IELTS Reading 31: TOURISM

A. Tourism, holidaymaking and travel are these days more significant social phenomena than most
commentators have considered. On the face of it there could not be a more trivial subject for a book. And
indeed since social scientists have had considerable difficulty explaining weightier topics, such as work or
politics, it might be thought that they would have great difficulties in accounting for more trivial phenomena
such as holidaymaking. However, there are interesting parallels with the study of deviance. This involves the
investigation of bizarre and idiosyncratic social practices which happen to be defined as deviant in some
societies but not necessarily in others. The assumption is that the investigation of deviance can reveal
interesting and significant aspects of normal societies. It could be said that a similar analysis can be applied
to tourism.
B. Tourism is a leisure activity which presupposes its opposite, namely regulated and organised work. It is
one manifestation of how work and leisure are organised as separate and regulated spheres of social practice
in modern societies. Indeed acting as a tourist is one of the defining characteristics of being ‘modern’ and
the popular concept of tourism is that it is organised within particular places and occurs for regularised
periods of time. Tourist relationships arise from a movement of people to, and their stay in, various
destinations. This necessarily involves some movement, that is the journey, and a period of stay in a new
place or places. ‘The journey and the stay’ are by definition outside the normal places of residence and work
and are of a short term and temporary nature and there is a clear intention to return ‘home’ within a
relatively short period of time.
C. A substantial proportion of the population of modern societies engages in such tourist practices new
socialised forms of provision have developed in order to cope with the mass character of the gazes of
tourists as opposed to the individual character of travel. Places are chosen to be visited and be gazed upon
because there is an anticipation especially through daydreaming and fantasy of intense pleasures, either on a
different scale or involving different senses from those customarily encountered. Such anticipation is
constructed and sustained through a variety of non-tourist practices such as films, TV literature, magazines
records and videos which construct and reinforce this daydreaming.
D. Tourists tend to visit features of landscape and townscape which separate them off from everyday
experience. Such aspects are viewed because they are taken to be in some sense out of the ordinary. The
viewing of these tourist sights often involves different forms of social patterning with a much greater
sensitivity to visual elements of landscape or townscape than is normally found in everyday life. People
linger over these sights in a way that they would not normally do in their home environment and the vision
is objectified or captured through photographs postcards films and so on which enable the memory to be
endlessly reproduced and recaptured.
E. One of the earliest dissertations on the subject of tourism is Boorstins analysis of the pseudo event (1964)
where he argues that contemporary. Americans cannot experience reality directly but thrive on pseudo
events. Isolated from the host environment and the local people the mass tourist travels in guided groups and
finds pleasure in inauthentic contrived attractions gullibly enjoying the pseudo events and disregarding the
real world outside. Over time the images generated of different tourist sights come to constitute a closed
self-perpetuating system of illusions which provide the tourist with the basis for selecting and evaluating
potential places to visit. Such visits are made says Boorstin, within the environmental bubble of the familiar
American style hotel which insulates the tourist from the strangeness of the host environment.
F. To service the burgeoning tourist industry, an array of professionals has developed who attempt to
reproduce ever-new objects for the tourist to look at. These objects or places are located in a complex and
changing hierarchy. This depends upon the interplay between, on the one hand, competition between
interests involved in the provision of such objects and, on the other hand changing class, gender, and
generational distinctions of taste within the potential population of visitors. It has been said that to be a
tourist is one of the characteristics of the modern experience. Not to go away is like not possessing a car or a
nice house. Travel is a marker of status in modern societies and is also thought to be necessary for good
health. The role of the professional, therefore, is to cater for the needs and tastes of the tourists in accordance
with their class and overall expectations.
1. Questions 28-32
Raiding Passage 3 has 6 paragraphs (A-F).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below Write the appropriate
numbers (i-ix) in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.

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Paragraph D has been done for you as an example.
NB. There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them You may use any heading
more than once.
List of Headings
i. The politics of tourism
ii. The cost of tourism
iii. Justifying the study of tourism
iv. Tourism contrasted with travel
v. The essence of modern tourism
vi. Tourism versus leisure
vii. The artificiality of modern tourism
viii. The role of modern tour guides
ix. Creating an alternative to the everyday experience
28. Paragraph  A
29. Paragraph  B
30. Paragraph  C
Example: Paragraph D                                                               
Answer: ix
31.   Paragraph  E
32.   Paragraph  F
2. Questions 33-37
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 35? In boxes 33-37
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
33. Tourism is a trivial subject.
34. An analysis of deviance can act as a model for the analysis of tourism.
35. Tourists usually choose to travel overseas.
36. Tourists focus more on places they visit than those at home.
37. Tour operators try to cheat tourists.
3. Questions 38-41
Chose one phrase (A-H) from the list of phrases to complete each key point below. Write the
appropriate letters (A-H) in boxes 38-41 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences should be an accurate summary of points made by the writer.
NB There are more phrases A-H than sentences so you will not use them all. You may use any phrase more
than once.
38. Our concept of tourism arises from …….
39. The media can be used to enhance …….
40. People view tourist landscapes in a different way from …….
41. Group tours encourage participants to look at …….
List of Phrases
A. local people and their environment.
B. the expectations of tourists.
C. the phenomena of holidaymaking.
D. the distinction we make between holidays. work and leisure.
E. the individual character of travel.
F. places seen in everyday life.
G. photographs which recapture our
H. sights designed specially for tourists.
Answer: 
28. iii; 29. v; 30. iv; 31. vii; 32. viii;
33. NO; 34. YES; 35. NOT GIVEN; 36. YES; 37.NOT GIVEN;
38. D; 39. B; 40. F; 41. H

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IELTS Reading Practice 32
Moles happy as homes go underground
A. The first anybody knew about Dutchman Frank Siegmund and his family was when workmen tramping
through a field found a narrow steel chimney protruding through the grass. Closer inspection revealed a
chink of sky-light window among the thistles, and when amazed investigators moved down the side of the
hill they came across a pine door complete with leaded diamond glass and a brass knocker set into an
underground building. The Siegmunds had managed to live undetected for six years outside the border town
of Breda, in Holland. They are the latest in a clutch of individualistic homemakers who have burrowed
underground in search of tranquillity.

