You are on page 1of 252

A WORKBOOK

LEVEL 6.0+

IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja


CONTENTS
READING

UNIT 1: MATCHING HEADING..................................................................................................................... 2


UNIT 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE........................................................................................................................ 23
UNIT 3: Y/N/NG - T/F/NG ............................................................................................................................. 44
UNIT 4: MATCHING ENDING/ MATCHING INFORMATION ................................................................... 61
LISTENING

UNIT 1: SECTION 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 80


UNIT 2: SECTION 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 107
UNIT 3: SECTION 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 131
UNIT 4: SECTION 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 159
WRITING

WRITING TASK 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 178


SENTENCE STRUCTURE ........................................................................................................................... 178
DESCRIBE AND COMPARE DATA ........................................................................................................... 180
LINE GRAPH ............................................................................................................................................... 183
BAR CHARTS .............................................................................................................................................. 186
NATURAL PROCESS .................................................................................................................................. 189
MANUFACTURING PROCESS ................................................................................................................... 189
MAP .............................................................................................................................................................. 195
TABLE .......................................................................................................................................................... 198
PIE CHARTS ................................................................................................................................................ 200
WRITING TASK 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 202
INTRODUCTION + IDEA EXTENSION ..................................................................................................... 202
OPININON ESAY ........................................................................................................................................ 205
DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................... 206
DISCUSSION- OPINION ............................................................................................................................. 206
CAUSES – SOLUTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 209
PROBLEMS – SOLUTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 209
SPEAKING

PART 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 212


PART 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 227
TOPIC VOCABULARY………………………………………………………...……………………………………….239
READING

1
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 1: MATCHING HEADING
Exercise 1

Question 1-6

Choose a suitable heading for each paragraph of the passage from the list below. Note there are more headings
than paragraphs.

List of headings
A. Food production must grow faster
B. Developing countries vs. rich countries
C. The Green Revolution
D. Avoiding ecological side-effects
E. Increasing the yield per hectare
F. What’s our future?
G. Food problems
H. Food production growth vs. population growth
I. Consumption of resources in rich countries
J. Improving quality and quantity

1. Paragraph 1 4. Paragraph 4
2. Paragraph 2 5. Paragraph 5
3. Paragraph 3 6. Paragraph 6
Population Growth and Food Supply

1 About two thirds of the world population live in what are loosely called “developing
countries”. Of course, strictly speaking, all countries are developing but the term is used
to describe those which are undeniably poor. Although the rich countries have only about
34 % of the world’s population, they earn about 90 % of the world’s income. They also
possess 90 % of the world financial resources, and 80 % of the world scientists and
technicians. They produce 80 % of the world protein – including 70 % of its meat and they
eat it.

2
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2 Thanks to an impressive succession of agricultural revolutions, man’s food-growing
capacity is now hundreds of times larger than it was at the turn of the century, and we are
now feeding more people than at any time in the history. Nonetheless, the number of
hungry and malnourished people is also larger than at any time in the history. Admittedly,
total food production has increased since 1961 in most parts of the world. Yet, per capita
food production is little changed from the inadequate levels of the early 1960s. In short,
world and regional production have barely kept up with population growth, as Fig. 1 shows

3 There appear to be five food problems. First, there is the problem of quantity – of every
human beings getting enough calories to provide him with the energy to work and
progress. Second, there is that of quality – of everyone getting enough of protein, vitamins,
and necessary minerals. Next, there is the matter of distribution: we have to find
satisfactory ways of transporting, storing and issuing food. Then there is the problem of
poverty: many people in developing countries do not have money to buy food in sufficient
quantity and of sufficient quality. And last, we must find ways of advoiding ecological
side-effects. In other words, we must be able to grow enough food without further
degrading our land, water and air.

4 A number of proposals have been made to improve food quantity and quality. An obvious
and very necessary one is to limit population growth. Another is to increase the amount of
land under cultivation by clearing forests and irrigating arid land. Furthermore, the ocean
(comprising 70 % of the Earth’s surface) is a potential source of more food, and there have
been developments recently in the use of nonconventional proteins and synthetic foods.
And last, various attempts are being made to increase the yield per hectare by developing
or selecting new genetic hybrids of plants (the “Green Revolution”), by increasing the use
of fertilizers, water, pesticides and herbicides, and by using modern agricultural and
management techniques in poorer countries.

5 But the basic facts remain, which are that the world’s population is increasing at a rate of
about 3 % p.a.. If food production can also be increased by 3 % p.a., this will provide for
human needs only at the present inadequate level. Something better is needed. Yet many
countries are already failing to increase the rate of their food production by 3 % annually.

3
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The situation is particularly disturbing because population increase and inadequate food
production are both worse in the very countries that are already short of food

6 Are we, then, doomed in massive famines in coming decades? There is no easy answer to
this controversial question. The introduction of new high-yield wheat and rice in parts of
Asia and Africa since 1967 created a wave of optimism. But by 1973, bad weather plus a
realization of the limitations of this increase in yield caused a return to pessimism. Some
experts point out that we are already experiencing the greatest famine in the history of
mankind, with somewhere between 5 and 20 million human beings dying from starvation,
malnutrition and malnutrition-caused diseases each year. Half are children under five.

Question 7-9
7. Choose a suitable title for the passage from the list below by circling an appropriate letter
A. Improve Food Quantity and Quality
B. Feeding the World
C. Problems Concerning Food Production
D. The Success of the Green Revolution
8. Name two food problems
__________ __________
9. Name two attempts made to increase the yield per hectare
__________ __________

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. Thanks to an impressive succession of agricultural revolutions, man’s food-growing capacity is now
hundreds of times larger than it was at the turn of the century, and we are now feeding more people than at any
time in the history.
Thanks to + N: nhờ có N
Hundeds of + N số nhiều: hàng trăm cái gì
S + be + Số times+ adj-er/ more adj than…: cái gì adj hơn cái gì gấp bao nhiêu lần
2. The situation is particularly disturbing because population increase and inadequate food production are both
worse in the very countries that are already short of food.
In short of N: thiếu N

4
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. Some experts point out that we are already experiencing the greatest famine in the history of mankind, with
somewhere between 5 and 20 million human beings dying from starvation, malnutrition and malnutrition-
caused diseases each year.
Giới từ + N/ Ving
Giới từ + S + Ving

Exercise 2

Question 1-6
Choose a suitable heading for each paragraph of the passage from the list below. Note there are more headings
than paragraphs.

List of headings
i. Poor sanitation a cause of health problems
ii. The first flush toilets
iii. Wooden sewage pipes
iv. The birth of sanitation
v. A new invention not widely implemented
vi. Americans use German technology
vii. The impact of waste water treatment
viii. The need for increasingly sophisticated systems
ix. Why populations grew
x. Ancient sewers updated for modern use

Example Answer
Paragraph A iv

1. Paragraph B 4. Paragraph E
2. Paragraph C 5. Paragraph F
3. Paragraph D 6. Paragraph G

5
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The Development of Sanitation Systems
(A) The first sanitation systems were built in the prehistoric Middle East, in the south-east of the modern country
of Iran near Zabol. An inverted siphon system, along with glass covered clay pipes, was used for the first time in
the palaces of Crete, Greece. It is still in working condition, after about 3000 years.

(B) Higher population densities required more complex sewer collection and conveyance systems to maintain
sanitary conditions in crowded cities. The ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro of the Indus Valley
civilisation constructed complex networks of bricklined sewage drains from around 2600 BC and also had outdoor
flush toilets connected to this network. The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilisation provided public and private
baths, sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water
management system with numerous reservoirs was established.

(C) Roman towns and garrisons in the United Kingdom between 46 BC and 400 AD had complex sewer networks
sometimes constructed out of hollowed-out elm logs, which were shaped so that they butted together with the
down-stream pipe providing a socket for the upstream pipe.

(D) In some cities, including Rome, Istanbul (Constantinople) and Fustat, networked ancient sewer systems
continue to function today as collection systems for those cities' modernised sewer systems. Instead of flowing to
a river or the sea, the pipes have been re-routed to modern sewer treatment facilities.

(E) Basic sewage systems remained in place with little positive change, until the 16th century, when Sir John
Harington invented the first flush toilet as a device for Queen Elizabeth I (his godmother) that released wastes
into cesspools. Despite this innovation, most cities did not have a functioning sewer system before the Industrial
era, relying instead on nearby rivers or occasional rain showers to wash away the sewage from the streets.

(F) The prevailing system was sufficient for the needs of early cities with few occupants, but the tremendous
growth of cities during the Industrial Revolution quickly led to terribly over-polluted streets, which acted as a
constant source for the outbreak of disease. As recently as the late 19th century sewerage systems in some parts
of the highly industrialised United Kingdom were so inadequate that water-borne diseases such as cholera and
typhoid remained a risk.

(G) The first comprehensive sewer system was built in Hamburg, Germany in the mid-19th century, and the first
such systems in the United States were built in the late 1850s in Chicago and Brooklyn. Initially these systems
discharged sewage directly to surface waters without treatment. But as pollution of water bodies became a
concern, cities attempted to treat the sewage before discharge. During the half-century around 1900, these public
health interventions succeeded in drastically reducing the incidence of waterborne diseases among the urban
population, and were an important cause in the increases of life expectancy experienced at the time.
6
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW
Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
1. B) required more complex sewer systems
2. C) sewer constructed out of elm logs
3. D) ancient sewers re-routed to modern sewer
facilities
4. E) despite this innovation, most cities did not have
a functioning system
5. F) sewerage so inadequate… a source for the
outbreak of disease
6. G) attempted to treat sewage…succeeded in
reducing diseases

Practice 1 (Cambridge 10, test 1, passage 2)


Questions 14-21
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-I. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E and G-I from the
list of headings below. Write the correct number i-xi, in boxes 14-21 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
I A fresh and important long-term goal
ii Charging for roads and improving other transport methods
iii Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported
iv Taking all the steps necessary to change transport patterns
v The environmental costs of road transport
vi The escalating cost of rail transport
vii The need to achieve transport rebalance
viii The rapid growth of private transport
ix Plans to develop major road networks
x Restricting road use through charging policies alone
xi Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission

7
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Example Answer
Paragraph F vii

14. Paragraph A 18. Paragraph E


15. Paragraph B 19. Paragraph G
16. Paragraph C 20. Paragraph H
17. Paragraph D 21. Paragraph I

EUROPEAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS 1990-2010


What have been the trends and prospects for European transport systems?
A. It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport system. Although modern
information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by facilitating teleworking and
teleservices, the requirement for transport continues to increase. There are two key factors behind this trend. For
passenger transport, the determining factor is the spectacular growth in car use. The number of cars on European
Union (EU) roads saw an increase of three million cars each year from 1990 to 2010, and in the next decade the
EU will see a further substantial increase in its fleet.

B. As far as goods transport is concerned, growth is due to a large extent to changes in the European economy
and its system of production. In the last 20 years, as internal frontiers have been abolished, the EU has moved
from a ”stock” economy to a ”flow” economy. This phenomenon has been emphasized by the relocation of some
industries, particularly those which are labour intensive, to reduce production costs, even though the production
site is hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from the final assembly plant or away from users.

C. The strong economic growth expected in countries which are candidates for entry to the EU will also increase
transport flows, in particular road haulage traffic. In 1998, some of these countries already exported more than
twice their 1990 volumes and imported more than five times their 1990 volumes. And although many candidate
countries inherited a transport system which encourages rail, the distribution between modes has tipped sharply
in favour of road transport since the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1998,road haulage increased by 19.4%, while
during the same period rail haulage decreased by 43.5%, although – and this could benefit the enlarged EU – it is
still on average at a much higher level than in existing member states.

