a number/junk food/focus/to/the increasing/.
______________________________________________________
7. I don’t/either/experts/with/so-called/those/health/agree/of/.
______________________________________________________
8. Of their children/it’s/that/have/all four/health problems/worrying/.
______________________________________________________
Exercise 3. [Skimming – Scanning] Read the passage and answer the questions.
Champions of colour blind justice
During the past century, as the United States of America has wrestled with the problem of
inequality between blacks and whites, two names remain paramount in the struggle – Martin
Luther King and Malcolm X.
Although there were some surface similarities. Both started their

own movements, organised rallies and gave many speeches both in
America and abroad, yet their approaches and beliefs were radically
different. King believed in peace, encouraging only a ‘passive
resistance’ with the eventual aim of black and white people
integrating and living together peacefully. While King tried to unite
the races through peace, Malcolm X, on the other hand, adopted a
more direct, aggressive approach. Unlike King, he did not support
the idea of integration but separatism, encouraging his listeners to recognise the suffering
whites had caused blacks and to live apart in their own communities.
These men were different not only in their approaches to the problem, but also in the religious
convictions that motivated them. Martin Luther King’s philosophy of peace and positive
36
reasoning was influenced by Christianity. He was active in the Church and was the leader of the
Christian Leadership Conference. Malcolm X started many Muslim groups which practised a
violent form of defence against any white oppression, real or imagined.
Despite their very different perspectives, there is one more similarity between these two men
Ð both were assassinated. Malcolm X was shot in 1965 at a rally in Harlem, victim of former
supporters who had taken his doctrine of violence to heart. On 4 April 1968 King was shot as he
was organising a demonstration in Memphis, but little is known of his assassin.
In the current racial climate of America, it could be said that both men succeeded, at least to a
degree. There are still racial tensions, but not to the same degree. Whether Malcolm X would
have approved or King would be satisfied today is another question.
1. The text is about __________
A. where Martin Luther King and Malcolm X lived
B. what Martin Luther King and Malcolm X believed
C. the similarities between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
2. The text is written ________.
A. about the future in America.

B. in support of Malcolm X and against Martin Luther King
C. in a neutral style, presenting mostly facts
3. What religion was Martin Luther King? ____________________________________
4. What year was Malcolm X shot? ____________________________________
Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading: Scanning – Flow chart completion]
A. Read the information. Then read the questions and scan the article to choose the correct
answers.
The advent of sugar taxes
Recent years have seen a series of countries, from the UK to South Africa, debate and then
introduce a tax on products that are high in sugar. Mexico implemented a much-publicised
sugar tax soon after France did in 2012, which was in itself a response to Hungary’s pioneering
new tax the previous year. Other countries, such as Ireland, soon followed suit.
37
So, what does it take for a country to take a stand against falling standards of health and rising
levels of obesity and introduce a sugar tax that will make a difference? Well, the first thing is
that people need to be made to care. Many British people had been hearing their doctor tell
them for years about the dangers of consuming too much sugar. However, it took an all-out
offensive by a chef, with the media looking on enthusiastically, to raise awareness and bring the
issue to the forefront of national debate in the UK before the average politician would sit up
and listen.
Once passed, sugar taxes can have quite a drastic effect. In Mexico, the introduction of a tax of
10% made consumers think again about their shopping choices. Poorer households spent up to
17% less on sugary drinks and across all socioeconomic groups nationwide, the drop was 12%.
But the key benefit lies in the improvement in people’s health and the fall in the number of
diet-related fatalities that the introduction of a sugar tax could lead to. Estimates put this at
1,600 in Australia, and it is claimed that 4,400 heart attacks – a major cause of death – and
1,100 strokes could be prevented each and every year. The revenues generated by the tax are
expected to be in the region of $400 million, not to mention the reduction in costly healthcare
needed, providing the government with a fund to subsidise healthy food for low-income
Australians.
1. Give yourself 20 seconds to scan the article and find all the countries mentioned. Then,
without looking at the article again, identify the seven countries mentioned from the list below.
A. Australia G. South Africa
B. Austria H. South Korea
C. France I. the UK
D. Hungary K. the USA
E. Mexico L. Ireland
F. Morocco
2. Give yourself 40 seconds to scan the article and find all the numbers and what they refer to.
Then, without looking at the article again, identify the three pieces of information that the
article contains.
A. the amount of money that one country expects to raise from its sugar tax
B. the number of countries around the world that have imposed a sugar tax
38
C. the percentage of people in favour of a sugar tax
D. the tax rate (as a percentage) imposed by a country on sugary drinks
E. the year when a country introduced a sugar tax
B. Complete the sentences from a flow-chart. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
article for each answer.
How sugar taxes work
(1)__________ : first country in recent years to introduce a sugar tax.
Popular support can be raised by a famous person. The campaign to introduce a sugar tax led
by a (2)__________ in the UK.
Introducing a sugar tax leads to a reduction in consumption of sugary drinks.
Mexico – spending on soft drinks fell by (3)__________ overall.
Sugar taxes improve people’s health.
(4)__________ lives could be saved annually in Australia, where the money earned could be
used to pay for (5)__________.
Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Skimming + Table completion]
A. Read the information. Then skim the text and choose the correct answers to complete the
sentences.
Superfoods
Investigative journalist Bjorn Stigsson looks into the science of the so-called ‘superfoods’.
Health bloggers are constantly going on about the so-called superfoods that can do wonders for
our bodies, or so it is claimed. If you believe all the hype, you’ll probably believe that a diet of
mackerel and broccoli can make you live forever!
39
So, let’s investigate the claims, and see if the science really backs them up. Curry is said to be a
superfood, and the magical power it lays claim to is that it can help extend life. At least, that’s
what someone has decided on the basis of what happened to a few rats in a laboratory
somewhere, which had a diet rich in capsaicin. Curry also contains a high amount of capsaicin,
and so it wasn’t long before someone concluded that, therefore, humans would live longer if
they ate lots of curry. As for the evidence, oh, well, never mind that – unsubstantiated claims
are much more headline-friendly. And so it wasn’t long before a chef in Bedford, UK, hit the
headlines when he claimed to have created the world’s healthiest meal – chicken curry with
blueberries. He claimed that, being loaded with antibacterials, it could deal ‘a devastating blow’
to cancer. Could it simply be, I wonder, that he just wanted to go one better than his
competitor businesses in Bedford?
Another superfood is beetroot, which is rich in nitrates that can be converted into nitric oxide.
It is believed that people with higher-than-average blood pressure who eat beetroot are able to
reduce it to healthier levels, although evidence gathered from people with heart problems is
very limited. In addition, there is some good data on the benefits of beetroot, but much of it
focuses on people with excellent health, such as the cyclists who were the participants in a
well-received piece of research from 2013. This established that a diet rich in beetroot enabled
them to cope better with the lower oxygen levels at high altitudes. These findings are of use to
climbers and mountain residents alike.
It’s been said that if you’re going to make just one change to your diet, it should be to start
eating blueberries. They’re rich in fibre and vitamin K, but then so are many other things. It’s
their levels of antioxidants that really set them apart, which may be one of the reasons why
people who eat them a lot are less prone to heart disease. Studies conducted among women
aged over 70 who had not had a stroke also found that memory loss was delayed by a couple of
years on average among the blueberry-eaters. However, before we jump to conclusions, it
should also be pointed out that the sample size was very modest and that berry-eaters tend to
have above-average incomes, which in turn can contribute to good health.
So, do I believe that some foods really are ‘superfoods’? No. Some foods, such as broccoli and
mackerel, are more nutritious than others such as bread. And we all need a rich and balanced
diet, so do by all means cook up some broccoli now and then, but don’t live on it exclusively.
And don’t delude yourself into thinking that it’ll save your life – eating so-called superfoods is a
solution, but it’s not the solution.
40
1. The writer’s main point is that people should ...
A. be sceptical about claims made about superfoods.
B. try to eat as many superfoods as possible.
2. The writer’s tone is best described as ...
A. humorous and light-hearted.
B. serious and academic.
B. Complete the table. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer.
Key
Superfood Claim Evidence
component
It can extend life.

It enables ____________ to live
curry capsaicin It can defeat
longer.
____________.
It can lower A group of __________ were found

beetroot __________
__________. to perform better at high altitudes.
Results are inconclusive, because

They can slow the participants who performed
blueberries __________
____________. well in tests also had high
____________.
Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Table completion] Read the passage and answer the questions.
The construction of bridges
The development by the Romans of the arched bridge marked the beginning of scientific
bridge-building; hitherto, bridges had generally been crossings in the form of felled trees or flat
stone blocks. Absorbing the load by compression, arched bridges are very strong. Most were
built of stone, but brick and timber were also used. A fine early example is at Alcantara in Spain,
built of granite by the Romans in AD 105 to span the River Tagus. In modern times, metal and
concrete arched bridges have been constructed. The first significant metal bridge, built of cast
iron in 1779, still stands at Ironbridge in England.
41
Steel, with its superior strength-to-weight ratio, soon replaced iron in metal bridge-work. In the
railway age, the truss (or girder) bridge became popular. Built of wood or metal, the truss beam
consists of upper and lower horizontal booms joined by vertical or inclined members.
The suspension bridge has a deck supported by suspenders that drop from one or more
overhead cables. It requires strong anchorage at each end to resist the inward tension of the
cables, and the deck is strengthened to control distortion by moving loads or high winds. Such
bridges are nevertheless light, and therefore the most suitable for very long spans. The Clifton
Suspension Bridge in the UK, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunei (1806—59) to span the
Avon Gorge in England, is famous both for its beautiful setting and for its elegant design. The
1998 Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan has a span of 1,991 metres, which is the longest to date.
Cantilever bridges, such as the 1889 Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland, exploit the potential of steel
construction to produce a wide clearwater space. The spans have a central supporting pier and
meet midstream. The downward thrust, where the spans meet, is countered by firm anchorage
of the spans at their other ends. Although the suspension bridge can span a wider gap, the
cantilever is relatively stable, and this was important for nineteenth-century railway builders.
The world’s longest cantilever span - 549 metres - is that of the Quebec rail bridge in Canada,
constructed in 1918.
Complete the table below. Use ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Bridges
Type of bridge Features Example(s)
• introduced by the (1)______________ Alcantara, Spain

Arched bridge • very strong
• usually made of (2)______________ Ironbridge, UK
• made of wood or metal

Truss bridge
• popular for railways
Clifton, UK
Suspension • has a suspended deck
bridge • strong but (3)______________ Akashi Kaikyo, Japan (currently
the (4)______________ span)
• Made of (5)______________
Cantilever
• More (6)______________ than the Quebec, Canada
bridge
suspension bridge
42
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Flow chart completion] Read the passage and complete the flow
chart below.
ROBOTS AT WORK
A The newspaper production process has come a long way from the old days when the paper
was written, edited, typeset and ultimately printed in one building with the journalists working
on the upper floors and the printing presses going on the ground floor. These days the editor,
subeditors and journalists who put the paper together are likely to find themselves in a totally
different building or maybe even in a different city. This is the situation which now prevails in
Sydney. The daily paper is compiled at the editorial headquarters, known as the prepress
centre, in the heart of the city, but printed far away in the suburbs at the printing centre. Here
human beings are in the minority as much of the work is done by automated machines
controlled by computers.
B Once the finished newspaper has been created for the next morning’s edition, all the pages
are transmitted electronically from the prepress centre to the printing centre. The system of
transmission is an update on the sophisticated page facsimile system already in use on many
other newspapers. An imagesetter at the printing centre delivers the pages as film. Each page
takes less than a minute to produce, although for colour pages four versions, once each for
black, cyan, magenta and yellow are sent. The pages are then processed into photographic
negatives and the film is used to produce aluminium printing plates ready for the presses.
C A procession of automated vehicles is busy at the new printing centre where the Sydney
Morning Herald is printed each day. With lights flashing and warning horns honking, the robots
(to give them their correct name, the LGVs or laser guided vehicles) look for all the world like
enthusiastic machines from a science fiction movie, as they follow their own random paths
around the plant busily getting on with their jobs. Automation of this kind is now standard in all
modern newspaper plants. The robots can detect unauthorised personnel and alert security
staff immediately if they find an “intruder”; not surprisingly, tall tales are already being told
about the machines starting to take on personalities of their own.
D The robots’ principal job, however, is to shift the newsprint (the printing paper) that arrives
at the plant in huge reels and emerges at the other end some time later as newspapers. Once
the size of the day’s paper and the publishing order are determined at head office, the
information is punched into the computer and the LGVs are programmed to go about their
work. The LGVs collect the appropriate size paper reels and take them where they have to go.
43
When the press needs another reel its computer alerts the LGV system. The Sydney LGVs move
busily around the press room fulfilling their two key functions to collect reels of newsprint
either from the reel stripping stations, or from the racked supplies in the newsprint storage
area. At the stripping station the tough wrapping that helps to protect a reel of paper from
rough handling is removed. Any damaged paper is peeled off and the reel is then weighed.
E Then one of the four paster robots moves in. Specifically designed for the job, it trims the
paper neatly and prepares the reel for the press. If required the reel can be loaded directly onto
the press; if not needed immediately, an LGV takes it to the storage area. When the press
computer calls for a reel, an LGV takes it to the reel loading area of the presses. It lifts the reel
into the loading position and places it in the correct spot with complete accuracy. As each reel
is used up, the press drops the heavy cardboard core into a waste bin. When the bin is full,
another LGV collects it and deposits the cores into a shredder for recycling.
F The LGVs move at walking speed. Should anyone step in front of one or get too close, sensors
stop the vehicle until the path is clear. The company has chosen a laserguide function system
for the vehicles because, as the project development manager says “The beauty of it is that if
you want to change the routes, you can work out a new route on your computer and lay it
down for them to follow”. When an LGV’s batteries run low, it will take itself off line and go to
the nearest battery maintenance point for replacement batteries. And all this is achieved with
absolute minimum human input and a much reduced risk of injury to people working in the
printing centres.
G The question newspaper workers must now ask, however is, “how long will it be before the
robots are writing the newspapers as well as running the printing centre, churning out the
latest edition every morning?”.
Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for
each answer.
44
45
Exercise 8. [IELTS Reading: Sentence completion] Read the passage and answer the questions.
A brilliant movement of colour as it catches its food in the air, the European bee-eater moves
between three continents.
True to their name, bee-eaters eat bees (though their diet includes just about any flying insect).
When the bird catches a bee, it returns to its tree to get rid of the bees poison, which it does
very efficiently. It hits the insect's head on one side of the branch, then rubs its body on the
other. The rubbing makes its prey harmless.
European bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) form families that breed in the spring and summer
across an area that extends from Spain to Kazakhstan. Farmland and river valleysprovide huge
numbers of insects. Flocks of bee-eaters follow tractors as they work fields. When the birds
come upon a beehive, they eat well - a researcher once found a hundred bees in the stomach of
a bee-eater near a hive.
European bees pass the winter by sleeping in their hives, which cuts off the bee-eater's main
source of food. So, in late summer, bee-eaters begin a long, dangerous journey. Massive flocks
from Spain, France and northern Italy cross the Sahara desert to their wintering grounds in
West Africa. Bee-eaters from Hungary and other parts of Central and Eastern Europe cross the
Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Desert to winter in southern Africa. 'It's an extremely risky
stratagem, this migration,' says C. Hilary Fry, a British ornithologist who has studied European
bee-eaters for more than 45 years.
'At least 30 percent of the birds will be killed by predators before they make it back to Europe
the following spring.'
In April, they return to Europe. Birds build nests by digging tunnels in riverbanks. They work for
up to 20 days. By the end of the job, they've moved 15 to 26 pounds of soil - more than 80
times their weight.
The nesting season is a time when families help each other, and sons or uncles help feed their
father's or brother's chicks as soon as they come out of their eggs. The helpers benefit, too:
parents with helpers can provide more food for chicks to continue the family line.
It's a short, spectacular life. European bee-eaters live for five to six years. The difficulties of
migration and avoiding predators along the way affect every bird. Bee-eaters today also find it
harder to find food, as there are fewer insects around as a result of pesticides. Breeding sites
are also disappearing, as rivers are turned into concrete-walled canals.
46
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
1. Bee-eaters’ preys are bees and other _____________.
2. Bee-eaters need to remove the _____________ from bees before eating them.
3. There is plenty of food for the bee-eaters on agricultural land and in _____________.
4. Bee-eaters migrate to spend the winter in different parts of _____________.
5. Because of _____________, almost one-third of bee-eaters do not survive migration.
6. Bee-eaters make nests in _____________, which they build themselves.
7. When nesting, the _____________ receive food from different family members.
8. One problem for bee-eaters is _____________, which have reduced the amount of food
available.
Exercise 9. [IELTS Reading: Sentence completion] Read the passage and answer the questions.
The effects of light on plant and animal species
Light is important to organisms for two different reasons. Firstly it is used as a cue for the
timing of daily and seasonal rhythms in both plants and animals, and secondly it is used to assist
growth in plants.
Breeding in most organisms occurs during a part of the year only, and so a reliable cue is
needed to trigger breeding behaviour. Day length is an excellent cue, because it provides a
perfectly predictable pattern of change within the year. In the temperate zone in spring,
temperatures fluctuate greatly from day to day, but day length increases steadily by a
predictable amount. The seasonal impact of day length on physiological responses is called
photoperiodism, and the amount of experimental evidence for this phenomenon is
considerable. For example, some species of birds’ breeding can be induced even in midwinter
simply by increasing day length artificially (Wolfson 1964). Other examples of photoperiodism
occur in plants. A short-day plant flowers when the day is less than a certain critical length. A
long-day plant flowers after a certain critical day length is exceeded. In both cases, the critical
day length differs from species to species. Plants which flower after a period of vegetative
growth, regardless of photoperiod, are known as day-neutral plants.
Breeding seasons in animals such as birds have evolved to occupy the part of the year in which
offspring have the greatest chances of survival. Before the breeding season begins, food
47
reserves must be built up to support the energy cost of reproduction, and to provide for young
birds both when they are in the nest and after fledging. Thus many temperate-zone birds use
the increasing day lengths in spring as a cue to begin the nesting cycle, because this is a point
when adequate food resources will be assured.
The adaptive significance of photoperiodism in plants is also clear. Short-day plants that flower
in spring in the temperate zone are adapted to maximising seedling growth during the growing
season. Long-day plants are adapted for situations that require fertilization by insects, or a long
period of seed ripening. Short-day plants that flower in the autumn in the temperate zone are
able to build up food reserves over the growing season and over winter as seeds. Day-neutral
plants have an evolutionary advantage when the connection between the favourable period for
reproduction and day length is much less certain. For example, desert annuals germinate,
flower and seed whenever suitable rainfall occurs, regardless of the day length.
The second reason light is important to organisms is that it is essential for photosynthesis. This
is the process by which plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon from soil or water
into organic material for growth. The rate of photosynthesis in a plant can be measured by
calculating the rate of its uptake of carbon. There is a wide range of photosynthetic responses
of plants to variations in light intensity. Some plants reach maximal photosynthesis at one-
quarter full sunlight, and others, like sugarcane, never reach a maximum, but continue to
increase photosynthesis rate as light intensity rises.
Plants in general can be divided into two groups: shade-tolerant species and shade-intolerant
species. This classification is commonly used in forestry and horticulture. Shade-tolerant plants
have lower photosynthetic rates and hence have lower growth rates than those of shade-
intolerant species. Plant species become adapted to living in a certain kind of habitat, and in the
process evolve a series of characteristics that prevent them from occupying other habitats.
Grime (1966) suggests that light may be one of the major components directing these
adaptations. For example, eastern hemlock seedlings are shade-tolerant. They can survive in
the forest understorey under very low light levels because they have a low photosynthetic
rate.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
1. Day length is a useful cue for breeding in areas where ___________ are unpredictable.
2. Plants which do not respond to light levels are referred to as ___________.
48
3. Birds in temperate climates associate longer days with nesting and the availability of
___________.
4. Plants that flower when days are longer often depend on ________ to help them reproduce.
5. Dessert annual respond to ___________ as a signal for reproduction.
6. There is no limit to the photosynthetic rate in plants such as ___________.
7. Tolerance to shade is one criterion for the ___________ of plants in forestry and
horticulture.
49
Full name:.................................
Lesson 6 Topic: Health WID: IELTS6.0_06_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
- effectively answer "advantage and disadvantage"
questions
Skills ...... pts/10
- write topic and supporting sentences, developing your
ideas in each paragraph
- achieve a high score in Coherence and Cohesion
- correctly use less common discourse markers
Exercise 1. [Discourse markers] What is the function of the discourse markers in the box?
Complete the table with the discourse markers.
consequently whereas although
as for as a result moreover
rather than in addition nonetheless
nevertheless therefore with respect to
furthermore thus regarding
to focus on what follows in a sentence to add further information rather than using and
to contrast ideas to add a logical idea in a subsequent statement
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Exercise 2. [Discourse markers] Choose the correct phrases to complete the sentences.
1. Government provision of healthcare is valued by poorer people, and (therefore/what’s

more), it prevents the elderly worrying about the affordability of treatment.
2. Private healthcare is extremely expensive, but (by the same token/ despite this), public
healthcare is not cheap to provide either.
3. Public hospitals can be overcrowded, and (as a consequence/ by this I mean), there can be
long waiting times for treatment.
4. Both private and public healthcare workers are trained in the same institutions, and (as such/
having said that), there can’t be much difference in their overall knowledge.
5. General taxation is used to fund state healthcare. (In this way/To give a specific example), we
are already paying for public health services as a country.
Exercise 3. [Discourse markers] Choose the correct words and phrases to complete the
sentences.
A recent study has found that there are numerous factors that can reduce your life expectancy.
These include not exercising, not eating enough fruit and vegetables and, (in particular/ largely
thanks to), smoking.
(By this I mean/That said), you can do something to correct these and other unhealthy habits.
(As such/ On the other hand), you need to change your lifestyle. (As such/By this I mean) don’t
overeat, start walking for 30 minutes a day and spend less time looking at a screen. (As well
as/Largely thanks to this), try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
(By this I mean/Ultimately), research shows that you are at greater risk of depression without a
strong network of friends and family.
(As such/ Because of this), work hard at ensuring that you maintain regular contact with all your
loved ones.
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Exercise 4. [Advantages and disadvantages essay] Read the arguments below. Which ones
explain benefits of government-provided healthcare and which are drawbacks? Choose B for
benefits or D for drawbacks.
Arguments B D
1. Any healthcare costs are already paid for through general taxation, meaning
that people do not need to find money for treatment if they get sick suddenly and
are not covered by health insurance.
2. With a publically funded health service, patients usually have limited

healthcare provision and do not have the option of choosing how they will be
treated.
3. Waiting lists for treatment are often longer in public hospitals than in private
ones.
4. Universal free healthcare means the authorities in a specific country can offer a
consistent approach to treatment to all and this often prevents diseases from
becoming more prevalent in society.
5. If healthcare is publically funded, some people will overuse healthcare

facilities, simply because they are free. This costs taxpayer money which could be
spent on other public projects.
6. Healthcare standards for a free service are dependent on the money provided
by the government. If it does not invest enough money, standards of treatment
can decline.
7. Private health care systems tend to cost patients a lot more per person than a
publically funded one.
Exercise 5. [Advantages and disadvantages essay – Topic sentence and supporting ideas]
A. Read the information. Then look at the IELTS Writing Task 2 question and read the
sentences. Do the sentences work as topic sentences? Choose Yes or No.
Some governments provide free healthcare for their citizens, but other governments do not
provide any health service at all, and their citizens are expected to rely on private healthcare
provision.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of government-provided free healthcare.
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Sentences Yes No
1. Government funding for public healthcare nationwide improves local

residents’ quality of life.
2. The introduction of private hospitals in my country has created well-

paid employment in the health sector.
3. If the government does not provide health insurance, then there may
be more pressure on the emergency services.
4. Lack of government funding for healthcare causes health problems for

the public.
5. Government healthcare spending has benefited society in numerous

ways.
6. When people can choose their own healthcare, it gives them the
freedom to decide how they spend their own money.
B. Read the paragraph about the advantages of government-provided healthcare. Choose the
correct discourse markers to complete the paragraph.
(As for/ In addition/ Whereas) public healthcare, it is already paid for through general taxation
so there is no need for private provision. Everybody, regardless of income, is entitled to
healthcare, as it is a basic human right. (Moreover/ Nevertheless/ Thus), whether a person lives
or dies should not depend on how much money they earn. (Although/ As a result/ As
regards) government provision can use up a lot of the budget available for other public services
such as education, providing healthcare can (in addition/ nonetheless/ on the other
hand) prevent serious diseases from spreading and becoming more prevalent in
society. (Consequently/ Moreover/ Regarding), it is worthwhile for a government to invest in
the health of a nation.
C. Read the paragraphs about the disadvantages of government-provided healthcare.

Complete the paragraphs with the supporting statements in the box.
a. it gives people the freedom d. there is not any freedom of choice
b. waiting lists for treatment are often long e. using the pharmacy
c. there is often overuse of health facilities for minor reasons
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On the other hand, (1)_____________ regarding the type of healthcare. People are forced to go
to the state provider, and as a result, (2)_____________ because there is such high demand.
In addition, (3)_____________ , as many people go to their doctor because it is free at the point
of use, rather than (4)_____________ and treating themselves at home. Privately provided
healthcare may be expensive but, nevertheless, (5)_____________ to choose who provides
their care and how quickly they are treated.
Exercise 6. [Advantages and disadvantages essay] Read the topics and do as the steps below.
Step 1: Outline the main ideas for your essay
Advantages Disadvantages
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
Step 2: Write the topic sentences.
Step 3: Write supporting statements for the topic sentences.
Step 4: Organize the ideas and write the essay.
54
Topic 1. Young adults are now choosing to wait until later in life, often until they are in their
30s, to settle down and get married. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Topic 2. Many elderly people are no longer looked after by their families but are put in care
homes or nursing homes. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Topic 3. An increasing number of schools provide tablets and laptop computers for students to
use in school, replacing books and other printed materials like exams and assignments. What
are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 7 Topic: Health WID: IELTS6.0_07_L

QR code:
Listening:
- correctly answer table completion and note completion tasks
Skills
- use headings and completed cells in tables to help you ...... pts/10
predict correct answers
- correctly use a variety of determiners and quantifiers
Exercise 1. [Quantifiers- Determiners] Complete the sentences. Use the words and phrases in
the box.
both either neither of

both of either of none
both of these neither none of
1. Do you drink tea or coffee? ___________________. I don’t think they’re very healthy drinks.
2. I haven’t been to ___________________ the new vegetarian restaurants, but I hear they are
___________________ very good.
3. A poor diet can lead to obesity and high cholesterol, and ___________________ these health
problems have serious implications.
4. Did any of your children get the flu this winter? No, _________________ them.
5. Can I have some more cheese, please? Sorry, there’s ___________________ left.
6. High blood pressure can lead to other health issues, including heart and kidney problems.
___________________ problems can have very serious implications.
7. _________________ my parents has very good health because they don’t exercise enough.
8. I don’t eat red meat and my partner doesn’t ___________________.
Exercise 2. [Quantifiers- Determiners] Choose the appropriate options to complete the

sentences.
1. Today, ---- people who enjoy winter sports is much greater than that of twenty years ago.
A. a number of B. many C. a great deal of D. the number of E. several
58
2. According to the studies, dolphins, whales and ---- other sea creatures use highly
sophisticated navigation systems.
A. any B. a little C. many D. much E. each
3. The dietary habits of a child often have ---- to do with that child's eating habits as an adult.
A. little B. whole C. every D. a great amount E. most
4. In the United States of America, there are literacy classes for workers, ---- of whom never
graduated from high school.
A. a little B. much C. any D. many E. a good deal
5. In the first ---- months of life, an infant learns how to lift its head, how to smile and how to
recognize its parents.
A. many B. a lot of C. any D. the number of E. few
6. Serving ---- terms in Congress, Shirley Chisholm became an important United States
politician.
A. plenty B. several C. a lot D. much E. whole
7. Although the language learning abilities of apes have surprised ---- scientists, they generally
agree that apes do not progress beyond ---- linguistic abilities of a two-year-old child.
A. few / a B. a little / the C. many / the D. each / a E. much / the
8. The storm continued for ---- of the days when we were in New Orleans,·but fortunately there
wasn't ---- damage in the city.
A. a few / many B. several / a lot C. all / a little
D. most / much E. some / few
9. Heavy fines and jail sentences have made ---- difference in preventing elephant poaching for
their tusks.
A. the number of B. a few C. little D. many E. none
10. Although ---- species of fox are reddish in color, ---- Arctic fox is often pure white.
A. a great amount of / an B. any / the C. plenty / the
D. all / an E. most / the

https://www.grammarbank.com/determiners-quantifiers-tests.html
59
Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Table completion] Read the information. Then listen to two
friends talking about a health spa. Complete the table. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
RelaxWell Spa
Treatment Benefits Time and cost Special offers
Floating seaweed foot

1____________ removal 60 minutes, £45 None available
massage for tired, aching feet
Reduces stress
60 minutes, 3 Taster, £30, pay
Indian head massage Improves energy and £____________ in advance
2____________
Restores youthful 5 £__________

Rejuvenating facial for tired 4____________ when booked
90 minutes, £80
eyes and skin with another
Removes bags and circles treatment
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Table completion] Listen to two friends talking about a festival in
their town. Complete the table. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER for
each answer.
Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Festival Date: Saturday 1_______ July
What’s on: Where: Includes:
Advice on growing vegetables from

Grow your own City Allotments local gardening expert Sheila
2_______
Benefits of eating organically-grown

Organic is Best Open-Air Market
3_______ with Ken Miller
Warnings about fish farming

Sustainable Fish 4_______
5_______ by Percy Green
Talk on the benefits of daily exercise

Improve your 6_______ Billings Park
by renowned 7_______ Harriet Asam
Tickets: Concessions: OAP, £12,

Children under 16, £10.25, Tickets available online at 10_______
8 £_______ Under-3s, 9_______
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Table completion] Complete the table below. Write ONE WORD
Event Cost Venue Notes
E.g. Ticket
The 1__________ Also appearing: Carolyn Hart (plays the
Jazz band available for
school 2____________)
£15
Prize: tickets for 4____________ held at the

Start behind the end of the festival.
Duck races £1 per duck
3__________
Duck can be bought in the 5____________
Prizes presented at 5 pm by a well-known

Flower show Free 6__________ Hall
7____________
Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Note completion] Listening and complete the notes below. Write
ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Conflict at work
Conflict mostly consists of behaviour in the general category of 31____________
Often a result of people wanting to prove their 32____________
Also caused by differences in 33____________ between people
34____________ conflicts: people more concerned about own team than about company
Conflict-related stress can cause 35____________ that may last for months
• Chief Executives (CEOs)

Many have both 36____________ and anxiety
May not like to have their decisions questioned
There may be conflict between people who have different 37____________
• Other managers
A structure that is more 38____________ may create a feeling of uncertainty about who staff
should report to.
• Minimising conflict
Bosses need to try hard to gain 39____________
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Someone from outside the company may be given the role of 40____________ in order to
resolve conflicts.
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Note completion + Table completion] Listen and answer the
questions.
1-6: Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD for each answer.
SELF-DRIVE TOURS IN THE USA
Example Name: Andrea Brown
Address: 24 1___________ Road

Postcode: BH5 20P
Phone: (mobile) 077 8664 3091
Heard about company from: 2___________
Possible self-drive tours
Trip One:
• Los Angeles: customer wants to visit some 3___________ parks with her children
• Yosemite Park: customer wants to stay in a lodge, not a 4___________
Trip Two:
• Customer wants to see the 5 ___________ on the way to Cambria
• At Santa Monica: not interested in shopping
• At San Diego, wants to spend time on the 6___________
7-10: Complete the table below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Number of days Total distance Price (per person) Includes
• accommodation
Trip One 12 days 7_________ km £525 • car
• one 8________
• accommodation
Trip Two 9 days 980 km 9 £________ • car
• 10________
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Exercise 8. [IELTS Listening: Note completion + Table completion] Listen and answer the
questions.
1-6: Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
THORNDYKE’S BUILDERS
Example Customer heard about Thorndyke’s from a friend
Name: Edith 1__________