B. Most, falling foul of strict building regulations, have been forced to dismantle their individualistic homes
and return to more conventional lifestyles. But subterranean suburbia, Dutch-style, is about to become
respectable and chic. Seven luxury homes cosseted away inside a high earth-covered noise embankment
next to the main Tilburg city road recently went on the market for $296,500 each. The foundations had yet
to be dug, but customers queued up to buy the unusual part-submerged houses, whose back wall consists of
a grassy mound and whose front is a long glass gallery.

C. The Dutch are not the only would-be moles. Growing numbers of Europeans are burrowing below ground
to create houses, offices, discos and shopping malls. It is already proving a way of life in extreme climates;
in winter months in Montreal, Canada, for instance, citizens can escape the cold in an underground complex
complete with shops and even health clinics. In Tokyo builders are planning a massive underground city to
be begun in the next decade, and underground shopping malls are already common in Japan, where 90
percent of the population is squeezed into 20 percent of the landspace.

D. Building big commercial buildings underground can be a way to avoid disfiguring or threatening a
beautiful or ‘environmentally sensitive’ landscape. Indeed many of the buildings which consume most land -
such as cinemas, supermarkets, theatres, warehouses or libraries -have no need to be on the surface since
they do not need windows.

E. There are big advantages, too, when it comes to private homes. A development of 194 houses which
would take up 14 hectares of land above ground would occupy 2.7 hectares below it, while the number of
roads would be halved. Under several metres of earth, noise is minimal and insulation is excellent. “We get
40 to 50 enquiries a week,” says Peter Carpenter, secretary of the British Earth Sheltering Association,
which builds similar homes in Britain. “People see this as a way of building for the future.” An underground
dweller himself, Carpenter has never paid a heating bill, thanks to solar panels and natural insulation.

F. In Europe the obstacle has been conservative local authorities and developers who prefer to ensure quick
sales with conventional mass produced housing. But the Dutch development was greeted with undisguised
relief by South Limburg planners because of Holland’s chronic shortage of land. It was the Tilburg architect
Jo Hurkmans who hit on the idea of making use of noise embankments on main roads. His twofloored, four-
bedroomed, twobathroomed detached homes are now taking shape. “They are not so much below the earth
as in it,” he says. “All the light will come through the glass front, which runs from the second floor ceiling to
the ground. Areas which do not need much natural lighting are at the back. The living accommodation is to
the front so nobody notices that the back is dark.”

G. In the US, where energy-efficient homes became popular after the oil crisis of 1973, 10,000 underground
houses have been built. A terrace of five homes, Britain’s first subterranean development, is under way in
Nottinghamshire. Italy’s outstanding example of subterranean architecture is the Olivetti residential centre in
Ivrea. Commissioned by Roberto Olivetti in 1969, it comprises 82 one-bedroomed apartments and 12
maisonettes and forms a house/ hotel for Olivetti employees. It is built into a hill and little can be seen from
outside except a glass facade. Patnzia Vallecchi, a resident since 1992, says it is little different from living in
a conventional apartment.
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H. Not everyone adapts so well, and in Japan scientists at the Shimizu Corporation have developed “space
creation” systems which mix light, sounds, breezes and scents to stimulate people who spend long periods
below ground. Underground offices in Japan are being equipped with “virtual” windows and mirrors, while
underground departments in the University of Minnesota have periscopes to reflect views and light.

I. But Frank Siegmund and his family love their hobbit lifestyle. Their home evolved when he dug a cool
room for his bakery business in a hill he had created. During a heatwave they took to sleeping there. “We
felt at peace and so close to nature,” he says. “Gradually I began adding to the rooms. It sounds strange but
we are so close to the earth we draw strength from its vibrations. Our children love it; not every child can
boast of being watched through their playroom windows by rabbits.

1. Questions 13-20

Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the
list of headings below.

Write the appropriate numbers (i-xii) in boxes 13 -20 on your answer sheet. Paragraph A has been done for
you as an example.

NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
13. Paragraph B
i. A designer describes his houses
14. Paragraph C
ii. Most people prefer conventional housing
iii. Simulating a natural environment 15. Paragraph D
iv. How an underground family home developed 16. Paragraph E
v. Demands on space and energy are reduced 17. Paragraph F
vi. The plans for future homes 18. Paragraph G
vii. Worldwide examples of underground living accommodation 19. Paragraph H
viii. Some buildings do not require natural light 20. Paragraph I
ix. Developing underground services around the world
x. Underground living improves health
xi. Homes sold before completion
xii. An underground home is discovered
2. Questions 21-26
Complete the sentences below with words taken from the reading passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.
21. Many developers prefer mass-produced houses because they …………..
22. The Dutch development was welcomed by …………
23. Hurkmans’ houses are built into …………
24. The Ivrea centre was developed for ………….
25. Japanese scientists are helping people …………. underground life.
26. Frank Siegmund’s first underground room was used for ………..
 
Answer:
13 xi; 14 ix; 15 viii; 16 v; 17 i; 18 vii; 19 iii; 20 iv;
21 sell (more) quickly;
22 (South Limberg) planners;
23 (road/ noise) embarkments;
24 (Olivetti) employees;
25 adapt to;
26 his bakery busmess / a cool room

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IELTS Reading Practice 33 : GLASS
Capturing the dance of light

A. Glass, in one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans As one of the most widely used
of manufactured materials, and certainly the most versatile, it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the
width of a tennis court or as small and simple as a marble rolling across dirt The uses of this adaptable
material have been broadened dramatically by new technologies glass fibre optics — more than eight
million miles — carrying telephone and television signals across nations, glass ceramics serving as the nose
cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific
organs, even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispose of that unwanted material.