D. However, a new imperative-sustainable development – offers an opportunity for adapting the EU’s common
transport policy. This objective, agreed by the Gothenburg European Council, has to be achieved by integrating
environmental considerations into Community policies, and shifting the balance between modes of transport lies
at the heart of its strategy. The ambitious objective can only be fully achieved by 2020, but proposed measures
8
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
are nonetheless a first essential step towards a sustainable transport system which will ideally be in place in 30
years‟ time, that is by 2040.

E. In 1998, energy consumption in the transport sector was to blame for 28% of emissions of CO2,the leading
greenhouse gas. According to the latest estimates, if nothing is done to reverse the traffic growth trend, CO2
emissions from transport can be expected to increase by around 50% to 1,113 billion tonnes by 2020,compared
with the 739 billion tonnes recorded in 1990. Once again, road transport is the main culprit since it alone accounts
for 84% of the CO2 emissions attributable to transport. Using alternative fuels and improving energy efficiency
is thus both an ecological necessity and a technological challenge.

F. At the same time greater efforts must be made to achieve a modal shift. Such a change cannot be achieved
overnight, all the less so after over half a century of constant deterioration in favour of road. This has reached
such a pitch that today rail freight services are facing marginalization, with just 8% of market share, and with
international goods trains struggling along at an average speed of 18km/h. Three possible options have emerged.

G. The first approach would consist of focusing on road transport solely through pricing. This option would not
be accompanied by complementary measures in the other modes of transport. In the short term it might curb the
growth in road transport through the better loading ratio of goods vehicles and occupancy rates of passenger
vehicles expected as a result of the increase in the price of transport. However, the lack of measures available to
revitalize other modes of transport would make it impossible for more sustainable modes of transport to take up
the baton.

H. The second approach also concentrates on road transport pricing but is accompanied by measures to increase
the efficiency of the other modes (better quality of services, logistics, technology). However, this approach does
not include investment in new infrastructure, nor does it guarantee better regional cohesion. It could help to
achieve greater uncoupling than the first approach, but road transport would keep the lion‟s share of the market
and continue to concentrate on saturated arteries, despite being the most polluting of the modes. It is therefore not
enough to guarantee the necessary shift of the balance.

I. The third approach, which is not new, comprises a series of measures ranging from pricing to revitalizing
alternative modes of transport and targeting investment in the trans-European network. This integrated approach
would allow the market shares of the other modes to return to their 1998 levels and thus make a shift of balance.
It is far more ambitious than it looks, bearing in mind the historical imbalance in favour of roads for the last fifty
years, but would achieve a marked break in the link between road transport growth and economic growth, without
placing restrictions on the mobility of people and goods.

9
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 22-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

22. The need for transport is growing, despite technological developments.


23. To reduce production costs, some industries have been moved closer to their relevant consumers.
24. Cars are prohibitively expensive in some EU candidate countries.
25. The Gothenburg European Council was set up 30 years ago.
26. By the end of this decade, CO2 emissions from transport are predicted to reach 739 billion tonnes.
FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW
Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
14. Vigorous economic growth
Passenger transport
17. The ambitious objective
19. Restrict road use
20. Road transport pricing
Increase the efficiency
Modes
22. The need for transport
Technological developments

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport system.
It + be + adj to V: rất adj để V
2. . This phenomenon has been emphasized by the relocation of some industries, particularly those which are
labour intensive, to reduce production costs, even though the production site is hundreds or even thousands of
kilometres away from the final assembly plant or away from users.
S + V, even though S + V: S + V, dù rằng S + V.

10
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. The strong economic growth expected in countries which are candidates for entry to the EU will also increase
transport flows, in particular road haulage traffic
N + Ving/ P2: mệnh đề quan hệ rút gọn

Practice 2 (Cambridge 11, test 2, passage 2)


Questions 14-20
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 14-7 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Evidence of innovative environment management practices
ii An undisputed answer to a question about the Moai
iii The future of the Moai statues
iv A theory which supports a local belief
v The future of Easter Island
vi Two opposing views about the Rapanui people
vii Destruction outside the inhabitants’ control
viii How the statues made a situation worse
ix Diminishing food resources

14. Paragraph A 18. Paragraph E


15. Paragraph B 19. Paragraph F
16. Paragraph C 20. Paragraph G
17. Paragraph D
WHAT DESTROYED THE CIVILIZATION OF EASTER ISLAND?
A. Easter Island, or Rapu Nui as it is known locally, is home to several hundred ancient human statues - the moai.
After this remote Pacific island was settled by the Polynesians, it remained isolated for centuries. All the energy
and resources that went into the moai - some of which are ten metres tall and weigh over 7,000 kilos - came from
the island itself. Yet when Dutch explorers landed in 1722, they met a Stone Age culture. The moai were carved
with stone tools, then transported for many kilometres, without the use of animals or wheels, to massive
stone platforms. The identity of the moai builders was in doubt until well into the twentieth century. Thor
Heyerdahl, the Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer, thought the statues had been created by pre-Inca peoples
11
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
from Peru. Bestselling Swiss author Erich von Daniken believed they were built by stranded extraterrestrials.
Modern science - linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence - has definitively proved the moai builders were
Polynesians, but not how they moved their creations. Local folklore maintains that the statues walked, while
researchers have tended to assume the ancestors dragged the statues somehow, using ropes and logs.

B. When the Europeans arrived, Rapa Nui was grassland, with only a few scrawny trees. In the 1970s and 1980s,
though, researchers found pollen preserved in lake sediments, which proved the island had been covered in lush
palm forests for thousands of years. Only after the Polynesians arrived did those forests disappear. US scientist
Jared Diamond believes that the Rapanui people - descendants of Polynesian settlers - wrecked their own
environment. They had unfortunately settled on an extremely fragile island - dry, cool, and too remote to be
properly fertilised by windblown volcanic ash. When the islanders cleared the forests for firewood and farming,
the forests didn’t grow back. As trees became scarce and they could no longer construct wooden canoes for
fishing, they ate birds. Soil erosion decreased their crop yields. Before Europeans arrived, the Rapanui
had descended into civil war and cannibalism, he maintains. The collapse of their isolated civilisation, Diamond
writes, is a ’worst-case scenario for what may lie ahead of us in our own future’.

C. The moai, he thinks, accelerated the self-destruction. Diamond interprets them as power displays by rival
chieftains who, trapped on a remote little island, lacked other ways of asserting their dominance. They competed
by building ever bigger figures. Diamond thinks they laid the moai on wooden sledges, hauled over log rails, but
that required both a lot of wood and a lot of people. To feed the people, even more land had to be cleared. When
the wood was gone and civil war began, the islanders began toppling the moai. By the nineteenth century none
were standing.

D. Archaeologists Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University agree that
Easter Island lost its lush forests and that it was an ‘ecological catastrophe' - but they believe the islanders
themselves weren’t to blame. And the moai certainly weren’t. Archaeological excavations indicate that
the Rapanui went to heroic efforts to protect the resources of their wind-lashed, infertile fields. They built
thousands of circular stone windbreaks and gardened inside them, and used broken volcanic rocks to keep the soil
moist. In short, Hunt and Lipo argue, the prehistoric Rapanui were pioneers of sustainable farming.

E. Hunt and Lipo contend that moai-building was an activity that helped keep the peace between islanders. They
also believe that moving the moai required few people and no wood, because they were walked upright. On that
issue, Hunt and Lipo say, archaeological evidence backs up Rapanui folklore. Recent experiments indicate that
as few as 18 people could, with three strong ropes and a bit of practice, easily manoeuvre a 1,000 kg moai replica
a few hundred metres. The figures’ fat bellies tilted them forward, and a D-shaped base allowed handlers to roll
and rock them side to side.
12
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
F. Moreover, Hunt and Lipo are convinced that the settlers were not wholly responsible for the loss of the island’s
trees. Archaeological finds of nuts from the extinct Easter Island palm show tiny grooves, made by the teeth of
Polynesian rats. The rats arrived along with the settlers, and in just a few years, Hunt and Lipo calculate, they
would have overrun the island. They would have prevented the reseeding of the slow-growing palm trees and
thereby doomed Rapa Nui’s forest, even without the settlers’ campaign of deforestation. No doubt the rats ate
birds’ eggs too. Hunt and Lipo also see no evidence that Rapanui civilisation collapsed when the palm forest did.
They think its population grew rapidly and then remained more or less stable until the arrival of the Europeans,
who introduced deadly diseases to which islanders had no immunity. Then in the nineteenth century slave traders
decimated the population, which shrivelled to 111 people by 1877.

G. Hunt and Lipo’s vision, therefore, is one of an island populated by peaceful and ingenious moai builders and
careful stewards of the land, rather than by reckless destroyers ruining their own environment and society. ‘Rather
than a case of abject failure, Rapu Nui is an unlikely story of success’, they claim. Whichever is the case, there
are surely some valuable lessons which the world at large can learn from the story of Rapa Nui.

Questions 21-24

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.

Jared Diamond’s View

Diamond believes that the Polynesian settlers on Rapa Nui destroyed its forests, cutting down its trees for fuel
and clearing land for (21)………………..

Twentieth-century discoveries of pollen prove that Rapu Nui had once been covered in palm forests, which had
turned into grassland by the time the Europeans arrived on the island.

When the islanders were no longer able to build the (22)………………. they needed to go fishing, they began
using the island’s (23)……………. as a food source, according to Diamond.

Diamond also claims that the moai were built to show the power of the island’s chieftains, and that the methods
of transporting the statues needed not only a great number of people, but also a great deal of (24)………………..

Questions 25-26

Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 25-26 on your answer sheet.

13
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
On what points do Hunt and Lipo disagree with Diamond?

A. The period when the moai were created


B. How the moai were transported
C. The impact of the moai on Rapanui society
D. How the moai were carved
E. The origins of the people who made the moai

FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW


Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
15. Wrecked environment; decreased crop yields
16. Accelerated the self-destruction
18. Archeological evidence
19. Not wholly responsible for
21. Destroy its forests
Fuel
22. Build
23. Food source
24. Needed

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. US scientist Jared Diamond believes that the Rapanui people - descendants of Polynesian settlers - wrecked
their own environment.
2. Hunt and Lipo’s vision, therefore, is one of an island populated by peaceful and ingenious moai builders and
careful stewards of the land, rather than by reckless destroyers ruining their own environment and society.
A, rather than B: A, thay vì B
3. Archaeological excavations indicate that the Rapanui went to heroic efforts to protect the resources of their
wind-lashed, infertile fields.
S1 indicate that S2 + V: S1 chỉ ra rằng S2 + V.

14
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 3 (Test plus 2, test 1, passage 1)

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number (i-x) in
boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

List of headings
i Considering ecological costs
ii Modifications to the design of the snow gun
iii The need for different varieties of snow
iv Local concern over environmental issues
v A problem and a solution
vi Applications beyond the ski slopes
vii Converting wet snow to dry snow
viii New method for calculating modifications
ix Artificial process, natural product
x Snow formation in nature

Example Answer
Paragraph A v
Paragraph B x

1. Paragraph C 4. Paragraph F
2. Paragraph D 5. Paragraph G
3. Paragraph E

Snow-makers
Skiing is big business nowadays. But what can ski resort owners do if the snow doesn't come?