Address: Flat 4, 2__________ Park Flats (Behind the 3__________)
Phone number: 875934
Best time to contact customer: during the 4__________
Where to park: opposite entrance next to the 5__________
Needs full quote showing all the jobs and the 6__________
7-10: Complete the table. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Area Work to be done Notes
Replace the 7__________ in the door Fix tomorrow
Kitchen
Strip paint and plaster approximately
Paint wall above the 8__________
one 9__________ in advance
One 10__________ needs replacing

Garden
(end of garden)
63
Full name:.................................
Lesson 8 Topic: Health WID: IELTS6.0_08_S

QR code:
Speaking:
- improve your score for Fluency and Coherence (FC)
Skills
- extend your Part 1 and Part 3 answers ...... pts/10
- correctly use and pronounce a range of discourse
marker
Exercise 1. [IELTS Speaking Part 1-3] Read the information. Then read the questions. Are the
questions more typical of IELTS Speaking Part 1 or Part 3? Choose Part 1 or Part 3.
IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions tend to focus on finding out general information about you and testing
your ability to answer questions about everyday topics. The questions will ask you to talk about ideas
and experiences that are personal to you.
IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions take a broader world view and ask you to focus on issues and subjects
that affect society, so the examiner’s questions will ask you to consider topics more generally, rather
than personally.
Part 1 Part 3
1. Which sports are you interested in?
2. What are the sports facilities like where you live?
3. What do you normally do to stay healthy?
4. Do you think people are more health-conscious now than they were in the
past?
5. What makes a good doctor?
6. Is there something in your life that you would like to change to become
healthier?
7. How should children be taught to lead healthy lives?
8. Do you still play the same sports that you did when you were a child?
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9. Some people say that working in offices is bad for people’s health. Do you
agree?
10. How have attitudes to food and health changed in recent years?
Exercise 2. [Discourse markers] Read the information. Then read the examiner’s questions
and the student’s answers. Choose the incorrect words and phrases.
1. Examiner: Who do you think should be responsible for ensuring that children eat healthily?
Student: I would say that the parents are responsible for ensuring that their children eat
healthily (as/ because/ so) it is the parents who understand the effects of a poor diet far better
than a child. (As well,/ In addition,/ I would add that) I think teachers and schools should play a
role in educating children. I would argue that nutrition is so important that it should have a
place on the curriculum, (say,/ such as/ that said,) in a biology class.
(Having said that,/ That said,/ Whereas) I do think the age of the child is important when
answering this question. Once a child hits their teenage years, they should really start taking
some responsibility for themselves, and this should include what they put into their bodies.
2. Examiner: It has been said that the fast pace of modern life is bad for our mental health. Do
you agree with this?
Student: To some extent. I do believe that certain aspects of modern life, (an example of this is/
for instance/ such as) long working hours, can have an enormous effect on mental health. Many
people feel a lot of pressure at work to do extra hours and to meet deadlines and (as a
consequence/ as a result/ the reason being), put too much pressure on themselves. This can
cause stress-related illnesses.
(Having said that/ However/ Moreover), it should be remembered that many aspects of modern
life are much easier for us than they were for, say, our grandparents, so perhaps life nowadays
is no more stressful than it was in the past.
3. Examiner: Should physical education be a compulsory subject at school?
Student: Personally speaking, I would say so. Exercise is a habit that needs to be learnt when
you are young. If children learn sports at school or get accustomed to doing exercise, they are
more likely to continue this habit in later life. (Having said that/ On the one hand/ That said), I
do believe that there should be more options available for physical education. Many school
children don’t enjoy certain sports, (especially/ in particular/ specially) competitive sports or
65
ones that involve hand–eye coordination. Perhaps if schools offered other alternatives, like
yoga or t’ai chi, more children would want to participate. (In a nutshell/ In the end/ When all is
said and done), the important thing is to help children find physical activities that can become
lifelong habits.
Exercise 3. [Extend the ideas in IELTS Speaking] Read the information. Then read the IELTS
Speaking Part 1 question and the responses given by four students. Which students do the
examiner’s comments refer to? Choose the correct answers.
Examiner: What sports or physical activities do you do or play regularly?
Student 1: I don’t. I hate sports. And exercise. I prefer social media.
Student 2: Well, to be honest, sport doesn’t really interest me. I would say this is partly because
I am not a competitive person and partly because I am not very good at sports, especially those
that involve running. However, I do like to go walking in the countryside, and I cycle to work
every day. So, I would say that these are my main forms of regular exercise.
Student 3: I’m a big fan of football. My team is Manchester United and I try to watch all their
games. I also collect their merchandise; I have posters, football kits and videos, and I follow a
number of the players on social media. There are often two games per week during the football
season, so a lot of my free time is spent watching their games.
Student 4: I think it is very important to do some kind of regular exercise, whether it is sport or
something more relaxing, such as yoga. I think as a society, we are becoming more sedentary;
that is to say, we spend more and more time sat down in front of computers or television
screens. We are already seeing the effects of this, with increasing numbers of people suffering
conditions like diabetes and obesity. So, in short, I would say that regular exercise is something
we should do.
1. While your answer is personalised, you have not really answered the question. The question
was not about the sports that you watch, but those that you actually do. On the positive side,
your language is quite good, and you have tried to give an extended answer. _____
2. You answer the question honestly, but in such a brief way that you would not score highly in
the IELTS Speaking test. Some questions will relate to subjects that you might not be able to
talk about extensively, but you should still try to support your responses with reasons and
examples. _____
66
3. This is a well-constructed answer with some excellent language and use of discourse
markers. The problem is that it is not an answer to the question you were asked. Your answer
focuses on people and society in general rather than your own experiences, which means that
your approach is more suitable for IELTS Speaking Part 3 than for Part 1. _____
4. This is a well-constructed answer and would score well in IELTS Speaking Part 1. _____
Topics for IELTS Speaking practice

*Note: Choose at least 1 topic (part 1 and part 3) to practice at home or active learning room.
Record and send to your teacher.
Test 1:
Part 1: Outdoor activities
1. Do you like outdoor activities?
2. What outdoor activities do you (most) like to do?
3. What outdoor sports do you like? (Why?)
4. How much time do you spend outdoors every week?
5. Do Vietnamese people go out a lot?
6. What (types of) outdoor activities are popular in your country?
7. How and where do people in your country usually socialize?
Part 2: Describe an outdoor activity you like to do. You should say:
What it is
Where you like to do it
How you do it
And explain why you like to do it
Part 3:
1. Would you say people spend more time outdoors today than they did, say, 20 years ago?
2. What are the benefits of doing things outdoors?
67
3. Are there any outdoor activities that many people used to do (but which most people don't
do now)?
4. What are the most popular outdoor activities in Vietnam?
5. What sorts of activities do children like to do outdoors?
6. Do boys and girls like to do the same kinds of things outdoors?
7. Do old people and young people like doing the same kinds of things outdoors?
8. What sorts of outdoor activities will people like to do in the future?
Test 2:
Part 1: Meals
1. What food do people where you live usually eat?
2. Which meal of the day do you think is the most important?
3. What do you usually eat for lunch (breakfast, dinner)?
4. Do you prefer to eat 3 full meals a day or do you prefer to eat many snacks throughout the
day?
5. Do you think it is better to eat one big meal a day or is it better to eat several smaller meals
each day?
6. Is there any special food that you particularly like?
7. Would you like to try any new food?
Part 2: Describe a way to stay healthy.
You should say
What this way is
How you knew about this way
When you started to do it
And explain why it can help you to stay healthy.
Part 3:
1. Have people become more conscious about health nowadays? Why? Why not?
2. What do the people of your country do to remain healthy?
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3. Does the lifestyle of a person affect his health?
4. Have the eating habits of the people changed? Why? Why not?
5. How can healthy eating habits be inculcated in children?
Test 3:
Part 1:
1. How long should people sleep for the benefit of their health? Why?
2. Do you think that the old should sleep more than the young? Why?
3. What do you do to improve sleeping quality?
4. Do you think it's effective?
Part 2: Describe a place you use for relaxation
You should say:
What and where is it
How often you go there
How did you find it
Part 3:
1. Do late working hours affect people’s sleep patterns?
2. Do you like studying late? Why?/Why not?
3. Why do you think some people like to study late at night?
Test 4:
Part 1:
1. Do you often do physical exercise?
2. How do you do exercise?
3. Do you have any plans for exercise in the future?
4. Do young people in your country like to do exercise?
Part 2: Describe a place that you visit to keep fit.
You should say:
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What is it
When do you go there
What do you do there
and say why do you like it
Part 3:
1. Should people go in for sports more?
2. Which sport is the best for people, who aren’t used to work-out?
3. Why some people enjoy sports more than others?
Test 5:
Part 1:
1. Do you have any unhealthy habits?
2. In what ways do you try to stay healthy?
3. What are the health benefits of playing a sport?
Part 2: Describe a time when you were ill.
You should say:
when this was
what your symptoms were
how long the illness lasted
and say how it affected your life at the time.
Part 3
1. Do women pay more attention to their health than men?
2. Could governments do more to promote healthier lifestyle options?
3. Do you think most people worry more about their health as they get older?
Test 6:
Part 1: Cooking
1. Can you cook?
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2. Who does the cooking in your family?
3. What is your main meal in the day?
4. On what occasions do you eat special foods?
5. Which foods from your country do most foreign people enjoy?
6. What kinds of meals do you like?
7. Do you often dinner with your family?
8. Are there any fruits or vegetables you don’t like? Why?
9. And what is your favourite cuisine?
Part 2: Talk about your favorite food. You should say:
what the food is
what it is made of
what you love about it
and say why it is your favorite food
Part 3:
1. Tell me about the types of food that people eat in your country (What foods are popular in
your country?
2. How are the eating habits now in your country different from eating habits in the past?
3. How healthy is your country’s food?
4. How can we stay healthier?
5. Do you think cooking is a pleasure or chore for people?
6. What are your predictions for people’s diets in the next 10 years?
Test 7:
Part 1: Fast-food
1. What are your routine eating habits?
2. Do you eat fast food regularly?
3. What type of food do you like the most? Why?
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4. Did your food preferences change since you were a child?
Part 2: Talk about the food that you like to eat outside your home.
You should say:
What is it
Why you like it
How often do you do it
and explain on what occasions do you eat out.
Part 3:
1. Why do you think people go to restaurants when they want to celebrate something?
2. Which are more popular in your country: fast food restaurants or traditional restaurants?
3. Why do you think that is?
4. Some people say that food in an expensive restaurant is always better than food in a cheap
restaurant – would you agree?
5. Do you think there will be a greater choice of food available in shops in the future, or will
there be less choice?
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IELTS 6.0- Unit 3: Art and architecture
Full name:.................................
Lesson 9 Topic: Art and architecture WID: IELTS6.0_09_R

QR code:
Reading:
Skills - Grammar Focus: use past tenses correctly ...... pts/10
- True/False/ Not Given and Multiple-choice questions
- Identify main and supporting ideas
Exercise 1. [Past tenses] Choose the correct sentences.

1. A. The building became home to the royal family in the late seventeenth century.
B. The building was becoming home to the royal family in the late seventeenth century.
2. A. We couldn’t visit the exhibition because our car had broken down.
B. We couldn’t visit the exhibition because our car had been breaking down.
3. A. I have worked in the town planning department, but I left and started my own company.
B. I used to work in the town planning department, but I left and started my own company.
4. A. When I was younger, I have been dreaming of someday becoming a famous sculptor.
B. When I was younger, I would dream of someday becoming a famous sculptor.
5. A. We’d been having problems with security since the opening of the museum, but the
recent theft finally made us review all our systems.
B. We are having problems with security since the opening of the museum, but the recent theft
finally made us review all our systems.
6. A. As it has become more and more difficult to find good museum staff, we had closed down
the west wing.
B. As it was becoming more and more difficult to find good museum staff, we closed down the
west wing.
Exercise 2. [Past tenses] Fill each space with either the past continuous, past perfect simple or
past perfect continuous.
1. I was exhausted at the end of the exam. I ____________ (write) for over two hours.
2. When thieves stole my favourite leather jacket, I was really upset. I ___________(have) it for
over ten years.
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3. Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realise you ____________ (drive) at over
90mph?
4. We didn't really want to go and see the musical again. We ____________ (already see) it
twice - so we said "no" and we went to a restaurant instead!
5. I arrived over an hour late to the office and everyone was working. Actually,
they____________ (work) for over two hours on the new project and I felt really guilty.
6. The kitchen was full of steam when we arrived. Joan was in the kitchen and
she____________ (cook) a huge meal for everyone at the party.
7. It was a bit embarrassing to arrive at their house and find Mary looking so sad. I think
she ____________ (cry) before we got there.
8. No-one even noticed when I got home. They ____________ (all watch) the big game on TV.
Exercise 3. [Main ideas and supporting ideas] Each group of statements below includes one
topic, one main idea, and two supporting details. In the space provided, label each item with
one of the following:
T— for the topic of the paragraph
MI— for the main idea
SD— for the supporting details
Group 1
_____ a. Lack of exercise leads to “older” joints and muscles.
_____ b. Signs of aging.
_____ c. Smoking and spending a great deal of time in the sun lead to wrinkling.
_____ d. Everyday habits can produce signs of aging.
Group 2
_____ a. Many students now do much of their learning using online computers.
_____ b. Modern technology is changing the very nature of our educational system.
_____ c. Technology’s effect on education.
_____ d. Students have begun to use wireless reading devices that can hold the information in
thousands of books.
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Exercise 4. [Main ideas and supporting ideas] Read the passages and answer the questions
that follow.
Passage 1: Not all cultures have the same views of reality. One example is the way that
different cultures regard and describe time. Native American tribes have concepts of time that
differ from those of the predominant Anglo culture in North America. In American English,
people often represent time in spatial terms: “That’s a big chunk of time.” We commonly hear
and accept, “Four days is longer than three days.” However, the Hopi Indians do not say this. In
their native language, the same expression would be translated as, “The fourth day is later than
the third day.” In other words, they represent time temporally but not through spatial
metaphors.
In another example, a Navajo man was hired by an Anglo businessman to do a job. However, on
the day they had scheduled for the work, the Navajo man’s truck broke down, and he did not
have a telephone or any way to contact the businessman. Initially, when the Navajo man
showed up three days after their appointment, the Anglo man thought him irresponsible or
confused. But then he found out that the Navajo man’s truck had broken down; and, unable to
contact the employer, the man had walked the entire distance to the employer’s business,
which took three days. The Navajo placed greater importance on honoring his commitment and
keeping his promise than on the length of time it took him to do so. An Anglo in the same
situation would be more likely to assign priority to being on time, to assume that walking would
take too long, and to give up, not honoring his commitment due to the factor of time.
1. Which of the following best represents the main idea of this passage?
A. Native Americans take longer than Anglos to get things done.
B. Different cultural values affect the way people perceive reality.
C. Native Americans treat time differently only in their languages.
D. Anglos are more impatient because they think time takes space.
2. Which of the following is not a detail from this passage?
A. The Hopi language describes time differently than American English.
B. The Navajo man’s truck broke down on the day of the appointment.
C. The Navajo tried to call the Anglo but had the wrong phone number.
D. It took three days for the Navajo man to walk to the Anglo business.
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Passage 2: Most of us are familiar with Florence Nightingale as the woman who founded
modern nursing and revolutionized medicine, both by reducing deaths through infection
control and by legitimizing nursing as a profession. However, not as many people are aware
that Florence Nightingale was also a great lover of cats. She reportedly cared for around 60 cats
in her lifetime.
When she volunteered to nurse wounded soldiers in the Crimean War, Nightingale found that
more of them died from infections due to lack of sanitation than from their wounds. She not
only introduced sanitary measures such as washing hands and surgical instruments, thereby
greatly reducing fatalities; she also employed cats to rid the barracks hospital of rats.
Nightingale’s health was ruined by her efforts in the Crimea. Upon her return to England,
although she still pursued her mission to sanitize and reorganize military and other hospitals
and professionalize nursing through voluminous correspondence, she stayed at home and
accepted few visitors. During this part of her life, many cats were her constant companions. Her
letters often were marked with paw prints. She was known to comment that she preferred cats
as dining companions over humans.
Nightingale was blind for the last 15 years of her life. Caregivers and visitors observed that in
those years, the only things she found joy in other than her many great-nieces and great-
nephews were her cats.
3. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of this passage?
A. Florence Nightingale revolutionized the medical and nursing professions.
B. Florence Nightingale’s volunteer work in Crimea ruined her own health.
C. Florence Nightingale lived the end of her life with blindness and solitude.
D. Florence Nightingale was a cat lover as well as the founder of modern nursing.
4. Which of the following is not a detail included in this passage?
A. Nightingale organized a group of 38 nurses to travel to Crimea.
B. Nightingale’s own health was ruined by her battlefield nursing.
C. Nightingale relied mainly upon the company of cats in later life.
D. Nightingale enjoyed dining with cats more than with humans.
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Passage 3: According to the United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,
Georgia, everybody who is at least six months old should get a flu shot this year. This
recommendation was first made last year. The AARP Bulletin reports that a vaccine called
Fluzone High-Dose is now available, designed especially for people aged 65 years and older.
Because older people produce less robust immune responses than younger people, scientists
have produced this vaccine to give them better protection against the influenza virus. This is
important because cases of the flu can involve very serious complications for older persons.
5. Which of the following choices best identifies the main idea of this passage?
A. Everyone over six months old should get a flu shot this year.
B. There is now a special high-dose flu shot just for older people.
C. People over 65 years of age are more likely to contract the flu.
D. Due to complications, no flu shot can protect an older person.
6. Which choice is a detail included in this passage?
A. The recommendation about flu shots is new this year.
B. The new high-dose flu shot is designed for everybody.
C. Avoiding the flu is more important for elderly people.
D. Older people have an exaggerated immune response.
Passage 4: As of the year 2011, heart disease was the number one killer of Americans. It was
projected that more than 40 percent of adults in the United States would be diagnosed with
cardiovascular disease by the year 2030. This proportion translates to more than a trillion
dollars in medical costs. In addition, Medicare would be responsible for covering more than half
of those expenses. Therefore, advocates such as AARP say one way that aging Americans can
help to reduce our federal government’s budget deficit is to exercise. Regular aerobic exercise
strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood circulation, and helps us lose weight. These
results can lower our nation’s medical expenditures by reducing the incidence of cardiovascular
disease.
7. Which of the following best represents the main idea of this passage?
A. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans.
B. In 2011, heart disease was expected to have declined by 2030.
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C. Medicare would have to cover less than half our medical costs.
D. Exercise can reduce the budget deficit by cutting medical costs.
8. Which of the following is a detail included in this passage?
A. More than 50% of American adults would have heart disease by 2030.
B. Heart disease was projected to cost a billion dollars for medical care.
C. Medicare would owe over half of the medical costs for heart disease.
D. Exercising would improve our health but not affect the budget deficit.
Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: True/ False/ Not given] Read the information. Then read the first
part of the article.
Architectural determinism
Back in the 1960s, the Welsh academic and town planner Maurice Broady came up with a new
term in architectural speak: architectural determinism. This referred to what he saw as the
practice of making unjustified claims that the built environment could somehow change
people’s behaviour in ways that could be predicted. It was a new term to describe what at the
time was not uncommon. Although the idea of architectural determinism is now widely
discredited, it had allowed the heroes of architecture to make all sorts of ridiculous claims in
the past.
In the 1400s, one of the stars of the Italian Renaissance, Leon Battista Alberti, claimed that the
balanced classical forms of well-designed buildings would convince invaders to abandon their
weapons and become calm, non-violent citizens.
In the early twentieth century, the British theorist and planner Ebenezer Howard developed the
idea of garden cities. These were to be village-like housing schemes with substantial gardens
and green areas, and were intended to provide working people with an alternative to living in
‘crowded, unhealthy cities’. He envisaged a ‘group of slumless, smokeless cities’, in which
employees, benefiting from better living and working conditions, would be more efficient.
Frank Lloyd Wright, designer of New York’s Guggenheim Museum and many of the USA’s most
iconic houses, believed that appropriate architectural design could even save the USA from
corruption and make people more virtuous.
The Swiss-born modernist architect Le Corbusier declared that one of the houses he designed
outside Paris, the Villa Savoye, would heal the sick. But when it did exactly the opposite (its
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large windows made the house overheat, and its flat roofs let in the rain), the owners
threatened legal action. Le Corbusier only managed to avoid court due to the outbreak of the
Second World War.
The failings of modernist architecture are well documented, and many writers and theorists
have made a living out of critiquing it. But the high point of this trend was the delight that many
shared over the demolition of the disastrous Pruitt-Igoe urban housing complex in St Louis in
the USA. It had been designed by architects George Hellmuth, Minoru Yamasaki and Joseph
Leinweber, supposedly to create ‘community gathering spaces and safe, enclosed play yards’.
And yet for some reason, the community declined to gather and play safely in their enclosed
yards. Instead, the complex became a hotspot for crime and poverty and was demolished in the
1970s.
As with many of the modernist planning and design philosophies of the twentieth century,
architectural determinism was appealing at first sight but ultimately misguided. It became
unfashionable during the post-modern era and all but disappeared. One of the consequences of
this loss of faith in the power of architecture is that architects are now left defenceless before
the superior technical know-how of structural engineers, the restrictions placed on them by
generations of planners and the calculations of project managers.
Do the statements agree with the information given in the article? 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.
1. Alberti believed that architecture could promote peace.
2. Howard studied the effectiveness of rural housing.
3. Lloyd Wright thought that good architecture could make people behave in a morally better
way.
4. Le Corbusier’s claims about the Villa Savoye proved to be accurate.
5. Hellmuth, Yamasaki and Leinweber were pleased when the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex was
destroyed.
6. Architects often find it difficult to get on with colleagues in the building industry.
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Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice questions] Read the second part of the article.
Choose the correct answers to the questions.
The failings of modernist architecture are well documented, and many writers and theorists
have made a living out of critiquing it. But the high point of this trend was the delight that many
shared over the demolition of the disastrous Pruitt-Igoe urban housing complex in St Louis in
the USA. It had been designed by architects George Hellmuth, Minoru Yamasaki and Joseph
Leinweber, supposedly to create ‘community gathering spaces and safe, enclosed play yards’.
And yet for some reason, the community declined to gather and play safely in their enclosed
yards. Instead, the complex became a hotspot for crime and poverty and was demolished in the
1970s.
As with many of the modernist planning and design philosophies of the twentieth century,
architectural determinism was appealing at first sight but ultimately misguided. It became
unfashionable during the post-modern era and all but disappeared. One of the consequences of
this loss of faith in the power of architecture is that architects are now left defenceless before
the superior technical know-how of structural engineers, the restrictions placed on them by
generations of planners and the calculations of project managers.
But was architectural determinism dismissed too soon? This is one question posed by Jan
Golembiewski, a researcher in the environmental determinants of mental health at the
University of Sydney and a consultant for Medical Architecture, a firm specialising in
architectural psychology. Golembiewski’s research has found that the healthier a person is, the
more a well-designed environment will affect them positively, and the less a badly designed
one will affect them negatively. Patients who are mentally ill react more negatively to bad
environments, which means ‘fewer smiles, less laughter and a reported drop in feeling the fun
of life’.
Likewise, Charles Montgomery, author of Happy City: Transforming our Lives Through Urban
Design, points out that some environments do affect our moods, and that they do so rather
predictably. His central thesis is that urban sprawl – the unplanned spread of car-dependent,
low-density development that accounts for most new housing in many parts of the world –
makes us unhappy and isolated and drives teenagers to boredom. The drawbacks of urban
sprawl aren’t confined to psychological health; living amongst sprawl ages people by an extra
four years, and there are four times as many fatal traffic accidents on suburban roads as on city
streets, according to Montgomery’s research.
Many progressive measures were implemented by Enrique Peñalosa during his tenure as mayor
of Bogota in Colombia from 1998 to 2000. Bogota, now a city of 8 million people, had no
underground rail system at that time and suffered from chronic congestion. Peñalosa’s city
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model gave priority to children and people not using vehicles. He built hundreds of kilometres
of cycle paths, pavements and parks, and set up traffic-free zones. He organised a car-free day
in 2000 (now an annual event), took measures to address poverty and started a programme of
urban improvement, with more than 100,000 trees being planted across the city. All of these
are impressive accomplishments in themselves, but his most compelling legacy has to be the
way that he transformed people’s view of Bogota. Whereas previously, the city’s troubles had
been seen as an inevitable consequence of uncontrolled urban growth, people now began to
see that they could influence change in Bogota for the better.
Clearly, there is now a resurgence in the belief that the built environment is a key factor in how
we feel, and that buildings are central to influencing behaviour. Many of the journals adopting
this stance, such as World Health Design and Environment and Behaviour, focus primarily on
the design of healthcare facilities, as this is where quality design can potentially have life-and-
death consequences. Schools of architecture need to focus on how their students might predict
how their designs can impact the users of the buildings, and give thought to including calming
areas and spaces, such as gardens, in order to affect our moods, behaviours and health in as
positive a way as possible.
1. What does the writer say about the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex?
A Its residents were surprised to learn that it was dangerous.
B People were pleased when it was destroyed.
C The architects were praised for its design.
D The building was criticised unfairly.
2. Jan Golembiewski and Charles Montgomery agree that ...
A architects need to predict the moods of people who use the buildings they design.
B mentally ill people react positively to positive environments.
C the places people are in can affect the way that they feel.
D ugly buildings make most people feel unhappier.
3. According to the writer, what was Peñalosa’s most significant achievement in Bogota?
A banning cars in poor areas of the city
B beginning to build the metro
C changing attitudes towards the city
D encouraging children to cycle more
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4. The writer suggests that there is most likely to be an increased interest in how people are
psychologically affected by the design of ...
A gardens. B hospitals.
C housing. D universities.
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice- True/False/Not given] Read the passage and
answer the questions.
An Introduction to Film Sound
Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford to
underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as complicated
as the image on the screen, and is ultimately just as much the responsibility of the director. The
entire sound track consists of three essential ingredients: the human voice, sound effects and
music. These three tracks must be mixed and balanced so as to produce the necessary
emphases which in turn create desired effects.
Topics which essentially refer to the three previously mentioned tracks are discussed below.
They include dialogue, synchronous and asynchronous sound effects, and music.
Let us start with dialogue. As is the case with stage drama, dialogue serves to tell the story and
expresses feelings and motivations of characters as well. Often with film characterization the
audience perceives little or no difference between the character and the actor. Thus,
for example, the actor Humphrey Bogart is the character Sam Spade; film personality and life
personality seem to merge. Perhaps this is because the very texture of a performer's voice
supplies an element of character.
When voice textures fit the performer's physiognomy and gestures, a whole and very realistic
persona emerges. The viewer sees not an actor working at his craft, but another human being
struggling with life. It is interesting to note that how dialogue is used and the very amount
of dialogue used varies widely among films. For example, in the highly successful science-fiction
film 2001, little dialogue was evident, and most of it was banal and of little intrinsic interest. In
this way the film-maker was able to portray what Thomas Sobochack and Vivian Sobochack call,
in An Introduction to Film, the 'inadequacy of human responses when compared with the
magnificent technology created by man and the visual beauties of the universe'.
The comedy Bringing Up Baby, on the other hand, presents practically non-stop dialogue
delivered at breakneck speed. This use of dialogue underscores not only the dizzy quality of the
character played by Katherine Hepburn, but also the absurdity of the film itself and thus
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its humor. The audience is bounced from gag to gag and conversation to conversation; there is
no time for audience reflection. The audience is caught up in a whirlwind of activity in simply
managing to follow the plot. This film presents pure escapism - largely due to its frenetic
dialogue.
Synchronous sound effects are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is
viewed. For example, if the film portrays a character playing the piano, the sounds of the piano
are projected. Synchronous sounds contribute to the realism of film and also help to create a
particular atmosphere.
For example, the 'click' of a door being opened may simply serve to convince the audience that
the image portrayed is real, and the audience may only subconsciously note the expected
sound.
However, if the 'click' of an opening door is part of an ominous action such as a burglary, the
sound mixer may call attention to the 'click' with an increase in volume; this helps to engage
the audience in a moment of suspense.
Asynchronous sound effects, on the other hand, are not matched with a visible source of the
sound on screen. Such sounds are included so as to provide an appropriate emotional nuance,
and they may also add to the realism of the film. For example, a film-maker might opt to
include the background sound of an ambulance's siren while the foreground sound and image
portrays an arguing couple. The asynchronous ambulance siren underscores the psychic
injury incurred in the argument; at the same time the noise of the siren adds to the realism of
the film by acknowledging the film's city setting.
We are probably all familiar with background music in films, which has become so ubiquitous as
to be noticeable in its absence. We are aware that it is used to add emotion and rhythm.
Usually not meant to be noticeable, it often provides a tone or an emotional attitude
toward the story and /or the characters depicted. In addition, background music
often foreshadows a change in mood. For example, dissonant music may be used in film to
indicate an approaching (but not yet visible) menace or disaster.
Background music may aid viewer understanding by linking scenes. For example, a particular
musical theme associated with an individual character or situation may be repeated at
various points in a film in order to remind the audience of salient motifs or ideas.
Film sound comprises conventions and innovations. We have come to expect an acceleration of
music during car chases and creaky doors in horror films. Yet, it is important to note as well that
sound is often brilliantly conceived. The effects of sound are often largely subtle and often are
noted by only our subconscious minds. We need to foster an awareness of film sound as well as
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film space so as to truly appreciate an art form that sprang to life during the twentieth century -
the modern film.
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D
1 In the first paragraph, the writer makes a point that
A the director should plan the sound track at an early stage in filming.
B it would be wrong to overlook the contribution of sound to the artistry of films.
C the music industry can have a beneficial influence on sound in film.
D it is important for those working on the sound in a film to have sole responsibility for it.
2 One reason that the writer refers to Humphrey Bogart is to exemplify
A the importance of the actor and the character appearing to have similar personalities.
B the audience’s wish that actors are visually appropriate for their roles.
C the value of the actor having had similar feelings to the character.
D the audience’s preference for dialogue to be as authentic as possible.
3 In the third paragraph, the writer suggests that
A audiences are likely to be critical of film dialogue that does not reflect their own
experience.
B film dialogue that appears to be dull may have a specific purpose.
C filmmakers vary considerably in the skill with which they handle dialogue.
D the most successful films are those with dialogue of a high Quality.
4 What does the writer suggest about Bringing Up
A The plot suffers from the filmmaker’s wish to focus on humorous dialogue.
B The dialogue helps to make it one of the best comedy films ever produced.
C There is a mismatch between the speed of the dialogue and the speed of actions.
D The nature of the dialogue emphasises key elements of the film.
5 The writer refers to the ‘click’ of a door to make the point that realistic sounds
A are often used to give the audience a false impression of events in the film.
B may be interpreted in different ways by different members of the audience.
C may be modified in order to manipulate the audience’s response to the film.
D tend to be more significant in films presenting realistic situations.
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Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? 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
6. Audiences are likely to be surprised if a film lacks background music.
7. Background music may anticipate a development in a film.
8. Background music has more effect on some people than on others.
9. Background music may help the audience to make certain connections within the film.
10. Audiences tend to be aware of how the background music is affecting them.
http://mini-ielts.com/408/reading/an-introduction-to-film-sound
Exercise 8. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice questions - True/False/Not Given] Read the
passage and answer the questions.
The Climate Changers
The romantic notion that early humans lived in harmony with their environment has taken
quite a battering lately. Modem humans may have started eliminating other species right from
the start; our ancestors stand accused of wiping out mega fauna – from giant flightless birds in
Australia to mammoths in Asia and the ground sloth of North America – as they spread across
the planet.
Even so, by around 6,000 years ago there were only about 12 million people on earth – less
than a quarter of the current population of Great Britain. That’s a far cry from today’s 6.6
billion, many of us guzzling fossil fuels, churning out greenhouse gases and messing with our
planet’s climate like there’s no tomorrow. So it may seem far-fetched to suggest that humans
have been causing global warming ever since our ancestors started burning and cutting forests
to make way for fields at least 7,000 years ago.
Yet that’s the view of retired climate scientist William Ruddiman, formerly of the University of
Virginia, Charlottesville. Ancient farmers were pumping climate-warming carbon dioxide and
methane into the atmosphere long before recorded history began, he says. Far from causing
catastrophe, however, early farmers halted the planet’s descent into another ice age and kept
Earth warm and stable for thousands of years.
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Could a few primitive farmers really have changed the climate of the entire globe? If you find
this hard to believe, you’re not the only one. Ruddiman’s idea has been hugely controversial
ever since he proposed it in 2003. ‘Most new ideas, especially controversial ones, die out pretty
fast. It doesn’t take science long to weed them out,’ he says. Yet five years on, his idea is still
not dead. On the contrary, he says the latest evidence strengthens his case. ‘It has become
clear that natural explanations for the rise in greenhouse gases over the past few thousand
years are the ones that are not measuring up, and we can reject them,’he claims.
There is no doubt that the soaring levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that we
see in the atmosphere today – causing a 0.7° C rise in average global temperature during the
20thcentury – are the result of human activities. In the late 1990s, however, Ruddiman started
to suspect that our contribution to the global greenhouse began to become significant long
before the industrial age began. This was when an ice core drilled at the Vostok station in
Antarctica revealed how atmospheric C02 and methane levels have changed over the past
400,000 years. Bubbles trapped in the ice provide a record of the ancient atmosphere during
the past three interglacials.
What we see is a regular pattern of rises and falls with a period of about 100,000 years,
coinciding with the coming and going of ice ages. There are good explanations for these cycles:
periodic changes in the planet’s orbit and axis of rotation alter the amount of sunlight reaching
the Earth. We are now in one of the relatively brief, warm interglacial periods that follow an ice
age.
Within this larger pattern there are regular peaks in methane every 22,000 years that coincide
with the times when the Earth’s orbit makes summers in the northern hemisphere warmest.
This makes sense, because warm northern summers drive strong tropical monsoons in southern
Asia that both encourage the growth of vegetation and cause flooding, during which vegetation
rotting in oxygen-poor water will emit methane. Around the Arctic, hot summers thaw
wetlands for longer, again promoting both vegetation growth and methane emission.
In recent times, however, this regular pattern has changed. The last methane peak occurred
around 11,000 years ago, at about 700 parts per billion (ppb), after which levels began to fall.
But instead of continuing to fall to what Ruddiman says should have been a minimum of about
450 ppb today, the atmospheric methane began to climb again 5,000 years ago.
Working with climate modellers Stephen Verves and John Kutzbach, Ruddiman has shown that
if the levels of these gases had continued to fall rather than rising when they did, ice sheets
would now cover swathes of northern Canada and Siberia. The world would be heading into
another ice age.
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So why did both methane and C02 rise over the past few thousand years? In other words, why
has this interglacial period been different from previous ones? Could humans be to blame?
Agriculture emerged around the eastern Mediterranean some 11,000 years ago, then shortly
afterwards in China and several thousand years later in the Americas. Farming can release
greenhouse gases in various ways: clearing forests liberates lots of stored carbon as the wood
rots or is burned, for instance, while flooded rice paddies release methane just as wetlands do.
To find out more about early farming, Ruddiman began to dig around in studies of agricultural
history. These revealed that there was a sharp rise in rice cultivation in Asia around 5,000 years
ago, with the practice spreading across China and south-east Asia. Here at least was a possible
source for the unexpected methane rise.
A. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D
1. One of the claims Ruddiman makes is that
A population growth is responsible for global warming.
B people have affected the climate for thousands of years.
C his ideas are not in the least bit controversial.
D so far scientists have been wrong about global warming.
2. What information did the research at Vostok reveal for the first time?
A that methane levels stabilised about 11,000 years ago
B that Antarctic ice contains methane bubbles
C that the methane levels increased about 5,000 years ago
D that we are now living in a warm interglacial period
3. The climate changers of the title are
A modern humans. B climate modellers.
C primitive farmers. D natural causes.
B. Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? Write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if the there is no information on this
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4 Some mega fauna have been eliminated by humans in the past 100 years.
5 Agriculture is considered a primary cause of global warming today.
6 Ruddimans idea caused a great deal of argument among scientists.
7 New scientific evidence proves for certain that Ruddimans theory is correct.
8 The 20th century has seen the greatest ever increase in global temperatures.
9 Changes in the Earths orbit can affect global temperatures.
http://mini-ielts.com/1212/reading/the-climate-changers
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 10 Topic: Art and architecture WID: IELTS6.0_10_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
- describe changes on a map, including which tenses to
use
Skills
- summarise information with appropriate discourse
...... pts/10
markers
- ensure good Coherence and Cohesion answer
- Grammar Focus: Past tenses and Perfect tenses
Exercise 1. [Past and perfect tenses] Read the information. Then complete the sentences. Use
the words in brackets in the past simple, past continuous, present perfect simple or present
perfect continuous.
1. He ____________ (design) the palace gardens in 1748.
2. She is a very knowledgeable critic and ____________ (visit) most of the art galleries and
museums in Europe.
3. They ____________ (restore) that painting for months now and it is not clear what progress
they have made.
4. The artist Malevich ____________ (become) famous in 1932 after exhibiting his paintings in
an exhibition to commemorate the Russian Revolution.
5. I ____________ (visit) a museum in New York when I heard that the president had just
resigned.
6. I am an expert in Renaissance art. I ____________ (study) several works from that period.
7. The guide ____________ (tell) us about a new art purchase when the fire alarm went off.
8. I ____________ (study) Greek art all my life but I still have a lot to learn.
Exercise 2. [Past and perfect tenses] Choose the correct answer.
1. He (has painted/painted/ was painting) hundreds of portraits between 1850 and 1856.
2. The workers (have demolished/ used to demolish/ were demolishing) the old factory wall
when the architect took the photo.
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3. None of those builders (have worked/ were working/ work) on such an ambitious project
before.
4. She got a job as an architect as soon as she (had completed/ has completed/ was
completing) her studies.
5. They (had been renovating/ have been renovating/ were renovating) that cathedral for 40
years and it’s still not finished.
6. We (have travelled/ used to travel/ were travelling) to work by train but now we go by car.
7. When she first started painting, she (has sat/ was sitting/ would sit) alone for hours in the
corner of the garden.
Exercise 3. [Coherence] Read the information. Then choose the sentences that would receive
higher marks for coherence.
A. In the beginning, it can be said that many changes took place in Sholeaton between
1 1985 and 2015.
B. The maps illustrate how Sholeaton has developed over the period 1985 to 2015.
A. Previously, a swimming pool was located next to the park, but it has been demolished
and the green area of the park has been extended.
2
B. The most striking feature is that the park was extended and has replaced the swimming
pool in the north of the town.
A. A further noticeable feature is the removal of the café to make way for a new fountain
in the shopping area in the west of Sholeaton.
3
B. Following on from this, the café was converted into a fountain in the shopping area of
the town.
A. A further development in this area of the town was the planting of trees around the
4 new fountain.
B. In the meantime, a few trees were planted around the fountain.
A. On the other hand, in 1985 the shopping centre was small but now it has taken over
the bus station.
5
B. On the west side of the town, the bus station was replaced by an enlarged shopping
centre.
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Exercise 4. [Coherence & Cohesion – Tenses] Look at the maps and answer the questions.
A. Read the information. Then choose the most relevant and logically extended and
supported endings for the sentences.
E.g. The road to the east of Sholeaton was widened, and a cycle lane and a pedestrian crossing
were added, making the town more accessible.
1. Between 1985 and 2015, Sholeaton went through some substantial changes,
A. including the loss of its swimming pool, because people prefer walking to swimming.
B. including the extension of the park area to replace the swimming pool.
2. The café in the shopping area to the west of Sholeaton was flattened and replaced by a
fountain,
A. and this in turn resulted in more trees being planted in the area to make it look
greener.
B. which meant that more restaurants were built to accommodate the increase in
people visiting Sholeaton.
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3. In the east of Sholeaton, the bus station was torn down and replaced by a new shopping
centre that
A. was an extension of the old one.
B. was given the lovely name Bluebell.
4. A cycle lane was introduced to the east of Sholeaton, along with a new bicycle park, which
A. are two good examples of ways in which the area became more cycle-friendly.
B. resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of people cycling to and from
Sholeaton.
5. A pedestrian crossing was installed across the main road to the east of the town,
A. giving pedestrians better access to the park.
B. allowing pedestrians to cross the road more safely.
6. In contrast, the L-shaped shopping area to the west of the town was not altered in any way,
A. and neither was the car park to the southwest of the town.
B. in addition to the number of parking spaces available.
B. Read the model answer. Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.
The two maps illustrate the changes that took place in Sholeaton town centre between the
years 1985 and 2015.
Firstly, Sholeaton’s swimming pool (replaced/ was replaced) by the expansion of the park.
Furthermore, the town’s library was relocated and the old building (had been refurbished/ was
refurbished) and made into a business centre. In addition, the café to the west of the town was
flattened and a fountain was put up in its place. Moreover, some of the shops surrounding the
former café were renovated, and some new restaurants (are erecting/ were erected). The old
shopping centre was enlarged to take the place of the former bus station, which (is being
knocked down/ was knocked down). Nevertheless, a new bus station was built behind the
town’s car park, which was altered to include a new bicycle parking area. The number of
houses (tripled/ had been tripled) as eight more were erected in the eastern part of the town.
Finally, the road next to these houses (was improved/ were improved), a pedestrian crossing
was added, and a cycle lane was built to improve access for both cyclists and walkers.
To sum up, Sholeaton, (has gone/ went) through a lot of changes between 1985 and 2015. The
number of houses in the area (increased/ was increased), but so did the number of facilities
and amenities available to local residents and visitors to the town.
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Writing: Maps] Read the task card. Summarize the information by selecting
and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
1. The maps below show the village of Stokeford in 1930 and 2010.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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2. The two maps below show an island, before and after the construction of some tourist
facilities.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. The map below is of the town of Canterbury. A new school (S) is planned for the area. The
map shows two possible sites for the school.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 11 Topic: Art and architecture WID: IELTS6.0_11_L