B. On the horizon are optical computers These could store programs and process information by means of
light – pulses from tiny lasers – rather than electrons And the pulses would travel over glass fibres, not
copper wire These machines could function hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and
hold vastly more information Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of smaller and smaller
objects than ever before – even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that
can provide detailed imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid
crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000
workers) to building new plants to meet demand.

C. But it is not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons. The use of glass as art,
a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and
women are blowing glass and creating works of art. «I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,» Dale Chihuly
said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he has become one of the most financially
successful artists of the 20th century. He now has a new commission – a glass sculpture for the headquarters
building of a pizza company – for which his fee is half a million dollars.

D. But not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Consider the simple light bulb; at
the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s
pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a
nation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder that the machine has been called one of the great
mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a
moving belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds.
Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single
machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four
glassblowers.

E. The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it is rigid, and thus like a solid,
the atoms are arranged in a random disordered fashion, characteristic of a liquid. In the melting process, the
atoms in the raw materials are disturbed from their normal position in the molecular structure; before they
can find their way back to crystalline arrangements the glass cools. This looseness in molecular structure
gives the material what engineers call tremendous “formability” which allows technicians to tailor glass to
whatever they need.

F. Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their
imaginations with applications of special types of glass. A London architect, Mike Davies, sees even more
dramatic buildings using molecular chemistry. “Glass is the great building material of the future, the
«dynamic skin»,’ he said. “Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric currents going through it,
glass that will change from clear to opaque at the push of a button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of
how the tall buildings in New York could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in them is made to
change colours instantly.” Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is exorbitant. As for the
glass changing colours instantly, that may come true. Mike Davies’s vision may indeed be on the way to
fulfilment.

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1. Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs (A-F). Choose the most suitable heading/or each paragraph from the
list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. Paragraph A
has been done for you as an example.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any heading
more at once.
Example: Paragraph A            Answer: X
 List of Headings
i. Growth in the market for glass crafts
ii. Computers and their dependence on glass 1. Paragraph B
iii. What makes glass so adaptable 2. Paragraph C
iv. Historical development of glass 3. Paragraph D
v. Scientists’ dreams cost millions 4. Paragraph E
vi. Architectural experiments with glass 5. Paragraph F
vii. Glass art galleries flourish
viii. Exciting innovations in fibre optics
ix. A former glass technology
x. Everyday uses of glass
 
2. Questions 6-8
The diagram below shows the principle of
Coming’s ribbon machine. Label the
diagram by selecting NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS from the Reading
Passage to fill each numbered space.
Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your
answer sheet.

3. Questions 9-13
Look at the list below of the uses of glass.
According to the passage, state whether
these uses exist today, will exist in the future
or are not mentioned by the writer.
In boxes 9-13 write
A. if the uses exist today
B. if the uses will exist in the future
C. if the uses are not mentioned by the writer
9. dental fittings
10. optical computers
11. sculptures
12. fashions
13. curtains
 
 
Answer: 
1 viii; 2 i; 3 ix; 4 iii; 5 vi;
6 molten glass/ ribbon of glass/ molten glass ribbon; 7 belt of steel/ steel belt/ moving belt; 8 (lightbulb)
moulds;
9 A; 10 B; 11 A; 12 C; 13 A

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IELTS Reading Practice 34: A CASE STUDY
IMPLEMENTING THE CYCLE OF SUCCESS:
A CASE STUDY
Within Australia, Australian Hotels Inc (AHI) operates nine hotels and employs over 2000 permanent full-
time staff, 300 permanent part-time employees and 100 casual staff. One of its latest ventures, the Sydney
Airport hotel (SAH), opened in March 1995. The hotel is the closest to Sydney Airport and is designed to
provide the best available accommodation, food and beverage and meeting facilities in Sydney’s southern
suburbs. Similar to many international hotel chains, however, AHI has experienced difficulties in Australia
in providing long-term profits for hotel owners, as a result of the country’s high labour-cost structure. In
order to develop an economically viable hotel organisation model, AHI decided to implement some new
policies and practices at SAH.

The first of the initiatives was an organisational structure with only three levels of management – compared
to the traditional seven. Partly as a result of this change, there are 25 per cent fewer management positions,
enabling a significant saving. This change also has other implications. Communication, both up and down
the organisation, has greatly improved. Decision-making has been forced down in many cases to front-line
employees. As a result, guest requests are usually met without reference to a supervisor, improving both
customer and employee satisfaction.

The hotel also recognised that it would need a different approach to selecting employees who would fit in
with its new policies. In its advertisements, the hotel stated a preference for people with some ‘service’
experience in order to minimize traditional work practices being introduced into the hotel. Over 7000
applicants filled in application forms for the 120 jobs initially offered at SAH. The balance of the positions
at the hotel (30 management and 40 shift leader positions) were predominantly filled by transfers from other
AHI properties.

A series of tests and interviews were conducted with potential employees, which eventually left 280
applicants competing for the 120 advertised positions. After the final interview, potential recruits were
divided into three categories. Category A was for applicants exhibiting strong leadership qualities, Category
C was for applicants perceived to be followers, and Category B was for applicants with both leader and
follower qualities. Department heads and shift leaders then composed prospective teams using a
combination of people from all three categories. Once suitable teams were formed, offers of employment
were made to team members.

Another major initiative by SAH was to adopt a totally multi-skilled workforce. Although there may be
some limitations with highly technical jobs such as cooking or maintenance, wherever possible, employees
at SAH are able to work in a wide variety of positions. A multi-skilled workforce provides far greater
management flexibility during peak and quiet times to transfer employees to needed positions. For example,
when office staff are away on holidays during quiet periods of the year, employees in either food or
beverage or housekeeping departments can temporarily The most crucial way, however, of improving the
labour cost structure at SAH was to find better, more productive ways of providing customer service. SAH
management concluded this would first require a process of ‘benchmarking’. The prime objective of the
benchmarking process was to compare a range of service delivery processes across a range of criteria using
teams made up of employees from different departments within the hotel which interacted with each other.
This process resulted in performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH’s ability to improve productivity
and quality.