A. In the early to mid-twentieth century, with the growing popularity of skiing, ski slopes became extremely
profitable businesses. But ski resort owners were completely dependent on the weather: if it didn't snow, or didn’t
snow enough, they had to close everything down. Fortunately, a device called the snow gun can now provide
snow whenever it is needed. These days such machines are standard equipment in the vast majority of ski resorts
around the world, making it possible for many resorts to stay open for months or more a year.

15
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. Snow formed by natural weather systems comes from water vapour in the atmosphere. The water vapour
condenses into droplets, forming clouds. If the temperature is sufficiently low, the water droplets freeze into tiny
ice crystals. More water particles then condense onto the crystal and join with it to form a snowflake. As the snow
flake grows heavier, it falls towards the Earth.

C. The snow gun works very differently from a natural weather system, but it accomplishes exactly the same
thing. The device basically works by combining water and air. Two different hoses are attached to the gun. one
leading from a water pumping station which pumps water up from a lake or reservoir, and the other leading from
an air compressor. When the compressed air passes through the hose into the gun. it atomises the water - that is,
it disrupts the stream so that the water splits up into tiny droplets. The droplets are then blown out of the gun and
if the outside temperature is below 0°C, ice crystals will form, and will then make snowflakes in the same way as
natural snow.

D. Snow-makers often talk about dry snow and wet snow. Dry snow has a relatively low amount of water, so it
is very light and powdery. This type of snow is excellent for skiing because skis glide over it easily without getting
stuck in wet slush. One of the advantages of using a snow-maker is that this powdery snow can be produced to
give the ski slopes a level surface. However, on slopes which receive heavy use, resort owners also use denser,
wet snow underneath the dry snow. Many resorts build up the snow depth this way once or twice a year, and then
regularly coat the trails with a layer of dry snow throughout the winter.

E. The wetness of snow is dependent on the temperature and humidity outside, as well as the size of the water
droplets launched by the gun. Snow-makers have to adjust the proportions of water and air in their snow guns to
get the perfect snow consistency for the outdoor weather conditions. Many ski slopes now do this with a central
computer system that is connected to weather-reading stations all over the slope.

F. But man-made snow makes heavy demands on the environment. It takes about 275,000 litres of water to create
a blanket of snow covering a 60x60 metre area. Most resorts pump water from one or more reservoirs located in
low-lying areas. The run-off water from the slopes feeds back into these reservoirs, so the resort can actually use
the same water over and over again. However, considerable amounts of energy are needed to run the large air-
compressing pumps, and the diesel engines which run them also cause air pollution.

G. Because of the expense of making snow, ski resorts have to balance the cost of running the machines with the
benefits of extending the ski season, making sure they only make snow when it is really needed and when it will
bring the maximum amount of profit in return for the investment. But man-made snow has a number of other uses
as well. A layer of snow keeps a lot of the Earth’s heat from escaping into the atmosphere, so farmers often use
man-made snow to provide insulation for winter crops. Snow-making machines have played a big part in many

16
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
movie productions. Movie producers often take several months to shoot scenes that cover just a few days. If the
movie takes place in a snowy setting, the set decorators have to get the right amount of snow for each day of
shooting either by adding man-made snow or melting natural snow. And another important application of man-
made snow is its use in the tests that aircraft must undergo in order to ensure that they can function safely in
extreme conditions.

Questions 6-8

Label the diagram below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 6-8
on your answer sheet.

Questions 9-13

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

9. Dry snow is used to give slopes a level surface, while wet snow is used to increase the ................. on busy
slopes.

10. To calculate the required snow consistency, the ................. of the atmosphere must first be measured.

11. The machinery used in the process of making the snow consumes a lot of ................. which is damaging to
the environment.
17
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
12. Artificial snow is used in agriculture as a type of ................. for plants in cold conditions.

13. Artificial snow may also be used in carrying out safety checks on .................

FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW


Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
9. Build up

10. The required snow consistency


Atmosphere
11. Damaging to the environment
12. Artificial snow
Plants in cold condition
13. Carrying out safety checks

Practice 4 (Test plus 2, test 2, passage 1)

Question 1-6

Choose the correct heading for Paragraphs B, D, E, F, G & H from the list of headings below. Write the correct
number (i-xi) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

List of headings
i Not identifying the correct priorities
ii A solution for the long term
iii The difficulty of changing your mind
iv Why looking back is unhelpful
v Strengthening inner resources
vi A successful approach to the study of decision-making
vii The danger of trusting a global market
viii Reluctance to go beyond the familiar
ix The power of the first number
x The need for more effective risk assessment
xi Underestimating the difficulties ahead

18
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Example Answer

Paragraph A x

Paragraph C xi

1. Paragraph B 4. Paragraph F

2. Paragraph D 5. Paragraph G

3. Paragraph E 6. Paragraph H

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

19
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
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 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

20
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
governments too. They face a whole range of sometimes conflicting political pressures, which means they are
even more likely to take irrational decisions.

Questions 7-10

Choose the correct answer A, B, C or. Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

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.

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.

21
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 11-13

Answer the questions below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

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?

FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW


Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
1. Successful approach

2. Number
Take a strange hold over
3. Change your mind
7. Unusual
13. Deal with uncertainty

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. Once a figure has been mentioned, it takes a strange hold over the human mind.
Once S + V, S + V: 1 khi mà S + V, S + V
2. 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.
3. No one likes to abandon a cherished belief, and the earlier a decision has been taken, the harder it is to
abandon it.
The adv-er/ more adv S + V, the adv-er/ more adv S + V: S + V càng adv, S + V càng adv.

22
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE
Exercise 1

The lost city of DeMille emerges from the Desert sands of California
For 75 years, the majestic dunes that tower over this humble coastal village have held one of Hollywood's oldest
and strangest secrets.

Cecil B. DeMille, a founding father of motion pictures, once chose this remote, wind-swept site 170 miles north
of Los Angeles to erect a plaster replica of ancient Egypt and stage his 1923 silent epic "The Ten
Commandments." It had all the right touches, on a monumental scale -- from walls of a pharaoh's city rising 10
stories high to an avenue of nearly two dozen five-ton sphinxes lining the sand. There had never been anything
like it, and it remains one of the largest movie sets ever built.

But once the cameras stopped rolling and a cast of thousands was sent packing, it all vanished, for a long time
almost without a trace. Then in his memoirs, DeMille dropped a playful hint of the historic set's mysterious fate.
"If 1,000 years from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadalupe," he wrote, "I hope they
will not rush into print with the amazing news that Egyptian civilization, far from being confined to the Valley of
the Nile, extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean of North America."

They won't. Because now, in an only-in-California endeavor as sublime as it is ridiculous, what's left of the lost
city of DeMille may soon be saved by an authentic archaeological dig like none other.

That all of the Egyptian relics to be excavated are fake hardly matters, at least not to the small and zealous band
of filmmakers and archaeologists leading the unusual project, or to the curious towns around here that are
beginning to help pay for it. Inside the new Dunes Discovery Center along the creaking and dusty old main street
of Guadalupe (pop. 6,000), some worn, fragile DeMille props that already have been discovered are even being
displayed reverently in glass cases, as if they were priceless artifacts.

"Digging up a fake Egyptian city in California is hard to do without laughing, I know," said Peter Brosnan, 46, a
documentary filmmaker in Los Angeles who has made DeMille's buried set his abiding pastime. "But this is an
important piece of early 20th century American history. It's about the only set left from the era of silent film. We
know it's down there in the sand, and we think it's mostly intact."

Chunks of artful plaster are not all they are after. The sheer size of DeMille's production also makes it a rich time
capsule preserved in a mountain of sand, with abundant emblems of daily life from the 1920s. Something always
turns up when the sands shift, such as cough syrup bottles once used to hold sips of alcohol. To make the film,

23
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
DeMille marched an army of 2,500 actors from Los Angeles and kept them captive there for two months in an
elaborate tent city assembled on the 18-mile stretch of dunes. More than 1,500 construction workers also came to
build the mammoth biblical set.

DeMille, who remade the same film in the 1950s in Egypt with Charlton Heston playing Moses, even hired
musicians to lug instruments into the sands of Guadalupe and play for the huge cast as it worked. But their
performances on the set ended one day when a runaway horse-drawn chariot crashed into the orchestra pit.

"At first I thought that doing a real dig for this was a little strange," said John Parker, a California archaeologist
who has worked extensively at the dunes. "In order not to destroy this stuff we have to use the same techniques
we would use as if this was a 10,000-year-old prehistoric site. But along with the film history we find, it could be
a great way to see what life was like here in the 1920s."

By the time he was finished, DeMille had spent $1.4 million filming the biblical epic, an astonishing sum at the
time. And he was way over budget.

Brosnan said that he suspects DeMille buried the set because it was the cheapest option he had. Other film
historians contend that he also may have been worried that another director would sneakily use it and release a
similar movie faster. No one knows for sure, but answers could lie deep in the sands.

Archaeologists are convinced that more than one-third of the film set is long gone, ravaged by time and the
powerful forces of nature along the ocean here. But after using ground-penetrating radar to probe the dunes, some
of which slope as high as 500 feet, they believe they finally know exactly where everything that's left has been
entombed. Many of the sphinxes, as well as several 35-foot statues of a pharaoh king that DeMille put outside the
walls of his phony Egyptian city, seem fairly well preserved, they say.

"They really did a good job hiding it back then," said Liz Scott-Graham, the program manager at the Dunes
Discovery Center, a nonprofit group that owns the dunes and treats them like a nature preserve. "You would never
know it's all still there."

1. Why did DeMille build the Egyptian city?


A. To shoot “The Ten Commandments”
B. To build a tourist resort
C. To commemorate a pharaoh
D. To study Egyptian culture
2. Film makers and archaeologists show interest in the site
A. Because they could study people’s life in the 1920s
B. Because they could study how films were made in the 1920s
24
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C. Because they wanted to know how the city was built
D. Because they wanted to remake the film
3. The following statements are true except
A. DeMille buried the set because he didn’t want others to use it.
B. DeMille didn’t finish the film because of the budget and had to remake it in the 1950s.
C. DeMille buried the set because it was the cheapest way.
D. DeMille used more than 4000 people in building the set and making the film.
4. What happened to the buried city?
A. More than one-third of the city is damaged because of the powerful forces of nature.
B. The city was so well hidden that nearly everything remains intact.
C. Part of the city has been used by other film makers.
D. Most of the city is long gone.

Exercise 2

The Brain Drain

Human capital flight, sometimes called “brain drain”, refers to the emigration of intelligent, well-educated
individuals to another country for better pay or conditions, causing the home country to lose those skilled people,
or “brains”.

The term "brain drain" was coined by the Royal Society in the 1950s to describe the emigration of scientists and
technologists to North America from post-war Europe. Albert Einstein was an earlier, and perhaps the most
famous, example of this form of emigration. Einstein was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to
power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany, where he had been a professor at the Berlin
Academy of Sciences. He settled in the U.S., becoming an American citizen in 1940. Although the term originally
referred to science and technology workers leaving a nation, the meaning has broadened to describe "the departure
of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another, usually for better pay
or living conditions”.

As with other human migration, the social environment is considered to be a key reason for this population shift.
In source countries, lack of opportunities, political instability or oppression, economic depression, and health
risks contribute to brain drain. Host countries, on the other hand, may offer employment opportunities, political
stability and freedom, a developed economy, and better living conditions. At the individual level, family
influences (relatives living overseas, for example), as well as personal preferences, career ambitions and other
motivating factors can be considered.
25
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
In spite of its negative connotation, “brain drain” migration can be seen in a positive light. There is obviously a
benefit to the migrating individuals, in terms of career progression, quality of life and earning power. These
professionals often send remittances home to family members, and they may at some point return to their home
countries with enhanced knowledge and skills. The home country may also experience an increase in demand for
higher level education as people see the opportunities for educated workers overseas.