QR code:
Listening:
Skills
- follow directions - identify distractors - use ...... pts/10
prepositions of place and movement correctly - label a
map or plan - answer multiple-choice questions
Exercise 1. [Prepositions] Read the art gallery brochure. Choose the correct words to
complete the sentences.
The Montford Gallery is situated (1) (in/ on/ to) Montford Park, (2) (between/ opposite/
through) the Royal Infirmary. It is (3) (from/ into/ near) the university campus, and (4) (above/
close to/ via) the city centre, which is only 1 km away.
The best way to reach the gallery on foot is (5) (below/ through/ up) the main park gate in
London Road. Then, take the path (6) (across/ at/ below) the park (7) (between/ into/ on) the
lake and the children’s playground. Walk (8) (across/ on/ through) the main entrance (9) (over/
up/ via) the gift shop.
If you arrive by car, you can park for free in the small car park (10) (between/ behind/ on) the
gallery. However, there are only 30 spaces available for visitors and they cannot be reserved.
There are other spaces available in one of the university car parks (11) (across from/ between/
inside) the gallery. Additionally, there is a drop-off zone (12) (from/ next to/ up) the entrance
for visitors with disabilities.
Admission to the gallery is free! Please come and visit us. We will always make you feel
welcome. Enjoy a chat over coffee with friends in our café on the second floor directly (13)
(above/ below/ up) the entrance.
Exercise 2. [Prepositions] Look at the plan of the art gallery. Read the guide’s advice and
complete the sentences. Use the words and phrases in the box.
leads to left next to opposite reach right through via
Upon arrival, go ___________ the main door into the welcome hall. You can buy tickets from
the ticket office, which you’ll find ___________ the entrance, on the right-hand side. Discounts
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are available for students and people aged 65 years and over. You can access the main
exhibition hall ___________ the glass corridor on the left, which looks out onto the garden.
Upon exiting the corridor, you’ll ___________ the main exhibition hall. To the ___________,
you’ll see a statue of the famous English artist, Lowry. Just ___________ the statue is one of his
most famous paintings. To the ___________ of the painting is another door, which
___________ the exhibition entitled ‘Dresses of the Sixties and Seventies’. The gallery closes at
6 p.m. so make sure you give yourself enough time to see everything.
Exercise 3. [Identifying distractors] Read the information. Then listen to a tour guide and a
park officer. Choose the correct answers.
You will often hear several possible answers for each question, but only one will be correct. The incorrect
answers are called distractors. Identifying distractors will help you choose the correct answer. Remember
that distractors may be synonyms or paraphrases of the words in the question.
1. Which four days of the week are mentioned by the tour guide?
A. Monday
B. Tuesday
C. Wednesday
D. Thursday
E. Friday
F. Saturday
G. Sunday
2. Which five locations are mentioned by the park officer?
A. children’s playground
B. main entrance
C. medieval hill
D. park
E. pond
F. public toilets
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Exercise 4. [Identifying distractors] Read the information. Then choose the two distractors for
the question.
When will the new modern art exhibition open to the public?
A February B August C October
Recording script: Organisers of the art gallery have been discussing the best time to open the
new modern art exhibition to the public next year. The same exhibition was opened in February
last year, and organisers were keen to do the same again this year. However, due to the clash
with the ever-popular digital art exhibition, organisers wanted to ensure the modern art
exhibition received maximum attention. The month of August was agreed upon by most of the
team, until it became apparent that young people would be off school and so they wouldn’t be
able to offer school trip packages to students. Although October wasn’t ideal, this was the
period of time when the most staff were available, so this month was chosen.
The two distractors are:
February August October
Explanation: ___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Map labeling] Read the information. Then listen and write the
correct letters, A–H.
A Coffee shop
1 _____________ B International languages
2 _____________ C Local interest
3 _____________ D Tourist information
4 _____________ E Multimedia centre
5 _____________ F Accommodation office
G Gift shop
H Second-hand books
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Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Plan labeling- Multiple choice questions] Listen and answer the
questions.
A. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
11. According to the speaker, the main purposes of the park are
A. education and entertainment.
B. research and education.
C. research and entertainment.
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B. Label the plan below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
C. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
15. When are the experimental areas closed to the public?
A. all the year round B. almost all the year C. a short time every year
16. How can you move around the park?
A. by tram, walking or bicycle B. by solar car or bicycle C. by bicycle, walking or bus
17. The rare bread animals kept in the park include
A. hens and horses B. goats and cows C. goats and hens
18. What is the main purpose of having the Rate Breeds Sections?
A. to save unusual animals B. to keep a variety of breeds C. to educate the public
19. What can you see in the park at the present time?
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A. the arrival of wild birds B. fruit tree blossom C. a demonstration of fishing
20. The shop contains books about
A. animals B. local traditions C. the history of the park.
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice- Map labeling] Listen and answer the questions.
A. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. Improvements to Red Hill Suburb
11. Community groups are mainly concerned about
A. pedestrian safety. B. traffic jams. C. increased pollution.
12. It has been decided that the overhead power lines will be
A. extended B. buried C. repaired
13. The expenses related to the power lines will be paid for by
A. the council. B. the power company. C. local businesses.
B. Label the map below. Write the correct letter, A-H, next to questions 14-20.
Red Hill Improvement Plan
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14. tree __________ 18. traffic lights __________
15. wider footpaths __________ 19. artwork __________
16. coloured road surface __________ 20. children’s playground __________
17. new sign __________
Exercise 8. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions] Choose the correct letter, A, B C.
Study on Gender in Physics
21 The students in Akira Miyake’s study were all majoring in
A physics
B psychology or physics
C science, technology, engineering or mathematics
22 The aim of Miyake’s study was to investigate
A what kind of women choose to study physics.
B a way of improving women’s performance in physics.
C whether fewer women than men study physics at college.
23 The female physics students were wrong to believe that
A the teachers marked them in an unfair way.
B the male students expected them to do badly.
C their test results were lower than the male students’.
24 Miyake’s team asked the students to write about
A what they enjoyed about studying physics.
B the successful experiences of other people.
C something that was important to them personally.
25 What was the aim of the writing exercise done by the subjects?
A to reduce stress B to strengthen verbal ability C to encourage logical thinking
26 What surprised the researchers about the study?
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A how few students managed to get A grades
B the positive impact it had on physics results for women
C the difference between male and female performance
27 Greg and Lisa think Miyake’s results could have been affected by
A the length of the writing task.
B the number of students who took part.
C the information the students were given.
28 Greg and Lisa decide that in their own project, they will compare the effects of
A two different writing tasks.
B a writing task with an oral task.
C two different oral tasks.
29 The main finding of Smolinsky’s research was that class teamwork activities
A were most effective when done by all-women groups.
B had no effect on the performance of men or women.
C improved the results of men more than of women.
30 What will Lisa and Greg do next?
A talk to a professor B observe a science class C look at the science timetable
Exercise 9. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions - Map labeling]
A. Choose the correct letter A, B or C.
Longfield Park
14. As part of Mondays activity, visitors will
A prepare food with herbs. B meet a well-known herbalist C dye cloth with herbs
15. For the activity on Wednesday.
A only group bookings are accepted.
B visitors should book in advance.
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C attendance is free.
16. For the activity on Saturday, visitors should
A come in suitable clothing.
B make sure they are able to stay for the whole day.
C tell the rangers before the event what they wish to do.
B. Label the map below.
17. bird hide _____________
18. dog walking area _____________
19. flower garden _____________
20. wooded area _____________
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 12 Topic: Art and architecture WID: IELTS6.0_12_S

QR code:
Speaking:
- make notes for your long turn in Part 2 ...... pts/10
Skills
- Describe A SITUATION
- structure your long turn
- use a range of spoken discourse markers
Exercise 1. [Discourse markers] Look at the useful phrases for IELTS Speaking Part 2 in the
box. What are their functions? Complete the table with the phrases.
The topic / person / place I’ve decided to talk about is … In my opinion …

If I think about my own circumstances … I’ve decided to talk about …
It was for those reasons that I decided to talk about … As for …
I decided to talk about this because … Moving on to …
What else can I tell you about …? Anyway, to sum up …
There are several reasons … Well, let me think …
introducing your talk avoiding hesitation moving to the next point
giving reasons adding your own ideas coming to a conclusion
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Exercise 2. [Discourse markers] Choose the correct discourse markers to complete the
sentences below.
1. A: Did he look sad? B: No, (obviously/ by the way/ as a matter of fact), he was really cheerful.
2. (Regarding/ Whereas/ As far as) your question about our mobile rates, I have attached a
document where you can see all our rate plans.
3. Well, I think we can declare the meeting closed. (Anyway/ Actually/ By the way), who's going
to have lunch at the canteen today?
4. (Basically/ In fact/ Obviously) the most qualified candidates always get the best jobs.
5. I will help him, (after all/ obviously/ basically), he has always been there for me.
6. The interiors are beautiful and (by the way/ obviously/ what’s more) they have designed
them themselves.
7. The north of the country is industrialised and rich (on the whole/ furthermore/ whereas) the
south is quite poor, with an economy based on agriculture.
8. (Otherwise/ All in all/ In other words), we could say that the charity dinner was a success.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Speaking Part 2] Read the information. Then read the task card. Match the
notes a student has made about the novelist David Mitchell with the points from the card.
Describe someone whose creative or artistic work you like.
You should say:
• what you know about the life of the person
• what kind of creative work this person does / did
• why you like this person’s work
• and describe the way this person’s work makes you feel.
Bone Clocks – science fiction story has son with autism
always feel entertained English teacher in Japan
writes novels and short stories excellent writing ability
like on a roller coaster ride from the UK
very convincing / compelling characters Cloud Atlas – set of interconnected stories
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what you know about the life of the person what kind of creative work this person does / did
why you like this person’s work describe the way this person’s work makes you feel
Exercise 4. [IELTS Speaking Part 2] Read the information. Then put the sentences from the
introduction to the IELTS Speaking Part 2 response in the correct order.
a. I’ll start by saying that I’m afraid I don’t know much about the background of David, except
that he is from the UK, that he once worked as an English teacher in Japan and that he has a
son who suffers from autism.
b. Well, he is a novelist. In fact, he is an acclaimed prize-winning author, and I think he’s
published about seven novels – well, seven that I know of, anyway – and many short stories,
too.
c. Two of his novels are among my favourite novels of all time.
d. But I suppose the important question is, what is it that he does that is creative?
e. OK, the person I’m going to talk about is David Mitchell.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Speaking Part 2 Practice] Read the topics. Make notes on what you will say
in your speaking test to answer the questions. Then practice.
1: Describe a time when you were very busy. You should say:
• When it was
• What you had to do during that time
• How you managed it
• And explain how you felt about being busy.
2. Describe a time you needed to use imagination. You should say:
• what the situation was

• why you needed to use imagination
• what the difficulties were
• and explain how you felt about it
3. Describe a time you missed an important appointment for something. You should say:
• when and where it happened
• what the appointment was for
• what happened when you missed it
• and explain how you felt about the appointment.
4. Describe a situation when you received some useful advice. You should say:
• what the situation was
• who gave you the advice
• what the advice was
• and explain how this advice was useful to you.
5. Describe a time when you were scared. You should say:
• What happened
• Where you were
• Who you were with
• And explain why you were scared
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IELTS 6.0- Unit 4: Finance and business
Full name:.................................
Lesson 13 Topic: Finance and business WID: IELTS6.0_13_R

QR code:
Reading:
- successfully answer "matching features" questions
Skills
- develop whole-text understanding to enable you to ...... pts/10
answer global multiple-choice questions
- Grammar Focus: consider the meaning and use of
modals of obligation, past and present
Exercise 1. [Modals of obligation, past and present] Choose the correct answer.
1. Our company got into such financial difficulty that we (had to/ have to/ would have to) file
for bankruptcy last year.
2. You (had to/ have to/ would have to) apply for a loan this week, otherwise you won’t be able
to pay your bills at the end of the month.
3. We urgently (needed to/ needn’t have/ would have to) launch a new product to remain
competitive.
4. The factory (must have/ shouldn’t have/ would have to) make a profit to avoid closure.
5. He (had to/ must/ needed to) be very well prepared, otherwise he’ll never close the deal.
6. The company (has got to/ must/ should have) set a higher production target if it really
wanted to win the contract.
7. We (don’t have to/ needn’t have/ would have to) increase production, because the sales
forecast indicates a big drop in demand.
8. We (needed to/ needn’t have/ should have) published a new mail-order catalogue because
all of our customers now access information about our products online.
Exercise 2. [Modals of obligation, past and present] Read the consultant’s report to a
company. Complete the board of directors’ action points with the correct modal verbs in the
correct tenses.
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Consultant’s report
Necessary action points (for urgent attention)

1. Change the logo from a rectangle to a square.
2. Don’t use red in the branding.
Recommendations
1. Modify the company website.
2. Don’t continue with the current marketing strategy.
Regrets
1. Failure to export to China.
2. Too much time and money spent on redesigning the warehouse.
1. We ____________ change the logo from a rectangle to a square.
2. We ____________ use red in the branding.
3. We ____________ modify the company website.
4. We ____________ continue with the current marketing strategy.
5. We ____________ exported to China. It was a missed opportunity.
6. We __________ spent time and money on a redesigning the warehouse. It was unnecessary.
Exercise 3. [Modals of obligation, past and present] Identify and correct the mistake in each
sentence.
1 Yesterday, I have to draw up a shortlist of applicants for the job of sales manager.
2 I had to go on a business trip to Sweden next week.
3 He didn’t have to wear a tie at work anymore because they’ve changed the dress code.
4 I didn’t need have gone to the progress meeting this morning. It wasn’t relevant to me.
5 I will have to get an MBA if I wanted to get the managing director job.
6 You had to complete the report by two o’clock today if you want to meet the deadline.
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Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading: Matching features] Read the passage and answer the questions.
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Look at the list of people A-G. Read the passsage and match the facts (1-3) with the people.
List of People List of facts
A John Humphrys
B John McWhorter
C Clare Wood 1 has a mistaken view of the effects of communciations technology
D Laura Mickes 2 has done research which accounts for the success of social media
E Tom White 3 would have approved of recent developments in writing
F George Orwell
G Jane Austen
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Mammoth kill
Assuming an initial human population of 100 people that grew no more than 2 percent
annually, a paleo-ecologist, John Alroy of the University of California at Santa Barbara
determined that if each band of, say, 50 people killed 15 to 20 large mammals a year, humans
could have eliminated the animal populations within 1,000 years. Large mammals in particular
would have been vulnerable to the pressure because they have longer gestation periods than
smaller mammals and their young require extended care.
Not everyone agrees with Alroy’s assessment. For one, the results depend in part on
population-size estimates for the extinct animals – figures that are not necessarily reliable. But
a more specific criticism comes from mammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee of the American
Museum of Natural History in New York City, who points out that the relevant archaeological
record contains barely a dozen examples of stone points embedded in mammoth bones (and
none, it should be noted, are known from other megafaunal remains) – hardly what one might
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expect if hunting drove these animals to extinction. Furthermore, some of these species had
huge ranges – the giant Jefferson’s ground sloth, for example, lived as far north as the Yukon
and as far south as Mexico – which would have made slaughtering them in numbers sufficient
to cause their extinction rather implausible, he says.
MacPhee agrees that humans most likely brought about these extinctions (as well as others
around the world that coincided with human arrival), but not directly. Rather he suggests that
people may have introduced hyperlethal disease, perhaps through their dogs or hitchhiking
vermin, which then spread wildly among the immunologically naive species of the New World.
As in the overkill model, populations of large mammals would have a harder time recovering.
Repeated outbreaks of a hyperdisease could thus quickly drive them to the point of no return.
So far MacPhee does not have empirical evidence for the hyperdisease hypothesis, and it won’t
be easy to come by: hyperlethal disease would kill far too quickly to leave its signature on the
bones themselves. But he hopes that analyses of tissue and DNA from the last mammoths to
perish will eventually reveal murderous microbes.
The third explanation for what brought on this North American extinction does not involve
human beings. Instead its proponents blame the loss on the weather. The Pleistocene epoch
witnessed considerable climatic instability, explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the
Denver Museum of Nature and Science. As a result, certain habitats disappeared, and species
that had once formed communities split apart. For some animals, this change brought
opportunity. For much of the megafauna, however, the increasingly homogeneous
environment left them with shrinking geographical ranges – a death sentence for large animals,
which need large ranges. Although these creatures managed to maintain viable populations
through most of the Pleistocene, the final major fluctuation – the so-called Younger Dryas event
– pushed them over the edge, Graham says. For his part, Alroy is convinced that human hunters
demolished the titans of the Ice Age. The overkill model explains everything the disease and
climate scenarios explain, he asserts, and makes accurate predictions about which species
would eventually go extinct. “Personally, I’m a vegetarian,” he remarks, “and I find all of this
kind of gross – but believable.”
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds
below. NB: You may use any letter more than once.
A John Alroy
B Ross D.E. MacPhee
C Russell W. Graham
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1. Human hunting well explained which species would finally disappear.
2. Further grounded proof needed to explain human’s indirect impact on mammals
3. Over hunting situation has caused die-out of large mammals.
4. Illness rather than hunting caused extensive extinction.
5. Doubt raised through the study of several fossil records.
6. Climate shift is the main reason of extinction.

http://mini-ielts.com/1179/reading/mammoth-kill
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Matching features] Read the information. Then match the
entrepreneurs with the statements. Write the correct letter, A-E, for each answer.
Entrepreneurs
by Annabel Pepper
Recent research indicates that around 50% of people are attracted to the idea of becoming an
entrepreneur. Many of the people who have launched a business in a way that’s never been
tried before and have gone on to achieve great success, such as Richard Branson, founder of
the Virgin Group of companies (including the airline Virgin Atlantic), have been household
names for years. Others, such as 18-year-old Ben Towers, are new on the scene and may well
become equally well known in due course.
The businesses of many entrepreneurs seem to take off in no time at all – a case in point here is
Ben Towers, whose marketing agency, Towers Design, employs 22 people, even though Towers
himself is still in his teens. For others, it can be a slow ascent to the top, as was the case with
James Dyson, the industrial designer and inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner. It took Dyson
15 years and 5,127 different prototypes to get his original vacuum cleaner design to the market,
finally making it in the 1990s. ‘Everyone gets knocked back. No one rises to the top without
hindrance,’ Dyson has said. ‘The ones who succeed are those who say, “Right, let’s give it
another go”.’ Innovation is a process and a constant challenge, and, of course, there will be
disappointments along the way. What counts is how the entrepreneur deals with these
challenges. One of Dyson’s heroes, the American inventor of the electric light bulb, Thomas
Edison, famously said: ‘I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that did not work.’
While some people, such as serial entrepreneur Tom Blomfeld, seemed destined to become
high-flyers, for others, the success they went on to accomplish seems very surprising when
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compared to what they achieved – or failed to achieve – at a young age. Richard Branson
performed poorly at school and, according to his headmaster, would either end up in prison or
become a multimillionaire. And sure enough, Branson today is one of the wealthiest
businesspeople on the planet (although his wealth has recently been surpassed by that of
Dyson).
Many successful entrepreneurs like Dyson did go on to higher education (he attended art
college). But a long list of qualifications certainly doesn’t seem to be a prerequisite for
entrepreneurial success. Ben Towers is of university age now, but has enough to keep him
occupied running his business, and Branson has said that ‘Ben is testament that formal
education is not necessarily the best route for everyone’.
One of Branson’s trademarks has been his willingness to try new things, even when they ran
counter to the wisdom of so-called experts. In 1993, Branson took advantage of the
privatisation of Britain’s railways to set up Virgin Trains, which was described at the time as a
disaster waiting to happen. It currently employs 3,400 members of staff.
Clearly, having the right staff is key to any organisation. Dyson doesn’t go for the glossiest CVs,
but seeks out the candidates with the strongest approach to problem-solving. On one occasion,
Richard Branson flew 10 candidates to his home for a job interview, arranging for an 85-year-
old taxi driver to collect them from the airport. Some of the candidates made fun of the driver
on the journey; others were rude or said things that, frankly, they shouldn’t have. On arrival at
Branson’s house, they sat down to wait, whereupon the driver took off his mask to reveal that
he was Branson. No one got the job. Ben Towers ran into difficulty when he was told that he
wouldn’t be allowed to leave school to run his business. He got around this by hiring himself as
an apprentice.
Many entrepreneurs have flair and charisma in abundance, Branson being a case in point, but
these attributes alone aren’t sufficient, especially given that some 90% of entrepreneurial start-
ups end in failure. Connections and financial know-how aren’t just desirable, but a must-have.
Tom Blomfeld demonstrated this when raising funds for Monzo, his smartphone banking app.
He set a new crowdfunding record by raising £1 million of venture capital in just 96 seconds.
Few entrepreneurs are given an easy ride by their rivals. Edison’s designs used direct current
(DC) and received fierce competition from other companies using alternating current (AC)
systems. When Dyson launched his vacuum cleaner, the market was dominated by one firm,
Hoover. Arguably, he did the equivalent of someone today setting up an online search engine
and hoping it would challenge Google. And yet by 1999, Dyson products had enjoyed such
success that a High Court ruled that Hoover had infringed patent law by copying an essential
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component of Dyson’s design. Hoover agreed to pay £4 million. Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has
been in competition with British Airways, particularly for dominance of the lucrative London to
New York route. Industrial disputes within BA have caused many of their customers to defect to
Virgin, something Branson is pleased about and says he would never have allowed to happen in
a Virgin company.
So what does it take to stay on top? Great innovators, from Branson to Blomfeld, continue to
innovate and launch new ventures. Towers has even been recognised by the Federation of
Small Businesses and the Young Entrepreneur Network, for whom he now works as an
ambassador and public speaker. The world, it seems, is his oyster. And the same goes for others
like him.
1 He established his business at a young age.