The front office team discovered through this project that a high proportion of AHI Club member
reservations were incomplete. As a result, the service provided to these guests was below the standard
promised to them as part of their membership agreement. Reducing the number of incomplete reservations
greatly improved guest perceptions of service.

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In addition, a program modeled on an earlier project called ‘Take Charge’ was implemented. Essentially,
Take Charge provides an effective feedback loop from both customers and employees. Customer comments,
both positive and negative, are recorded by staff. These are collated regularly to identify opportunities for
improvement. Just as importantly, employees are requested to note down their own suggestions for
improvement. (AHI has set an expectation that employees will submit at least three suggestions for every
one they receive from a customer.) Employee feedback is reviewed daily and suggestions are implemented
within 48 hours, if possible, or a valid reason is given for non-implementation. If suggestions require
analysis or data collection, the Take Charge team has 30 days in which to address the issue and come up
with recommendations.

Although quantitative evidence of AHI’s initiatives at SAH are limited at present, anecdotal evidence clearly
suggests that these practices are working. Indeed AHI is progressively rolling out these initiatives in other
hotels in Australia, whilst numerous overseas visitors have come to see how the program works.

[ This article has been adapted and condensed from the article by R. Carter (1996), ‘Implementing the cycle
of success: A case study of the Sheraton Pacific Division’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 34(3):
111-23. Names and other details have been changed and report findings may have been given a different
emphasis from the original. We are grateful to the author and Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources for
allowing us to  use the material in this way.] 

Questions 1-5

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. The high costs of running AHI’s hotels are related to their …….

A. management.

B. size.

C. staff.

D. policies.

2. SAH’s new organisational structure requires …….

A. 75% of the old management positions.

B. 25% of the old management positions.

C. 25% more management positions.

D. 5% fewer management positions.

3. The SAH’s approach to organisational structure required changing practices in …….

A. industrial relations.

B. firing staff.

C. hiring staff.

D. marketing.

4. The total number of jobs advertised at the SAH was ……..

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A. 70.

B. 120.

C. 170.

D. 280.

5. Categories A, B and C were used to select……..

A. front office staff.

B. new teams.

C. department heads.

D. new managers.

Questions 6-13

Complete the following summary of the last four paragraphs of Reading Passage 36 using ONE OR TWO
WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.

WHAT THEY DID AT SAH

Teams of employees were selected from different hotel departments to participate in a .….. (6)
……. exercise. The information collected was used to compare …… (7) …… processes which, in turn, led
to the development of …… (8) ……that would be used to increase the hotel’s capacity to improve …… (9)
…… as well as quality. Also, an older program known as …… (10) …… was introduced at SAH. In this
program,…… (11) …… is sought from customers and staff. Wherever possible ….. (12) …… .suggestions
are implemented within 48 hours. Other suggestions are investigated for their feasibility for a period of up
to ……. ( 1 3 ) ……

Answer: 

1. C; 2. A; 3. C; 4. B; 5. B;

6. benchmarking;
7. (a range of) service delivery;
8. (performance) measures;
9. productivity;
10.(‘) Take Charge (‘);
11. feedback;
12. employee(s’) / staff;
13. 30 days

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IELTS Reading Practice 35: The Motor Car
The Motor Car
A. There are now over 700 million motor vehicles in the world – and the number is rising by more than 40
million each year. The average distance driven by car users is growing too – from 8 km a day per person in
western Europe in 1965 to 25 km a day in 1995. This dependence on motor vehicles has given rise to major
problems, including environmental pollution, depletion of oil resources, traffic congestion and safety.

B. While emissions from new cars are far less harmful than they used to be, city streets and motorways are
becoming more crowded than ever, often with older trucks, buses and taxis, which emit excessive levels of
smoke and fumes. This concentration of vehicles makes air quality in urban areas unpleasant and sometimes
dangerous to breathe. Even Moscow has joined the list of capitals afflicted by congestion and traffic fumes.
In Mexico City, vehicle pollution is a major health hazard.

C. Until a hundred years ago, most journeys were in the 20 km range, the distance conveniently accessible
by horse. Heavy freight could only be carried by water or rail. The invention of the motor vehicle brought
personal mobility to the masses and made rapid freight delivery possible over a much wider area. Today
about 90 per cent of inland freight in the United Kingdom is carried by road. Clearly the world cannot revert
to the horse-drawn wagon. Can it avoid being locked into congested and polluting ways of transporting
people and goods?

D. In Europe most cities are still designed for the old modes of transport. Adaptation to the motor car has
involved adding ring roads, one-way systems and parking lots. In the United States, more land is assigned to
car use than to housing. Urban sprawl means that life without a car is next to impossible. Mass use of motor
vehicles has also killed or injured millions of people. Other social effects have been blamed on the car such
as alienation and aggressive human behaviour.

E. A 1993 study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that car transport is
seven times as costly as rail travel in terms of the external social costs it entails such as congestion,
accidents, pollution, loss of cropland and natural habitats, depletion of oil resources, and so on. Yet cars
easily surpass trains or buses as a flexible and convenient mode of personal transport. It is unrealistic to
expect people to give up private cars in favour of mass transit.

F. Technical solutions can reduce the pollution problem and increase the fuel efficiency of engines. But fuel
consumption and exhaust emissions depend on which cars are preferred by customers and how they are
driven. Many people buy larger cars than they need for daily purposes or waste fuel by driving aggressively.
Besides, global car use is increasing at a faster rate than the improvement in emissions and fuel efficiency
which technology is now making possible.

G. One solution that has been put forward is the long-term solution of designing cities and neighbourhoods
so that car journeys are not necessary – all essential services being located within walking distance or easily
accessible by public transport. Not only would this save energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions, it would
also enhance the quality of community life, putting the emphasis on people instead of cars. Good local
government is already bringing this about in some places. But few democratic communities are blessed with
the vision – and the capital – to make such profound changes in modern lifestyles.