On the other hand, it is almost certainly more beneficial for a country to gain educated professionals than to lose
them. It can be argued that the brain drain leads to an uneven distribution of knowledge, promoting innovation
and development in destination countries, while stripping ‘source’ countries of their best workers, and therefore
hindering their progress.

Some governments have policies to retain skilled workers. In Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France, for
example, government-funded initiatives have been established to assist professionals working abroad to return to
their home countries. By contrast, the Indian government has not adopted such policies, believing that the lost
talent will eventually contribute to the nation in the future.

1. People first used the term “brain drain”

A. during the Second World War

B. when Albert Einstein decided to settle in the USA

C. to refer to the emigration of skilled Europeans after the Second World War

D. to describe immigration in North America

2. “Brain drain” migration is thought to be the result of

A. social and environmental factors in developing countries

B. the problems people face in source countries, and the allure of a better life

C. families living in different parts of the world

D. workers becoming more ambitious

3. When people emigrate to work abroad

A. they may help their families by sending money home

B. they usually return home to visit family members

C. they benefit from better education systems in the destination countries

26
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
D. their home countries receive money for higher education

4. To curb the negative effects of a “brain drain”

A. most countries promote innovation

B. all governments have policies to stop skilled workers leaving

C. Indian migrants are expected to send financial contributions home

D. schemes have been implemented in some countries to bring migrants home

Practice 1 (Test plus 2, test 5, passage 1)

Sustainable architecture - lessons from the ant


Termite mounds were the inspiration for an innovative design in sustainable living

Africa owes its termite mounds a lot. Trees and shrubs take root in them. Prospectors mine them, looking for
specks of gold carried up by termites from hundreds of metres below. And of course, they are a special treat to
aardvarks and other insectivores.

Now, Africa is paying an offbeat tribute to these towers of mud. The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare,
Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as
the termite mound.

Termites in Zimbabwe build gigantic mounds inside which they farm a fungus that is their primary food source.
This must be kept at exactly 30.5°C, while the temperatures on the African yield outside can range from 1.5°C at
night only just above freezing to a baking hot 40°C during the day. The termites achieve this remarkable feat by
building a system of vents in the mound. Those at the base lead down into chambers cooled by wet mud carried
up from water tables far below, and others lead up through a Hue to the peak of the mound. By constantly opening
and closing these heating and cooling vents over the course of the day the termites succeed in keeping the
temperature constant in spite of the wide fluctuations outside.

Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air
conditioning and virtually no heating. The building the country's largest commercial and shopping complex uses
less than I0% of the energy of a conventional building its size. These efficiencies translated directly to the bottom
line: the Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air- conditioning plant didn't
have to be imported. These savings were also passed on to tenants: rents are 20% lower than in a new building
next door.

27
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium open to the breezes.
Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into
each office through baseboard vents. As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exits
through forty- eight brick chimneys.

To keep the harsh, high yield sun from heating the interior, no more than 25% of the outside is glass, and all the
windows are screened by cement arches that just out more than a metre.

During summer’s cool nights, big fans flush air through the building seven times an hour to chill the hollow floors.
By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in
contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.

This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little humidity and rapid
temperature swings days as warm as 31°C commonly drop to 14°C at night. ‘You couldn’t do this in New York,
with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,’ Pearce said. But then his eyes lit up at the
challenge.' Perhaps you could store the summer's heat in water somehow.

The engineering firm of Ove Amp & Partners, which worked with him on the design, monitors daily temperatures
outside, under the floors and at knee, desk and ceiling level. Ove Arup's graphs show that the temperature of the
building has generally stayed between 23"C and 25°C, with the exception of the annual hot spell just before the
summer rains in October, and three days in November, when a janitor accidentally switched off the fans at night.
The atrium, which funnels the winds through, can be much cooler. And the air is fresh far more so than in air-
conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.

Pearce, disdaining smooth glass skins as ‘igloos in the Sahara’, calls his building, with its exposed girders and
pipes, ‘spiky’. The design of the entrances is based on the porcupine-quill headdresses of the local Shona
tribe. Elevators are designed to look like the mineshaft cages used in Zimbabwe's diamond mines. The shape of
the fan covers, and the stone used in their construction, are echoes of Great Zimbabwe, the ruins that give the
country its name.

Standing on a roof catwalk, peering down inside at people as small as termites below. Pearce said he hoped plants
would grow wild in the atrium and pigeons and bats would move into it, like that termite fungus, further extending
the whole 'organic machine’ metaphor. The architecture, he says, is a regionalised style that responds to the
biosphere, to the ancient traditional stone architecture of Zimbabwe's past, and to local human resources.

28
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 1-5

Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. Why do termite mounds have a system of vents?


A. to allow the termites to escape from predators
B. to enable the termites to produce food
C. to allow the termites to work efficiently
D. to enable the termites to survive at night
2. Why was Eastgate cheaper to build than a conventional building?
A. Very few materials were imported.
B. Its energy consumption was so low.
C. Its tenants contributed to the costs.
D. No air conditioners were needed.
3. Why would a building like Eastgate not work efficiently in New York?
A. Temperature change occurs seasonally rather than daily.
B. Pollution affects the storage of heat in the atmosphere.
C. Summer and winter temperatures are too extreme.
D. Levels of humidity affect cloud coverage.
4. What does Ove Arup’s data suggest about Eastgate’s temperature control system?
A. It allows a relatively wide range of temperatures.
B. The only problems are due to human error.
C. It functions well for most of the year.
D. The temperature in the atrium may fall too low.
5. Pearce believes that his building would be improved by
A. becoming more of a habitat for wildlife.
B. even closer links with the history of Zimbabwe.
C. giving people more space to interact with nature.
D. better protection from harmful organisms.

Questions 6-10
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 1, use NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

6. Warm air leaves the offices through ……………………………


7. The warm air leaves the building through………………………..
29
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
8. Heat from the sun is prevented from reaching the windows by……………………..
9. When the outside temperature drops, ……………… bring air in from outside
10. On cold days, …………… raise the temperature in the offices

Questions 11-13

Answer the question below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

A. entrance D. elevators

B. quill E. fan covers

C. cages F. stone

Which three parts of the Eastgate Building reflect important features of Zimbabwe’s history and culture?
11. …………………………. 12. ………………………….. 13. …………………........

FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW


Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
1. Produce food
2. Cheaper to build
5. Habitat for wildlife

6. Leave
7. Leave
8. Heat, prevented by
9. Temperature drops
Bring air
10. On cold days
11-13. Reflect

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. Termites in Zimbabwe build gigantic mounds inside which they farm a fungus that is their primary food
source. This must be kept at exactly 30.5°C, while the temperatures on the African yield outside can range

30
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
from 1.5°C at night only just above freezing to a baking hot 40°C during the day. The termites achieve this
remarkable feat by building a system of vents in the mound.
2. These efficiencies translated directly to the bottom line: the Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36
million building because an air- conditioning plant didn't have to be imported.

Practice 2 (Cambridge 12, test 7, passage 3)

Music and the emotions


Neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer considers the emotional power of music

Why does music make us feel? On the one hand, music is a purely abstract art form, devoid of language or explicit
ideas. And yet, even though music says little, it still manages to touch us deeply. When listening to our favorite
songs, our body betrays all the symptoms of emotional arousal. The pupils in our eyes dilate, our pulse and blood
pressure rise, the electrical conductance of our skin is lowered, and the cerebellum, a brain region associated with
bodily movement, becomes strangely active. Blood is even re-directed to the muscles in our legs. In other words,
sound stirs us at our biological roots.

A recent paper in Neuroscience by a research team in Montreal, Canada, marks an important step in revealing the
precise underpinnings of ‘the potent pleasurable stimulus’ that is music. Although the study involves plenty of
fancy technology, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and ligand-based positron emission
tomography (PET) scanning, the experiment itself was rather straightforward. After screening 217 individuals
who responded to advertisements requesting people who experience ‘chills’ to instrumental music, the scientists
narrowed down the subject pool to ten. They then asked the subjects to bring in their playlist of favorite songs -
virtually every genre was represented, from techno to tango - and played them the music while their brain activity
was monitored. Because the scientists were combining methodologies (PET and fMRI), they were able to obtain
an impressively exact and detailed portrait of music in the brain. The first thing they discovered is that music
triggers the production of dopamine - a chemical with a key role in setting people’s moods - by the neurons (nerve
cells) in both the dorsal and ventral regions of the brain. As these two regions have long been linked with the
experience of pleasure, this finding isn’t particularly surprising.

What is rather more significant is the finding that the dopamine neurons in the caudate-a region of the brain
involved in learning stimulus-response associations, and in anticipating food and other ‘reward’ stimuli - were at
their most active around 15 seconds before the participants’ favorite moments in the music. The researchers call
this the ‘anticipatory phase’ and argue that the purpose of this activity is to help us predict the arrival of our

31
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
favorite part. The question, of course, is what all these dopamine neurons are up to. Why are they so active in the
period preceding the acoustic climax? After all, we typically associate surges of dopamine with pleasure, with the
processing of actual rewards. And yet, this cluster of cells is most active when the ‘chills’ have yet to arrive, when
the melodic pattern is still unresolved.

One way to answer the question is to look at the music and not the neurons. While music can often seem (at least
to the outsider) like a labyrinth of intricate patterns, it turns out that the most important part of every song or
symphony is when the patterns break down, when the sound becomes unpredictable. If the music is too obvious,
it is annoyingly boring, like an alarm clock. Numerous studies, after all, have demonstrated that dopamine neurons
quickly adapt to predictable rewards. If we know what’s going to happen next, then we don’t get excited. This is
why composers often introduce a key note in the beginning of a song, spend most of the rest of the piece in the
studious avoidance of the pattern, and then finally repeat it only at the end. The longer we are denied the pattern
we expect, the greater the emotional release when the pattern returns, safe and sound.

To demonstrate this psychological principle, the musicologist Leonard Meyer, in his classic book Emotion and
Meaning in Music (1956), analysed the 5th movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.
Meyer wanted to show how music is defined by its flirtation with - but not submission to - our expectations of
order. Meyer dissected 50 measures (bars) of the masterpiece, showing how Beethoven begins with the clear
statement of a rhythmic and harmonic pattern and then, in an ingenious tonal dance, carefully holds off repeating
it. What Beethoven does instead is suggest variations of the pattern. He wants to preserve an element of
uncertainty in his music, making our brains beg for the one chord he refuses to give us. Beethoven saves that
chord for the end.

According to Meyer, it is the suspenseful tension of music, arising out of our unfulfilled expectations, that is the
source of the music’s feeling. While earlier theories of music focused on the way a sound can refer to the real
world of images and experiences - its ‘connotative’ meaning - Meyer argued that the emotions we find in music
come from the unfolding events of the music itself. This ‘embodied meaning’ arises from the patterns the
symphony invokes and then ignores. It is this uncertainty that triggers the surge of dopamine in the caudate, as
we struggle to figure out what will happen next. We can predict some of the notes, but we can’t predict them all,
and that is what keeps us listening, waiting expectantly for our reward, for the pattern to be completed.

Question 27-31

Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

32
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The Montreal study
Participants, who were recruited for the study through advertisements, had their brain activity monitored while
listening to their favorite music. It was noted that the music stimulated the brain’s neurons to release a substance
called (27)………………………….in two of the parts of the brain which are associated with feeling
(28)………………………………….
Researchers also observed that the neurons in the area of the brain called the (29)……………………………..
were particularly active just before the participants’ favorite moments in the music - the period known as the
(30)……………………………….. Activity in this part of the brain is associated with the expectation of
‘reward’ stimuli such as (31)…………………………..