A Richard Branson 2 He secured finance for his business very quickly.
B Ben Towers 3 He has been prepared to take risks, often against people’s advice.
C James Dyson 4 His competitors illegally used part of his design.
D Thomas Edison 5 He benefited from a workforce problem within another company.
E Tom Blomfeld 6 He viewed his past failures positively.
7 He employed himself in a junior role to get around an age-based law.
8 He wore a disguise as part of a job interview process.
Exercise 8. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice questions] Read the passage and choose the
correct answer.
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Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. The hidden danger referred to in line 4 is
A. changing growing conditions B. local variations reducing crop yields
C. crops being more at risk from disease D. poor selections of original genetic material
2. What does the Cavendish banana cultivar serve as an example of?
A. a cultivar that is preferred by consumers
B. a cultivar that is resistant to fundal infection
C. a cultivar that was previously facing extinction
D. a cultivar that offers good flavor but low yield
3. In the third paragraph, what is implied about the use of Svalbard seed bank to date?
A. It’s mostly been used in response to situations which could have been avoided.
B. It’s generally been used in situations resulting from natural disasters.
C. It hasn’t been used as much as has been suggested in the media
D. It’s been used more by some countries than by others.
4. According to the fourth paragraph, people requiring access to the seeds at Svalbard should
A. apply directly to the seed bank itself.
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B. contact those who originally deposited the seeds.

C. visit the building where the seeds are held in person.
D. ask for samples to be transferred to them by secure means.
5. Which aspect of the Svalbard seed bank’s security does the writer regard as most important?
A. the absence of volcanic activity in the region
B. the local availability of fossil fuel resources
C. the prevailing temperature at the site
D. the height of the site above sea level
6. The writer’s main point in writing this paragraph is to
A. trace several recent developments in agricultural science.
B. discuss the dangers facing various national gene banks.
C. show why reliance on one cultivar can be dangerous.
D. explain the role of the master seed bank in Norway.
Exercise 9. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice questions] Read the passage and answer the
questions.
The Internet Archive
Brewster Kahle is the founder of the Internet Archive, a not-for-profit digital library dedicated
to preserving the Internet's past for the use of future historians. 'In the past, if you wanted to
study the evolution of language for a PhD or the roles of women in different eras, you had to do
all the groundwork with references and citations all done by hand,' he says. 'Now it can be done
by machine at an astonishing rate.' Kahle explains that one of the biggest drivers behind the
idea was his fear that culture and history would be lost to future generations if they were not
preserved online. 'The web is locked in the perpetual present. It's what people want you to see
right now and that's not good enough - that's not how you run a society or open culture,' he
says. 'The best of the web is already not online.' Clearly, this is a golden age for librarians.
historians and scholars and it is the work of men such as Kahle that ensures the extensive data
posted on the web is not lost.
The archive is located in a quiet corer of San Francisco. Flashing servers are stacked high, not
unlike old books, each blue blink a signal that someone somewhere is trying to reach a
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webpage frozen in time in its archive. It's one of just a handful of institutions, including parts of
the British Library and the Library of Congress in the USA, trying to ensure that what is online
now is saved for the future. It does this by capturing more than a billion web pages a week,
though it doesn't try to archive every page of every website - on the fast-moving web the
average page is changed every hundred days - or any social media. This snapshot of the web
has been taken every two months since 1996 and the gateway to the archive, the 'Wayback
Machine', is deservedly one of the most popular sites online.
Niels Brugger, director of the Centre for Internet Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark,
recalls his frustration at the way the object of his study used to disappear before his eyes. Now,
using the Danish national web archive, which takes a snapshot of all '.dk' websites four times a
year, he can track how the Internet as a whole is developing in his country, from the different
types of websites to the balance between text and images.
He is surprised at how few historians make use of the Internet as a source but expects that to
change rapidly in five or ten years as a new generation of scholars better understands its
potential and acquires the tools for rigorous data analysis, which are required to study such an
ocean of information. 'It really is an astonishing new source for future historians,' he says. 'It
gives us a great opportunity to study the daily life of people. It is as if we had a tape recorder on
the marketplace in the fifteenth century.' It's a most intriguing parallel.
At the University of Leicester in England, Ruth Page, a lecturer in linguistics, has already made
sources such as Wikipedia central to her work. She studies how entries in the online
encyclopedia are edited as a particular event unfolds. Page believes that historians will have to
transform the way they work. 'I'm an empiricist so I like data. It is like being let loose in a very
large sweet shop,' she says. 'But the days of the lone scholar are gone; in my personal opinion
we really need to embrace creative ways to work collaboratively.'
The Long Now Foundation, an organisation founded in 1996 to promote long-term thinking,
wants to create a space to persuade people to stop and think about how the decisions they
make now will affect the next 10,000 years. Laura Welcher, the foundation's director of
operations, says for years they have feared a 'digital dark age' where resources kept only online
disappear. Initially, the project looked at ways to help people constantly migrate their files to
ensure, for example, old Microsoft Word documents were still readable in the newer versions.
Then, they got much more ambitious, building a new version of the Rosetta Stone, a silicon disc
inscribed with thousands of pages documenting human languages. 'We were very purposeful
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about creating a future artifact, even if the intentional migration of information into the future
is much harder digitally,' she says. Yet she, too, is refreshingly positive about the chances of
being able to both create and preserve your own space online. 'I think keeping a story of an
individual or of a cultural group is more egalitarian because access to archiving your stuff is
easier.' she says. 'It is a very new thing to have your voice out there like never before.'
Choose the corect letter A, B, C or D.
1 Brewster Kahle originally founded the Internet Archive
A as a by-product of an onlino business venture.
B in connection with his doctoral research project.
C as part of a study of social interaction on the web.
D as a way of safeguarding data for future researchers.
2 From the second paragraph, we understand that the Internet Archive
A is just one of a large number of similar initiatives.
B is edited to remove outdated content on a regular basis.
C is an attempt to keep a comprehensive record of all webpages.
D is designed to provide a representative sample of available data.
3 Niels Brugger predicts that historians will soon begin
A paying more attention to the visual data available online.
B making a study of how the Internet has developed in Denmark.
C developing the skills needed to take full advantage of the Internet.
D using the resources on the Internet to understand past centuries better.
4 According to Ruth Page, future historians will need to
A spend more time contributing to popular websites.
B make more of an effort to co-operate with each other.
C be willing to change their view of past events more often.
D be prepared to analyse the language used to record past events.
5 The overall aim of the Long Now Foundation is to encourage
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A the keeping of key data in a non-digital format.
B a move away from shor-term decision making.
C people to manage their data files more effectively.
D the long-term retention of data in a variety of languages.
6 In the text as a whole, the writer reveals that she feels
A optimistic about the future potential of online data.
B concerned about whether lost data can be recovered online.
C frustrated at the difficulty of monitoring online data effectively.
D convinced that enough is being done to preserve online data indefinitely.
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 14 Topic: Finance and Business WID: IELTS6.0_14_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
Skills - produce a balanced "agree/disagree" essay - write an
introduction and conclusion - use a range of discourse
markers to help sequence your ideas logically - understand
exactly what the essay question is asking you to write ...... pts/10
Exercise 1. [Understand exactly what the essay question is asking] Read the topics and
1. Governments should invest more in public transport such as buses and trains rather than
building new roads.
Discuss both sides and give your opinion.
What is the topic?
____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides?
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Nowadays governments are investing more in public transport such as buses and trains
rather than in building new roads.
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
What is the topic?
____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides?
____________________________________________________________________________
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Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
What is the topic?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides?
_____________________________________________________________________________
What are the reasons for this?
Is this a positive or negative development?
What is the topic?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000, there may be as many
as 29 million vehicles on the British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be
encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
What is the topic?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides?
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_____________________________________________________________________________
6. The price of rail travel in some countries increases annually while average incomes remain
relatively stable.
This causes a problem for many people who rely on trains for travelling to work.
What do you think are the causes of this problem and what measures could be taken to solve
them?
What is the topic?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many questions?
_____________________________________________________________________________
How many sides?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2. [Opinion essays – Introduction]

A. Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question and sentences 1–6. Which sentences are possible
arguments for businesses doing more than just making money, and which are arguments
against? Choose For or Against.
Social responsibility is defined as a business's obligation to follow objectives that are good for
society as a whole, in addition to making profit.
Businesses should do more than just make money.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
For Against
1. Organisations have to conduct business in a fair and just way.
2. Government has more expertise in the area of social responsibility

compared to the corporate world.
3. Business activity creates many social problems, so businesses should

be held accountable for tackling them.
4. Employees should be free to give their time and expertise to worthy

causes.
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5. Incorporating social and ethical issues into a business model is not

economically feasible.
6. Corporations that take on extra responsibilities are at a competitive

disadvantage compared to those that do not.
B. Read the essay question again. Then read the introductions to the essay. Which
introduction would lose mark for copying?
1. It has been suggested that social responsibility is a business’s obligation. As well as making
profit, businesses should follow objectives that are good for society.
2. Corporate social responsibility is the idea that businesses are obliged to pursue objectives
that are beneficial for the whole of society, in addition to making money for their shareholders.
3. Many people argue that businesses, in addition to making money, should aim to create a
better society.
4. Corporate social responsibility is thought to be a business’s obligation to follow objectives
that are good for society, in addition to making profit.
5. Arguably, businesses should follow objectives that contribute to a good society as well as
those that are profitable for their shareholders.
Exercise 3. [Discourse markers]

A. Read the information. Then read the words and phrases in the box. What are their
functions? Complete the table with the words and phrases.
specifically in summary besides first and foremost

likewise finally after this next
firstly thus lastly additionally
sequencing other functions
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B. Read the paragraph about why businesses should only be concerned with making money.
Choose the correct sequencing words to complete the sentences.
(At first/ First and foremost/ In the beginning), a company’s raison d’être is to make money
and pay dividends to its shareholders. A business should not have to shoulder the responsibility
of supporting a society, because corporations that take on these extra responsibilities will have
additional costs that have to be borne either by customers or the owners. (Furthermore/
Meanwhile/ Next), a socially conscious company is at a competitive disadvantage compared to
other companies. (After then/ Secondly/ Then), supporting a functioning society is a
government’s responsibility as it can fulfil this role much more proficiently than the business
world. (After this/ Besides/ Finally), incorporating social and ethical issues into a business
model is not economically feasible and could cause a company to go bankrupt and therefore
risk increasing unemployment in the community.
Exercise 4. [Conclusion] Put the words and phrases in the correct order to complete the
concluding sentences.
1. They should be taken into account by organisations / in short, / instead of being left to
government / there are many environmental and social costs of doing business, / and although
these may not be directly attributable to any one company, / .
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Without restrictions / is to make profit / the reason for a business’s existence / it should be
free to do so / for its owners or investors and / overall, / .
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Perfect competition within markets / in an honest and transparent way, / otherwise there
won’t be / businesses must compete with each other / to conclude, / .
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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4. In spite of the wishes of many people to / this is not economically feasible / in the business
model of companies operating in a single country, / as a final point, / include social, ethical and
environmental issues / when there is worldwide competition among companies.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. To summarise, / corporations that take on extra social responsibilities are at a competitive

disadvantage, / compared to companies that do not do this / as they have far higher human
resources and environmental management costs / despite having in mind the best interests of
society as a whole, / .
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 5. [IELTS Writing Practice] Read the topics below.
• Plan the ideas for each topic

• Produce balanced ‘agree-disagree’ essays for the topics
• In your writing, include an introduction, at least two body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• Remember to paraphrase the questions
1. As well as making money, businesses also have social responsibilities.

Do you agree or disagree?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. People should follow the customs and traditions when people start to live in a new country.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. It is more important for schoolchildren to learn about local history than world history.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 15 Topic: Finance and business WID: IELTS6.0_15_L

QR code:
Listening:
Skills - use the questions to help you follow a talk ...... pts/10
- successfully complete short-answer questions
- correctly answer diagram-labeling tasks
Exercise 1. [IELTS Listening: Short answer questions] Read the information. Then listen to
three short recordings about a bank and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN TWO
WORDS for each answer.
1 Where was the bank previously located? _______________________
2 What is the newest available product mentioned? _______________________
3 What is only available to existing customers? _______________________
Exercise 2. [IELTS Listening: Short answer questions] Answer the questions below. Write NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
1. Which other animals did the researchers study? _________
2. What term is used to categorize Dr Gray’s study? _________
3. What was the approximate height above sea level of the area studied? _________
4. Which part of the animal’s body makes the clearest marks in the snow? _________
5. What is a good place to look for hare droppings? _________
6. What was put inside traps to attract the hares? _________
7. What is the maximum distance for identifying individual animals with a telescope? _______
8. What was the best shift for seeing hares in breeding season? _________
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Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Short answer questions] You will hear an extract from a talk given
to a group who are going to stay in the UK. Answer the questions below. Write NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
What TWO factors can make social contact in a foreign country difficult?
• 11 ....................
• 12 ....................
Which types of community group does the speaker give examples of?
• theatre
• 13 ....................
• 14 ....................
In which TWO places can information about community activities be found?
• 15 ....................
• 16 ....................
https://www.ielts-exam.net/practice_tests/69/Listening_Sample_Task_Short_Answer/646/
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Short answer questions] Answer the questions below. Write NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
1. How long has Sport Aid existed for? ______________
2. Who does Sport Aid mainly benefit? ______________
3. What did the money provide for one village? ______________
4. What is thought to be an important part of development? ______________
5. Where is the main event taking place? ______________
6. What are you advised to wear to the event? ______________
133
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Short answer questions – Diagram labeling]
(1) Listen and complete the diagram. Write the correct letters, A–F, for answers 1–4.
(2) Listen and answer questions 5–7. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
5 How should you behave if you receive an unexpected phone call? _______________
6 What should you do if you are not sure about a caller? _______________
7 What can you use to protect your electronic devices? _______________
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Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Diagram-labeling tasks] Look at the diagram of a solar heating
system and see what parts you will need to label.
Listen to a talk about solar energy and complete the labels as you listen.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
1 ________________
2 ________________
3 ________________
4 ________________
5 ________________
http://mini-ielts.com/1092/listening/a-solar-heating-system
135
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Diagram-labeling tasks]
136
Full name:.................................
Lesson 16 Topic: Finance and business WID: IELTS6.0_16_S

QR code:
Speaking:
- improve your score for Lexical Resource- use a range of
Skills
expressions for introducing opinions - correctly use
...... pts/10
discourse markers to help justify your arguments - review
correct grammar and pronunciation of modals of
obligation
Exercise 1. [Modals of obligations] Read the opening remarks made by a company chairman
at a board meeting. Complete the sentences with the words and phrases in the box.
Rewrite the sentences using modal verbs. The first one has been done for you.
1. It is recommended that start-ups look for a variety of investors.
Start-ups should look for a variety of investors.
2. It is vital that companies submit their tax returns before the April deadline.
____________________________________________________________________________
3. It is not necessary for consultants to analyse the market trends in South America.
____________________________________________________________________________
4. It is recommended that companies check their sales forecasts on a monthly basis.
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Companies are strongly advised not to upgrade their systems until the bugs have been fixed.
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Employees are not allowed to access their work emails from their personal computers.
____________________________________________________________________________
7. It was not necessary for the company to use an external consultant.
____________________________________________________________________________
137
Exercise 2. [Discourse markers] Read the information. Then look at the words and phrases in
the box. What do they mean? Complete the table with the words and phrases.
generally speaking clearly apparently supposedly
for the most part personally speaking unquestionably on the whole
personally to be honest undoubtedly obviously
arguably by and large feasibly as far as I’m concerned
This is a personal opinion.
I am certain that this is true.
This is generally seen as true.
I read/ heard that this is true.
I think this is possibly true.
Exercise 3. [Improve lexical resource – Modals of obligations – Discourse markers] Read the
opening remarks made by a company chairman at a board meeting. Complete the sentences
with the words and phrases in the box.
bankruptcy developing don’t have to had to
have to in other words launched needn’t have
sales forecast that said to begin with
Good morning, colleagues. ______________, I’m sure that I ______________ stress the
importance of our meeting this morning. As you know, the company ______________file for
______________ last month. I am, of course, aware that several of you opposed this action
138
feeling that we ______________ acted so swiftly. _____________, I feel I _____________ point

out that the ______________ for this coming year is a way below expectation, which reduced
our options. So, where do we go from here? There is the possibility that our main competitors
may be interested in taking over some of our business. Some of them have formally expressed
in writing that they are interested in ______________ the product we ______________ in
November. My door is always open; ______________, please feel free to come and speak to
me about this issue at any time.
Exercise 4. [Improve lexical resource] Read the information. Then watch the video of three
native English speakers asking and answering IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions. Complete the
phrases with the verbs in the box and read the definitions of the phrases.
be come control ease explain
have know lose spend step out
1 _______________ financially responsible: manage your money in a sensible way
2 _______________ wisely: think carefully about what you buy
3 _______________ your spending: limit or restrict your use of money so that you have a clear
idea of where it is going.
4 _______________ where your money is going: have a clear idea of what you are spending
your money on.
5
_____________ track of something: not know where something is or what is happening with it
6 _______________ an input in something: play a role or have a say in something
7 _______________ into the big wide (scary) world: enter the adult world of responsibility
8 _______________ as a shock: be a big surprise
9 _______________ the transition: make the change from one situation to another work well
10 _______________ the jargon: clarify what technical words or phrases mean
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Exercise 5. [Improve lexical resource] Read the IELTS Part 3 question and a student’s
response. Match the paraphrases in the box with words and phrases 1–10 from the response.
Examiner: Do you think society places too much emphasis on money and possessions?
Student: Definitely! Most people see (1) getting more money as (2) the most important thing in
their lives. I think it’s easy to understand why people think like this. After all, we need money to
(3) pay for the basic things we need for daily life, such as food and (4) a house. What’s more, we
live in a world where having, say, a nice car and a nice house are seen as (5) signs of social
achievement. The mainstream media only (6) makes this idea stronger in people, telling us how
important it is to (7) always have newer, faster and more powerful versions of the products we
already have. So, it doesn’t come as a shock that many people think this way. It is how the
world works and how we are taught to behave. (8) I think this is bad because (9) many people
spend too much of their time working, and as a result, not enough time with their (10) family or
friends. They can forget to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. I think such people have their
priorities wrong.
1 getting more money ______________________

2 the most important thing ______________________
3 pay for the basic things we need for daily life ______________________
4 a house ______________________
5 signs of social achievement ______________________
6 makes this idea stronger in people ______________________
7 always have newer, faster or more powerful versions of ______________________
8 I think this is bad because ______________________
9 many ______________________
10 family or friends ______________________
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Exercise 6. [IELTS Speaking practice] Read the topics. Make notes on what you will say in your
speaking test to answer the questions. Then practice.
*Note: Use discourse markers to identify your arguments and improve your lexical resource.
1. Describe a recent event that made you feel happy. You should say:
• What the event was

• When and where it happened
• Who participated in this event
• What you saw or did and explain why this event was so enjoyable
2. Describe an important event that you celebrated. You should say:
• What it was
• Where it happened
• Why it was important
• How people felt about it
3. Describe an event when someone denied your request. You should say:
• when it was
• what the request was about
• whom you requested
• and explain how you felt about being denied.
4. Describe an interesting event in your school. You should say
• What was the event?

• When was the event?
• Why was it interesting?
• And explain how you felt about it
5. Describe an event that resulted in a positive change in your life. Or Describe a positive
change that you made to your life. You should say:
• when it happened
• where it happened
• what the change was
• and explain how you have benefited from this change
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IELTS 6.0- Unit 5: History
Full name:.................................
Lesson 19 Topic: History WID: IELTS6.0_19_R

QR code:
Reading:
- identify a writer's claims or views ...... pts/10
Skills
- deal with the "Select from a list" and "Yes/No/Not
Given" task types
- use second, third and mixed conditionals
Exercise 1. [Conditionals] Complete the sentences with the suitable form of verbs in brackets.
Pay attention to positive or negative form.
1. If she had lived two years longer, she ______________ (reign) for 60 years.
2. They could build a new place for the monarchy if they ______________ (increase) taxes.
3. There wouldn’t have been a constitutional crisis if the king ______________ (abdicate)
without warning.
4. If the government ______________ (improve) the country’s economy, there would be less
unemployment.
5. Had the French king treated his subjects better, the revolution probably ______________
(not happen) when it did.
6. If I had my camera, I ______________ (take) a photo of the queen from the palace gates.
7. Without the support of the government, the emperor ______________ (force) to abdicate.
8. Germany might be a very different country today if the Berlin Wall ______________ (come
down) in 1989.
Exercise 2. [Conditionals] Choose the correct clause.
1. He would have completed the test...
A. if he'd had more time B. if he had more time
2. We would be going to Paris next week...
A. if I hadn't had to work B. if I didn't have to work
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3. I would have come with you to the cinema yesterday…
A. if I hadn’t already seen the film B. if I haven’t already seen the film.
4. I could have helped you...
A. if you had told me B. if you have told me
5. I would have the files...
A. if I haven’t forgotten them at home B. if I hadn’t forgotten them at home
6. We wouldn’t have gone out yesterday...
A. if it hadn’t rained B. if it had rained
7. If you hadn’t given me that advice...
A. I would apply for that job B. I wouldn’t have applied for that job
8. If I had known you were coming...
A. I would have come to pick you up from the airport
B. I would come to pick you up from the airport
Exercise 3. [Conditionals] Read the information. Rewrite the sentences using conditional
forms.
1 The princess doesn’t speak French, so she couldn’t speak to the president without an
interpreter when he visited last week.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2 The government didn’t vote on the issue last week, so there isn’t a trade deal in place at the
moment.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3 The expedition led by the explorer Robert Scott in 1912 never reached the South
Pole because the weather conditions got worse.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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4 Many Egyptian treasures were stolen from the pyramids, because the robbers knew how to
break into the secret burial chambers.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5 The prince doesn’t play Australian Rules football, so he didn’t accept the invitation to take
part in a friendly match during the royal tour of Australia.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6 The king’s sister carries out many official royal duties, but last month she didn’t attend the
opening of parliament, because she broke her leg in a skiing accident.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 4. [Identify a writer's claims or views] Read the information. Then read the
statements. Do they give facts or the writer’s opinions? Choose Fact or Opinion.
A fact is something that can be proven to have happened or to exist. An opinion is a thought or belief
about someone or something.
Statements Fact Opinion
1 Considerable amounts of money were spent on improving the region’s

infrastructure.
2 The minister’s announcement attracted widespread criticism in the

media.
3 Little thought appears to have been given to the future use of the site.
4 According to the latest government figures, life expectancy increased

by 5 years in the first 15 years of the century.
5 Millions of dollars were wasted on the project, and could and should
have been spent in other ways.
6 Arguably, it would be hard to function effectively in the modern world

without a basic knowledge of maths.
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Yes/ No/ Not given] Read the article. Do the statements agree
with the views of the writer of the article? Choose Yes, No or Not Given.
Why study history?
by Professor Percy Adams, head of history at Hardwick University
I am often asked, ‘What’s the use of history?’ As a professional historian, I can think of a
number of uses. I sometimes reply by asking what the use of studying French is for someone
who isn’t about to go to France. A wide-ranging list of uses usually follows, ranging from the
intellectual to the more practical, such as familiarity with phrases like de rigueur that have
entered the English language from French. Many of these reasons have a parallel with history –
both in the purely intellectual and the more practical sense.
It is undeniable that historians don’t perform life-saving medical operations, fly planes or design
labour-saving software. These tasks are clearly crucial to the general population, and it is not
my opinion that the work of a historian is in the same category. But one of the more practical
applications of history has been articulated by Peter Stearns, for whom history provides us with
a way of making sense of events. How do you interpret a recession if the country is enjoying a
boom, other than by using historical references? He argues that to comprehend the events we
experience, we must look to factors that took shape earlier, whether it is a fall in crime
statistics or a political protest in a far-off country. Whether a day earlier or a century ago,
previous events hold the key.
Back in 1906, the historian John Acton identified one central role of the study of history. Its role
was not to promote the accumulation of knowledge, but to train people to investigate history,
to separate truth from dishonesty and certainty from doubt. Acton saw the historian’s role as
being to carefully analyse any statement before drawing conclusions as to its validity. And this
viewpoint is just as appropriate nowadays as it was over a century ago.
However, there are still those who remain doubtful. Many hold the opinion credited to Henry
Ford, that ‘history is bunk’. In actual fact, Ford’s original comment was not so succinct, and it
was a journalist who came up with the three-word phrase that is so well recognised today and
often used by those who are critical of the value of history. For a man like Ford, the
technological progress he was to become famous for depended on the development of the new
technologies of the future, and not looking back at the past.
A century on, this way of thinking is still common and is underpinned by the government’s
highly controversial decision to remove history from the compulsory curriculum for
145
schoolchildren over the age of 14. Some distinguished historians, such as Niall Ferguson, have
supported the government, accusing critics of the policy, such as Oxford historian David
Priestland, of pursuing an inward-looking and heavily politicised agenda, questioning when they
last stepped into an actual school to discuss the curriculum with teachers and students. And
yet, it must be said that little thought appears to have been given to the consequences of this
and the potential limitations it places on youngsters progressing through the school system.
Admittedly, the study of history was justified in the past for reasons that can no longer be
considered valid, such as differentiating between an educated and an uneducated person when
there was a job vacancy to be filled – the applicant who could recite the dates of kings’ and
queens’ reigns was deemed to be a stronger candidate than the one who couldn’t. Fortunately,
times have moved on.
Choose Yes if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
No if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
Not Given if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. The general public have little respect for the views of historians.
2. The teaching and learning of history play an essential role in society.
3. The words of John Acton are relevant today.
4. Henry Ford’s views on history have been misrepresented.
5. The decision of the government to make history an optional subject was a mistake.
6. A good knowledge of history is an appropriate indicator of a person’s suitability for a job.
Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Pick from a list- Multiple choice- Y/N/NG] Read the passage and
Zoo conservation programmes
One of London Zoo’s recent advertisements caused me some irritation, so patently did it distort
reality. Headlined “Without zoos you might as well tell these animals to get stuffed”, it was
bordered with illustrations of several endangered species and went on to extol the myth that
without zoos like London Zoo these animals “will almost certainly disappear forever”. With the
zoo world’s rather mediocre record on conservation, one might be forgiven for being slightly
skeptical about such an advertisement.
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Zoos were originally created as places of entertainment, and their suggested involvement with
conservation didn’t seriously arise until about 30 years ago, when the Zoological Society of
London held the first formal international meeting on the subject. Eight years later, a series of
world conferences took place, entitled “The Breeding of Endangered Species”, and from this
point onwards conservation became the zoo community’s buzzword. This commitment has now
been clear defined in The World Zoo Conservation Strategy (WZGS, September 1993), which
although an important and welcome document does seem to be based on an unrealistic
optimism about the nature of the zoo industry.
The WZCS estimates that there are about 10,000 zoos in the world, of which around 1,000
represent a core of quality collections capable of participating in coordinated conservation
programmes. This is probably the document’s first failing, as I believe that 10,000 is a serious
underestimate of the total number of places masquerading as zoological establishments. Of
course it is difficult to get accurate data but, to put the issue into perspective, I have found that,
in a year of working in Eastern Europe, I discover fresh zoos on almost a weekly basis.
The second flaw in the reasoning of the WZCS document is the naive faith it places in its 1,000
core zoos. One would assume that the calibre of these institutions would have been carefully
examined, but it appears that the criterion for inclusion on this select list might merely be that
the zoo is a member of a zoo federation or association. This might be a good starting point,
working on the premise that members must meet certain standards, but again the facts don’t
support the theory. The greatly respected American Association of Zoological Parks and
Aquariums (AAZPA) has had extremely dubious members, and in the UK the Federation of
Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland has occasionally had members that have been
roundly censured in the national press. These include Robin Hill Adventure Park on the Isle of
Wight, which many considered the most notorious collection of animals in the country. This
establishment, which for years was protected by the Isle’s local council (which viewed it as a
tourist amenity), was finally closed down following a damning report by a veterinary inspector
appointed under the terms of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. As it was always a collection of
dubious repute, one is obliged to reflect upon the standards that the Zoo Federation sets when
granting membership. The situation is even worse in developing countries where little money is
available for redevelopment and it is hard to see a way of incorporating collections into the
overall scheme of the WZCS.
Even assuming that the WZCS’s 1,000 core zoos are all of a high standard complete with
scientific staff and research facilities, trained and dedicated keepers, accommodation that
147
permits normal or natural behaviour, and a policy of co-operating fully with one another what
might be the potential for conservation? Colin Tudge, author of Last Animals at the Zoo (Oxford
University Press, 1992), argues that “if the world’s zoos worked together in co-operative
breeding programmes, then even without further expansion they could save around 2,000
species of endangered land vertebrates’. This seems an extremely optimistic proposition from a
man who must be aware of the failings and weaknesses of the zoo industry the man who, when
a member of the council of London Zoo, had to persuade the zoo to devote more of its activities
to conservation. Moreover, where are the facts to support such optimism?
Today approximately 16 species might be said to have been “saved” by captive breeding
programmes, although a number of these can hardly be looked upon as resounding successes.
Beyond that, about a further 20 species are being seriously considered for zoo conservation
programmes. Given that the international conference at London Zoo was held 30 years ago, this
is pretty slow progress, and a long way off Tudge’s target of 2,000.
A. Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?
Write: YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
E.g. London Zoo’s advertisements are poorly presented. NOT GIVEN
1 London Zoo’s advertisements are dishonest.
2 Zoos made an insignificant contribution to conservation up until 30 years ago.
3 The WZCS document is not known in Eastern Europe.
4 Zoos in the WZCS select list were carefully inspected.
5 No-one knew how the animals were being treated at Robin Hill Adventure Park.
6 Colin Tudge was dissatisfied with the treatment of animals at London Zoo.
7 The number of successful zoo conservation programmes is unsatisfactory.
B. Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 8-10 on your answer sheet.
8. What were the objectives of the WZCS document?
A to improve the calibre of zoos world-wide
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B to identify zoos suitable for conservation practice
C to provide funds for zoos in underdeveloped countries
D to list the endangered species of the world
9. Why does the writer refer to Robin Hill Adventure Park?
A to support the Isle of Wight local council
B to criticise the 1981 Zoo Licensing Act
C to illustrate a weakness in the WZCS document
D to exemplify the standards in AAZPA zoos
10. What word best describes the writer’s response to Colin Tudges’ prediction on captive
breeding programmes?
A disbelieving B impartial C prejudiced D accepting
C. The writer mentions a number of factors which lead him to doubt the value of the WZCS
document
Which THREE of the following factors are mentioned?
List of Factors
A the number of unregistered zoos in the world
B the lack of money in developing countries
C the actions of the Isle of Wight local council
D the failure of the WZCS to examine the standards of the “core zoos”
E the unrealistic aim of the WZCS in view of the number of species “saved” to date
F the policies of WZCS zoo managers
http://mini-ielts.com/35/reading/zoo-conservation-programmes
149
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Y/N/NG- Pick from a list] Read the passage and answer the
questions.
The nature and aims of archaeology
Archaeology is partly the discovery of the treasures of the past, partly the careful work of the
scientific analyst, partly the exercise of the creative imagination. It is toiling in the sun on an
excavation in the Middle East, it is working with living Inuit in the snows of Alaska, and it is
investigating the sewers of Roman Britain. But it is also the painstaking task of interpretation,
so that we come to understand what these things mean for the human story. And it is the
conservation of the world's cultural heritage against looting and careless harm.
Archaeology, then, is both a physical activity out in the field, and an intellectual pursuit in the
study or laboratory. That is part of its great attraction. The rich mixture of danger and detective
work has also made it the perfect vehicle for fiction writers and film-makers, from Agatha
Christie with Murder in Mesopotamia to Stephen Spielberg with Indiana Jones. However far
from reality such portrayals are, they capture the essential truth that archaeology is an exciting
quest - the quest for knowledge about ourselves and our past.
But how does archaeology relate to disciplines such as anthropology and history, that are also
concerned with the human story? Is archaeology itself a science? And what are the
responsibilities of the archaeologist in today's world?
Anthropology, at its broadest, is the study of humanity - our physical characteristics as animals
and our unique non-biological characteristics that we call culture. Culture in this sense includes
what the anthropologist, Edward Tylor, summarised in 1871 as 'knowledge, belief, art, morals,
custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society'.
Anthropologists also use the term 'culture’ in a more restricted sense when they refer to the
‘culture1 of a particular society, meaning the non-biological characteristics unique to that
society, which distinguish it from other societies. Anthropology is thus a broad discipline - so
broad that it is generally broken down into three smaller disciplines: physical anthropology,
cultural anthropology and archaeology.
Physical anthropology, or biological anthropology as it is also called, concerns the study of