H. A more likely scenario seems to be a combination of mass transit systems for travel into and around
cities, with small ‘low emission’ cars for urban use and larger hybrid or learn burn cars for use elsewhere.
Electronically tolled highways might be used to ensure that drivers pay charges geared to actual road use.
Better integration of transport systems is also highly desirable – and made more feasible by modern
computers. But these are solutions for countries which can afford them. In most developing countries, old
cars and old technologies continue to predominate.

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Questions 14-19

Reading Passage 37 has eight paragraphs (A-H). Which paragraphs concentrate on the following
information? Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

NB You need only write ONE letter for each answer.

14. a comparison of past and present transportation methods

15. how driving habits contribute to road problems

16. the relative merits of cars and public transport

17. the writer’s own prediction of future solutions

18. the increasing use of motor vehicles

19. the impact of the car on city development

Questions 20-26

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 20-26 on your
answer sheet write

YES                  if the statement agrees with the information

NO                    if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN      if there is no information on this in the passage

20. Vehicle pollution is worse in European cities than anywhere else.

21. Transport by horse would be a useful alternative to motor vehicles.

22. Nowadays freight is not carried by water in the United Kingdom.

23. Most European cities were not designed for motor vehicles.

24. Technology alone cannot solve the problem of vehicle pollution.

25. People’s choice of car and attitude to driving is a factor in the pollution problem.

26. Redesigning cities would be a short-term solution.

Answer: 

14. C; 15. F; 16. E; 17. H; 18. A; 19. D;

20. NOTGIVEN;
21. NO;
22. NOTGIVEN;
23. YES;
24. YES;
25. YES;
26. NO
11
IELTS Reading Practice 36:
Green Wave Washes Over Mainstream Shopping
Research in Britain has shown that green consumers’ continue to flourish as a significant group amongst
shoppers. This suggests that politicians who claim environmentalism is yesterday’s issue may be seriously
misjudging the public mood.

A report from Mintel, the market research organisation, says that despite recession and financial pressures,
more people than ever want to buy environmentally friendly products and a ‘green wave’ has swept through
consumerism, taking in people previously untouched by environmental concerns. The recently published
report also predicts that the process will repeat itself with ‘ethical’ concerns, involving issues such as fair
trade with the Third World and the social record of businesses. Companies will have to be more honest and
open in response to this mood.

Mintel’s survey, based on nearly 1,000 consumers, found that the proportion who look for green products
and are prepared to pay more for them has climbed from 53 per cent in 1990 to around 60 per cent in 1994.
On average, they will pay 13 per cent more for such products, although this percentage is higher among
women, managerial and professional groups and those aged 35 to 44.

Between 1990 and 1994 the proportion of consumers claiming to be unaware of or unconcerned about green
issues fell from 18 to 10 per cent but the number of green spenders among older people and manual workers
has risen substantially. Regions such as Scotland have also caught up with the south of England in their
environmental concerns. According to Mintel, the image of green consumerism as associated in the past
with the more eccentric members of society has virtually disappeared. The consumer research manager for
Mintel, Angela Hughes, said it had become firmly established as a mainstream market. She explained that as
far as the average person is concerned environmentalism has not gone off the boil’. In fact, it has spread
across a much wider range of consumer groups, ages and occupations.

Mintel’s 1994 survey found that 13 per cent of consumers are ‘very dark green’, nearly always buying
environmentally friendly products, 28 per cent are ‘dark green’, trying ‘as far as possible’ to buy such
products, and 21 per cent are ‘pale green’ – tending to buy green products if they see them. Another 26 per
cent are ‘armchair greens’; they said they care about environmental issues but their concern does not affect
their spending habits. Only 10 per cent say they do not care about green issues.

Four in ten people are ‘ethical spenders’, buying goods which do not, for example, involve dealings with
oppressive regimes. This figure is the same as in 1990, although the number of ‘armchair ethicals’ has risen
from 28 to 35 per cent and only 22 per cent say they are unconcerned now, against 30 per cent in 1990.
Hughes claims that in the twenty-first century, consumers will be encouraged to think more about the entire
history of the products and services they buy, including the policies of the companies that provide them and
that this will require a greater degree of honesty with consumers.

Among green consumers, animal testing is the top issue – 48 per cent said they would be deterred from
buying a product it if had been tested on animals -followed by concerns regarding irresponsible selling, the
ozone layer, river and sea pollution, forest destruction, recycling and factory farming. However, concern for
specific issues is lower than in 1990, suggesting that many consumers feel that Government and business
have taken on the environmental agenda.

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer of Reading Passage 38?

In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet write

12
YES                if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO                 if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1. The research findings report commercial rather than political trends.
2. Being financially better off has made shoppers more sensitive to buying ‘green’.
3. The majority of shoppers are prepared to pay more for the benefit of the environment according to the
research findings.
4. Consumers’ green shopping habits are influenced by Mintel’s findings.
5. Mintel have limited their investigation to professional and managerial groups.
6. Mintel undertakes market surveys on an annual basis.
Questions 7-9
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet.
7. Politicians may have ‘misjudged the public mood’ because …
A. they are pre-occupied with the recession and financial problems.
B. there is more widespread interest in the environment agenda than they anticipated.
C. consumer spending has increased significantly as a result of ‘green’ pressure.
D. shoppers are displeased with government policies on a range of issues.
8. What is Mintel?
A. an environmentalist group
B. a business survey organisation
C. an academic research team
D. a political organisation
9. A consumer expressing concern for environmental issues without actively supporting such principles
is…..
A. an ‘ethical spender’.
B. a ‘very dark green’ spender.
C. an ‘armchair green’.
D. a ‘pale green’ spender.
Questions 10-13
Complete the summary using words from the box below. Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer
sheet. NB There are more answers than spaces, so you will not use them all.
The Mintel report suggests that in future companies will be forced to practise greater …… (10) …… in their
dealings because of the increased awareness amongst…… (11)…… of ethical issues. This prediction is
supported by the growth in the number of …… (12)…… identified in the most recent survey published. As
a consequence, it is felt that companies will have to think more carefully about their …… (13)
……. environmental research armchair ethicals honesty and openness environmentalists ethical spenders
consumers politicians political beliefs social awareness financial constraints social record.
 