Questions 32-36

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet

32. What point does the writer emphasise in the first paragraph?

A. how dramatically our reactions to music can vary

B. how intense our physical responses to music can be

C. how little we know about the way that music affects us

D. how much music can tell us about how our brains operate

33. What view of the Montreal study does the writer express in the second paragraph?

A. Its aims were innovative.

B. The approach was too simplistic.

C. It produced some remarkably precise data.

D. The technology used was unnecessarily complex.

34. What does the writer find interesting about the results of the Montreal study?

A. the timing of participants’ neural responses to the music

B. the impact of the music on participants’ emotional state

C. the section of participants’ brains which was activated by the music

D. the type of music which had the strongest effect on participants’ brains
33
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
35. Why does the writer refer to Meyer’s work on music and emotion?

A. to propose an original theory about the subject

B. offer support for the findings of the Montreal study

C. to recommend the need for further research into the subject

D. to present a view which opposes that of the Montreal researchers

36. According to Leonard Meyer, what causes the listener’s emotional response to music?

A. the way that the music evokes poignant memories in the listener

B. the association of certain musical chords with certain feelings

C. the listener’s sympathy with the composer’s intentions

D. the internal structure of the musical composition

Questions 37-40

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below. Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 37-40 on
your answer sheet.

37. The Montreal researchers discovered that

38. Many studies have demonstrated that

39. Meyer’s analysis of Beethoven’s music shows that

40. Earlier theories of music suggested that

A. our response to music depends on our initial emotional state.

B. neuron activity decreases if outcomes become predictable.

C. emotive music can bring to mind actual pictures and events.

D. experiences on our past can influence our emotional reaction to music.

E. emotive music delays giving listeners what they expect to hear.

F. neuron activity increases prior to key points in a musical piece.

34
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW
Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
27. Release a substance
28. Linked with
29. Particularly active

32. Intense, physical responses


33. Revealing
37. Discover
Key points
38. Many studies
Quickly adapt
39. Beg for
Refuses to give
40. Real world of images and experiences

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. According to Meyer, it is the suspenseful tension of music, arising out of our unfulfilled expectations, that
is the source of the music’s feeling.
It is the N, that + V: chính N là thứ V
2. While music can often seem (at least to the outsider) like a labyrinth of intricate patterns, it turns out that the
most important part of every song or symphony is when the patterns break down, when the sound becomes
unpredictable.
While S + V, S + V: trong khi S + V, S + V
3. What is rather more significant is the finding that the dopamine neurons in the caudate-a region of the brain
involved in learning stimulus-response associations, and in anticipating food and other ‘reward’ stimuli - were
at their most active around 15 seconds before the participants’ favorite moments in the music.
What + be + adj + be + N + that S + V: điều mà adj đó là N rằng S + V.
S – cụm N – V: S - mà là N - V

35
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 3 (Cambridge 12, test 8, passage 2)

Bring back the big cats


It's time to start returning vanished native animals to Britain, says John Vesty

There is a poem, written around 598 AD, which describes hunting a mystery animal called a llewyn. But what
was it? Nothing seemed to fit, until 2006, when an animal bone, dating from around the same period, was found
in the Kinsey Cave in northern England. Until this discovery, the lynx - a large spotted cat with tassel led ears -
was presumed to have died out in Britain at least 6,000 years ago, before the inhabitants of these islands took up
farming. But the 2006 find, together with three others in Yorkshire and Scotland, is compelling evidence that the
lynx and the mysterious llewyn were in fact one and the same animal. If this is so, it would bring forward the
tassel-eared cat's estimated extinction date by roughly 5,000 years.

However, this is not quite the last glimpse of the animal in British culture. A 9th- century stone cross from the
Isle of Eigg shows, alongside the deer, boar and aurochs pursued by a mounted hunter, a speckled cat with
tasselled ears. Were it not for the animal's backside having worn away with time, we could have been certain, as
the lynx's stubby tail is unmistakable. But even without this key feature, it's hard to see what else the creature
could have been. The lynx is now becoming the totemic animal of a movement that is transforming British
environmentalism: rewilding.

Rewilding means the mass restoration of damaged ecosystems. It involves letting trees return to places that have
been denuded, allowing parts of the seabed to recover from trawling and dredging, permitting rivers to flow freely
again. Above all, it means bringing back missing species. One of the most striking findings of modern ecology is
that ecosystems without large predators behave in completely different ways from those that retain them Some of
them drive dynamic processes that resonate through the whole food chain, creating niches for hundreds of species
that might otherwise struggle to survive. The killers turn out to be bringers of life.

Such findings present a big challenge to British conservation, which has often selected arbitrary assemblages of
plants and animals and sought, at great effort and expense, to prevent them from changing. It has tried to preserve
the living world as if it were a jar of pickles, letting nothing in and nothing out, keeping nature in a state of arrested
development. But ecosystems are not merely collections of species; they are also the dynamic and ever-shifting
relationships between them. And this dynamism often depends on large predators.

At sea the potential is even greater: by protecting large areas from commercial fishing, we could once more see
what 18th-century literature describes: vast shoals of fish being chased by fin and sperm whales, within sight of
the English shore. This policy would also greatly boost catches in the surrounding seas; the fishing industry's
36
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
insistence on scouring every inch of seabed, leaving no breeding reserves, could not be more damaging to its own
interests.

Rewilding is a rare example of an environmental movement in which campaigners articulate what they are for
rather than only what they are against. One of the reasons why the enthusiasm for rewilding is spreading so
quickly in Britain is that it helps to create a more inspiring vision than the green movement's usual promise of
'Follow us and the world will be slightly less awful than it would otherwise have been.

The lynx presents no threat to human beings: there is no known instance of one preying on people. It is a specialist
predator of roe deer, a species that has exploded in Britain in recent decades, holding back, by intensive browsing,
attempts to re-establish forests. It will also winkle out sika deer: an exotic species that is almost impossible for
human beings to control, as it hides in impenetrable plantations of young trees. The attempt to reintroduce this
predator marries well with the aim of bringing forests back to parts of our bare and barren uplands. The lynx
requires deep cover, and as such presents little risk to sheep and other livestock, which are supposed, as a
condition of farm subsidies, to be kept out of the woods.

On a recent trip to the Cairngorm Mountains, I heard several conservationists suggest that the lynx could be
reintroduced there within 20 years. If trees return to the bare hills elsewhere in Britain, the big cats could soon
follow. There is nothing extraordinary about these proposals, seen from the perspective of anywhere else in
Europe. The lynx has now been reintroduced to the Mountains, the Alps, the in eastern France and the mountains
in Germany, and has re-established itself in many more places. The European population has tripled since 1970
to roughly 10,000. As with wolves, bears, beavers, boar, bison, moose and many other species, the lynx has been
able to spread as farming has left the hills and people discover that it is more lucrative to protect charismatic
wildlife than to hunt it, as tourists will pay for the chance to see it. Large-scale rewilding is happening almost
everywhere - except Britain.

Here, attitudes are just beginning to change. Conservationists are starting to accept that the old preservation-jar
model is failing, even on its own terms. Already, projects such as Trees for Life in the Highlands provide a hint
of what might be coming. An organization is being set up that will seek to catalyze the rewilding of land and sea
across Britain, its aim being to reintroduce that rarest of species to British ecosystems: hope.

Questions 14-18

Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14. What did the 2006 discovery of the animal bone reveal about the lynx?

A. Its physical appearance was very distinctive.

37
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. Its extinction was linked to the spread of farming.
C. It vanished from Britain several thousand years ago.
D. It survived in Britain longer than was previously thought.

15. What point does the writer make about large predators in the third paragraph?

A. Their presence can increase biodiversity.


B. They may cause damage to local ecosystems.
C. Their behaviour can alter according to the environment.
D. They should be reintroduced only to areas where they were native.

16. What does the writer suggest about British conservation in the fourth paragraph?

A. It has failed to achieve its aims.


B. It is beginning to change direction.
C. It has taken a misguided approach.
D. It has focused on the most widespread species.

17. Protecting large areas of the sea from commercial fishing would result in

A. practical benefits for the fishing industry.


B. some short-term losses to the fishing industry.
C. widespread opposition from the fishing industry.
D. certain changes to techniques within the fishing industry.

18. According to the author, what distinguishes rewilding from other environmental campaigns?

A. Its objective is more achievable.


B. Its supporters are more articulate.
C. Its positive message is more appealing.
D. It is based on sounder scientific principles.

Questions 19-22

Complete the summary using the list of words and phrases A-F below. Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 6-9
on your answer sheet.

Reintroducing the lynx to Britain


There would be many advantages to reintroducing the lynx to Britain. While there is no evidence that the lynx
has ever put (19)…………………….in danger, it would reduce the numbers of certain (20)

38
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
……………………whose populations have increased enormously in recent decades. It would present only a
minimal threat to (21) ………………………. provided these were kept away from lynx habitats. Furthermore,
the reintroduction programme would also link efficiently with initiatives to return
native (22) ………………………..to certain areas of the country.

A. Trees B. endangered species C. hillsides

D. wild animals E. humans F. farm animals

Questions 23-26

Do the following statements agree with the view of the writer of the Reading Passage?
In boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the view of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the view of the writer

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

23. Britain could become the first European country to reintroduce the lynx.

24. The large growth in the European lynx population since 1970 has exceeded conservationists’ expectations.

25. Changes in agricultural practices have extended the habitat of the lynx in Europe.

26. It has become apparent that species reintroduction has commercial advantages.

FILL IN THE KEYWORDS TABLE BELOW


Question Keywords in questions Similar words in the passage
18. Positive message

19. No evident, put humans in danger


21. Minimal threat
26. Commercial advantages
Species reintroduction

39
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 4 (Recent vol 5, test 3, passage 3)

Robert Louis Stevenson


A Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer, Robert Louis Stevenson was born at 8 Howard Place,
Edinburgh, Scotland, on 13 November 1850. It has been more than 100 years since his death. Stevenson was a
writer who caused conflicting opinions about his works. On one hand, he was often highly praised for his expert
prose and style by many English-language critics. On the other hand, others criticised the religious themes in his
works, often misunderstanding Stevenson’s own religious beliefs. Since his death a century before, critics and
biographers have disagreed on the legacy of Stevenson’s writing. Two biographers, KF and CP, wrote a biography
about Stevenson with a clear focus. They chose not to criticise aspects of Stevenson’s personal life.
Instead, they focused on his writing, and gave high praise to his writing style and skill.

The literary pendulum has swung these days. Different critics have different opinions towards Robert Louis
Stevenson’s works. Though today, Stevenson is one of the most translated authors in the world, his works have
sustained a wide variety of negative criticism throughout his life. It was like a complete reversal of polarity—
from highly positive to slightly less positive to clearly negative; after being highly praised as a great writer, he
became an example of an author with corrupt ethics and lack of moral. Many literary critics passed his works
off as children’s stories or horror stories, and thought to have little social value in an educational setting.
Stevenson’s works were often excluded from literature curriculum because of its controversial nature. These
debates remain, and many critics still assert that despite his skill, his literary works still lack moral value.