human biological or physical characteristics and how they evolved. Cultural anthropology - or
social anthropology - analyses human culture and society. Two of its branches are ethnography
(the study at first hand of individual living cultures) and ethnology (which sets out to .compare
cultures using ethnographic evidence to derive general principles about human society).
150
Archaeology is the ‘past tense of cultural anthropology’. Whereas cultural anthropologists will
often base their conclusions on the experience of living within contemporary communities,
archaeologists study past societies primarily through their material remains - the buildings,
tools, and other artefacts that constitute what is known as the material culture left over from
former societies.
Nevertheless, one of the most important tasks for the archaeologist today is to know how to
interpret material culture in human terms. How were those pots used? Why are some dwellings
round and others square? Here the methods of archaeology and ethnography overlap.
Archaeologists in recent decades have developed ‘ethno-archaeology’, where, like
ethnographers, they live among contemporary communities, but with the specific purpose of
learning how such societies use material culture - how they make their tools and weapons, why
they build their settlements where they do, and so on. Moreover, archaeology has an active
role to play in the field of conservation. Heritage studies constitutes a developing field, where it
is realised that the world's cultural heritage is a diminishing resource which holds different
meanings for different people.
If, then, archaeology deals with the past, in what way does it differ from history? In the
broadest sense, just as archaeology is an aspect of anthropology, so too is it a part of history -
where we mean the whole history of humankind from its beginnings over three million years
ago. Indeed, for more than ninety-nine per cent of that huge span of time, archaeology - the
study of past material culture - is the only significant source of information. Conventional
historical sources begin only with the introduction of written records around 3,000 BC in
western Asia, and much later in most other parts of the world.
A. Do the following Statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? Write:
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
1. Archaeology involves creativity as well as careful investigative work.
2. Archaeologists must be able to translate texts from ancient languages.
3. Movies give a realistic picture of the work of archaeologists.
4. Anthropologists define culture in more than one way.
151
5. Archaeology is a more demanding field of study than anthropology.
6. The history of Europe has been documented since 3,000 BC.
B. Choose TWO letters A-E.
The list below gives some statements about anthropology.
Which TWO statements are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A It is important for government planners.
B It is a continually growing field of study.
C It often involves long periods of fieldwork.
D It is subdivided for study purposes.
E It studies human evolutionary patterns.
C. Choose TWO letters A-E.
The list below gives some of the tasks of an archaeologist.
Which TWO of these tasks are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A examining ancient waste sites to investigate diet
B studying cave art to determine its significance
C deducing reasons for the shape of domestic buildings
D investigating the way different cultures make and use objects
E examining evidence for past climate changes
http://mini-ielts.com/194/reading/the-nature-and-aims-of-archaelogy
Exercise 8. [IELTS Reading: Y/N/NG- Pick from a list] Read the passage and answer the
questions.
Saving language
For the first time, linguists have put a price on language. To save a language from extinction
isn’t cheap - but more and more people are arguing that the alternative is the death of
communities.
There is nothing unusual about a single language dying. Communities have come and gone
throughout history, and with them their language. But what is happening today is
152
extraordinary, judged by the standards of the past. It is language extinction on a massive scale.
According to the best estimates, there are some 6,000 languages in the world. Of these, about
half are going to die out in the course of the next century: that’s 3,000 languages in 1,200
months. On average, there is a language dying out somewhere in the world every two weeks or
so.
How do we know? In the course of the past two or three decades, linguists all over the world
have been gathering comparative data. If they find a language with just a few speakers left, and
nobody is bothering to pass the language on to the children, they conclude that language is
bound to die out soon. And we have to draw the same conclusion if a language has less than
100 speakers. It is not likely to last very long. A 1999 survey shows that 97 per cent of the
world’s languages are spoken by just four per cent of the people.
It is too late to do anything to help many languages, where the speakers are too few or too old,
and where the community is too busy just trying to survive to care about their language. But
many languages are not in such a serious position. Often, where languages are seriously
endangered, there are things that can be done to give new life to them. It is called
revitalisation.
Once a community realises that its language is in danger, it can start to introduce measures
which can genuinely revitalise. The community itself must want to save its language. The
culture of which it is a part must need to have a respect for minority languages. There needs to
be funding, to support courses, materials, and teachers. And there need to be linguists, to get
on with the basic task of putting the language down on paper. That’s the bottom line: getting
the language documented - recorded, analysed, written down. People must be able to read and
write if they and their language are to have a future in an increasingly computer- literate
civilisation.
But can we save a few thousand languages, just like that? Yes, if the will and funding were
available. It is not cheap, getting linguists into the field, training local analysts, supporting the
community with language resources and teachers, compiling grammars and dictionaries,
writing materials for use in schools. It takes time, lots of it, to revitalise an endangered
language. Conditions vary so much that it is difficult to generalise, but a figure of $ 100,000 a
year per language cannot be far from the truth. If we devoted that amount of effort over three
years for each of 3,000 languages, we would be talking about some $900 million.
There are some famous cases which illustrate what can be done. Welsh, alone among the Celtic
languages, is not only stopping its steady decline towards extinction but showing signs of real
growth. Two Language Acts protect the status of Welsh now, and its presence is increasingly in
evidence wherever you travel in Wales.
153
A. Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?
Write: YES if the statement agrees with the writer s views
NO if the statement contradicts the writer s views
1. The rate at which languages are becoming extinct has increased.
2. Research on the subject of language extinction began in the 1990s.
3. In order to survive, a language needs to be spoken by more than 100 people.
4. Certain parts of the world are more vulnerable than others to language extinction.
5. Saving language should be the major concern of any small community whose language is
under threat.
B. The list below gives some of the factors that are necessary to assist the revitalisation of a
language within a community.
Which THREE of the factors are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A the existence of related languages
B support from the indigenous population
C books tracing the historical development of the language
D on-the-spot help from language experts
E a range of speakers of different ages
F formal education procedures
G a common purpose for which the language is required
http://mini-ielts.com/542/reading/saving-language
154
Full name:.................................
Lesson 20 Topic: History WID: IELTS6.0_20_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
- Describe information in a table or bar chart- Describe
Skills numbers - Language for comparison
...... pts/10
- Use linkers and cohesive language to improve your
Coherence and Cohesion score for Task 1
- Avoid repetition
Exercise 1. [Describe numbers – Language for comparison]
155
Exercise 2. [Describe numbers] Choose the correct words and phrases to complete the
sentences about the chart.
The bar chart below shows the total percentage of people employed in different sectors of the
economy in Country A in 2005 and 2015 with projections for 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
1. There will be roughly a ___________ decrease in the percentage of people employed in the
coal mining industry during the period depicted.
fivefold quadruple quintet
2. The percentage of people working in the field of production and logistics

will ___________ between 2005 and 2025.
double twofold twice
3. The percentage of people working in the services industry is likely to more than ___________
between the years 2005 and 2025.
threefold triple third
4. In 2005, 30% of workers were employed in management and business, and this figure rose to
reach ___________ of the total working population in 2015.
a tenth two-fifths two-thirds
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5. ___________ people will be involved in coal mining in 2025 compared to 2005.
A few of By far the fewest Far fewer
6. Approximately the same percentage of people will be employed in the field of management
and business in 2015 ___________ in 2025.
as than then
Exercise 3. [Language for comparison]
157
Exercise 4. [Language for comparison]
158
Exercise 5. [Linkers and cohesive language] Read the information. Then choose the correct
words and phrases to complete the summary of the table.
The table below shows the percentage of people employed in six different industries in Country
A and predictions for 2025.
(It is striking/ What stands out is) the huge decline in employment in the agricultural sector
during the period shown. (It is striking that/ Surprisingly), having stood at 20% in 1995, it is
forecast that it will have fallen to just 0.7% by 2025. (By contrast/ It is surprisingly) , the
employment figures for the finance and transportation fields have increased significantly, both
rising from 3% in 1995 to reach a predicted percentage of 15% and 13%, (obviously/
respectively). (By the end of the period shown/ Finally), employment in transportation will
have reached 13%; (the clear trend/ whereas) being a substantial rise from the percentage in
1995 of 3%. (Moving onto/ Turning next) construction, the figures remain stable between 1995
and 2015, fluctuating between 5% and 6%. (Likewise/ Nevertheless), it is predicted to be 5% in
2025. (Regarding to/ With reference to) employment in retail, the figures rose slightly from
12% in 1995 to 13% in 2015 but will (at last/ nevertheless) fall back again to 12% in 2025.
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Exercise 6. [Linkers and cohesive language] Choose the correct discourse markers to complete
the sentences.
1. ____________ management and business will continue to be the most important sector for
employment in the future.
In terms of Obviously With reference to
2. The textile industry will experience a decline in the proportion of people employed, falling
from about 30% to a projected rate of 20% in 2025, ____________ the figures for both the
service and the production and logistic sectors are predicted to rise to 15% and 20%,
respectively.
in comparison to interestingly whereas
3. ____________ that coal mining is no longer as important as it once was in terms of

employment. From a peak of 25%, it fell to 10% in 2005 and is forecast to fall further to just
under 5% in 2025.
It is clear Moving on to Surprisingly
4. ____________ the textile sector, the service industry has undergone a rise in employment,
rising from just over 5% in 2005 to approximately 15% in 2015. In the future, both of these
sectors are predicted to reach 20% in 2025.
By contrast In comparison to In terms of
5. ____________, people working in the management and business sector and the textile
industry in Country A accounted for roughly the same percentage, at about 30%, in 2005.
Interestingly Nevertheless Whereas
6. ____________ the trend for employment in production and logistics, it has seen a steady
rise, starting from about 8% and reaching 10% in 2015. This phenomenon is likely to continue
and it will most probably rise to about 15% in 2025.
Obviously Surprisingly With reference to
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Exercise 7. [Avoid repetition] Read the information. Then choose the correct alternatives to
replace the underlined words in the sentences.
1 The table depicts the percentage change in the employment rate in Country A between 1995
and 2015, with predictions for 2025, and these percentages (data/ figures) vary across a wide
range of industrial sectors.
2 The agricultural sector experienced a considerable fall in the number of people employed and
this sector (area/ job) fell from 20% in 1995 to 0.7% in 2015.
3 Employment in the construction industry fluctuated between 5% and 6% from 1995 to 2015,
and this fluctuation (sway/ variation) may well continue into the future.
4 The share of employment in finance has increased significantly and this share (portion/
zone) is expected to continue rising to stand at around 15% in 2025.
5 There was little variance in the data for retail in the period 1995 to 2015, and there is unlikely
to be much variance (continuation/ movement) in the figures in the near future.
Exercise 8. [Avoid repetition] Read the information. Then read the IELTS Writing Task 1
question and the introductions to some responses to the task. Which introduction(s) receive
a word count penalty for copying from the question?
The bar chart below shows the total percentage of people employed in different sectors of the
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1. The bar chart shows the total percentage of people employed in different sectors of the
2. The data depicts the number of people who work in different areas of a country’s economy
in 2005 and 2015 and makes forecasts for 2025 in percentages.
3. The chart illustrates the percentage of people employed in five sectors of a country’s
economy in the years 2005 and 2015 with predictions for 2025.
4. The chart shows the percentage of people employed in several sectors of the economy in
Country A over a period of 20 years.
5. In the chart, I can see the percentage of people employed in different sectors of the economy
in Country A in 2005 and 2015 and projections for 2025.
Exercise 9. [IELTS Writing task 1] Look at the charts and graphs. Summarise the information
by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
1. The table shows the worldwide market share of the mobile phone market for manufacturers
in the years 2005 and 2006.
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2. The table below shows the number of cars made in three countries in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
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3. The table shows the Proportions of Pupils Attending Four Secondary School Types between
2000 and 2009.
Secondary School Attendance
2000 2005 2009
Specialist Schools 12% 11% 10%
Grammar Schools 24% 19% 12%
Voluntary-controlled Schools 52% 38% 20%
Community Schools 12% 32% 58%
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4. The graph shows oil production capacity for several Gulf countries between 1990 and 2010.
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5. The chart below shows the amount of leisure time enjoyed by men and women of different
employment status.
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 21 Topic: History WID: IELTS6.0_21_LS

QR code:
Listening: - describe trends and periods in history -
answer select from a list and matching tasks - identify
attitude and opinion - use prepositions of time ...... pts/10
Skills correctly
Speaking: - use a range of past time phrases -

improve score for Grammatical Range and Accuracy - ...... pts/10
use expressions for agreeing and disagreeing
Exercise 1. [Prepositions of time] Choose the correct prepositions or time phrases to

complete the sentences about history.
1._____________ the reign of Queen Victoria, Britain became a world power

At During On
2. In the _____________ twentieth century, many people living in large cities in Britain suffered
from poor health.
beginning early end
3. The Stonehenge monument in the west of England was built in the _____________ period.
elderly old prehistoric
4. Over the _____________ 30 years, there has been a huge amount of change in people’s
living standards.
latest past recent
5. _____________ the fifties and sixties, there were massive social changes affecting all aspects
of life around the world.
At In On
6. The Titanic sank during the _____________ of King George V.
dynasty realm reign
7. _________ 2000, there has been a massive increase in the use of mobile technology globally.
At Before Since
8. The 1960s was the _____________ that saw humans first explore outer space.
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century decade millennia

Exercise 2. [Prepositions of time] Read about the Tower of London and complete the
information below with appropriate prepositions of time (if necessary)
Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Matching] Read the information. Then listen to a short
conversation. Which speaker expresses the views? Choose Sarah or Tom.
Sarah Tom
1. thinks the introduction is too short
2. thinks the introduction is the correct length
3. suggests the methodology could be clearer
4. believes the findings contain the right amount of detail
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5. suggests the findings should include graphics
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Matching] What job does each of the following people do in the
hotel? Choose FIVE answers from the box and write A-H next to questions 1-5.
JOB TITLES
A Head Receptionist
EMPLOYEES
B. Bookings Manager
1. Damian Rose ________
C. Events Co-ordinator
2. Clara Ford ________
D. Catering Manager
3. Petra Snell ________
E. Head Chef
4. Oliver Ansell ________
F. Personnel Manager
5. Luca Petronelli ________
G. Head of Accounts
H. Head Waiter
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Matching]
169
170
Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Select from a list] Listen to a conversation between two students,
Tony and Sue. Which two topics is Tony including in his project? Choose the correct letters,
A–E.
A. women’s rights
B. family values
C. poverty and education
D. the Industrial Revolution
E. kings and queens of today
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Select from a list] Listen to Tony and Sue talking about Sue’s
project. Which three areas does Tony suggest changing? Choose the correct letters, A–F.
A. the structure of the questionnaire
B. the connection between poverty and crime
C. the order of the objectives
D. the number of questions asked
E. avoiding repetition in the method section
F. young people’s strategies for adulthood
Exercise 8. [IELTS Listening: Select from a list] Listen to another conversation between Tony
and Sue. Which five things helped Sue? Choose the correct letters, A–H.
A support from parents
B being allowed to collaborate
C meeting her tutor regularly
D working on a previous project
E volunteering with young people
F visiting the university library
G advice from an old friend
H talking to young offenders
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Exercise 9. [IELTS Listening: Select from a list] Listen and choose TWO letters, A-E.
1,2. Which TWO facilities in the student residence have been upgraded recently?
A the study bedrooms
B the main entrance
C the shared kitchens
D the bathrooms
E the laundry room
3,4. Which TWO services are provided free of charge to residents?
A replacement key
B parking place
C weekly room cleaning
D electricity
E extra bedding
5,6. Which TWO problems should be reported to the management?
A lost or stolen items
B faulty equipment
C poor internet connection
D problems with other residents
E complaints about staff
Exercise 10. [IELTS Listening: Select from a list] Listen and choose TWO letters, A-E.
1,2. Which TWO advantages of the website are mentioned?
A It has links to other popular websites
B It can be used by non-academics
C It saves researchers time
D It helps researchers to organize their data
E It is specifically designed to help students
3,4. Which TWO disadvantages of the website do the two speakers agree about?
A The database is now getting too large
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B It doesn’t offer complete reliability

C The ‘suggest’ feature is not very effective
D Data can only be uploaded in one format
E It doesn’t provide information free of charge
Exercise 11. [Past time phrases] In this activity, you will read a short biography about Nelson
Mandela. You will know some aspects and events of his life. You will notice that those events
started and finished in the past.
A. Underline the time adverbials in the text.
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo,
Transkei, South Africa. Becoming actively involved in the anti-
apartheid movement in his 20’s, Mandela joined the African
National Congress in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a
campaign of peaceful, nonviolent defiance against the South
African government and its racist policies.
In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk
were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to dismantle the country's
apartheid system. In 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. In
2009, Mandela's birthday (July 18) was declared "Mandela Day" to promote global peace and
celebrate the South African leader's legacy. Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg on
December 5, 2013, at age 95.
B. Decide if the following statements are true or false, past time phrases in the text can help
you.
True False
Mandela became an activist when he was 18.
He was politically active in the 1940s.
He fought against racism for two decades.
He won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize alone.
In the 1990s, Mandela became president of South Africa.
“Mandela Day” was declared after he died.

https://avi.cuaed.unam.mx/repositorio/moodle/pluginfile.php/1987/mod_resource/content/17/contenido/index.html
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Exercise 12. [Language for agreeing and disagreeing] Read the IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions
and responses. Choose the most appropriate phrases for agreeing and disagreeing to
complete the responses.
1. Examiner: Should history be a compulsory subject at school?
Student: (Absolutely/ Definitely not/ Well, there are two ways of looking at this). I think that if
we are going to understand the world we live in, we have to understand where we came from.
For example, there is a lot of conflict in the world at the moment, and history gives us a
context, a way to understand how these conflicts started and why it is so difficult to resolve
them. I would add that history as a subject shows us the mistakes that mankind has made, and
if we are going to learn from these mistakes and not repeat them, then it makes sense to study
history all our lives. So yes, I think it should be compulsory.
2. Examiner: Many people would argue though that we need to change the way that history is
taught in schools. Do you agree?
Student: (Certainly not/ Up to a point/ Without a doubt). By that I mean, I can understand why
some people don’t like studying history; all those names and dates can be difficult to
remember. Perhaps a different approach, something more interactive or twenty-first-century,
can help bring history to life for students who feel this way. But on the other hand, when I
learnt history at school, I loved the classes, and I am sure that many other students did, too. I
am not sure we should change everything just because some students find it difficult. So,
maybe I will change my mind about your first question and say that history shouldn’t be a
compulsory subject. Maybe it isn’t for everyone.
3. Examiner: Let’s talk about family history. Do you think it is important to know your own
family history?
Student: (It depends on how you look at it/ No, not at all/ Yes, I would say so). As I said, I prefer
history as a larger subject that explains how the world works. But on the other hand, I guess for
some people it’s really important, or at least really interesting, to know where they are from
and what their family past is. I think that’s fine, but personally speaking, it doesn’t interest me.
4. Examiner: Many people are now using online services that test their DNA to find out their
cultural origins. Do you think this is a good idea?
Student: (Sure/ That’s not how I see it/ To some extent, yes). I know people who have done
this, and the test results say that they come from many different countries, places they didn’t
expect. Perhaps if people realise that their origins are more international than they thought,
then it might help reduce racism. The thing is, I am not convinced that these tests are
scientifically accurate. I don’t really understand how they can accurately come up with all this
information about your origins from your DNA. I have looked at the science behind it, and I am
not convinced it is valid. But that is just my opinion.
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Exercise 13. [Grammatical range and accuracy] Read the IELTS Speaking Part 2 task card. Then
read the student’s response. Correct the underlined grammar mistakes.
Describe a special occasion in your life. You should say:

• where the special occasion took place
• when this special occasion took place
• who else was there
• and explain how you felt on this special occasion.
The special occasion I choose to talk about is when I passed my driving test. This happened three
years ago, and I sat the test itself in my hometown of Perugia. Already I had passed the theory
test a few week beforehand, because in Italy you do the theory test first and then the practical
test comes a short time afterwards. So, on the day of the practical test I was driving to the test
centre with the instructor from my driving school. I remember I feel incredibly nervous on the
day of the test and even the night before.
All I could think was, if I will pass, I can be much more independent. I had already saved up
enough money for buy a small car, and so now all I needed was to pass the test. Anyway, my
instructor and I arrived and met the examiner, which looked incredibly serious. I don’t think she
smiled even once the whole time. That only made me more nervous. The test itself, well, to be
honest, I can’t remember too much of it. I think I was concentrating so hard on get everything
right that, well, my mind was too busy to remember, I don’t know.
However, I do remember what happened at the end. When the instructor told me I had passed, I
screamed with happiness, that made the instructor jump with surprise, and then I gave her a
hug. When I got out of the car, I saw that my dad was there, too, waited with my instructor. So,
I ran over to them and hugged them, too. And then my Dad pulled some keys out of his pocket
and pointed to a brand-new car that was parked in the car park. It took me a second or two to
realise that the car was for me. At that point, I burst into tears – happy tears, of course. It was
an amazing surprise. Not only I had passed, but I also had the car I wanted. And I even got to
drive home in my new car.
How did I feel at that moment? I guess a mixture of pride that I had passed, and also relief. Just
imagine how embarrassing it would have been if I haven’t passed. But fortunately, I did. A
perfect day, really.
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Exercise 14. [IELTS Speaking topics Part 2+3]

Topic 1:
Part 2: Describe a creative inventor or musician. You should say:
• What this person does
• and explain why you think this person is creative
Part 3:
1. What creative activities did you like to do when you were young?
2. Why do people like to copy others' ideas these days?
3. What's the best way to cultivate children's creativity?
4. Do you think creativity can be learned?
5. Why does art help to nurture creativity?
Topic 2:
Part 2: Describe a person that you admire. You should say:
• What you like to do together
• Why you admire this person
Part 3:
1. Which type of people are respected most in our society?
2. Do you agree with this situation?
3. What happens when young people lack good role models?
4. What standards of behaviour should teachers set?
5. Do you agree that you should never meet your heroes?
Topic 3:
Part 2: Describe a person who you have met before and you want to know more about. You
should say:
• who this person is;
• when and where you met;
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• what you did or talked about;

• and explain why you would like to know more about this person.
Part 3:
1. How do Vietnamese people make friends?
2. Who is more important to you, friends or family?
3. Do you like to be friends with someone who is different from you?
4. Do you have any foreign friends?
5. Why is it easier to make friends on the Internet than in reality?
Topic 4:
Part 2: Describe a person who you like to spend time with. You should say:
• what relationship the two of you have
• how often you are together
• what you usually do together
• and explain why you like to spend time with this person.
Part 3:
1. How do you usually spend your spare time?
2. Why do some young people dislike living with old people?
3. What do you usually do when you hang out with your friends?
4. Do you like to spend time on your own or with your family/friends?
5. What are the advantages of living with old people?
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IELTS 6.0- Unit 6: Science and technology
Full name:.................................
Lesson 22 Topic: Science and technology WID: IELTS6.0_22_R

QR code:
Reading:
Skills - Check your understanding of future tenses ...... pts/10
- Do summary completion task with and without boxes
of options- Label a diagram
Exercise 1. [Future tenses] Read the extracts from a science class. Choose the correct verb
forms to complete the sentences.
1. In today’s lesson, ____________ how an electrical circuit works.

A. I’m explaining B. I’m going to explain C. I will explain
2. Do the experiment carefully and ____________ the chemical change from a liquid to a solid.
A. you are going to see B. you’ll see C. you’re seeing
3. Remember that you ____________ your exams if you don’t start working harder.
A. aren’t passing B. won’t pass C. wouldn’t pass
4. Do you predict that the ice ____________ more quickly in that container?
A. is melting B. melts C. will melt
5. What action do you think ____________ the water to change from a liquid into a gas after
we have poured it into the container?
A. is causing B. will cause C. will have been causing
6. Tomorrow ____________ to repeat this experiment, but I’m going to make a few changes to
see if we get a different result.
A. I’m going to plan B. I’m planning C. I will plan
7. By the end of the lesson, ____________ three experiments to show how an electrical circuit
works.
A. we will complete B. we will have been completing
8. This time next week, all the students ____________ a vocational placement in their chosen
industries.
A. are doing B. do C. will be doing
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Exercise 2. [Future tenses] Read the information. Then complete the sentences. Use the verbs
in brackets in the correct form: the future perfect or the future continuous.
1. By the end of the year, he ______________ (deliver) over 100 lectures on biochemistry.
2. Next week she ______________ (conduct) a seminar on advances in space technology for a
group of scientists from China.
3. The guest speakers ______________ (discuss) the digital divide and its impact on global
development in tomorrow’s lecture.
4. Most students ______________ (complete) the project on nanotechnology by the end of
next week.
5. If all goes to plan, I ______________ (write) my presentation before the conference begins
next Wednesday.
6. Next Tuesday, on his day off from college, he ______________ (prepare) his talk on relativity.
7. Even at the start of the advanced course, they ___________ (analyse) some very complicated
data.
8. We all hope that somebody ______________ (discover) a way of preventing climate change
by the end of the decade.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Reading: Summary completion without options] Read the passage and
Dirty River But Clean Water
A Fire and flood are two of humanity’s worst nightmares. People have, therefore, always
sought to control them. Forest fires are snuffed out quickly. The flow of rivers is regulated by
weirs and dams. At least, that is how it used to be. But foresters have learned that forests need
fires to clear out the brash and even to get seeds to germinate. And a similar revelation is now
– dawning on hydrologists. Rivers – and the ecosystems they support – need floods. That is why
a man-made torrent has been surging down the Grand Canyon. By Thursday March 6th it was
running at full throttle, which was expected to be sustained for 60 hours.
B Floods once raged through the canyon every year. Spring Snow from as far away as
Wyoming would melt and swell the Colorado river to a flow that averaged around 1,500 cubic
metres (50,000 cubic feet) a second. Every eight years or so, that figure rose to almost 3,000
cubic metres. These floods infused the river with sediment, carved its beaches and built its
sandbars.
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C However, in the four decades since the building of the Glen Canyon dam, just upstream of
the Grand Canyon, the only sediment that it has collected has come from tiny, undammed
tributaries. Even that has not been much use as those tributaries are not powerful enough to
distribute the sediment in an ecologically valuable way.
D This lack of flooding has harmed local wildlife. The humpback chub, for example, thrived in
the rust-red waters of the Colorado. Recently, though, its population has crashed. At first sight,
it looked as if the reason was that the chub were being eaten by trout introduced for sport
fishing in the mid-20th century. But trout and chub co-existed until the Glen Canyon dam was
built, so something else is going on. Steve Gloss, of the United States’ Geological Survey (USGS),
reckons that the chub’s decline is the result of their losing their most valuable natural defense,
the Colorado’s rusty sediment. The chub were well adapted to the poor visibility created by the
thick, red water which gave the river its name, and depended on it to hide from predators.
Without the cloudy water the chub became vulnerable.
E And the chub are not alone. In the years since the Glen Canyon dam was built, several
species have vanished altogether. These include the Colorado pike-minnow, the razorback
sucker and the round-tail chub. Meanwhile, aliens including fathead minnows, channel catfish
and common carp, which would have been hard, put to survive in the savage waters of the
undammed canyon, have moved in.
F So flooding is the obvious answer. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done. Floods were
sent down the Grand Canyon in 1996 and 2004 and the results were mixed. In 1996 the flood
was allowed to go on too long. To start with, all seemed well. The floodwaters built up
sandbanks and infused the river with sediment. Eventually, however, the continued flow
washed most of the sediment out of the canyon. This problem was avoided in 2004, but
unfortunately, on that occasion, the volume of sand available behind the dam was too low to
rebuild the sandbanks. This time, the USGS is convinced that things will be better. The amount
of sediment available is three times greater than it was in 2004. So if a flood is going to do some
good, this is the time to unleash one.
G Even so, it may turn out to be an empty gesture. At less than 1,200 cubic metres a second,
this flood is smaller than even an average spring flood, let alone one of the mightier deluges of
the past. Those glorious inundations moved massive quantities of sediment through the Grand
Canyon, wiping the slate dirty, and making a muddy mess of silt and muck that would make
modern river rafters cringe.
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for
each answer.
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The eco-impact of the Canyon Dam

Floods are people’s nightmare. In the past, canyon was raged by flood every year. The snow
from far Wyoming would melt in the season of 1_______________ and caused a flood flow
peak in Colorado river. In the four decades after people built the Glen Canyon dam, it only
could gather 2_______________ together from tiny, undammed tributaries.
Humpback chub population on reduced, why?
Then, several species disappeared including Colorado pike-minnow, 3_______________ and
the round-tail chub. Meanwhile, some moved in such as fathead minnows, channel catfish and
4_______________. The non-stopped flow leaded to the washing away of the sediment out of
the canyon, which poses great threat to the chubs because it has poor 5_______________
away from predators. In addition, the volume of 6_______________ available behind the dam
was too low to rebuild the bars and flooding became more serious.
Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading: Summary completion with options]
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1-9: Complete the summary using the list of words, A-Q, below.
A government bodies B diﬀerent sources C experts from different fields