Answer: 

1. YES;2. NO;3. YES;4. NOT GIVEN;5. NO;6. NOT GIVEN;

7. B;8. B;9. C;
10. honesty and openness;11. consumers;12. armchair ethicals;13. social record;

13
IELTS Reading Practice 37: Tornadoes
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are one of the most severe types of weather phenomena. While many people fear tornadoes and their
destructive power, few people understand their real causes and effects, nor are they aware of how to protect
themselves from their devastating force.
Tornadoes, violently rotating columns of air, occur when a change in wind direction, coupled with an increase in wind
speed, results in a spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. These whirling movements, which may not be visible to
the naked eye, are exacerbated when the rotating air column shifts from a horizontal to a vertical position. As the
revolving cloud draws in the warm air that surrounds it at ground level, its spinning motion begins to accelerate,
thereby creating a funnel that extends from the cloud above it to the ground below. In this way, tornadoes become
pendent from low pressure storm clouds.
When a tornado comes into contact with the ground, it produces a strong upward draft known as a vortex, a spiraling
column of wind that can reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. Traveling across the landscape, the tornado
wreaks a path of concentrated destruction. It is not uncommon for these twisters to lift heavy objects, like cars or large
animals, and throw them several miles. Houses that succumb to the force of the tornado seem to explode as the low air
pressure inside the vortex collides with the normal air pressure inside the buildings.
Tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, but are typically most frequent during the summer months. Equally,
tornadoes can happen at any time during the day, but usually occur between 3:00 in the afternoon and 9:00 in the
evening. While these fierce funnels occur in many parts of the world, they are most common in the United States. On
average, there are 1,200 tornadoes per year in this vast nation, causing 70 fatalities and 1,500 injuries.
Although taking myriad shapes and sizes, tornadoes are generally categorized as weak, strong, or violent. The
majority of all tornadoes are classified as weak, meaning that their duration is less than 10 minutes and they have a
speed under 110 miles per hour. Comprising approximately 10 percent of all twisters, strong tornadoes may last for
more than 20 minutes and reach speeds up to 205 miles per hour. Violent tornadoes are the rarest, occurring less than
one percent of the time. While uncommon, tornadoes in this classification are the most devastating, lasting more than
one hour and resulting in the greatest loss of life. Even though only violent tornadoes can completely destroy a well-
built, solidly-constructed home, weaker ones can also cause great damage.
Owing to the powerful and destructive nature of these winds, there are, perhaps not surprisingly, a number of myths
and misconceptions surrounding them. For instance, many people mistakenly believe that tornadoes never occur over
rivers, lakes, and oceans; yet, waterspouts, tornadoes that form over bodies of water, often move onshore and cause
extensive damage to coastal areas. In addition, tornadoes can accompany hurricanes and tropical storms as they move
to land. Another common myth about tornadoes is that damage to built structures, like houses and office buildings,
can be avoided if windows are opened prior to the impact of the storm. Based on the misunderstanding that open
windows might equalize the pressure inside the structure and minimize the damage to it, this action can instead result
in fatal injury.
Because of the profound effects that tornadoes have on communities and their inhabitants, safety measures are of
paramount importance during adverse weather conditions. Drivers often attempt to outrun tornadoes in their cars, but
it is extremely unsafe to do so. Automobiles offer very little protection when twisters strike, so drivers should abandon
their vehicles and seek safe shelter. Mobile homes afford little shelter, so residents of these homes should go to an
underground floor of the sturdiest nearby building. In the case of a building having no underground area, a person
should go to the lowest floor of the building and place him or herself under a piece of heavy furniture. If no building is
available, a person caught in a tornado should lie prostate in a nearby ditch or other depressed area of land and cover
his or her head.
1. All of the following key facts about tornadoes are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT
A. the number of deaths from tornadoes
B. the time of day when tornadoes usually take place
C. the time of year when tornadoes are most common
D. the average wind speed of most tornadoes
2. Which of the following best explains the term waterspouts?
A. Tornadoes that move away from coastal areas
B. Tornadoes that occur over oceans, rivers, and lakes
C. Tornadoes that occur onshore
D. Tornadoes that accompany tropical storms and hurricanes.
3. What is the safest place to be when a tornado strikes?
A. an abandoned vehicle
B. mobile homes
C. the basement of a building
D. under a piece of sturdy furniture
ANSWERS 
1. D;2. B; 3. C

14
IELTS Reading Practice 38: CHILDREN’S THINKING
One of the most eminent of psychologists, Clark Hull, claimed that the essence of reasoning lies in the
putting together of two ‘behaviour segments’ in some novel way, never actually performed before, so as to
reach a goal.

Two followers of Clark Hull, Howard and Tracey Kendler, devised a test for children that was explicitly
based on Clark Hull’s principles. The children were given the task of learning to operate a machine so as to
get a toy. In order to succeed they had to go through a two-stage sequence. The children were trained on
each stage separately. The stages consisted merely of pressing the correct one of two buttons to get a marble;
and of inserting the marble into a small hole to release the toy.

The Kendlers found that the children could learn the separate bits readily enough. Given the task of getting a
marble by pressing the button they could get the marble; given the task of getting a toy when a marble was
handed to them, they could use the marble. (All they had to do was put it in a hole.) But they did not for the
most part ‘integrate’, to use the Kendlers’ terminology. They did not press the button to get the marble and
then proceed without further help to use the marble to get the toy. So the Kendlers concluded that they were
incapable of deductive reasoning.

The mystery at first appears to deepen when we learn, from another psychologist, Michael Cole, and his
colleagues, that adults in an African culture apparently cannot do the Kendlers’ task either. But it lessens, on
the other hand, when we learn that a task was devised which was strictly analogous to the Kendlers’ one but
much easier for the African males to handle.