One of the main reasons why Stevenson’s literary works attracted so much criticism was due to the genre of his
writing. Stevenson mainly wrote adventure stories, which was part of a popular and entertaining writing fad at
the time. Many of us believe adventure stories are exciting, offers engaging characters, action, and mystery but
ultimately can’t teach moral principles. The plot points are one-dimensional and rarely offer a deeper moral
meaning, instead focusing on exciting and shocking plot twists and thrilling events. His works were even criticised
by fellow authors. Though Stevenson’s works have deeply influenced Oscar Wilde, Wilde often joked that
Stevenson would have written better works if he wasn’t bom in Scotland. Other authors came to Stevenson’s
defence, including Galsworthy who claimed that Stevenson is a greater writer than Thomas Hardy.

Despite Wilde’s criticism, Stevenson’s Scottish identity was an integral part of his written works.
Although Stevenson’s works were not popular in Scotland when he was alive, many modern Scottish literary
critics claim that Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson are the most influential writers in the history of
Scotland. While many critics exalt Sir Walter Scott as a literary genius because of his technical ability, others
argue that Stevenson deserves the same recognition for his natural ability to capture stories and characters in
40
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
words. Many of Scott’s works were taken more seriously as literature for their depth due to their tragic themes,
but fans of Stevenson praise his unique style of story-telling and capture of human nature. Stevenson’s works,
unlike other British authors, captured the unique day to day life of average Scottish people. Many literary critics
point to this as a flaw of his works. According to the critics, truly important literature should transcend local
culture and stories. However, many critics praise the local taste of his literature. To this day, Stevenson’s works
provide valuable insight to life in Scotland during the 19th century.

Despite much debate of Stevenson’s writing topics, his writing was not the only source of attention for critics.
Stevenson’s personal life often attracted a lot of attention from his fans and critics alike. Some even argue that
his personal life eventually outshone his writing. Stevenson had been plagued with health problems his whole
life, and often had to live in much warmer climates than the cold, dreary weather of Scotland in order to recover.
So he took his family to a south pacific island Samoa, which was a controversial decision at that time. However,
Stevenson did not regret the decision. The sea air and thrill of adventure complimented the themes of his writing,
and for a time restored his health. From there, Stevenson gained a love of travelling, and for nearly three years he
wandered the eastern and central Pacific. Much of his works reflected this love of travel and adventure that
Stevenson experienced in the Pacific islands. It was as a result of this biographical attention that the feeling grew
that interest in Stevenson’s life had taken the place of interest in his works. Whether critics focus on his writing
subjects, his religious beliefs, or his eccentric lifestyle of travel and adventure, people from the past and present
have different opinions about Stevenson as an author. Today, he remains a controversial yet widely popular figure
in Western literature.

Questions 27-31

Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27. Stevenson’s biographer KF and CP

A. Underestimated the role family played in Stevenson’s life.


B. Overestimated the writer’s work in the literature history
C. Exaggerated Stevenson’s religious belief in his works
D. Elevated Stevenson’s role as a writer

28. The main point of the 2nd paragraph is

A. The public give a more fair criticism to Stevenson’s works


B. Recent criticism has been justified.
C. The style of Stevenson’s works overweigh his faults in his life.
D. Stevenson’s works’ drawback is lack of ethical nature.
41
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
29. According to the author, adventure stories

A. Do not provide plot twists well.


B. Cannot be used by writers to show moral values.
C. Are more fashionable art form.
D. Can be found in others’ works but not in Stevenson’s.

30. What does the author say about Stevenson’s works?

A. They describe the life of people in Scotland.


B. They are commonly regarded as real literature.
C. They were popular during Stevenson’s life.
D. They transcend the local culture and stories.

31. The lifestyle of Stevenson

A. Made his family envy him so much.


B. Should be responsible for his death.
C. Gained more attention from the public than his works.
D. Didn’t well prepare his life in Samoa.

Questions 32-35
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 32-35 on your answer
sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
32. Although Oscar Wilde admired Stevenson very much, he believed Stevenson could have written greater work.
33. Stevenson encouraged Oscar Wilde to start writing at first.
34. Galsworthy thought Harder is a greater writer than Stevenson is.

35. Critics only paid attention to Stevenson’s writing topics.

42
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 36-40
Complete the notes using the list of words, A-I, below. Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 36-40 on your answer
sheet.

Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson

A lot of people believe that Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louise Stevenson are the most influential writers in the
history of Scotland, but Sir Walter Scott is more proficient in (36)………….., while Stevenson has better
(37)…………….. . Scott’s books illustrate (38)………………… especially in terms of tragedy, but Stevenson’s
works bring readers better (39)………………….. . What’s more, Stevenson’s understanding of (40)…………
made his works have the most unique impressions of Scottish people.

A. Natural ability B. romance C. colorful language


D. Critical acclaim E. humor F. technical control
G. story telling H. depth I. human nature

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. Stevenson had been plagued with health problems his whole life, and often had to live in much warmer
climates than the cold, dreary weather of Scotland in order to recover.
2. Whether critics focus on his writing subjects, his religious beliefs, or his eccentric lifestyle of travel and
adventure, people from the past and present have different opinions about Stevenson as an author.
Whether S + V + O1 or O2, S + V: dù rằng S + V + O1 hay O2, S + V.
3. Stevenson’s works, unlike other British authors, captured the unique day to day life of average Scottish
people.
S1, unlike S2, V: S1, không như là S2, V.

43
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 3: Y/N/NG - T/F/NG
Exercise 1

The Development of Sanitation Systems

The first sanitation systems were built in the prehistoric Middle East, in the south-east of the modern country of
Iran near Zabol. An inverted siphon system, along with glass covered clay pipes, was used for the first time in the
palaces of Crete, Greece. It is still in working condition, after about 3000 years.

Higher population densities required more complex sewer collection and conveyance systems to maintain sanitary
conditions in crowded cities. The ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro of the Indus Valley civilisation
constructed complex networks of bricklined sewage drains from around 2600 BC and also had outdoor flush
toilets connected to this network. The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilisation provided public and private
baths, sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water
management system with numerous reservoirs was established.

Roman towns and garrisons in the United Kingdom between 46 BC and 400 AD had complex sewer networks
sometimes constructed out of hollowed-out elm logs, which were shaped so that they butted together with the
down-stream pipe providing a socket for the upstream pipe. In some cities, including Rome, Istanbul
(Constantinople) and Fustat, networked ancient sewer systems continue to function today as collection systems
for those cities' modernised sewer systems. Instead of flowing to a river or the sea, the pipes have been re-routed
to modern sewer treatment facilities.

This basic system remained in place with little positive change, until the 16th century, when Sir John Harington
invented the first flush toilet as a device for Queen Elizabeth I (his godmother) that released wastes into cesspools.
Despite this innovation, most cities did not have a functioning sewer system before the Industrial era, relying
instead on nearby rivers or occasional rain showers to wash away the sewage from the streets.

The prevailing system was sufficient for the needs of early cities with few occupants, but the tremendous growth
of cities during the Industrial Revolution quickly led to terribly overpolluted streets, which acted as a constant
source for the outbreak of disease. As recently as the late 19th century sewerage systems in some parts of the
highly industrialised United Kingdom were so inadequate that water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid
remained a risk.

The first comprehensive sewer system was built in Hamburg, Germany in the mid-19th century, and the first such
systems in the United States were built in the late 1850s in Chicago and Brooklyn. Initially these systems
discharged sewage directly to surface waters without treatment. But as pollution of water bodies became a
44
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
concern, cities attempted to treat the sewage before discharge. During the half-century around 1900, these public
health interventions succeeded in drastically reducing the incidence of waterborne diseases among the urban
population, and were an important cause in the increases of life expectancy experienced at the time.

Are the following statements TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?

1. Early sanitation systems became more intricate as city populations grew.

2. The ancient water management systems of the Indus Valley are still in use today.

3. Some sewage networks built by the Romans in the UK were made out of wood.

4. Rome had the most developed of all ancient sanitation systems.

5. By the time of Queen Elizabeth 1, the majority of cities had built sewers for waste water.

6. Poor sanitation systems during the Industrial era posed a significant health risk.

7. The world’s first complete sewage network was constructed in the USA.

Practice 1 (Cambridge 10, test 2, passage 1)

Questions 1-7

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of
headings below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i The search for the reasons for an increase in population
ii Industrialisation and the fear of unemployment
iii The development of cities in Japan 4 The time and place of the Industrial Revolution
iv The time and place of the Industrial Revolution
v The cases of Holland, France and China
vi Changes in drinking habits in Britain
vii Two keys to Britain’s industrial revolution
viii Conditions required for industrialisation
ix Comparisons with Japan lead to the answer

1. Paragraph A 5. Paragraph E
2. Paragraph B 6. Paragraph F
45
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. Paragraph C 7. Paragraph G
4. Paragraph D

Tea and the Industrial Revolution


A Cambridge professor says that a change in drinking habits was the reason for the Industrial Revolution in
Britain. Anjana Abuja reports.

A. Alan Macfarlane, professor of anthropological science at King’s College, Cambridge has, like other historians,
spent decades wrestling with the enigma of the Industrial Revolution. Why did this particular Big Bang – the
world-changing birth of industry - happen in Britain? And why did it strike at the end of the 18th century?

B. Macfarlane compares the puzzle to a combination lock. ‘There are about 20 different factors and all of them
need to be present before the revolution can happen,’ he says. For industry to take off, there needs to be the
technology and power to drive factories, large urban populations to provide cheap labour, easy transport to move
goods around, an affluent middle-class willing to buy mass-produced objects, a market-driven economy and a
political system that allows this to happen. While this was the case for England, other nations, such as Japan, the
Netherlands and France also met some of these criteria but were not industrialising. All these factors must have
been necessary. But not sufficient to cause the revolution, says Macfarlane. ‘After all, Holland had everything
except coal while China also had many of these factors. Most historians are convinced there are one or two missing
factors that you need to open the lock.’

C. The missing factors, he proposes, are to be found in almost even kitchen cupboard. Tea and beer, two of the
nation’s favourite drinks, fuelled the revolution. The antiseptic properties of tannin, the active ingredient in tea,
and of hops in beer – plus the fact that both are made with boiled water – allowed urban communities to flourish
at close quarters without succumbing to water-borne diseases such as dysentery. The theory sounds eccentric but
once he starts to explain the detective work that went into his deduction, the scepticism gives way to wary
admiration. Macfarlanes case has been strengthened by support from notable quarters – Roy Porter, the
distinguished medical historian, recently wrote a favourable appraisal of his research.

D. Macfarlane had wondered for a long time how the Industrial Revolution came about. Historians had alighted
on one interesting factor around the mid-18th century that required explanation. Between about 1650 and 1740,
the population in Britain was static. But then there was a burst in population growth. Macfarlane says: ‘The infant
mortality rate halved in the space of 20 years, and this happened in both rural areas and cities, and across all
classes. People suggested four possible causes. Was there a sudden change in the viruses and bacteria around?
Unlikely. Was there a revolution in medical science? But this was a century before Lister’s revolution*. Was
there a change in environmental conditions? There were improvements in agriculture that wiped out malaria, but
46
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
these were small gains. Sanitation did not become widespread until the 19th century. The only option left is food.
But the height and weight statistics show a decline. So the food must have got worse. Efforts to explain this
sudden reduction in child deaths appeared to draw a blank.’

E. This population burst seemed to happen at just the right time to provide labour for the Industrial Revolution.
‘When you start moving towards an industrial revolution, it is economically efficient to have people living close
together,’ says Macfarlane. ‘But then you get disease, particularly from human waste.’ Some digging around in
historical records revealed that there was a change in the incidence of water-borne disease at that time, especially
dysentery. Macfarlane deduced that whatever the British were drinking must have been important in regulating
disease. He says, ‘We drank beer. For a long time, the English were protected by the strong antibacterial agent in
hops, which were added to help preserve the beer. But in the late 17th century a tax was introduced on malt, the
basic ingredient of beer. The poor turned to water and gin and in the 1720s the mortality rate began to rise again.
Then it suddenly dropped again. What caused this?’