D temporary exhibitions E various officials F avoided
G show H fit I design
J various elements K operated L detectable
M rejected N painters O visible P included Q approved
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The Fern Garden was created in an open space 20 metres square, which would be 1________
to visitors to the proposed galleries for 2_________. The Commission for the garden was
3_________ by the National Gallery Council and was funded by money from 4_________. The
5_________ for the garden, which was refined in 1997 6_________ planting 58 mature fern
trees that were several metres tall and it contained 7_________ including paths and water
features. 8_________ were consulted to ensure the whole design would 9_________ together.
10-13: Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for
each answer.
Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Summary completion- Labeling a diagram] Read the passage and
Roller coaster
A 600 years ago, roller coaster pioneers never would have imagined the advancements that
have been made to create the roller coasters of today. The tallest and fastest roller coaster in
the world is the Kingda Ka, a coaster in New Jersey that launches its passengers from zero to
128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds (most sports cars take over four seconds to get to just 60
miles per hour). It then heaves its riders skyward at a 90-degree angle (straight up) until it
reaches a height of 456 feet, over one and a half football fields, above the ground, before
183
dropping another 418 feet (Coaster Grotto “Kingda Ka”). With that said, roller coasters are
about more than just speed and height, they are about the creativity of the designers that build
them, each coaster having its own unique way of producing intense thrills at a lesser risk than
the average car ride. Roller coasters have evolved drastically over the years, from their
primitive beginnings as Russian ice slides, to the metal monsters of today. Their combination of
creativity and structural elements make them one of the purest forms of architecture.
B At first glance, a roller coaster is something like a passenger train. It consists of a series of
connected cars that move on tracks. But unlike a passenger train, a roller coaster has no engine
or power source of its own. For most of the ride, the train is moved by gravity and momentum.
To build up this momentum, you need to get the train to the top of the first hill or give it a
powerful launch. The traditional lifting mechanism is a long length of chain running up the hill
under the track. The chain is fastened in a loop, which is wound around a gear at the top of the
hill and another one at the bottom of the hill. The gear at the bottom of the hill is turned by a
simple motor. This turns the chain loop so that it continually moves up the hill like a long
conveyer belt. The coaster cars grip onto the chain with several chain dogs, sturdy hinged
hooks. When the train rolls to the bottom of the hill, the dogs catches onto the chain links.
Once the chain dog is hooked, the chain simply pulls the train to the top of the hill. At the
summit, the chain dog is released and the train starts its descent down the hill.
C Roller coasters have a long, fascinating history. The direct ancestors of roller coasters were
monumental ice slides – long, steep wooden-slides covered in ice, some as high as 70 feet –
that were popular in Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries. Riders shot down the slope in sleds
made out of wood or blocks of ice, crash-landing in a sand pile. Coaster historians diverge on
the exact evolution of these ice slides into actual rolling carts. The most widespread account is
that a few entrepreneurial Frenchmen imported the ice slide idea to France. The warmer
climate of France tended to melt the ice, so the French started building waxed slides instead,
eventually adding wheels to the sleds. In 1817, the Russes a Belleville (Russian Mountains of
Belleville) became the first roller coaster where the train was attached to the track (in this case,
the train axle fit into a carved groove). The French continued to expand on this idea, coming up
with more complex track layouts, with multiple cars and all sorts of twists and turns.
D In comparison to the world’s first roller coaster, there is perhaps an even greater debate over
what was America’s first true coaster. Many will say that it is Pennsylvania’s own Maunch
Chunk-Summit Hill and Switch Back Railroad. The Maunch Chunk-Summit Hill and Switch
Back Railroad was originally America’s second railroad, and considered my many to be the
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greatest coaster of all time. Located in the Lehigh valley, it was originally used to transport coal
from the top of Mount Pisgah to the bottom of Mount Jefferson, until Josiah White, a mining
entrepreneur, had the idea of turning it into a part-time thrill ride. Because of its immediate
popularity, it soon became strictly a passenger train. A steam engine would haul passengers to
the top of the mountain, before letting them coast back down, with speeds rumored to reach
100 miles per hour! The reason that it was called a switch back railroad, a switch back track was
located at the top – where the steam engine would let the riders coast back down. This type of
track featured a dead end where the steam engine would detach its cars, allowing riders to
coast down backwards. The railway went through a couple of minor track changes and name
changes over the years, but managed to last from 1829 to 1937, over 100 years.
1-4. A diagram that explains the mechanism and working principles of roller coaster.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Traditional lifting mechanism
5-10. Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
The first roller coaster was perhaps originated from Russia which is wrapped up
by 5 __________, which was introduced into France, and it was modified to 6 __________,
because temperature there would 7 __________ the ice. This time 8 __________ were installed
on the board.
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In America, the first roller coaster was said to appear in Pennsylvania, it was actually a railroad
which was designed to send 9 __________ between two mountains. Josiah White turned it into
a thrill ride, it was also called switch back track and a 10 __________ there allowed riders to
slide downward back again.
http://mini-ielts.com/1186/reading/roller-coaster
Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Labeling a diagram] Read the passage. Use the information in the
passage to label the space station. Use the phrases in the box.
The Skylab space station

A The USA sent its Skylab space station into orbit in 1973 from the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. It wasn’t the world’s first space station – that had been Salyut 1, which was launched by
the Soviet Union on 1 April 1971. However, Salyut travelled alone and empty, controlled
remotely back on the Earth. No space station had been manned until Skylab, with its crew of
three astronauts. Skylab too launched without its crew, who were transported to the space
station once it was in orbit in the Apollo Command / Service Module. The crew members spent
up to 84 days aboard Skylab. A limiting factor was pure logistics in terms of how many supplies
it was feasible for the crew to bring with them, given the restricted space available while in
transit on the Apollo Command / Service Module.
B Key objectives of the Skylab mission included the study of space and an investigation into
how people could live and work there for extended periods. Additionally, the astronauts were
to examine the Earth’s surface (both land and oceans). However, the primary goal of the
mission was solar research. In fact, solar science was significantly advanced by the powerful
telescope on board, and the telescope’s observation of the sun was unprecedented. The
astronauts had an intense programme of experiments to carry out, and the data from these
was scrutinised following Skylab’s return to Earth.
C The life cycle of Skylab began after a period of massive expenditure on space rockets, moon
capsules and service modules, many of which were still in serviceable condition on return to
Earth, and so the decision was taken to reuse leftover components from these to forge the
space station. Many of these were from the Apollo moon missions. For example, the Orbital
Workshop (the thickest end of the space station) was made from two tanks that had been used
for storing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen; the former was reconfigured to become a living
and working facility, and the latter was used for storing waste products that had accumulated
on the mission – unlike in other spacecraft, these were not recycled or dumped into space.
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D At the opposite extremity of the space station was the Service Module, whose conical point
would dock with the rest of the space station. In actual fact, Skylab was so designed to allow for
more than one module to dock simultaneously; this was the contingency plan in the event of
any major mishap that meant that the astronauts needed rescuing.
E Skylab itself was essentially cylindrical in form, except for the Apollo Telescope Mount, which
stuck out at a right angle from the main body of Skylab. This allowed for observation of the
Earth and stars without atmospheric interference. This was instrumental in the collection of
many thousands of photographs that were taken and subsequently analysed.
F Radiating out from a central point were the solar array panels, arranged in a cross-like
formation and looking almost like a windmill. These were designed in order to achieve optimum
alignment.
G The Airlock Module, with a length of 5.4 metres and a width of 2.1 metres, was used by the
astronauts to exit the space station and perform spacewalks. It allowed the astronauts to
access the exterior and perform any necessary maintenance. This was the cylindrical section
with the smallest radius, dwarfed by the bulk of the substantially wider body of the Orbital
Workshop and its attachments.
Airlock Module Apollo Telescope Mount Command Module

Orbital Workshop Service Module Solar Array Panels
187
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Labeling a diagram- Summary completion]
Astronaut ice cream, anyone?
Breeze-drying is a technique that can help to provide food for astronauts. But it also has other
applications nearer home.
Freeze-drying is like suspended animation for food: you can store a freeze-dried meal for years,
and then, when you’re finally ready to eat it, you can completely revitalise it with a little hot
water. Even after several years, the original foodstuff will be virtually unchanged.
The technique basically involves completely removing the water from some material, such as
food while leaving the rest of the material virtually intact. The main reason for doing this is
either to preserve the food or to reduce its weight. Removing the water from food keeps it
from spoiling, because the microorganisms such as bacteria that cause spoiling cannot survive
without it. Similarly, the enzymes which occur naturally in food cannot cause ripening without
water, so removing water from food will also stop the ripening process.
Freeze-drying significantly reduces the total weight of the food because most food is largely
made up of water; for example, many fruits are more than 80.00% water. Removing this makes
the food much lighter and therefore makes transportation less difficult. The military and
camping-supply companies freeze-dry foods to make them easier for an individual to carry and
NASA has also freeze-dried foods for the cramped quarters on board spacecraft.
The process is also used to preserve other sorts of material, such as pharmaceuticals. Chemists
can greatly extend pharmaceutical shelf life by freeze-drying the material and storing it in a
container free of oxygen and water. Similarly, research scientists may use freeze-drying to
preserve biological samples for long periods of time. Even valuable manuscripts that had been
water damaged have been saved by using this process.
Freeze-drying is different from simple drying because it is able to remove almost all the water
from materials, whereas simple drying techniques can only remove 90-95%. This means that
the damage caused by bacteria and enzymes can virtually be stopped rather than just slowed
down. In addition, the composition and structure of the material is not significantly changed, so
materials can be revitalised without compromising the quality of the original.
This is possible because in freeze-drying, solid water - ice - is converted directly into water
vapour, missing out the liquid phase entirely. This is called ‘sublimation’, the shift from a solid
directly into a gas. Just like evaporation, sublimation occurs when a molecule gains enough
188
energy to break free from the molecules around it. Water will sublime from a solid (ice) to a gas
(vapour) when the molecules have enough energy to break free but the conditions aren't right
for a liquid to form. These conditions are determined by heat and atmospheric pressure. When
the temperature is above freezing point, so that ice can thaw, but the atmospheric pressure is
too low for a liquid to form (below 0.06 atmospheres (ATM)) then it becomes a gas.
This is the principle on which a freeze-drying machine is based. The material to be preserved is
placed in a freeze-drying chamber which is connected to a freezing coil and refrigerator
compressor. When the chamber is sealed the compressor lowers the temperature inside it. The
material is frozen solid, which separates the water from everything around it on a molecular
level, even though the water is still present. Next, a vacuum pump forces air out of the
chamber, lowering the atmospheric pressure below to 0.06 ATM. The heating units apply a
small amount of heat to the shelves in the chamber, causing the ice to change phase. Since the
pressure in the chamber is so low, the ice turns directly into water vapour, which leaves the
freeze-drying chamber, and flows past the freezing coil. The water vapour condenses onto the
freezing coil in the form of solid ice, in the same way that water condenses as frost on a cold
day.
The process continues for many hours (even days) while the material gradually dries out. This
time is necessary to avoid overheating, which might affect the structure of the material. Once it
has dried sufficiently, it is sealed in a moisture-free package. As long as the package is secure,
the material can sit on a shelf for years and years without degrading, until it is restored to its
original form with a little hot water. If everything works correctly, the material will go through
the entire process almost completely unscathed.
In fact, freeze-drying, as a general concept, is not new but has been around for centuries. The
ancient Incas of Peru used mountain peaks along the Andes as natural food preservers. The
extremely cold temperatures and low pressure at those high altitudes prevented food from
spoiling in the same basic way as a modern freeze-drying machine and a freezer.
Questions 6-9
Label the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
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A simplified freeze-drying machine
Questions 10-13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
Freeze-drying prevents food from going bad by stopping the activity of microorganisms
or 10_____________. Its advantages are that the food tastes and feels the same as the original
because both the 11_____________ and structure are preserved. The process is carried out
slowly in order to ensure that 12_____________ does not take place. The people of one ancient
mountain civilisation were able to use this method of food preservation because the conditions
needed were present at 13_____________.
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 23 Topic: Science and technology WID: IELTS6.0_23_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
- write a "two questions in one" essay - increase your
Skills
chances of a high score in Grammatical Range and
...... pts/10
Accuracy (GRA) - Write complex sentences with
despite/ although concession clauses and participle
clauses
Exercise 1. [Complex sentences with despite/ although] Read the information. Then combine
the sentences. Use the words in brackets. Remember, some of these sentences require
punctuation to be marked as correct. The first one has been done for you.
1. We were exhausted from our trip / we continued working on the presentation. (although)
Although we were exhausted from our trip, we continued working on the presentation.
2. He still enjoys working on the new research project / the long hours and complicated work.
(despite)
He still enjoys ________________________________________________________________.
3. He has studied nanotechnology for several years / he still feels he has huge gaps in his
knowledge. (although)
____________________________________________________________in his knowledge.
4. They informed us that all the tests had been carried out / scientists were still working on
them when we arrived. (although)
_________________________________________________________________ on them when
we arrived.
5. She has impressive scientific qualifications / she hasn’t been able to find a job in space
technology. (despite)
_________________________________________________________________ a job in space
technology.
6. We had been very careful in all our clinical research / we couldn’t conclusively prove that
excessive use of chewing gum has a negative effect on digestion. (although)
_________________________________________________________________ that excessive
use of chewing gum has a negative effect on digestion.
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Exercise 2. [Participle clauses] Put the words in the correct order to make sentences with
participle clauses. The first one has been done for you.
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Exercise 3. [Concession clauses]
Exercise 4. [Participle clauses]
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Exercise 5. [IELTS Writing: Two-part questions]
A. Look at the task 2 question and decide which of the statements 1-5 are true.
______________________________________________________________________________
B. Here are some other ways to help children understand finance. Apart from 1, what are the
two best ideas? Explain why.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
C. Write an introduction for the essay task above, using these notes. Add your own words.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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D. Label the paragraph with these words. Draw arrows to the correct part of the text.
E. Choose the best alternative a or b to develop the next paragraph.
F. Now write your own paragraph about parents teaching their children about money. Use
these phrases to help you.
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 6. [IELTS Writing: Two-part questions] Read the topics and write an essay for each
topic.
Topic 1: Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of
technology.
In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships that people make? Has this
been a positive or negative development?
Planning
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Writing
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Topic 2: News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers.
What factors do you think influence these decisions? Have we become used to bad news?
Wouldn’t it be better if more good news was reported?
Planning
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Writing
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Topic 3: In recent years, the family structure has changed, as well as family roles. What are the
changes which have occurred? Do you think these changes are positive or negative?
Planning
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Writing
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Topic 4: Some parents buy their children whatever they ask for, and allow their children to do
whatever they want. Is this a good way to raise children? What consequences could this style of
parenting have for children as they get older?
Planning
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Writing
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
200
Full name:.................................
Lesson 24 Topic: Science and technology WID: IELTS6.0_24_LS

QR code:
Listening:- Complete multiple-choice questions with
multiple answer and with single answers - Answer
...... pts/10
flow-chart completion tasks - Use less common
Skills phrases to explain cause and effect
Speaking: - improve your score for Grammatical Range

and Accuracy (GRA)- Correctly use verb patterns in
...... pts/10
your answers - Develop strategies for buying time to
answer more difficult questions
Exercise 1. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions] Listen and choose the correct letter, A,
B or C.
1. What research finding surprised the speaker?
A The majority of phone owners fail to use simple security measures.
B A large number of lost phones end up in the hands of criminals.
C Most people who find lost phones look at the data on them.
2. With regard to shopping apps, the speaker suggests that her listeners
A remove all sensitive information from them.
B log out of them when they're not in use.
C choose those which are most secure.
3. The device known as a 'scream' is most useful when
A a phone has been left in a public place.
B a phone has been temporarily mislaid.
C a phone has been stolen.
4 What does the speaker think of the 'complete data-wipe feature' offered by some apps?
A It may not offer value for money.
B It shouldn't really be necessary.
C It's useful as a last resort.
5 What problem with passcodes does the speaker regard as most serious?
201
A They make it harder to recover missing phones.

B People find it difficult to remember them.
C They can also be lost or stolen.
6 What service does the 'global lost-and-found' service offer?
A It arranges the return of lost phones to their original owners.
B It provides financial rewards for people returning lost phones.
C It enables people who find lost phones to get in touch with owners.
Exercise 2. [IELTS Reading: Multiple choice questions] Listen and choose the correct letter, A,
B or C.
1. The original aim of Fiona and Jack's research was to find out
A whether the migration patters of robins changed over time.
B how robins knew which direction to fly in at different times of year.
C if the findings of previous studies of robin migration were accurate.
2. They agree that the most surprising aspect of the birds' behaviour was
A how much it changed. B how quickly it changed. C how regularly it changed.
3. Fiona's first theory was that the birds had been affected by
A something they had eaten.
B something they had heard.
C something they had breathed in.
4. How did Fiona react initially to Jack's suggestion about radio waves?
A She realised that the birds must be sensitive to them.
B She thought it was an unlikely explanation.
C She refused to take it seriously.
5. How did Jack feel immediately after the experiment with the Faraday Cage?
A relieved to be able to get back to his normal task
B sure that they had uncovered something significant
C doubtful whether they had drawn the correct conclusion
202
6. What implications have Jack and Fiona drawn from their further research?
A Other forms of communication could have the same effect.
B It is only a matter of time before all birds are at risk.
C Birds in cities are more likely to be affected.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions] Read the information. Then listen to a
conversation between Amie and her tutor. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
1. What deadline was agreed?
A less than eight weeks B exactly eight weeks C more than eight weeks
2. What time period does Amie refer to when she says ‘anything less could be an issue’?
A less than eight weeks B less than nine weeks C less than ten weeks
3. What does the distractor ‘nine, to be exact’ refer to?
A the original project deadline
B the requested project deadline
C the time when Amie and the tutor will next meet
4. In the context of the conversation, ‘stick to’ means
A to change. B not to change. C to put somewhere.
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion] Read the information. Then listen to a
conversation between two students. Complete the flow-chart. Write ONE WORD ONLY for
each answer.
Arrange an initial 1_____________ with tutor
Identify key elements involved in the 2_____________
Organize a rough 3_____________ of work
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Assess risks and create an 4_____________
Put together a contingency plan
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion] Listen and complete the flow chart. Write
NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Example of patient route
Arrives at clinic with an 6_____________.
Physiotherapist evaluates 7_____________ to ankle.
Treatment is given, and an 8_____________ is prepared.
Return trips are made to check joint 9_____________.
A 10_____________ supervises activity in the gym.
Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions with multiple answers] Choose TWO
letters, A-E.
Questions 7-8: Which TWO colours were most popular among visitors?
A. blue B. deep pink C lime green
D purple E red
Questions 9-10: Which TWO reasons did the children give for selecting their favourite colour?
A. They like wearing it.
204
B. They notice it more than other colours.
C. It makes them feel relaxed.
D. It has a connection with a sport.
E. Someone they admire wears it.
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice- Flow chart completion]
(A) Listen to the first part of a conversation between Damien and his tutor. Choose the correct
letter, A, B or C.
1 Why has Damien chosen his topic?
A He has always been interested in blogging.
B He thinks it is compatible with his other studies.
C He wants to become interested in blogging.
2 According to Damien, how has blogging changed society?
A It has created more business opportunities.
B It has encouraged discussion of controversial topics.
C It has made society more transparent.
3 According to Damien, what is the danger of blogging?
A It can become an obsession. B It can cause offence. C It can spread lies.
4 According to the tutor, what is the future of blogging?
A It will become the main method of communication.
B It will be replaced by newer technology.
C It will gradually die out.
5 What does Damien think his biggest challenge will be?
A blogging every day B limiting himself to the facts C sounding interesting
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(2) Listen to the rest of the conversation between Damien and his tutor. Complete the flow-
chart. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Read blog 1_____________ and instructions
Think about framework for design concepts and 2_____________
Create a 3_____________
Write and post the blog
Obtain student and tutor 4_____________
Improve the 5_____________ for the next blog
Questions 1-6: Listen and choose the correct answer.
Rocky Bay field trip
1. What do the students agree should be included in their aims?
A factors affecting where organisms live
B the need to preserve endangered species
C techniques for classifying different organisms
2. What equipment did they forget to take on the Field Trip?
A string B a compass C a ruler
3. In Helen’s procedure section, Colin suggests a change in
A the order in which information is given.
206
B the way the information is divided up.
C the amount of information provided.
4. What do they say about the method they used to measure wave speed?
A It provided accurate results.
B It was simple to carry out.
C It required special equipment.
5. What mistake did Helen make when first drawing the map?
A She chose the wrong scale.
B She stood in the wrong place.
C She did it at the wrong time.
6. What do they decide to do next with their map?
A scan it onto a computer
B check it using photographs
C add information from the internet
Which TWO problems affecting organisms in the splash zone are mentioned?
A lack of water B strong winds C lack of food
D high temperatures E large waves
Which TWO reasons for possible error will they include in their report?
A inaccurate records of the habitat of organisms
B influence on behaviour of organisms by observer
C incorrect identification of some organisms
D making generalisations from a small sample
E missing some organisms when counting
207
Exercise 9. [IELTS Speaking: Buying time] Read the examiner’s questions and the student’s
responses. Put the words in the correct order to complete the phrases that the student uses
to give herself more time to think.
1. Examiner: What would you say has been the most significant technological development of
the last five years?
Student: (To/ question/ really difficult/ a/ answer/ that’s).
______________________________________________________________________
I guess virtual reality deserves a mention. Not only is it used for entertainment purposes, like in
video games, but it can also be used to train, say, doctors or pilots in a safe environment and
allow them to improve and develop their skills without risking people’s lives.
2. Examiner: Do you think virtual reality will be the next big thing?
Student: (I’m/ sorry/ I/ follow/ question/ quite/ but/ don’t/ your).
______________________________________________________________________
Are you asking if I think VR will become more popular?
3. Examiner: Does technology dominate our daily lives?
Student: (You/ mean/ that,/ do/ by) ___________________________________, are we too
dependent on technology?
4. Examiner: Should children be more computer-literate?
Student: (Entirely/ not/ sure/ I’m/ what/ asking/ you’re).
______________________________________________________________________
If you’re asking if schoolchildren should learn to use the internet or something like Word or
Excel, then I would say not necessarily. However, I do think that it could be an optional subject
in secondary school.
5. Examiner: Do you think technology brings people together?
Student: (Is/ there/ clear-cut/ to/ answer/ think/ I/ that/ don’t/ a).
______________________________________________________________________
I would say that it depends entirely on how it is used. It certainly makes it easier to
communicate with people over long distances, for example by using Skype or social networking
apps. I suppose the counter-argument is that some people use it so much that this means they
spend less time meeting face-to-face.
208
Exercise 10. [Verb patterns] Read the information. Then look at the verbs in the box. What
patterns do the verbs follow? Complete the table with the verbs.
let warn encourage permit

imagine persuade agree resist
watch refuse make enable
finish can’t stand manage deserve suggest
verb + to-infinitive verb + object + to-infinitive
verb + object + infinitive without to verb + -ing
Exercise 11. [IELTS Speaking: Improve Grammatical Range and Accuracy – Verb patterns] Read
the IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions and responses. Find and correct the 11 verb pattern
mistakes.
Speaker 1: Do you have a smartphone, and if so, what do you use it for?
Speaker 2: Of course, and I can’t really imagine to live without it. I would be useless
without it. It enables me speak to friends, go online, watch TV. It reminds me when I
1.
have to be somewhere or do something and tells me how to get there. The funny thing is
that for a long time, I resisted buy one. In the end, it was my brother who persuaded me
getting one, and now I am completely addicted.
Speaker 1: Is it possible for people to become addicted to technology?

2.
Speaker 2: Absolutely! I know a lot of people who check their phones constantly for
209
updates or messages. They can’t stop to do it because they are worried they might miss
something important. My sister is the worst. I have asked her not to look at her phones
all the time, but she refuses listening to me. And she gets anxious if she forgets her
phone or if it runs out of battery.
Speaker 1: Should we spend less time on our gadgets?
Speaker 2: Definitely! Personally, I try avoiding to use my smartphone in the evenings

when I get home because, quite honestly, I could spend hours just to check messages or
3.
looking at things online. And one of my friends actually says she regrets buy her
smartphone and is considering to downgrade her smartphone to a much simpler mobile
phone. She much preferred it when things were simpler and there was less choice.
Exercise 12. [IELTS Speaking Practice] Read the cue cards and plan for the answer.
Topic 1: Describe a gift that you recently gave to others.
You should say:
• When it happened
• Who you gave it to
• What gift you gave to the person
• And explain why you gave this gift to others
Topic 2: Describe something that you would like to own.
You should say:
• what it is
• where you have seen it
• what you would use it for
• and explain why you would like to own this object
Topic 3: Describe a special toy you had in your childhood.
ou should say:
• what it was
• who gave it to you
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• how often you played with it

• and explain why it was special for you
Topic 4: Describe an item of clothing that was bought for you.
You should say:
• who bought it
• what it looked like
• why it was bought for you
• how you felt about this item of clothing
Topic 5: Describe a piece of equipment in your home.
You should say:
• what it is;
• how often you use it;
• who you usually use it with;
• and explain why this item is important to you.
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IELTS 6.0- Unit 7: Television, News and current affairs
Full name:.................................
Lesson 25 Topic: Television, News and current affairs WID: IELTS6.0_25_R

QR code:
IELTS Reading: - understand how the passive is formed
Skills and used in English - locate and match information to a
...... pts/10
paragraph - answer short-answer questions - match
sentence endings
Exercise 1. [Passive voice and the use of passive voice in English] Rewrite the sentences in the
passive.
1. The broadcasting corporation produces many historical dramas.
______________________________________________________________________________
2. That presenter has read the news for ten years.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. The prime minister will make an important announcement on Wednesday.
______________________________________________________________________________
4. The newspaper’s chief editor wrote the lead article.
______________________________________________________________________________
5. The news channel is producing a documentary about homelessness.
______________________________________________________________________________
6. The education minister will have closed all schools with fewer than 50 pupils by the end of
the year.
______________________________________________________________________________
7. They were making a film about the cultural scene in Bradford when we visited the studio.
______________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2. [Passive voice and the use of passive voice in English] Put the words in the correct
order to complete the sentences.
1. That next year/ reduced by 50%/ it has been said/ documentaries produced/ will be/ the
number of/.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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2. It is/ was being watched/ reality TV/ believed that/ of young adults in the nineties/ by huge
numbers/.
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. The production of/ that by 2025/ for financial reasons/ it is/ all historical TV dramas/ will
have been stopped/ widely accepted/.
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. That the sports programme/ is currently/ being watched by/ it is estimated/ over 10 million
viewers.
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. By 10 million people/ the gardening programme on the radio/ is listened to/ aged over 50
every week/.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3. [Passive voice and the use of passive voice in English] Read the magazine article
about a television documentary. Complete the sentences with the verbs in the box.
have been added is being broadcast is broadcast

was being produced was opened were filmed
were relocated will be shown will have been watched
The aim of our new documentary is to bring to life the culture and industries of central England
in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Our documentary is based on an open-air
museum located in central England on 26 acres of former industrial land. It (1)_____________
to the public in 1978, and since then over 50 shops, houses and other industrial buildings from
nearby towns (2)_____________. Most buildings (3)_____________ from their original sites to
form a village in which actors portray life from over 300 years of history, but with a focus on the
period 1850-1950. Many different aspects of museum life (4)____________ during the ten-
month period in which the documentary (5)____________. In one scene, viewers
(6)_____________ what it was like to be a pupil in a Victorian reading lesson at the village
school, and in another scene the life of a miner underground will be depicted. The first episode
(7)____________ this week and ratings are expected to be extremely high. It is estimated that
by the time the final episode (8)_____________ , the series (9)_____________ by over 50
million viewers.
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Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading: Locate information- Match information to a paragraph] Read the
information. Then read the first part of the article again. Which paragraphs of the article
contain the following information? Choose the correct letter, A–E, for each answer.
The drawbacks of social media
A Anyone who regularly uses social media will be familiar with that rather irritating sensation of
seeing that all their friends seem to be having far more fun than they are. This could be
particularly noticeable if you are sitting at home feeling bored while everyone else, it seems, is
out partying or enjoying a glamorous holiday. Not fair, is it?
B In fact, this might be just one aspect of a widespread and more ominous social phenomenon.
Could social media actually make people depressed? A study commissioned by the National
Institute for Mental Health has identified ‘a strong and significant association between social
media use and depression’ in a sample of young adults in the USA. This established that the
amount of time spent on social media sites, as well as the number of visits to the sites,
correlated closely with depression.
C Of course, the picture may well be more complex than this. Joanne Davila of Stony Brook
University has studied interpersonal relationships between both adolescents and adults. She
acknowledges the powerful influence that social networks can have on their users, but says it
may just be the case that ‘people who are depressed use more social media sites’. In other
words, it may be simplistic to conclude that one thing necessarily leads to the other.
D As we all know, social media allows people to establish, re-establish and maintain social
contacts very easily, with a minimum amount of time spent and at essentially no cost.
Relationships can be kept alive with people who live on the other side of the globe, or with
those who we rarely, if ever, see. On the other hand, social media can encourage feelings of
isolation and, at times, inadequacy.
E Naturally, everyone needs to sense that they are liked and approved of. Social media comes
into its own here, with ‘likes’ being the currency of many social media platforms. Many people
aim for as many as possible in order to enhance their self-esteem, but this of course is only a
short-term boost to morale.
The reading passage has 5 paragraphs, A-E. Which paragraph contains the following
information?
1. feelings of jealousy experienced by social media users
2. pros and cons of social media sites
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3. the difficulty of distinguishing between cause and effect
4. how social media sites enable people to feel better
5. a proven link between social media use and a psychological problem
Exercise 5. [IELTS Reading: Match sentence endings] Read the next part of the article. Match
the sentence halves.
It is widely known that a weakness (as well as a strength) of the internet is that it essentially
allows anyone to publish anything. If, like a substantial majority of people, you get your news
from social media, then the chances are that you are exposed to a daily dose of conspiracy
theories and misleading news. And when it’s all mixed in with reliable information from
respectable and reputable media sources, few of us can really tell which is which with any
certainty.
In fact, researchers at Columbia University, using their ‘emergent rumour tracker’, found that
misinformation is equally as likely as genuine news to go viral. The phenomenon is by no means
new. After coming under scrutiny, many internet giants began to review their policies with
regard to the publication and subsequent removal of fake news. Facebook added a box at the
top of its newsfeed to inform users how to deal with dubious stories that look as if they might
not be true; if concerned, users can click on it and are taken to Facebook’s help centre where
they are told about various features frequently found in fake news items, such as misspellings
and nonstandard onscreen formatting.
In order to confirm the ease with which fake stories can be not just spread online, but also used
to generate income, Filippo Menczer deliberately created a website that would computer-
generate gossip about celebrities. This had no factual basis whatsoever, as a disclaimer at the
bottom of the page pointed out. The articles also contained advertisements. Sure enough, at
the end of the month, Menczer received a cheque in the post, courtesy of the adverts hosted
by his page. This was undeniable proof that polluting the internet with lies could actually make
a tidy profit, which was the conclusion Menczer expected to reach.
Nowadays, this is well understood, and we have a whole new industry: fake news and digital
misinformation. A lot of the work is done by bots – fake accounts created to look like real
people, whose only aim is to generate advertising money. Yet, the mainstream IT industry is
fighting back. Computer scientists at Indiana University have devised a program to identify
whether the source of online content is a bot or a genuine human being.
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Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) with sentence endings (a-e).
a. establish that false stories are

shared online just as much as true
1. Most people find it difficult to ___ stories
2. Academics at Columbia University were able to ___ b. identify common characteristics of