Instead of the button-pressing machine, Cole used a locked box and two differently coloured match-boxes,
one of which contained a key that would open the box. Notice that there are still two behaviour segments —
‘open the right match-box to get the key’ and ‘use the key to open the box’ – so the task seems formally to
be the same. But psychologically it is quite different, Now the subject is dealing not with a strange machine
but with familiar meaningful objects; and it is clear to him what he is meant to do. It then turns out that the
difficulty of ‘integration’ is greatly reduced.

Recent work by Simon Hewson is of great interest here for it shows that, for young children, too, the
difficulty lies not in the inferential processes which the task demands, but in certain perplexing features of
the apparatus and the procedure. When these are changed in ways which do not at all affect the inferential
nature of the problem, then five-year-old children solve the problem as well as college students did in the
Kendlers’ own experiments.

Hewson made two crucial changes. First, he replaced the button-pressing mechanism in the side panels by
drawers in these panels which the child could open and shut. This took away the mystery from the first stage
of training. Then he helped the child to understand that there was no ‘magic’ about the specific marble
which, during the second stage of training, the experimenter handed to him so that he could pop it in the hole
and get the reward.

A child understands nothing, after all, about how a marble put into a hole can open a little door. How is he to
know that any other marble of similar size will do just as well? Yet he must assume that if he is to solve the
problem. Hewson made the functional equivalence of different marbles clear by playing a ‘swapping game’
with the children. The two modifications together produced a jump in success rates from 30 per cent to 90
per cent for five-yearthe olds and from 35 per cent to 72.5 per cent for four-year-olds. For three-year olds,
for reasons that are still in need of clarification, no improvement — rather a slight drop in performance –
resulted from the change.

We may conclude, then, that children experience very real difficulty when faced with the Kendler apparatus;
but this difficulty cannot be taken as proof that they are incapable of deductive reasoning.

15
Questions 28-35
Classify the following descriptions as a referring….
 Simon Hewson  SH
 Clark Hull     CH
 Howard and Tracy Kendler     HTK
 Micheal Cole and colleagues    MC

28. ………is cited as famous in the field of psychology.Write the appropriate letters in boxes 28-35 on your
answer sheet. NB You may use any answer more than once.
29. ………demonstrated that the two-stage experiment involving button-pressing and inserting a marble into
a hole poses problems for certain adults as well as children.
30. ………devised an experiment that investigated deductive reasoning without the use of any marbles.
31. ……….appears to have proved that a change in the apparatus dramatically improves the performance of
children of certain ages.
32. ………used a machine to measure inductive reasoning that replaced button-pressing with drawer-
opening.
33. ………experimented with things that the subjects might have been expected to encounter in everyday
life, rather than with a machine.
34. ………compared the performance of five-year-olds with college students, using the same apparatus with
both sets of subjects.
35. ………is cited as having demonstrated that earlier experiments into children’s ability to reason
deductively may have led to the wrong conclusions.
 
Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 36-40 on your
answer sheet write : YES               NO                NOT GIVEN   

 
36. Howard and Tracey Kendler studied under Clark Hull.
37. The Kendlers trained their subjects separately in the two stages of their experiment, but not in how to
integrate the two actions.
38. Michael Cole and his colleagues demonstrated that adult performance on inductive reasoning tasks
depends on features of the apparatus and procedure.
39. All Hewson’s experiments used marbles of the same size.
40. Hewson’s modifications resulted in a higher success rate for children of all ages.
 
Answer: 
28 CH;29 MC;30 MC;31 SH;32 SH;33 MC;34 HTK;35 SH;
36 NOT GIVEN;37 YES;38 YES;39 YES;40 NO

16
IELTS Reading Practice 39: Arctic Haze
In the 1950’s, pilots traveling on weather reconnaissance flights in the Canadian high Arctic reported seeing
bands of haze in the springtime in the Arctic region. It was during this time that the term “Arctic haze” was
first used, referring to this smog of unknown origin. But it was not until 1972, that Dr. Glenn Shaw of the
Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska first put forth ideas of the nature and long-range origin of
Arctic haze. The idea that the source was long range was very difficult for many to support. Each winter,
cold, dense air settles over the Arctic. In the darkness, the Arctic seems to become more and more polluted
by a buildup of mid-latitude emissions from fossil fuel combustion, smelting and other industrial processes.
By late winter, the Arctic is covered by a layer of this haze the size of the continent of Africa. When the
spring light arrives in the Arctic, there is a smog-like haze, which makes the region, at times, looks like
pollution over such cities as Los Angeles.
This polluted air is a well-known and well-characterized feature of the late winter Arctic environment. In the
North American Arctic, episodes of brown or black snow have been traced to continental storm tracks that
deliver gaseous and particulate-associated contaminants from Asian deserts and agricultural areas. It is now
known that the contaminants originate largely from Europe and Asia.
Arctic haze has been studied most extensively in Point Barrow, Alaska, across the Canadian Arctic and in
Svalbard (Norway). Evidence from ice cores drilled from the ice sheet of Greenland indicates that these haze
particles were not always present in the Arctic, but began to appear only in the last century. The Arctic haze
particles appear to be similar to smog particles observed in industrial areas farther south, consisting mostly
of sulfates mixed with particles of carbon. It is believed the particles are formed when gaseous sulfur
dioxide produced by burning sulfur-bearing coal is irradiated by sunlight and oxidized to sulfate, a process
catalyzed by trace elements in the air. These sulfate particles or droplets of sulfuric acid quickly capture the
carbon particles, which are also floating in the air. Pure sulfate particles or droplets are colourless, so it is
believed the darkness of the haze is caused by the mixed-in carbon particles.
The impact of the haze on Arctic ecosystems, as well as the global environment, has not been adequately
researched. The pollutants have only been studied in their aerosol form over the Arctic. However, little is
known about what eventually happens to them. It is known that they are removed somehow. There is a good
degree of likelihood that the contaminants end up in the ocean, likely into the North Atlantic, the Norwegian
Sea and possibly the Bering Sea — all three very important fisheries.
Currently, the major issue among researchers is to understand the impact of Arctic haze on global climate
change. The contaminants absorb sunlight and, in turn, heat up the atmosphere. The global impact of this is
currently unknown but the implications are quite powerful.
Questions 22 – 27
Complete the summary relating to Reading Passage “Arctic Haze” below.
Choose your answers from the box below the summary and write them in boxes 22 – 27 on your answer
sheet.
NB There are more words than spaces, so you will not use them at all.
Example: ……… that the origins of spring, arctic haze, first seen over the ice cap…Answer: Theories
(eg)__exp._____ that the origins of spring, arctic haze, first seen over the ice cap in the 1950s, came from
far away were at first not (22) _______. This haze is a smog formed in the dark, arctic winter by pollution
delivered to the Arctic by storms (23)_______ in Europe and Asia. It is known to be a recent phenomenon as
proof from (24) _______ shows it only starting to occur in the 20th Century. The smog consists of sulphates
and carbon, the latter creating the (25) _______ of the haze. Due to lack of research, the final destination of
the pollution is unknown but it probably ends up in the (26) _______ and therefore into the food chain.
Scientists are presently more worried about the (27) _______ effect it has on climate change.
burning              terrible         ice cores         valid             certain
originating         sea               destroying     theories       unknown
agriculture         decided        bird life        dissipating     accepted
gases                   darkness           air               density 