F. Macfarlane looked to Japan, which was also developing large cities about the same time, and also had no
sanitation. Water-borne diseases had a much looser grip on the Japanese population than those in Britain. Could
it be the prevalence of tea in their culture? Macfarlane then noted that the history of tea in Britain provided an
extraordinary coincidence of dates. Tea was relatively expensive until Britain started a direct clipper trade with
China in the early 18th century. By the 1740s, about the time that infant mortality was dipping, the drink was
common. Macfarlane guessed that the fact that water had to be boiled, together with the stomach-purifying
properties of tea meant that the breast milk provided by mothers was healthier than it had ever been. No other
European nation sipped tea like the British, which, by Macfarlanes logic, pushed these other countries out of
contention for the revolution.

G. But, if tea is a factor in the combination lock, why didn’t Japan forge ahead in a tea-soaked industrial revolution
of its own? Macfarlane notes that even though 17th-century Japan had large cities, high literacy rates, even a
futures market, it had turned its back on the essence of any work-based revolution by giving up labour-saving
devices such as animals, afraid that they would put people out of work. So, the nation that we now think of as one
of the most technologically advanced entered the 19th century having ‘abandoned the wheel’.

Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8-13 on your
answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information


47
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8. China’s transport system was not suitable for industry in the 18th century.

9. Tea and beer both helped to prevent dysentery in Britain.

10. Roy Porter disagrees with Professor Macfarlane’s findings.

11. After 1740,there was a reduction in population in Britain.

12. People in Britain used to make beer at home.

13. The tax on malt indirectly caused a rise in the death rate.

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. The antiseptic properties of tannin, the active ingredient in tea, and of hops in beer – plus the fact that both
are made with boiled water – allowed urban communities to flourish at close quarters without succumbing to
water-borne diseases such as dysentery.
S allow N to V without Ving: S tạo điều kiện cho N làm gì mà không phải Ving.
2. While this was the case for England, other nations, such as Japan, the Netherlands and France also met some
of these criteria but were not industrialising.
3. Macfarlane notes that even though 17th-century Japan had large cities, high literacy rates, even a futures
market, it had turned its back on the essence of any work-based revolution by giving up labour-saving devices
such as animals, afraid that they would put people out of work.

Practice 2 (Cambridge 11, test 1, passage 1)

Crop-growing skyscrapers

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will live in urban centres. Applying the most conservative
estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about three billion people by then.
An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to
feed them, if traditional farming methods continue as they are practised today.At present, throughout the world,
over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste
by poor management practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world’s population to live on?

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes and other produce has been in
vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another three

48
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
billion people. Many believe an entirely new approach to indoor farming is required, employing cutting-edge
technologies. One such proposal is for the ‘Vertical Farm’. The concept is of multi-storey buildings in which food
crops are grown in environmentally controlled conditions. Situated in the heart of urban centres, they would
drastically reduce the amount of transportation required to bring food to consumers. Vertical farms would need
to be efficient, cheap to construct and safe to operate. If successfully implemented, proponents claim, vertical
farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (through year-
round production of all crops), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal
farming.

It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we
despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that
same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives vertically
in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the elements, yet we subject our food-
bearing plants to the rigours of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However,
more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long
droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops.

The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For instance, crops would be
produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially controlled, optimum growing conditions. There
would be no weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests. All the food could be grown
organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers. The system would greatly reduce the
incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface. Although the system would
consume energy, it would return energy to the grid via methane generation from composting nonedible parts of
plants. It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, by cutting out the need for tractors, ploughs and shipping.
A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require artificial light. Without it, those
plants nearest the windows would be exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the efficiency
of the system. Single-storey greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead light; even so, many still need
artificial lighting. A multi-storey facility with no natural overhead light would require far more. Generating
enough light could be prohibitively expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is available, and this appears to
be rather a future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future. One variation on vertical farming that has been
developed is to grow plants in stacked trays that move on rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough
sunlight. This system is already in operation, and works well within a single-storey greenhouse with light reaching
it from above: it Is not certain, however, that it can be made to work without that overhead natural light.

49
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in producing enough food for a
growing population. At the moment, though, more needs to be done to reduce the detrimental impact it would
have on the environment, particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much of our food will
be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more likely that we will simply use the
space available on urban rooftops.

Questions 1-7

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

Indoor farming

1 Some food plants, including __________ are already grown indoors.

2 Vertical farms would be located in __________ meaning that there would be less need to take them long
distances to customers.

3 Vertical farms could use methane from plants and animals to produce __________

4 The consumption of __________ would be cut because agricultural vehicles would be unnecessary.

5 The fact that vertical farms would need __________ light is a disadvantage.

6 One form of vertical farming involves planting in __________which are not fixed.

7 The most probable development is that food will be grown on __________ in towns and cities.

Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8-13 on your
answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8 Methods for predicting the Earth’s population have recently changed.

9 Human beings are responsible for some of the destruction to food-producing land.

10 The crops produced in vertical farms will depend on the season.


50
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
11 Some damage to food crops is caused by climate change.

12 Fertilisers will be needed for certain crops in vertical farms.

13 Vertical farming will make plants less likely to be affected by infectious diseases.

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. Massive floods, long droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions
of tons of valuable crops.
2. The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system.
The supporters of N1 claim many potential advantages for N2: những người ủng hộ N1 nêu ra rất nhiều
mặt tích cực tiềm năng cho N2.
3. A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require artificial light.
S, however, V: S, tuy vậy, V.

Practice 3 (Cambridge 12, test 5, passage 2)

Collecting as a hobby
Collecting must be one of the most varied of human activities, and it's one that many of us psychologists find
fascinating.

Many forms of collecting have been dignified with a technical name: an archtophilist collects teddy bears, a
philatelist collects postage stamps, and a deltiologist collects postcards. Amassing hundreds or even thousands of
postcards, chocolate wrappers or whatever, takes time, energy and money that could surely to much more
productive use. And yet there are millions of collectors around the world. Why do they do it?

There are the people who collect because they want to make money - this could be called an instrumental reason
for collecting; that is, collecting as a means to an end. They'll look for, say, antiques that they can buy cheaply
and expect to be able to sell at a profit. But there may well be a psychological element, too - buying cheap and
selling dear can give the collector a sense of triumph. And as selling online is so easy, more and more people are
joining in.

Many collectors collect to develop their social life, attending meetings of a group of collectors and exchanging
information on items. This is a variant on joining a bridge club or a gym, and similarly brings them into contact
with like-minded people.

51
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Another motive for collecting is the desire to find something special, or a particular example of the collected item,
such as a rare early recording by a particular singer.

Some may spend their whole lives in a hunt for this. Psychologically, this can give a purpose to a life that
otherwise feels aimless. There is a danger, though, that if the individual is ever lucky enough to find what they're
looking for, rather than celebrating their success, they may feel empty, now that the goal that drove them on has
gone.

If you think about collecting postage stamps another potential reason for it - Or, perhaps, a result of collecting is
its educational value. Stamp collecting opens a window to other countries, and to the plants, animals, or famous
people shown on their stamps. Similarly, in the 19th century, many collectors amassed fossils, animals and plants
from around the globe, and their collections provided a vast amount of information about the natural world.
Without those collections, our understanding would be greatly inferior to what it is.

In the past - and nowadays, too, though to a lesser extent - a popular form of collecting, particularly among boys
and men, was trainspotting. This might involve trying to see every locomotive of a particular type, using published
data that identifies each one, and ticking off each engine as it is seen. Trainspotters exchange information, these
days often by mobile phone, so they can work out where to go to, to see a particular engine. As a by-product,
many practitioners of the hobby become very knowledgeable about railway operations, or the technical
specifications of different engine types.

Similarly, people who collect dolls may go beyond simply enlarging their collection, and develop an interest in
the way that dolls are made, or the materials that are used. These have changed over the centuries from the wood
that was standard in 16th century Europe, through the wax and porcelain of later centuries, to the plastics of
today's dolls. Or collectors might be inspired to study how dolls reflect notions of what children like, or ought to
like.

Not all collectors are interested in learning from their hobby, though, so what we might call a psychological reason
for collecting is the need for a sense of control, perhaps as a way of dealing with insecurity. Stamp collectors, for
instance, arrange their stamps in albums, usually very neatly, organising their collection according to certain
commonplace principles-perhaps by country in alphabetical order, or grouping stamps by what they depict -
people, birds, maps, and so on.

One reason, conscious or not, for what someone chooses to collect is to show the collector's individualism.
Someone who decides to collect something as unexpected as dog collars, for instance, may be conveying their
belief that they must be interesting themselves. And believe it or not, there is at least one dog collar museum in
existence, and it grew out of a personal collection.
52
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Of course, all hobbies give pleasure, but the common factor in collecting is usually passion: pleasure is putting it
far too mildly. More than most other hobbies, collecting can be totally engrossing, and can give a strong sense of
personal fulfilment. To non-collectors, it may appear an eccentric, if harmless, way of spending time, but
potentially, collecting has a lot going for it.

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. People who collect dolls may go beyond simply enlarging their collection, and develop an interest in the way
that dolls are made, or the materials that are used.
Go beyond (trong câu này) = do more than just
2. One reason, conscious or not, for what someone chooses to collect is to show the collector's individualism.
Someone who decides to collect something as unexpected as dog collars, for instance, may be conveying their
belief that they must be interesting themselves.
3. More than most other hobbies, collecting can be totally engrossing, and can give a strong sense of personal
fulfilment.

Questions 14-21

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 14-21 on your answer sheet.

14. The writer mentions collecting ......................... as an example of collecting in order to make money.

15. Collectors may get a feeling of ......................... from buying and selling items.

16. Collectors’ clubs provide opportunities to share ......................... .

17. Collectors’ clubs offer ......................... with people who have similar interests.

18. Collecting sometimes involves a life-long ......................... for a special item.

19. Searching for something particular may prevent people from feeling their life is completely .........................

20. Stamp collecting may be ......................... because it provides facts about different countries.

21. ......................... tends to be mostly a male hobby.

Questions 22-26

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 22-26 on your
answer sheet, write

53
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

22. The number of people buying dolls has grown over the centuries.

23. Sixteenth century European dolls were normally made of wax and porcelain.

24. Arranging a stamp collection by the size of the stamps is less common than other methods.

25. Someone who collects unusual objects may want others to think he or she is also unusual.

26. Collecting gives a feeling that other hobbies are unlikely to inspire.

Practice 4 (Cambridge 12, test 6, passage 2)

Questions 14-20

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of
headings below. Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.

List of headings
i. Different accounts of the same journey
ii. Bingham gains support
iii. A common belief
iv. The aim of the trip
v. A dramatic description
vi. A new route
vii. Bingham publishes his theory
viii. Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm

14. Paragraph A 17. Paragraph D 20. Paragraph G


15. Paragraph B 18. Paragraph E
16. Paragraph C 19. Paragraph F

54
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The Lost City
An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon of the Inca civilisation

A. When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was ready for what
was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of the remote hinterland to the west of Cusco, the
old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. His goal was to locate the remains of a city called
Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilisation. Cusco lies on a high plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000
metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes
a circuitous route down to the Amazon and passes through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.