untrue new stories
3. Facebook is trying to enable people to ___
4. Filippo Menczer created fake stories in order to ___ c. know if a news story is true
d. study the results
5. Staff in Indiana University found a way to ___
e. tell if an online text has been written
by a real person or not
Exercise 6. [IELTS Reading: Matching information to a paragraph] The article has five
paragraphs, A–E. Read the article. Which paragraphs contain the following information?
Choose the correct letter, A–E, for each answer.
A Social media has come in for some tough criticism over the years, with a number of
commentators believing that it prevents people from being able to successfully communicate
face-to-face. There are those that argue that we are raising a generation who are unable to
take things seriously and who through playing violent video games have become desensitized
to cruelty and lack sympathy for anyone besides themselves. However, are social
commentators and parents right to be alarmed by this trend? In the 1930s, there was panic that
young people were becoming addicted to the radio, and in the 1980s, the advent of personal
stereos meant there were those that panicked about the youth becoming increasingly isolated
by wearing headphones all the time. Perhaps, therefore, we should remain suspicious of claims
that social media and the wide use of technology is going to lead to a society where people lack
the literacy skills of the past and cannot communicate and socialise effectively.
B Firstly, it is perhaps wrong to assume that socialising on the internet replaces real-life
interaction. A number of studies have shown that people of all ages who are more active on
social media tend to lead the most fulfilling off-screen social lives, too. Other studies have also
shown that social media can be beneficial to younger teens who use it effectively to
communicate with their friends and classmates. This can enable them, for example, to get
better at using humour effectively with their peers. As children of this age don’t have the
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opportunities to meet up with their friends, social media can be an effective way for them to
stay in touch with their friends outside of class, strengthening these relationships. The study
also illustrated that children in this age group tended to use social media less as they became
older and were able to meet up with their friends in real life.
C Nevertheless, there are a number of other concerns that the rise of social media has led to. In
the past, we didn’t have the issues of a person’s right to personal privacy that have arisen due
to the increased importance of this phenomenon nowadays. However, a lot of the social media
sites that younger people use often delete photos and messages quickly, and many young
people have conversations and then delete their images and stories leaving no trace of what
they have written on the internet. This is not to say, though, that younger people are always
careful, but perhaps at this age it is important to remember that they are learning about the
conventions of society, both online and offline. It might be that we worry more about what
happens online as we don’t understand it as well as they do, and it also doesn’t help that the
media is often full of scare stories, such as those about cyberbullying. However, although there
have been some terrible stories about this, these incidents thankfully don’t seem to be as
widespread as we may be led to believe.
D We can perhaps say, therefore, that young people are still able to communicate effectively,
as they are always communicating online. People can now communicate at speed and respond
to their friends instantly. However, educators have become increasingly concerned that the use
of shorthand and grammatically incorrect sentences has led to young people becoming less
literate. Coupled with this, they are reading less because of the time that they are spending
using gadgets and devices. However, studies by educators and linguists have shown that
youngsters are aware of the importance of formality and know where and when to use formal
language, and that they are not making any more errors than people of the same age 20–30
years ago. Young people between the ages of 13 and 16 also seem to be more industrious than
a generation ago, with studies showing that students are now able to write essays that are on
average six times longer and offer more complex arguments. Computers have opened up
students’ abilities to gather more information and explore different points of view and
therefore write more confidently.
E In fact, the online world gives kids a lot of opportunities to be more creative, as well as to
make more friends. For example, when Jenny Johnson, a 14-year-old from the UK, became
obsessed with the TV programme Teen Wolf, she decided to start her own blog about it, which
has been a huge success, attracting many regular visitors, and has helped her make friends with
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other school pupils all over the world. Perhaps we should therefore be encouraging children to
use the technology they have in the best way possible, rather than telling them to put their
gadgets down.
The reading passage has 5 paragraphs, A-E. Which paragraph contains the following
information?
1. evidence of improved academic skills
2. an example of someone gaining a large online following
3. an important contemporary principle that wasn’t a priority before
4. ways in which social media can enable people to develop social skills
5. examples of how teenagers can be responsible users of social media
6. comparisons of social media use with other activities that became very popular in the past
Exercise 7. [IELTS Reading: Match information to a paragraph] Read the passage and answer
the questions.
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219
Exercise 8. [IELTS Reading: Match information- Short answer questions] Read the passage and
The Columbian Exchange
A Millions of years ago, continental drift carried the Old World and New World apart, splitting
North and South America from Eurasia and Africa. That separation lasted so long that it
fostered divergent evolution; for instance, the development of rattlesnakes on one side of the
Atlantic and of vipers on the other. After 1492, human voyagers in part reversed this tendency.
Their artificial re-establishment of connections through the commingling of Old and New World
plants, animals, and bacteria, commonly known as the Columbian Exchange, is one of the more
spectacular and significant ecological events of the past millennium.
B When Europeans first touched the shores of the Americas, Old World crops such as wheat,
barley, rice, and turnips had not travelled west across the Atlantic, and New World crops such
as maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and manioc had not travelled east to Europe. In the
Americas, there were no horses, cattle, sheep, or goats, all animals of Old World origin. Except
for the llama, alpaca, dog, a few fowl, and guinea pig, the New World had no equivalents to the
domesticated animals associated with the Old World, nor did it have the pathogens associated
with the Old World’s dense populations of humans and such associated creatures as chickens,
cattle, black rats, and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Among these germs were those that carried
smallpox, measles, chickenpox, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever.
C As might be expected, the Europeans who settled on the east coast of the United States
cultivated crops like wheat and apples, which they had brought with them. European weeds,
which the colonists did not cultivate, and, in fact, preferred to uproot, also fared well in the
New World. John Josselyn, an Englishman and amateur naturalist who visited New England
twice in the seventeenth century, left us a list, “Of Such Plants as Have Sprung Up since the
English Planted and Kept Cattle in New England,” which included couch grass, dandelion,
shepherd’s purse, groundsel, sow thistle, and chickweed.
One of these, a plantain (Plantago major), was named “Englishman’s Foot” by the Amerindians
of New England and Virginia who believed that it would grow only where the English “have
trodden, and was never known before the English came into this country”. Thus, as they
intentionally sowed Old World crop seeds, the European settlers were unintentionally
contaminating American fields with weed seeds. More importantly, they were stripping and
burning forests, exposing the native minor flora to direct sunlight, and the hooves and teeth of
Old World livestock. The native flora could not tolerate the stress. The imported weeds could,
because they had lived with large numbers of grazing animals for thousands of years.
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D Cattle and horses were brought ashore in the early 1600s and found hospitable climate and
terrain in North America. Horses arrived in Virginia as early as 1620 and in Massachusetts in
1629. Many wandered free with little more evidence of their connection to humanity than
collars with a hook at the bottom to catch on fences as they tried to leap over them to get at
crops. Fences were not for keeping livestock in, but for keeping livestock out.
E Native American resistance to the Europeans was ineffective. Indigenous peoples suffered
from white brutality, alcoholism, the killing and driving off of game, and the expropriation of
farmland, but all these together are insufficient to explain the degree of their defeat. The
crucial factor was not people, plants, or animals, but germs. Smallpox was the worst and the
most spectacular of the infectious diseases mowing down the Native Americans. The first
recorded pandemic of that disease in British North America detonated among the Algonquin of
Massachusetts in the early 1630s. William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation wrote that the
victims “fell down so generally of this disease as they were in the end not able to help one
another, no, not to make a fire nor fetch a little water to drink, nor any to bury the dead”. The
missionaries and the traders who ventured into the American interior told the same appalling
story about smallpox and the indigenes. In 1738 alone, the epidemic destroyed half the
Cherokee; in 1759 nearly half the Catawbas; in the first years of the next century, two thirds of
the Omahas and perhaps half the entire population between the Missouri River and New
Mexico; in 1837-38 nearly every last one of the Mandans and perhaps half the people of the
high plains.
F The export of America’s native animals has not revolutionised Old World agriculture or
ecosystems as the introduction of European animals to the New World did. America’s grey
squirrels and muskrats and a few others have established themselves east of the Atlantic and
west of the Pacific, but that has not made much of a difference. Some of America’s
domesticated animals are raised in the Old World, but turkeys have not displaced chickens and
geese, and guinea pigs have proved useful in laboratories, but have not usurped rabbits in the
butcher shops.
G The New World’s great contribution to the Old is in crop plants. Maize, white potatoes, sweet
potatoes, various squashes, chiles, and manioc have become essentials in the diets of hundreds
of millions of Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Their influence on Old World peoples, like that of
wheat and rice on New World peoples, goes far to explain the global population explosion of
the past three centuries. The Columbian Exchange has been an indispensable factor in that
demographic explosion.
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H All this had nothing to do with superiority or inferiority of biosystems in any absolute sense. It
has to do with environmental contrasts. Amerindians were accustomed to living in one
particular kind of environment, Europeans and Africans in another. When the Old World
peoples came to America, they brought with them all their plants, animals, and germs, creating
a kind of environment to which they were already adapted, and so they increased in number.
Amerindians had not adapted to European germs, and so initially their numbers plunged. That
decline has reversed in our time as Amerindian populations have adapted to the Old World’s
environmental influence, but the demographic triumph of the invaders, which was the most
spectacular feature of the Old World’s invasion of the New, still stands.
Questions 1-8: Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs A-H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
1. A description of an imported species that is named after the English colonists
2. The reason why both the New World and Old World experienced population growth
3. The formation of new continents explained
4. The reason why the indigenous population declined
5. An overall description of the species lacked in the Old World and New World
6. A description of some animal species being ineffective in affecting the Old World
7. An overall explanation of the success of the Old World species invasion
8. An account of European animals taking roots in the New World
Questions 9-10: Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
9. Who reported the same story of European diseases among the indigenes from the American
interior? __________
10. What is the still existing feature of the Old World's invasion of the New? ________________
Exercise 9. [IELTS Reading: Short answer questions- Matching information] Read the passage
and answer the questions.
Otters
A Otters are semiaquatic (or in the case of the sea otter, aquatic) mammals. They are members
of the Mustelid family which includes badgers, polecats, martens, weasels, stoats and minks,
and have inhabited the earth for the last 30 million years and over the years have undergone
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subtle changes to the carnivore bodies to exploit the rich aquatic environment. Otters have
long thin body and short legs—ideal for pushing dense undergrowth or hunting in tunnels. An
adult male may be up to 4 feet long and 30 pounds. Females are smaller, around 16 pounds
typically. The Eurasian otter’s nose is about the smallest among the otter species and has a
characteristic shape described as a shallow “W”. An otter’s tail (or rudder, or stern) is stout at
the base and tapers towards the tip where it flattens. This forms part of the propulsion unit
when swimming fast under water. Otter fur consists of two types of hair: stout guard hairs
which form a waterproof outer covering, and under-fur which is dense and fine, equivalent to
an otter’s thermal underwear. The fur must be kept in good condition by grooming. Sea water
reduces the waterproofing and insulating qualities of otter fur when salt water gets in the fur.
This is why freshwater pools are important to otters living on the coast:. After swimming, they
wash the salts off in the pools and then squirm on the ground to rub dry against vegetation.
B Scent is used for hunting on land, for communication and for detecting danger. Otterine
sense of smell is likely to be similar in sensitivity to dogs. Otters have small eyes and are
probably short-sighted on land. But they do have the ability to modify the shape of the lens in
the eye to make it more spherical, and hence overcome the refraction of water. In clear water
and good light, otters can hunt fish by sight. The otter’s eyes and nostrils arc placed high on its
head so that it can see and breathe even when the rest of the body is submerged. The long
whiskers growing around the muzzle are used to detect the presence of fish. They detect
regular vibrations caused by the beat of the fish’s tail as it swims away. This allows otters to
hunt even in very murky water. Underwater, the otter holds its legs against the body, except for
steering, and the hind end of the body is flexed in a series of vertical undulations. River otters
have webbing which extends for much of the length of each digit, though not to the very end.
Giant otters and sea otters have even more prominent webs, while the Asian short-clawed
otter has no webbing—they hunt for shrimps in ditches and paddy fields so they don’t need the
swimming speed. Otter ears are protected by valves which close them against water pressure.
C A number of constraints and preferences limit suitable habitats for otters. Water is a must
and the rivers must be large enough to support a healthy population of fish. Being such shy and
wary crea-tures, they will prefer territories where man’s activities do not impinge greatly. Of
course, there must also be no other otter already in residence—this has only become significant
again recently as populations start to recover. A typical range for a male river otter might be
25km of river, a female’s range less than half this. However, the productivity of the river affects
this hugely and one study found male ranges between 12 and 80km. Coastal otters have a
much more abundant food supply and ranges for males and females may be just a few
kilometers of coastline. Because male ranges are usually larger, a male otter may find his range
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overlaps with two or three females. Otters will eat anything that they can get hold of—there
are records of sparrows and snakes and slugs being gobbled. Apart from fish the most common
prey are crayfish, crabs and water birds. Small mammals are occasionally taken, most
commonly rabbits but sometimes even moles.
D Eurasian otters will breed any time where food is readily available. In places where condition
is more severe, Sweden for example where the lakes are frozen for much of winter, cubs are
bom in Spring. This ensures that they are well grown before severe weather returns. In the
Shetlands, cubs are born in summer when fish is more abundant. Though otters can breed
every year, some do not. Again, this depends on food availability. Other factors such as food
range and quality of the female may have an effect. Gestation for Eurasian otter is 63 days, with
the exception of North American river otter whose embryos may undergo delayed
implantation.
E Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances. Nests are lined with
bedding (reeds, waterside plants, grass) to keep the cubs warm while mummy is away feeding.
Litter Size varies between 1 and 5 (2 or 3 being the most common). For some unknown reason,
coastal otters tend to produce smaller litters. At five weeks they open their eyes—a tiny cub of
700g. At seven weeks they’re weaned onto solid food. At ten weeks they leave the nest,
blinking into daylight for the first time. After three months they finally meet the water and
learn to swim. After eight months they are hunting, though the mother still provides a lot of
food herself. Finally, after nine months she can chase them all away with a clear conscience,
and relax—until the next fella shows up.
F The plight of the British otter was recognised in the early 60s, but it wasn’t until the late 70s
that the chief cause was discovered. Pesticides, such as dieldrin and aldrin, were first used in
'1955 in agriculture and other industries—these chemicals are very persistent and had already
been recognised as the cause of huge declines in the population of peregrine falcons,
sparrowhawks and other predators. The pesticides entered the river systems and the food
chain—micro-organisms, fish and finally otters, with every step increasing the concentration of
the chemicals. From 1962 the chemicals were phased out, but while some species recovered
quickly, otter numbers did not—and continued to fall into the 80s. This was probably due
mainly to habitat destruction and road deaths. Acting on populations fragmented by the
sudden decimation in the 50s and 60s, the loss of just a handful of otters in one area can make
an entire population enviable and spell the end.
G Otter numbers are recovering all around Britain—populations are growing again in the few
areas where they had remained and have expanded from those areas into the rest of the
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country. This is almost entirely due to law and conservation efforts, slowing down and reversing
the destruction of suitable otter habitat and reintroductions from captive breeding programs.
Releasing captive-bred otters is seen by many as a last resort. The argument runs that where
there is no suitable habitat for them they will not survive after release and when 1 there is
suitable habitat;, natural populations should be able to expand into the area. However,
reintroducing animals into a fragmented and fragile population may add just enough impetus
for it to stabilise and expand, rather than die out. This is what the Otter Trust accomplished in
Norfolk, where the otter population may have been as low as twenty animals at the beginning
of the 1980s. The Otter Trust has now finished its captive breeding program entirely. Great
news because it means it is no longer’ needed.
Questions 1-9: Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the
following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. A description of how otters regulate vision underwater.
2. The fit-for-purpose characteristics of otter’s body shape
3. A reference to an underdeveloped sense
4. An explanation of why agriculture failed in otter conservation efforts
5. A description of some of otter’s social characteristics.
6. A description of how baby otters grow.
7. The conflicted opinions on how to preserve
8. A reference to a legislative act
9. An explanation of how otters compensate for heat loss
Questions 10-13: Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
10. What affects the outer fur of otters? __________
11. What skill is not necessary for Asian short-clawed otters? __________
12. Which type of otters has the shortest range? __________
13. Which type of animals do otters hunt occasionally? __________
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Full name:.................................
Lesson 26 Topic: Television, News and current affairs WID: IELTS6.0_26_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
Skills
- describe percentages and fractions- describe a pie chart - ...... pts/10
improve your Grammatical Range and Accuracy - use the
passive voice
Exercise 1. [Passive voice] Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.
1. Generally speaking, most print newspapers __________ read by people over 60 years old.
are is was
2. It can __________ noticed immediately that people over 80 are the biggest readers of
newspapers of all the age groups shown in the chart.
be been to be
3. Overall, the fact that only a small number of offline news readers are teenagers in this
country __________ very noticeable.
are is were
4. The same proportion of paper-based news publications is __________ read by those in their
twenties and thirties and those in their forties and fifties.
be been being
5. A quarter of the print newspaper readership __________ shown to be made up of people in
the 60 to 79 age group.
are being is
Exercise 2. [Passive voice] Rewrite the sentences in the passive. Use the words in brackets.
0. Harold remembered that his parents had taken him there when he was very young.
(having) Harold remembered having been taking there when he was very young.
1. I don’t like people phoming me late at night.
(being) _________________________________________________________________
2. You should complete the form in black ink.
226
(be) _________________________________________________________________
3. We have not tested this product on animals.
(has) _________________________________________________________________
4. Having paid for the tickets, we had no choice but to continue.
(been) _________________________________________________________________
5. Ibrahim regrets the fact that his parents didn’t send him a better school.
(having) _________________________________________________________________
6. You need to wash those sheets.
(washing) _______________________________________________________________
7. It was the first palace that the Egyptians built on the east bank of the Nile.
(to) _________________________________________________________________
8. The judge ought to have sent him to prison for life.
(been) _________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3. [Percentages and fractions] Try this exercise below using the statistics in brackets
to help you. More than one answer is possible.
1. According to the chart, _______________ of imports came from China in 2014. (75%)
2. Toursits accounted for _______________ of total visitors to the Tate gallery in 2016 (80%)
3. Production of TVs ____________ in the period between 2012 and 2014. (dropped by 50%)
4. Mobile calls showed a gradual rise of _______________ from 2000 to 2001. (23%)
5. _____________ the population in Japan is expected to be over 60 years old in 2029. (around
70%)
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Exercise 4. [Percentages and fractions] Below are 2 pie charts with percentages, paraphrase
the sentences using fractions or the language of proportion.
Can you paraphrase these sentences based on the percentages in the chart?
1. 40% of people stated that comfort was a factor in driving to work.
____________________________________________________________________________
2. The proportion of people stating that they cycled to work to reduce pollution stood at 30%.
____________________________________________________________________________
3. 11% of people said that driving to work was safer than cycling.
____________________________________________________________________________
4. 15% of people stated that they cycled to work because they did not have to worry about
parking.
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____________________________________________________________________________
5. 14% of those polled stated that a main factor for driving to work was to transport items.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 5. [Percentages and fractions – Pie chart] Read the information.
The pie chart below shows the readership of print newspapers by five different age groups in a
European country.
A. Choose the correct responses about the pie chart.

1. What does this pie chart show?
A. different newspapers read by age group
B. how many people read newspapers in hundreds
C. newspaper readership by age group
2. Which age group is not represented?
A. children B. the older generation C. working-age people
3. What is most noticeable about the data?
A. Many people don’t have time to read newspapers.
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B. Older people read the press more than other age groups.
C. Young people don’t read newspapers at all.
4. What mustn’t a candidate do in their introduction?
A. copy the question word for word
B. paraphrase the question
C. write a few lines in their own words
5. Which of the following would make the best summary statement?
A. Overall, the general tendency shown by the graph is that the older you are, the more
likely you are to read a traditional newspaper.
B. To summarise, old people generally really love to read newspapers.
C. We can see that younger people are not interested in the news.
B. Then choose the correct words and phrases to complete the sentences about the pie chart.
1. Just (almost/over/under) a sixth of those who prefer to get their news offline are in the 20
to 39 age group.
2. A (fifth/quarter/third) of those who read a newspaper offline are aged between 60 and 79.
3. Less than (half/40%/a third) of the print newspaper readership is aged over 80.
4. With reference to teenage reading habits, it is clear that only (1 in 5/1 in 20/1 in 25) of those
who choose to get their news from traditional print publications is a teenager.
5. In general, well over (a quarter/a third/two-thirds) of traditional newspapers are read by
those in their eighties and above.
6. Those in the 20 to 39 and 40 to 59 age brackets account for the same share of print
newspaper readership and represent just (about/over/under) a third in total.
C. Look at the chart again. Complete the sentences. Use the words in the box.
as far from more so too
1. Compared to the oldest age group shown in the chart, young people under 20 years old are
_______ less likely to read news publications in their traditional paper-based format.
2. The newspaper reading habits of the working-age population (20- to 59-year-olds) as a whole
are not that different _______ those of 60- to 79-year-olds.
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3. The ratio of people reading print newspapers in the 20 to 39 age range is the same _______
in the 40 to 59 age range.
4. The fact that _______ few of those under the age of 20 read paper-based publications is the
most striking feature shown in the pie chart.
5. The pie chart shows that people aged 80 and above make up 40% of print newspaper
readership, which is 15% _______ than those aged between 60 and 79.
6. It is not _______ surprising to note that only 5% of newspaper readership in print format is
made up of the youngest age group shown in the chart.
Exercise 6. [Grammatical Range and Accuracy] Read the IELTS Writing Task 1 question in
Exercise 3 again. Then choose the sentences that would receive higher marks.
A. 25% of people who read print newspapers are between 60 and 79 years old.
1 B. A quarter of people who read mainstream printed news material are aged between
60 and 79 years old.
A. The chart shows print newspaper readership by age group, with age groups ranging
from 14-year-olds to 80-year-olds and over.
2
B. The information in the chart shows the percentage of print newspaper readership
made up by different age groups.
A. Of the total readership, 15% is aged between 20 and 39 and 15% is aged between 40
and 59.
3
B. The same proportion of the readership, about one-seventh, is made up of people
between the ages of 20 and 39 and between 40 and 59.
A. All in all, teenagers make up far less of the readership of printed newspapers than
people in their eighties, many of whom still prefer to consume news in this format.
4
B. In summary, only 5% of the print newspaper readership are youngsters compared to
40% for older people.
A. A striking feature of this chart is the large difference between the proportion of
young readership (5%) and old readership (40%).
5 B. The most noticeable feature of this chart is that only 5% of the print newspaper
readership are teenagers compared to well over a third for the oldest generation
shown.
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A. Also, 25% of print newspaper readership are between 60 and 79 in comparison to

15% for adults in both the 20 to 39 and 40 to 59 age groups, which is interesting.
6 B. This age-based readership trend is further demonstrated by the graphic with one in
four of the print newspaper readership drawn from the 60 to 79 age group whereas
both the 20 to 39 and 40 to 59 age groups drop down to 15%.
Exercise 7. [Grammatical Range and Accuracy] Correct the 10 grammatical errors in the essay.
There are errors with articles (the, a, an), referencing words (it, this, that, etc.), prepositions
(in, on, at, etc.), relative pronouns (who, which, where, etc.) and verb and noun forms.
The chart shows a percentage of people, divided into different groups between 14 and 80 and
over, which read traditional newspapers in a country in Europe.
The most noticeable feature of the chart are the number of people aged 80 and over who still
read printed news publications, comparisons to those in other age groups. In addition, a
quarter of people who read newspapers offline are age between 60 and 79. Interestingly, the
same proportion of paper-based news publications is read by these in their twenties and
thirties and those in their forties and fifities. What is also evidence is that only 5% of newspaper
readership in print format is made on of the youngest age group shown in the chart.
In summary, it can be say that the older generations prefer to get their news from print
publications whilst the under-19s had, for the most part, abandoned traditional newspapers for
other media formats.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Exercise 8. [IELTS Writing: Pie charts] Look at the pie charts below. Summarise the
information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where
relevant. Write at least 150 words.
1. The two pie charts below show the online shopping sales for retail sectors in Canada in 2005
and 2010.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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2. The two graphs show the main sources of energy in the USA in 1980 and 1990.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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3. The pie charts below show the average household expenditures in Japan and Malaysia in the
year 2010.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
235
IELTS 6.0- Unit 7: Television, News and Current affairs
Full name:.................................
Lesson 27 Topic: Television, News and current affairs WID: IELTS6.0_27_LS

QR code:
Listening:
Skills - make use of signposting language in talks- handle ...... pts/10
sentence completion tasks - complete flow-charts
Exercise 1. [Signposting language in talks] Read the information. Then listen and complete the
signposting phrases in the sentences.
1. Hello, my name’s Leanne and this morning we’re _____________ my life as a current affairs
researcher.
2. _____________, so it makes sense to giving you some background information about my

choice of career.
3. Now we’ve taken a look at the background, _____________ to the positives of the role.
4. OK, _____________ I’d like to focus on are the negatives of working in current affairs.
5. Having discussed the negatives, I’d like to _____________ my final point.
Exercise 2. [IELTS Listening: Sentence completion – Summary completion]
1-4. Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER
for each answer.
SCOTTISH BEAVER TRIAL

1. There have been no beavers in the UK since the ______________ century.
2. Because they make ______________ better, beavers are regarded as a 'keynote' species.
3 A total of ______________ families of beavers are now living in Knapdale Forest.
4 What's called a ______________ will tell scientists how the beavers affect the local
environment.
5-10. Complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Eileen is spending a short period at the Scottish Beaver Trial on what is called an 5___________.
She is actually a post-graduate student and her particular area of research is 6_____________,
which is why she finds the beaver project so interesting. On the project, Eileen has the job of
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studying the 7_____________ behaviours of the beavers. Eileen was fortunate enough to see
some beavers when she went out on a 8_____________ on her first evening in Knapdale.
Eileen's particular task is to 9_____________ the dams and other things that the beavers make,
and she has set up what's called a 10_____________ so that she can observe them more
closely.
Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Sentence completion] You will hear a postgraduate psychology
student talking to other students about a job-satisfaction study he has investigated.
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Job satisfaction study
1. Workers involved in the study were employed at a ____________
2. Despite some apparent differences between groups of workers, the survey results were
statistically ____________
3. The speaker analysed the study's ____________ to identify any problems with it.
4. The various sub-groups were ____________ in size.
5. Workers in the part-time group were mainly ____________.
6. The ____________ of workers who agreed to take part in the study was disappointing.
7. Researchers were unable to ____________ the circumstances in which workers filled out the
questionnaire.
8. In future, the overall size of the ____________ should be increased.
9. In future studies, workers should be prevented from having discussions with ___________.
10. Workers should be reassured that their responses to questions are ____________.
237
Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Sentence completion] You will hear a postgraduate psychology
student talking to other students about a job-satisfaction study he has investigated.
Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Saving the juniper plant
Background
1. Juniper was one of the first plants to colonise Britain after the last
2. Its smoke is virtually ____________, so juniper wood was used as fuel in illegal activities.
3. Oils from the plant were used to prevent ____________ spreading.
4. Nowadays, its berries are widely used to ____________ food and drink.
Ecology
5. Juniper plants also support several species of insects and
Problems
6. In current juniper populations, ratios of the ____________ are poor.
7. Many of the bushes in each group are of the same age so ____________ of whole
populations is rapid.
Solutions
8. Plant life is trialing novel techniques across ____________ areas of England.
9. One measure is to introduce ____________ for seedlings.
10. A further step is to plant ____________ from healthy bushes.
238
Exercise 5. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion] Read the information. Then listen and
choose six answers from the list to complete the flow-chart. Write the correct letter, A–I, for
each question.
239
Exercise 6. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion] Listen and choose six answers from the
list to complete the flow-chart. Write the correct letter, A–I, for each question.
240
Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion] You will hear a psychology undergraduate
describing the research she is currently doing on expertise in creative writing.
Complete the flow chart below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Expertise in creative writing
Background - researcher had previously studied 1_____________
Had initial idea for research - inspired by a book (the 2_____________ of a famous novelist).
Posed initial question - why do some people become experts whilst others don't?
Read expertise research in different fields.

Avoided studies conducted in a 3_____________ because too controlled.
Most helpful studies-research into 4_____________ e.g. waiting tables.
Found participants: four true 5_____________ in creative writing (easy to find) and four with
extensive experience.
Using ‘think aloud’ techniques, gathered 6_____________ data from inexperienced writer.
(During session - assistant made 7_____________ recordings).
Gathered similar data from experienced writers.
Compared two data sets and generated a 8_____________ for analysis

(Identified five major stages in writing will be refined later).
Got an expert 9_____________ to evaluate the quality of the different products.
Identified the most effective 10_____________ of stages in producing text.
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Exercise 8. [IELTS Listening: Flow chart completion]
Exercise 9. [Use passive when speaking] Read the information. Then watch the video of two
native English speakers responding to IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions. Choose the correct
impersonal phrases with it to complete the responses.
1. ___________ watching too much TV can contribute towards a sedentary life style and that
this can make people more susceptible to health problems, such as diabetes and obesity.
It has been estimated that It is widely accepted that
2. TV habits are already changing. ___________ more and more people are turning to online TV
and in particular features like catch-up TV, which allow viewers to watch programmes when
they wish.
It could be argued that It has been reported that
3. ___________ marketing companies target young children and teens, who are more
vulnerable to persuasion. I think this needs to change and new laws should be introduced to
prevent this.
It has been proven that It has been reported
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4. I think it is obvious that we spend a lot of time on social media. In

fact, ___________ somewhere that some people spend more than seven hours a day online.
That means that more than half of most people’s day is spent on social media. That’s too much.
it has been reported it is said
5. If I could change one thing, it would be to remove advertising from TV. ___________ the
world would be a much better place without advertising. For a start, my favourite TV shows
would not be interrupted every 15 minutes, something which I find very frustrating at times.
It could be argued that It is claimed that
Exercise 10. [IELTS Speaking: Clarify while speaking] Read the information. Then watch the
video of the native English speakers talking about the types of television programmes that
they watch. Complete the conversation with the phrases that you hear.
Speaker 1: So, moving on to that. So, what type of programmes do you end up watching, then?
Speaker 2: I watched a lot of documentaries, __________________, to learn different things,

_______________, quite a bit of sport, before, and also random stuff – so it will be property
programmes, or, I don’t know, a bit of cooking, get some ideas for what I’m gonna make. Yeah,
I mean, _______________, I kind of watch them. I also don’t really – often, I’ll have other stuff
on the background, or the television will be in the background, and I’ll be doing something else,
so maybe not 100% of my focus on the TV _______________. Yeah, I don’t know whether that
chimes with what you guys do?
Speaker 1: For me, I can’t … I love watching cooking shows, but I get hungry watching cooking
shows. Like, Saturday mornings, it’s always cooking shows, and I think, ‘I’m so hungry!’ But
yeah, I’m a bit boring. I like watching documentaries, David Attenborough, history shows,
_______________.
Speaker 3: I’m definitely the same. I like, kind of, nature programmes, wildlife programmes,
historical documentaries _______________.
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Exercise 11. [IELTS Speaking: Clarify and correct yourself] Choose the most logical phrases to
complete the responses.
1. I think that TV is a very positive thing. _______________. It allows us to know what is going
on in the world and can provide children with a lot of educational information.
A. And stuff like that B. Let me elaborate on that C. What I meant to say was
2. Children should be allowed to watch TV online unsupervised._______________ they should

be allowed to watch it without their parents, as long as there is some security installed to
prevent them going to inappropriate sites.
A. By that I mean B. It is claimed that C. To illustrate what I am saying
3. I don’t like watching TV programmes that are too serious. I prefer watching comedies and
cartoons _______________
A. and stuff like that B. briefly C. but I won’t go into the details here
4. Watching TV online is a much better experience than watching it on a conventional

TV. _______________ it offers us the opportunity to choose what we want to watch and where
we want to watch it.
A. By that I mean B. It tends to differ C. Such as
5. _______________ watching TV is a complete waste of time. I’d much rather spend my time
at home reading a book.
A. As far as I’m concerned, B. It could be argued that C. It’s an interesting question,
6. _______________, but I have never thought about the impact of TV on people’s health
before.
A. It has been reported that B. It’s an interesting question C. So, for example
7. _______________ people spend too much time on social media, but I don’t have a strong
opinion on it. It’s up to them.
A. As far as I’m concerned, B. I tend to believe that C. To put that another way,
8. _______________ printing newspapers is a waste of time, as most people get their news
online and it is a waste of natural resources.
A. It could be argued that B. It has been estimated that C. It’s an interesting question
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Exercise 12. [IELTS Speaking Practice] Practice clarifying and correcting yourself while
speaking. Pay attention to stress words when correcting yourself. Try using passive voice in
your answer.
Topic 1:
Part 2: Describe a TV program
You should say:
• What the TV program is
• How you know it
• What it is like
• Why you like it
Part 3:
1. Do you think most people watch TV for education or for entertainment?
2. Should TV play a role in educating children? How?
3. How do you think TV viewing habits change as people get older?
Topic 2:
Part 2: Talk about an interesting news that you read in the newspaper
• What it was
• In which newspaper you read it
• When it happened
Explain why you think this news to be interesting
Part 3:
1. How do most people get their news in your country?
2. How do you think people will get their news in the future?
3. Do you believe everything you read in the newspapers?
4. How has TV changed our life?
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Topic 3:
Part 2: Describe an advertisement you have seen.
You should say:
What the advertisement is
What it is for
And explain how you think about it.
Part 3:
1. What are the different kinds of advertising?
2. What kind of advertising is most common in Vietnam?
3. What are the ways in which advertisements catch the attention of viewers?
246
IELTS 6.0- Unit 8: Culture
Full name:.................................
Lesson 28 Topic: Culture WID: IELTS6.0_28_R