Answer: 22. Accepted 24. Ice cores 26. Sea

23. Originating 25. Darkness 27. Unknown

17
IELTS Reading Practice 40: Wind Power in the US
Prompted by the oil crises of the 1970s, a wind-power industry flourished briefly in the United States. But
then world oil prices dropped, and funding for research into renewable energy was cut. By the mid 1980s US
interest in wind energy as a large-scale source of energy had almost disappeared. The development of wind
power at this time suffered not only from badly designed equipment, but also from poor long-term planning,
economic projections that were too optimistic and the difficulty of finding suitable locations for the wind
turbines.

Only now are technological advances beginning to offer hope that wind power will come to be accepted as a
reliable and important source of electricity. There have been significant successes in California, in
particular, where wind farms now have a capacity of 1500 megawatts, comparable to a large nuclear or
fossil-fuelled power station, and produce 1.5 per cent of the state’s electricity.

Nevertheless, in the US, the image of wind power is still distorted by early failures. One of the most
persistent criticisms is that wind power is not a significant energy resource. Researchers at the Battelle
Northwest Laboratory, however, estimate that today wind turbine technology could supply 20 per cent of the
electrical power the country needs. As a local resource, wind power has even greater potential. Minnesota’s
energy commission calculates that a wind farm on one of the state’s south western ridges could supply
almost all that state’s electricity. North Dakota alone has enough sites suitable for wind farms to supply
more than a third of all electricity consumed in the continental US.

The prevailing notion that wind power is too costly results largely from early research which focused on
turbines with huge blades that stood hundreds of metres tall. These machines were not designed for ease of
production or maintenance, and they were enormously expensive. Because the major factors influencing the
overall cost of wind power are the cost of the turbine and its supporting systems, including land, as well as
operating and maintenance costs, it is hardly surprising that it was thought at the time that wind energy
could not be supplied at a commercially competitive price. More recent developments such as those seen on
California wind farms have dramatically changed the economic picture for wind energy. These systems, like
installations in Hawaii and several European countries, have benefited from the economies of scale that
come through standardised manufacturing and purchasing. The result has been a dramatic drop in capital
costs: the installed cost of new wind turbines stood at $1000 per kilowatt in 1993, down from about $4000
per kilowatt in 1980, and continues to fall. Design improvements and more efficient maintenance programs
for large numbers of turbines have reduced operating costs as well. The cost of electricity delivered by wind
farm turbines has decreased from about 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to between 7 and 9 cents, which is
generally less than the cost of electricity from conventional power stations. Reliability has also improved
dramatically. The latest turbines run more than 95 per cent of the time, compared with around 60 per cent in
the early 1980s. Another misconception is that improved designs are needed to make wind power feasible.
Out of the numerous wind turbine designs proposed or built by inventors or developers, the propeller-blade
type, which is based on detailed analytical models as well as extensive experimental data, has emerged as
predominant among the more than 20,000 machines now in commercial operation world-wide. Like the gas-
driven turbines that power jet aircraft, these are sophisticated pieces of rotating machinery. They are already
highly efficient, and there is no reason to believe that other configurations will produce major benefits. Like
other ways of generating electricity, wind power does not leave the environment entirely unharmed. There
are many potential problems, ranging from interference with telecommunications to impact on wildlife and
natural habitats. But these effects must be balanced against those associated with other forms of electricity
generation.

Conventional power stations impose hidden costs on society, such as the control of air pollution, the
management of nuclear waste and global warming. As wind power has been ignored in the US over the past
few years, expertise and commercial exploitation in the field have shifted to Europe. The European Union
spends 10 times as much as the US government on research and development of wind energy. It estimates
that at least 10 per cent of Europe’s electrical power could be supplied by land-based wind-turbines using
current technology. Indeed, according to the American Wind Energy Association, an independent

18
organisation based in Washington, Denmark, Britain, Spain and the Netherlands will each surpass the US in
the generating capacity of wind turbines installed during the rest of the decade.

1.  Which one of the statements is true?

A. Cost was a big factor in preventing the development of wind power

B. Wind power can provide enough electricty for the United States

C. Some US states are powered solely by wind

D. Wind power has developed steadily since the 1970s.

2. What is the general view of wind energy in the United States?

A. Very positive

B. It can only provide small amounts of energy

C. It will reduce global warming

D. Very negative

3. Which of these factors has not contributed to the reduced cost of wind energy?

A. State subsidies

B. Economies of scale

C. More efficient maintenance

D. Standardisation of design

4. Wind turbine designs …

A. Are already very good

B. Will be much more efficient in the future

C. Are expected to improve in the future

D. Are good for the environment

5.  Wind energy is more developed in Europe than the USA 

(False/True)

Answer:

 1. B      2.  C   3. A    4. A  5. TRUE

19