QR code:
Reading:
Skills - Use relative clauses ...... pts/10
- Matching information - Review reading task types
Exercise 1. [Grammar: Relative clauses] Read the information. Then use the correct relative
pronouns to complete the sentences.
1. He’s the professor ____________ gives lectures about local history and culture.
2. Mandarin is the dialect ____________ is most commonly spoken in China.
3. Blues is a style of music ____________ roots can be traced back to African American musical
traditions, especially in the South of the USA.
4. Thanksgiving is a North American festival in ____________ people give thanks for the
previous year’s harvest.
5. That’s the woman ____________ we saw giving a demonstration of folk dancing.
6. The Day of the Dead festival in Mexico is a time ____________ people traditionally visit the
graves of friends or family members.
7. Bonfire Night, ____________ is on 5 November every year, commemorates the capture of
Guy Fawkes and his failed attack on the British Houses of Parliament.
8. The UK is one of the few countries in the world ____________ people drive on the left-hand
side of the road.
Exercise 2. [Grammar: Relative clauses] Read and correct the mistakes in the sentences.
1. Halloween is an ancient Celtic festival when is now celebrated in many countries across the
globe.
2. Yorkshire puddings, that are made with flour, eggs and milk, are a savoury food served with
roast beef in the UK.
3. In Denmark, parents have to select baby names from a list of around 7,000 names who the
government has approved.
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4. Niue is an island nation in the South Pacific which coins feature characters from Disney and
Star Wars movies.
5. In Sudan there are more than 200 pyramids, where is more than the number of pyramids
found in Egypt.
6. According to Greek myth, the name ‘Europe’ came from the Phoenician princess Europa,
which was the mother of King Minos of Crete.
7. Hawaii is the only place in the US which coffee is grown commercially.
8. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, who is located in Wales, has

the longest name of any town in Europe.
Exercise 3. [Reading task types] Read the information. Then choose the 11 task types that are
used in the IELTS Reading test.
248
Exercise 4. [IELTS Reading] Read the passage and answer the questions.
The Benefits of Being Bilingual
A. According to the latest figures, the majority of the

world’s population is now bilingual or multilingual,
having grown up speaking two or more languages. In
the past, such children were considered to be at a
disadvantage compared with their monolingual peers.
Over the past few decades, however, technological
advances have allowed researchers to look more
deeply at how bilingualism interacts with and changes
the cognitive and neurological systems, thereby
identifying several clear benefits of being bilingual.
B. Research shows that when a bilingual person uses one language, the other is active at the
same time. When we hear a word, we don’t hear the entire word all at once: the sounds arrive
in sequential order. Long before the word is finished, the brain’s language system begins to
guess what that word might be. If you hear ‘can’, you will likely activate words like ‘candy’ and
‘candle’ as well, at least during the earlier stages of word recognition. For bilingual people, this
activation is not limited to a single language; auditory input activates corresponding words
regardless of the language to which they belong. Some of the most compelling evidence for this
phenomenon, called ‘language co-activation’, comes from studying eye movements. A Russian-
English bilingual asked to ‘pick up a marker’ from a set of objects would look more at a stamp
than someone who doesn’t know Russian, because the Russian word for ‘stamp’, marka, sounds
like the English word he or she heard, ‘marker’. In cases like this, language co-activation occurs
because what the listener hears could map onto words in either language.
C. Having to deal with this persistent linguistic competition can result in difficulties, however.
For instance, knowing more than one language can cause speakers to name pictures more
slowly, and can increase ‘tip-of-the-tongue states’, when you can almost, but not quite, bring a
word to mind. As a result, the constant juggling of two languages creates a need to control how
much a person accesses a language at any given time. For this reason, bilingual people often
perform better on tasks that require conflict management. In the classic Stroop Task, people
see a word and are asked to name the colour of the word’s font. When the colour and the word
match (i., the word ‘red’ printed in red), people correctly name the colour more quickly than
when the colour and the word don’t match (i., the word ‘red’ printed in blue). This occurs
because the word itself (‘red’) and its font colour (blue) conflict. Bilingual people often excel at
249
tasks such as this, which tap into the ability to ignore competing perceptual information and
focus on the relevant aspects of the input. Bilinguals are also better at switching between two
tasks; for example, when bilinguals have to switch from categorizing objects by colour (red or
green) to categorizing them by shape (circle or triangle), they do so more quickly than
monolingual people, reflecting better cognitive control when having to make rapid changes of
strategy.
D. It also seems that the neurological roots of the bilingual advantage extend to brain areas
more traditionally associated with sensory processing. When monolingual and bilingual
adolescents listen to simple speech sounds without any intervening background noise, they
show highly similar brain stem responses. When researchers play the same sound to both
groups in the presence of background noise, however, the bilingual listeners’ neural response is
considerably larger, reflecting better encoding of the sound’s fundamental frequency, a feature
of sound closely related to pitch perception.
E. Such improvements in cognitive and sensory processing may help a bilingual person to
process information in the environment, and help explain why bilingual adults acquire a third
language better than monolingual adults master a second language. This advantage may be
rooted in the skill of focussing on information about the new language while reducing
interference from the languages they already know.
F. Research also indicates that bilingual experience may help to keep the cognitive mechanisms
sharp by recruiting alternate brain networks to compensate for those that become damaged
during aging. Older bilinguals enjoy improved memory relative to monolingual people, which
can lead to real-world health benefits. In a study of over 200 patients with Alzheimer’s disease,
a degenerative brain disease, bilingual patients reported showing initial symptoms of the
disease an average of five years later than monolingual patients. In a follow-up study,
researchers compared the brains of bilingual and monolingual patients matched on the severity
of Alzheimer’s symptoms. Surprisingly, the bilinguals’ brains had more physical signs of disease
than their monolingual counterparts, even though their outward behaviour and abilities were
the same. If the brain is an engine, bilingualism may help it to go farther on the same amount of
fuel.
G. Furthermore, the benefits associated with bilingual experience seem to start very early. In
one study, researchers taught seven-month-old babies growing up in monolingual or bilingual
homes that when they heard a tinkling sound, a puppet appeared on one side of a screen.
Halfway through the study, the puppet began appearing on the opposite side of the screen. In
order to get a reward, the infants had to adjust the rule they’d learned; only the bilingual
250
babies were able to successfully learn the new rule. This suggests that for very young children,
as well as for older people, navigating a multilingual environment imparts advantages that
transfer far beyond language.
Questions 1-5: Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
Test Findings
Observing the 1_____________ of Russian- Bilingual people engage both languages

English bilingual people when asked to select simultaneously: a mechanism known as
certain objects 2_____________
A test called the 3_____________, focusing on Bilingual people are more able to handle
naming colours tasks involving a skill called 4_____________
A test involving switching between tasks When changing strategies, bilingual people
have superior 5_____________
Questions 6-10: Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading
Passage? Write:
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
6. Attitudes towards bilingualism have changed in recent years.
7. Bilingual people are better than monolingual people at guessing correctly what words are
before they are finished.
8. Bilingual people consistently name images faster than monolingual people.
9. Bilingual people’s brains process single sounds more efficiently than monolingual people in
all situations.
10. Fewer bilingual people than monolingual people suffer from brain disease in old age.
Questions 11-14: Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the
following information?
11. an example of how bilingual and monolingual people’s brains respond differently to a
certain type of non-verbal auditory input
251
12. a demonstration of how a bilingual upbringing has benefits even before we learn to speak
13. a description of the process by which people identify words that they hear
14. reference to some negative consequences of being bilingual
Change in business organisations

A The forces that operate to bring about change in organisations can be thought of as winds
which are many and varied - from small summer breezes that merely disturb a few papers, to
mighty howling gales which cause devastation to structures and operations, causing
consequent reorientation of purpose and rebuilding. Sometimes, however, the winds die down
to give periods of relative calm, periods of relative organisational stability. Such a period was
the agricultural age, which Goodman (1995) maintains prevailed in Europe and western
societies as a whole until the early 1700s. During this period, wealth was created in the context
of an agriculturally based society influenced mainly by local markets (both customer and
labour) and factors outside people’s control, such as the weather. During this time, people
could fairly well predict the cycle of activities required to maintain life, even if that life might be
at little more than subsistence level.
B To maintain the meteorological metaphor, stronger winds of change blew to bring in the
Industrial Revolution and the industrial age. Again, according to Goodman, this lasted for a long
time, until around 1945. It was characterised by a series of inventions and innovations that
reduced the number of people needed to work the land and, in turn, provided the means of
production of hitherto rarely obtainable goods; for organisations, supplying these in ever
increasing numbers became the aim. To a large extent, demand and supply were predictable,
enabling . companies to structure their organisations along what Burns and Stalker (1966)
described as mechanistic lines, that is as systems of strict hierarchical structures and firm
means of control.
C This situation prevailed for some time, with demand still coming mainly from the domestic
market and organisations striving to fill the ‘supply gap’. Thus the most disturbing
environmental influence on organisations of this time was the demand for products, which
outstripped supply. The saying attributed to Henry Ford that ‘You can have any colour of car so
long as it is black’, gives a flavour of the supply-led state of the market. Apart from any
technical difficulties of producing different colours of car, Ford did not have to worry about
customers’ colour preferences: he could sell all that he made. Organisations of this period can
252
be regarded as ‘task-oriented’, with effort being put into increasing production through more
effective and efficient production processes.
D As time passed, this favourable period for organisations began to decline. In the neo-
industrial age, people became more discriminating in the goods and services they wished to buy
and, as technological advancements brought about increased productivity, supply overtook
demand. Companies began, increasingly, to look abroad for additional markets.
E At the same time, organisations faced more intensive competition from abroad for their own
products and services. In the West, this development was accompanied by a shift in focus from
manufacturing to service, whether this merely added value to manufactured products, or
whether it was service in-its own right. In the neo-industrial age of western countries, the
emphasis moved towards adding value to goods and services - what Goodman calls the value-
oriented time, as contrasted with the task- oriented and products/services-oriented times of
the past.
F Today, in the post-industrial age, most people agree that organisational life is becoming ever
more uncertain, as the pace of change quickens and the future becomes less predictable.
Writing in 1999, Nadler and Tushman, two US academics, said: ‘Poised on the eve of the next
century, we are witnessing a profound transformation in the very nature of our business
organisations. Historic forces have converged to fundamentally reshape the scope, strategies,
and structures of large enterprises.’ At a less general level of analysis, Graeme Leach, Chief
Economist at the British Institute of Directors, claimed in the Guardian newspaper (2000) that:
‘By 2020, the nine-to-five rat race will be extinct and present levels of self-employment,
commuting and technology use, as well as age and sex gaps, will have changed beyond
recognition.’ According to the article, Leach anticipates that: ‘In 20 years time, 20-25 percent of
the workforce will be temporary workers and many more will be flexible, ... 25 percent of
people will no longer work in a traditional office and ... 50 percent will work from home in some
form.’ Continuing to use the ‘winds of change’ metaphor, the expectation's of damaging gale-
force winds bringing the need for rebuilding that takes the opportunity to incorporate new
ideas and ways of doing things.
G Whether all this will happen is arguable. Forecasting the future is always fraught with
difficulties. For instance, Mannermann (1998) sees future studies as part art and part science
and notes: ‘The future is full of surprises, uncertainty, trends and trend breaks, irrationality and
rationality, and it is changing and escaping from our hands as time goes by. It is also the result
of actions made by innumerable more or less powerful forces.’ What seems certain is that the
organisational world is changing at a fast rate - even if the direction of change is not always
253
predictable. Consequently, it is crucial that organisational managers and decision makers are
aware of, and able to analyse the factors which trigger organisational change.
Questions 1-5: Reading Passage has SEVEN paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the
following information? Write the correct letter, A-G.
1. ___________ some specific predictions about businesses and working practices
2 ___________ reference to the way company employees were usually managed
3 ___________ a warning for business leaders
4 ___________ the description of an era notable for the relative absence of change
5 ___________a reason why customer satisfaction was not a high priority
Questions 6-10: Look at the following characteristics (Questions 6-10) and the list of periods
below. Match each characteristic with the correct period, A, B or C. Write the correct letter, A,
B or C. NB You may use any letter more than once.
6 ___________ a surplus of goods.

List of periods
7 ___________ an emphasis on production quantity.
A The agricultural age
8 ___________ the proximity of consumers to workplaces.
B The industrial age.
9 ___________ a focus on the quality of goods.
C The neo-industrial age
10 ___________ new products and new ways of working.
Questions 11-13: Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for
each answer.
Businesses in the 21st century
It is generally agreed that changes are taking place more quickly now, and that organisations
are being transformed. One leading economist suggested that by 2020, up to a quarter of
employees would be 11 ___________ and half of all employees would be based in
the 12 ___________. Although predictions can be wrong, the speed of change is not in doubt,
and business leaders need to understand the 13 ___________ that will be influential.
254
Obtaining Linguistic Data

A. Many procedures are available for obtaining data about a language. They range from a
carefully planned, intensive field investigation in a foreign country to a casual introspection
about one's mother tongue carried out in an armchair at home.
B. In all cases, someone has to act as a source of language data - an informant Informants are
(ideally) native speakers of a language, who provide utterances for analysis and other kinds of
information about the language (e.g. translations, comments about correctness, or judgements
on usage). Often, when studying their mother tongue, linguists act as their own informants,
judging the ambiguity, acceptability, or other properties of utterances against their own
intuitions. The convenience of this approach makes it widely used, and it is considered the
norm in the generative approach to linguistics. But a linguist's personal judgements are often
uncertain, or disagree with the judgements of other linguists, at which point recourse is needed
to more objective methods of enquiry, using non-linguists as informants.
The latter procedure is unavoidable when working on foreign languages, or child speech.
C. Many factors must be considered when selecting informants - whether one is working with
single speakers (a common situation when languages have not been described before), two
people interacting, small groups or large-scale samples. Age, sex, social background and other
aspects of identity are important, as these factors are known to influence the kind of language
used. The topic of conversation and the characteristics of the social setting (e.g. the level of
formality) are also highly relevant, as are the personal qualities of the informants (e.g. their
fluency and consistency). For larger studies, scrupulous attention has been paid to the sampling
theory employed, and in all cases, decisions have to be made about the best investigative
techniques to use.
D. Today, researchers often tape-record informants. This enables the linguist's claims about the
language to be checked, and provides a way of making those claims more accurate ('difficult'
pieces of speech can be listened to repeatedly). But obtaining naturalistic, good-quality data is
never easy. People talk abnormally when they know they are being recorded, and sound quality
can be poor. A variety of tape-recording procedures have thus been devised to minimise the
'observer's paradox' (how to observe the way people behave when they are not being
observed). Some recordings are made without the speakers being aware of the fact - a
procedure that obtains very natural data, though ethical objections must be anticipated.
Alternatively, attempts can be made to make the speaker forget about the recording, such as
255
keeping the tape recorder out of sight, or using radio microphones. A useful technique G is to
introduce a topic that quickly involves the speaker, and stimulates a natural language style (e.g.
asking older informants about how times have changed in their locality).
E. An audio tape recording does not solve all the linguist's problems, however. Speech is often
unclear and ambiguous. Where possible, therefore, the recording has to be supplemented by
the observer's written comments on the non-verbal behaviour of the participants, and about
the context in general, A facial expression, for example, can dramatically alter the meaning of
what is said. Video recordings avoid these problems to a large extent, but even they have
limitations (the camera cannot be everywhere), and transcriptions always benefit from any
additional commentary provided by an observer.
F. Linguists also make great use of structured sessions, in which they systematically ask their
informants for utterances that describe certain actions, objects or behaviours. With a bilingual
informant, or through use of an interpreter, it is possible to use translation techniques (‘How do
you say table in your language?'). A large number of points can be covered in a short time,
using interview worksheets and questionnaires. Often, the researcher wishes to obtain
information about just a single variable, in which case a restricted set of questions may be used:
a particular feature of pronunciation, for example, can be elicited by asking the informant to
say a restricted set of words. There are also several direct methods of elicitation, such as asking
informants to fill in the blanks in a substitution frame (e.g. I_see a car), or feeding them the
wrong stimulus for correction ('Is it possible to say / no can see?').
G. A representative sample of language, compiled for the purpose of linguistic analysis, is
known as a corpus. A corpus enables the linguist to make unbiased statements about frequency
of usage, and it provides accessible data for the use of different researchers. Its range and size
are variable. Some corpora attempt to cover the language as a whole, taking extracts from
many kinds of text; others are extremely selective, providing a collection of material that deals
only with a particular linguistic feature. The size of the corpus depends on practical factors,
such as the time available to collect, process and store the data: it can take up to several hours
to provide an accurate transcription of a few minutes of speech. Sometimes a small sample of
data will be enough to decide a linguistic hypothesis; by contrast, corpora in major research
projects can total millions of words. An important principle is that all corpora, whatever their
size, are inevitably limited in their coverage, and always need to be supplemented by data
derived from the intuitions of native speakers of the language, through either introspection or
experimentation.
256
Questions 1-5: Reading Passage has seven paragraphs labelled A-G. Which paragraph
contains the following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. _____ the effect of recording on the way people talk
2. _____ the importance of taking notes on body language
3. _____ the fact that language is influenced by social situation
4. _____ how informants can be helped to be less self-conscious
5. _____ various methods that can be used to generate specific data
Questions 6-10: Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
Methods of obtaining
Advantages Disadvantages
linguistic data
method of enquiry not

6___________ as informant convenient
objective enough
necessary with 7___________ the number of factors to be

non-linguist as informant
and child speech considered
allows linguists’ claims to be

recording an informant 8______________ of sound
checked
allows speakers’ 9___________ 10___________ might miss

videoing an informant
to be observed certain things
Questions 11-14: Complete the summary of paragraph G below. Choose NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
A linguist can use a corpus to comment objectively on 11______________. Some corpora

include a wide range of language while others are used to focus on a 12______________. The
length of time the process takes will affect the 13______________ of the corpus. No corpus can
ever cover the whole language and so linguists often find themselves relying on the additional
information that can be gained from the 14______________ of those who speak the language
concerned.
257
Why Risks Can Go Wrong
Human intuition is a bad guide to handling risk
A. People make terrible decisions about the future. The evidence is all around, from their
investments in the stock markets to the way they run their businesses. In fact, people are
consistently bad at dealing with uncertainty, underestimating some kinds of risk and
overestimating others. Surely there must be a better way than using intuition?
B. In the 1960s a young American research psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, became interested
in people's inability to make logical decisions. That launched him on a career to show just how
irrationally people behave in practice. When Kahneman and his colleagues first started work,
the idea of applying psychological insights to economics and business decisions was seen as
rather bizarre. But in the past decade the fields of behavioural finance and behavioural
economics have blossomed, and in 2002 Kahneman shared a Nobel prize in economics for his
work. Today he is in demand by business organizations and international banking companies.
But, he says, there are plenty of institutions that still fail to understand the roots of their poor
decisions. He claims that, far from being random, these mistakes are systematic and
predictable.
C. One common cause of problems in decision-making is over-optimism. Ask most people about
the future, and they will see too much blue sky ahead, even if past experience suggests
otherwise. Surveys have shown that people's forecasts of future stock market movements are
far more optimistic than past long-term returns would justify. The same goes for their hopes of
ever-rising prices for their homes or doing well in games of chance. Such optimism can be
useful for managers or sportsmen, and sometimes turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. But most
of the time it results in wasted effort and dashed hopes. Kahneman's work points to three types
of over-confidence. First, people tend to exaggerate their own skill and prowess; in polls, far
fewer than half the respondents admit to having below-average skills in, say, driving. Second,
they overestimate the amount of control they have over the future, forgetting about luck and
chalking up success solely to skill. And third, in competitive pursuits such as dealing on shares,
they forget that they have to judge their skills against those of the competition.
D. Another source of wrong decisions is related to the decisive effect of the initial meeting,
particularly in negotiations over money. This is referred to as the 'anchor effect'. Once a figure
has been mentioned, it takes a strange hold over the human mind. The asking price quoted in a
258
house sale, for example, tends to become accepted by all parties as the 'anchor' around which
negotiations take place. Much the same goes for salary negotiations or mergers and
acquisitions. If nobody has much information to go on, a figure can provide comfort - even
though it may lead to a terrible mistake.
E. In addition, mistakes may arise due to stubbornness. No one likes to abandon a cherished
belief, and the earlier a decision has been taken, the harder it is to abandon it. Drug companies
must decide early to cancel a failing research project to avoid wasting money, but may find it
difficult to admit they have made a mistake. In the same way, analysts may have become
wedded early to a single explanation that coloured their perception. A fresh eye always helps.
F. People also tend to put a lot of emphasis on things they have seen and experienced
themselves, which may not be the best guide to decision-making. For example, somebody may
buy an overvalued share because a relative has made thousands on it, only to get his fingers
burned. In finance, too much emphasis on information close at hand helps to explain the
tendency by most investors to invest only within the country they live in. Even though they
know that diversification is good for their portfolio, a large majority of both Americans and
Europeans invest far too heavily in the shares of their home countries. They would be much
better off spreading their risks more widely.
G. More information is helpful in making any decision but, says Kahneman, people spend
proportionally too much time on small decisions and not enough on big ones. They need to
adjust the balance. During the boom years, some companies put as much effort into planning
their office party as into considering strategic mergers.
H. Finally, crying over spilled milk is not just a waste of time; it also often colours people's
perceptions of the future. Some stock market investors trade far too frequently because they
are chasing the returns on shares they wish they had bought earlier.
I. Kahneman reckons that some types of businesses are much better than others at dealing with
risk. Pharmaceutical companies, which are accustomed to many failures and a few big
successes in their drug-discovery programmes, are fairly rational about their risk-taking. But
banks, he says, have a long way to go. They may take big risks on a few huge loans, but are
extremely cautious about their much more numerous loans to small businesses, many of which
may be less risky than the big ones. And the research has implications for governments too.
They face a whole range of sometimes conflicting political pressures, which means they are
even more likely to take irrational decisions.
259
Questions 1-6: The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I. Choose the correct heading for
Paragraphs B and D-H from the list of headings below.
List of headings
i. Not identifying the correct priorities
Example Paragraph A x
ii. A solution for the long term
Paragraph C xi
iii. The difficulty of changing your mind
1. Paragraph B ______
iv. Why looking back is unhelpful
2. Paragraph D ______
v. Strengthening inner resources
3. Paragraph E ______
vi. A successful approach to the study of decision-making
4. Paragraph F ______
vii. The danger of trusting a global market
5. Paragraph G ______
viii. Reluctance to go beyond the familiar
6. Paragraph H ______
ix. The power of the first number
x. The need for more effective risk assessment
xi. Underestimating the difficulties ahead
Questions 7-10: Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D
7. People initially found Kahneman's work unusual because he
A saw mistakes as following predictable patterns.
B was unaware of behavioural approaches.
C dealt with irrational types of practice.
D applied psychology to finance and economics.
8. The writer mentions house-owners attitudes towards the value of their homes to illustrate
that
A past failures may destroy an optimistic attitude.
B people tend to exaggerate their chances of success.
C optimism may be justified in certain circumstances.
D people are influenced by the success of others.
9. Stubbornness and inflexibility can cause problems when people
A think their financial difficulties are just due to bad luck.
260
B avoid seeking advice from experts and analysts.
C refuse to invest in the early stages of a project.
D are unwilling to give up unsuccessful activities or beliefs.
10. Why do many Americans and Europeans fail to spread their financial risks when investing?
A They feel safer dealing in a context which is close to home.
B They do not understand the benefits of diversification.
C They are over-influenced by the successes of their relatives.
D They do not have sufficient knowledge of one another’s countries.
Questions 11-13: Answer the questions below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each
answer.
11. Which two occupations may benefit from being over-optimistic? ___________________
12. Which practical skill are many people over-confident about? ___________________
13. Which type of business has a generally good attitude to dealing with uncertainty? _______
______________
261
Full name:.................................
Lesson 29 Topic: Culture WID: IELTS6.0_29_W

QR code:
Academic Writing:
Skills - discussion essay ...... pts/10
- give opposing views and your own opinion in Task 2
- write a complete essay
Exercise 1. [Give opposing views] Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question. Then read the
sentences. Do the sentences express opinions that support or are against the statement
shown in the Task 2 question? Choose Support or Against.
It is thought by some that social media and the virtual world are now more important while others
believe that the real world helps more in the construction of young people’s cultural identity.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Support Against
1. When posting on social media, young people can try out

personalities that differ from those they have in the real world.
2. The mass media is, by far, the most important factor in developing
culture among the younger generation.
3. Interactive computer games allow young people to perform

different roles and be different people.
4. Socialising online, with people from different parts of the world,

leads to a fluid cultural identity.
5. Citizenship of any country can be changed; therefore, language is

the true decider of cultural identity.
6. Young people establish their cultural identity mainly based on their

upbringing.
262
Exercise 2. [Relevant ideas] Read the sentences. Are they relevant to the question? Choose
Yes or No.
Yes No
1. Social media platforms are a great tool for keeping in touch with old
friends and making new ones internationally.
2. By entering spaces using virtual reality technology, young people can

experiment with a wide range of cultural experiences.
3. Many young people prefer to stay indoors and play online games rather
than go out and make friends.
4. The learning of one’s native language determines how a person reacts

culturally since linguistic conventions decide how people interact with each
other.
5. Traditional media outlets such as television and print media are boring for
young people because they never have any good content.
6. Different people can comment on the photographs of food from my

country that I post online. I can therefore learn about what they eat.
263
Exercise 3. [Supporting statements] Read the sentences and choose the supporting
statements that are clear and relevant.
1. Young people like to try out different identities in social media posts, _____
A. which allows them to hide their activities from their parents.
B. which lets them experiment with various cultural identities.
2. National newspapers, radio and television are still the main cultural institutions
A. that help young people think about themselves and the world.
B. that influence how young people form opinions about the world around them.
3. Interactive computer games, particularly online games, give young people the chance to role-
play in different multicultural social environments.
A. It follows on that they will make a variety of friends from different nations.
B. That is to say, they can experiment with different identities in various situations.
4. The internet, and the ability to chat to people from all over the world online,
A. has enabled young people to discuss and negotiate cultural differences.
B. has replaced pen pals, and this is the new way to keep in contact with people.
5. It is the language that one is brought up with, and not one’s profile on social media, that
determines cultural identity.
A. In other words, how a person communicates face-to-face is more important than the
tool they use to express themselves online.
B. The main point is that there is often a language barrier both online and offline.
6. Parentage, education and where young people spend their childhood are important factors
in the determination of cultural identity.
A. In reality, parents, schooling and the social environment often reinforce a young
person’s idea of culture.
B. The inescapable fact is that education is the key to everything in life.
264
7. Posting comments, photos and video content online allows young people to experiment with
their cultural identity.
A. As such, it is leading to possible identity theft.
B. Therefore, their cultural identities are more fluid and open than a generation ago.
8. Where a young person grows up is absolutely pivotal in deciding their cultural identity.
A. In my opinion, social media and the online world have a far smaller impact on their
identity than their surroundings.
B. What’s more, I moved to another country when I was 14 and it gave me a greater
cultural understanding.
9. Playing interactive, competitive computer games with people of other nationalities lets
young people role-play characters in different virtual environments.
A. In this way, online games are possibly eroding cultural differences.
B. This means that they can make lots of friends all over the world.
10. Chatting to people worldwide using social media platforms has allowed young people to
discuss and exchange their ideas about their cultural heritage.
A. From my experience, I have been able to meet people from all over the world online.
B. From my experience of communicating with various nationalities, a global youth
culture is slowly being formed.
Exercise 4. [Conclusion] Read the information. Then read the conclusions. Would the
conclusions receive higher band scores? Choose Yes or No.
Yes No
1. In conclusion, young people’s use of the internet, from chatting on social

media to playing interactive games, has changed young people’s cultural
identity, and they no longer feel the same about themselves and others.
2. In summary, young people’s use of the internet has fundamentally

changed how they communicate and identify with both the people
immediately around them and those from other places.
3. Overall, the real world of family, parents, the mass media and language
are more important in constructing a young person’s cultural identity than
the virtual world.
265
4. All in all, a young person’s native language, their immediate family,

education and media outlets such as newspapers have a greater influence on
what they identify with culturally in comparison to their online activity and
profile.
Exercise 5. [IELTS Writing: Discussion essays] Read the task cards. Plan and write about each
topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
language or experience.
Topic 1: Some people think that schools should reward students who show the best academic
results, while others believe that it is more important to reward students who show
improvements.
a. Plan the ideas
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
b. Write your essay
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
266
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Topic 2: Some people believe that crime is a result of social problems and poverty, others think
that crime is a result of bad person’s nature.
a. Plan the ideas
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
b. Write your essay
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
267
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Topic 3: Developments in technology have brought various environmental problems. Some

believe that people need to live simpler lives to solve environmental problems. Others,
however, believe technology is the way to solve these problems.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
a. Plan the ideas
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
268
b. Write your essay

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
269

IELTS 6.0 Lessons Urban-Rural Life

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IELTS 6.0 Lessons Urban-Rural Life

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Lesson 1 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_01_R

from one thing / place to another future make the opposite of

1 over- (overweight, overpaid, overestimate) ________________________

2 mis- (misuse, misunderstand, mispronounce) ________________________

3 sub- (substandard, sub-zero, submarine) ________________________

4 fore- (foresee, forethought, forecast) ________________________

5 de- (deodorant, defrost, demystify) ________________________

6 trans- (transfer, transform, transcribe) ________________________

a. complaining that something isn’t good enough

1. ‘He’s overweight because he overeats.’

2. ‘The service I’ve received today has been substandard.’

3. ‘I was misquoted and my views were misrepresented.’

4. ‘She’s always been pro-trade and anti-capitalist at the same time.’

6. ‘My grandparents are enjoying their post-retirement years.’

7. ‘Forewarned is forearmed. That’s always been a favourite idiom of mine.’

The rest of paragraph A is likely to tell us about:

A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

The rest of paragraph B is likely to tell us about

A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

C. examples of cities where this has happened

The rest of paragraph C is likely to tell us about:

A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

The rest of paragraph D is likely to tell us about:

A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

The rest of paragraph E is likely to tell us about

A. another challenge that needs to be addressed

(i) A widely publicised phenomenon

(i) A fatal threat

LAND OF THE RISING SUN

i The influence of Monbusho

Lesson 2 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_02_W

sharp dramatically negligible

1. What is being measured in the chart?

5. What would be appropriate to include in conclusion / summary of this chart?

IELTS WRITING TASK 1 PRACTICE

Lesson 3 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_03_L

as long as you as soon as they can if provided will

8. I will vote for her if I (have) _________________ a vote.

Exercise 3. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Listen to a telephone conversation between a

Exercise 4. [IELTS Listening: Form completion] Complete the form below.

Total estimated value: (8) £…………

Exercise 7. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions]

Questions 9-10: Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Exercise 8. [IELTS Listening: Multiple choice questions]

B to demonstrate a personal quality

A. set goals and work in a systematic way.

Lesson 4 Topic: Urban and rural life WID: IELTS6.0_04_S

Exercise 1. [Future time conditionals] Rewrite the sentences

1. Vegetarians don't eat meat.

If you're a vegetarian, _____________________________

2. People who live in a cold country don't like hot weather.

If you live ______________________________________

3. Teachers have to work very hard.

If you're a teacher, _______________________________

4. People who do a lot of exercise stay fit and healthy.

5. Mechanics understand engines.

6. People who read newspapers know what's happening in the world.

Ben: Honey, I’m home!

Maria: That’s great! Congratulations! I’m really happy.

Ben: Unfortunately, I have to go to a conference this weekend so I won’t be able to go to dinner

recommended by a (1)__/ an (2)_ suggested using YouTube to watch

(4) a week / when I have spare (5)