B. When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over travellers
who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable rubber to be brought
up by mules from the jungle. Almost all previous travellers had left the river at Ollantaytambo and taken a high
pass across the mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting a substantial corner, but also therefore
never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.

C. On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began slowly, with Bingham trying
to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek. His companions showed no interest in accompanying
him up the nearby hill to see some ruins that a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, had told them about the night
before. The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have been less than keen on the prospect of
climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of the Incas, he relates that he made the ascent without having the least
expectation that he would find anything at the top.

D. Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up the hill, he describes the
ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, ‘capable of making considerable springs when in pursuit of their prey’;
not that he sees any. Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he comes across great sweeps of terraces, then
a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the grand ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu.
'It seemed like an unbelievable dream the sight held me spellbound ’, he wrote.

E. We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many
years after his journey. His journal entries of the time reveal a much more gradual appreciation of his achievement.
He spent the afternoon at the ruins noting down the dimensions of some of the buildings, then descended and
rejoined his companions, to whom he seems to have said little about his discovery. At this stage, Bingham didn’t
realize the extent or the importance of the site, nor did he realize what use he could make of the discovery.

F. However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for himself from this discovery.
55
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
When he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that broke the story to the world in April 1913,
he knew he had to produce a big idea. He wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the very first
Inca, Manco the Great, and whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the
Incas’. This term refers to Vilcabamba the settlement where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s.
Bingham made desperate attempts to prove this belief for nearly 40 years. Sadly, his vision of the site as both the
beginning and end of the Inca civilisation, while a magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know, that Vilcabamba
actually lies 65 kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.

G. One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since Bingham, is why the
site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest. There are no references to it by any of the
Spanish chroniclers - and if they had known of its existence so close to Cusco they would certainly have come in
search of gold. An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past few years is that Machu Picchu was a
moya, a country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy
monumental architecture and spectacular views. Furthermore, the particular architecture of Machu Picchu
suggests that it was constructed at the time of the greatest of all the Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (1438-71). By
custom, Pachacuti’s descendants built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu would have
been abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.

Questions 21-24
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

21. Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.

22. Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was the most common route used by
travellers.
23. Bingham understood the significance of Machu Picchu as soon as he saw it.

24. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his theory.

Questions 25-26

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

56
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Write your answers in boxes 25-26 on your answer sheet.

25. The track that took Bingham down the Urubamba valley had been created for the transportation

of.....................

26. Bingham found out about the ruins of Machu Picchu from a ..................... in the Urubamba valley.

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until 1948,
many years after his journey.
2. An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past few years is that Machu Picchu was a moya, a
country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy
monumental architecture and spectacular views.
3. When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over travellers
who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable rubber to be
brought up by mules from the jungle.

Practice 5 (Recent actual vol 5, test 2, passage 2)

The Extraordinary Watkin Tench

At the end of 18th century, life for the average British citizen was changing. The population grew as health and
industrialisation took hold of the country. However, land and resources were limited. Families could not guarantee
jobs for all of their children. People who were poor or destitute had little option. To make things worse, the rate
of people who turned to crime to make a living increased. In Britain, the prisons were no longer large enough to
hold the convicted people of this growing criminal class. Many towns and governments were at a loss as to what
to do. However, another phenomenon that was happening in the 18th century was I exploration of other
continents. There were many ships looking for crew members who would risk a month-long voyage across a vast
ocean. This job was risky and dangerous, so few would willingly choose it. However, with so many citizens
without jobs or with criminal convictions, they had little choice. One such member of this new lower class of
British citizens was named Watkin Tench. Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 161,700 convicts were
transported to the Australian colonies of New South Wales, Van Diemen’s land and Western Australia. Tench was
one of these unlucky convicts to sign onto a dangerous journey. When his ship set out in 1788, he signed a three
years’ service to the First Fleet.

57
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Apart from his years in Australia, people knew little about his life back in Britain. It was said he was born on 6
October 1758 at Chester in the county of Cheshire in England. He came from a decent background. Tench was a
son of Fisher Tench, a dancing master who ran a boarding school in the town and Margaritta Tarleton of the
Liverpool Tarletons. He grew up around a finer class of British citizens, and his family helped instruct the children
of the wealthy in formal dance lessons. Though we don’t know for sure how Tench was educated in this
small British town, we do know that he is well educated. His diaries from his travels to Australia are written in
excellent English, a skill that not everyone was lucky to possess in the 18th century. Aside from this, we know
little of Tench’s beginnings. We don’t know how he ended up convicted of a crime. But after he started his
voyage, his life changed dramatically.

During the voyage, which was harsh and took many months, Tench described landscape of different places. While
sailing to Australia, Tench saw landscapes that were unfamiliar and new to him. Arriving in Australia, the entire
crew was uncertain of what was to come in their new life. When they arrived in Australia, they established a
British colony. Governor Philip was vested with complete authority over the inhabitants of the colony. Though
still a young man, Philip was enlightened for his age. From stories of other British colonies, Philip learnt that
conflict with the original peoples of the land was often a source of strife and difficulties. To avoid this, Philip’s
personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people. But Philip’s job was even
more difficult considering his crew. Other colonies were established with middle-class merchants and craftsmen.
His crew were convicts, who had few other skills outside of their criminal histories. Along with making peace with
the Aboriginal people, Philip also had to try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony.

From the beginning, Tench stood out as different from the other convicts. During his initial time in Australia, he
quickly rose in his rank, and was given extra power and responsibility over the convicted crew members.
However, he was also still very different from the upper-class rulers who came to rule over the crew. He showed
humanity towards the convicted workers. He didn’t want to treat them as common criminals, but as trained
military men. Under Tench’s authority, he released the convicts’ chains which were used to control them
during the voyage. Tench also showed mercy towards the Aboriginal people. Governor Philip often pursued
violent solutions to conflicts with the Aboriginal peoples. Tench disagreed strongly with this method. At one
point, he was unable to follow the order given by the Governor Philip to punish the ten Aboriginals.

When they first arrived, Tench was fearful and contemptuous towards the Aboriginals, because the two cultures
did not understand each other. However, gradually he got to know them individually and became close friends
with them. Tench knew that the Aboriginal people would not cause them conflict if they looked for a peaceful
solution. Though there continued to be conflict and violence, Tench’s efforts helped establish a more peaceful
negotiation between the two groups when they settled territory and land-use issues.

58
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Meanwhile, many changes were made to the new colony. The Hawkesbury River was named by Governor Philip
in June 1789. Many native bird species to the river were hunted by travelling colonists. The colonists were having
a great impact on the land and natural resources. Though the colonists had made a lot of progress in the untamed
lands of Australia, there were still limits. The convicts were notoriously ill-informed about Australian geography,
as was evident in the attempt by twenty absconders to walk from Sydney to China in 1791, believing: “China
might be easily reached, being not more than a hundred miles distant, and separated only by a river.” In reality,
miles of ocean separated the two.

Much of Australia was unexplored by the convicts. Even Tench had little understanding of what existed beyond
the established lines of their colony. Slowly, but surely, the colonists expanded into the surrounding area. A few
days after arrival at Botany Bay, their original location, the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where
a settlement was established at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. This second location was strange and
unfamiliar, and the fleet was on alert for any kind of suspicious behaviors. Though Tench had made friends
in Botany Bay with Aboriginal peoples, he could not be sure this new land would be uninhabited. He recalled the
first time he stepped into this unfamiliar ground with a boy who helped Tench navigate. In these new lands, he
met an old Aboriginal.

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. There was a great deal of information available about the life of Tench before he arrived in Australia.

2. Tench drew pictures to illustrate different places during the voyage.


3. Other military personnel in New South Wales did not treated convicts in the same way as Tench did.

4. Tench’s view towards the Aboriginals remained unchanged during his time in Australia.
5. An Aboriginal gave him gifts of food at the first time they met.
6. The convicts had a good knowledge of Australian geography.

Questions 7-13

Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage
for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.
59
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
7. What could be a concrete proof of Tench’s good education?
8. How many years did Tench sign the contract to the First Fleet?

9. What was used to control convicts during the voyage?


10. Who gave the order to punish the Aboriginals?

11. When did the name of Hawkesbury River come into being?
12. Where did the escaped convicts plan to go?

13. In which place did Tench feel unaccustomed?

Dịch sang tiếng Việt:


1. When they first arrived, Tench was fearful and contemptuous towards the Aboriginals, because the two
cultures did not understand each other. However, gradually he got to know them individually and became close
friends with them.
2. The convicts were notoriously ill-informed about Australian geography, as was evident in the attempt by
twenty absconders to walk from Sydney to China in 1791, believing: “China might be easily reached, being not
more than a hundred miles distant, and separated only by a river.”
3. Along with making peace with the Aboriginal people, Philip also had to try to reform as well as discipline
the convicts of the colony.
Along with Ving, S also V: song song với việc V, S cũng V.

60
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 4: MATCHING ENDING/ MATCHING INFORMATION
Exercise 1

The Rorschach Test


The Rorschach test, also known as the Rorschach inkblot test, the Rorschach technique, or simply the inkblot test,
is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analysed using
psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's
personality characteristics and emotional functioning, especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe
their thinking processes openly. The test is named after its creator, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach.

Using interpretation of "ambiguous designs" to assess an individual's personality is an idea that goes back to
Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. Rorschach’s test, however, was the first systematic approach of this kind. The
subject, or person taking the test, is shown a set of inkblot images, and his or her responses are recorded and
interpreted by the psychologist. The underlying assumption is that an individual will class external stimuli based
on personspecific needs, motives and conflicts. It has been suggested that Rorschach's use of inkblots may have
been inspired by German doctor Justinus Kerner who, in 1857, had published a popular book of poems, each of
which was inspired by an accidental inkblot. French psychologist Alfred Binet had also experimented with
inkblots as a creativity test, and, after the turn of the century, psychological experiments where inkblots were
utilised multiplied, with aims such as studying imagination and consciousness. In fact, Rorschach never intended
the inkblots to be used as a general personality test, but developed them as a tool for the diagnosis of
schizophrenia. It was not until 1939 that the test was used as a projective test of personality, a use of which
Rorschach had always been skeptical.

Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct sentence endings from the box below.

1. The Rorschach test is often used by psychologists to

2. The test is based on the belief that people will

3. Rorschach’s original aim was not to assess personality, but to

A. test people’s creativity.


B. interpret ambiguous images according to their own specific perceptions of life.
C. diagnose a mental disorder.
D. assess subjects who are unwilling to express their thoughts.

61
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Exercise 2

Food Preservation

A. Food preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi or other microorganisms, as well
as retarding the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit
visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut.

B. Often, several food preservation methods are used together. Preserving fruit by turning it into jam, for example,
involves boiling, to reduce the fruit’s moisture content and to kill bacteria, sugaring, to prevent re-growth of
bacteria, and sealing within an airtight jar, to prevent recontamination. Maintaining or creating nutritional value,
texture and flavour is an important aspect of food preservation, although, historically, some methods drastically
altered the character of the food being preserved. In many cases these changes have come to be seen as desirable
qualities – cheese, yogurt and pickled onions being common examples.

C. Drying is one of the oldest techniques used to hamper the decomposition of food products. As early as 12,000
B.C., Middle Eastern and Oriental cultures were drying foods using the power of the sun. Vegetables and fruit
are naturally dried by the sun and wind, but in the Middle Ages, "still houses" were built in areas that did not have
enough sunlight for drying to take place. A fire would be built inside the building to provide the heat to dry the
various fruits, vegetables and herbs.

D. The earliest cultures also used sugar as a preservative, and it was commonplace to store fruit in honey. In
northern climates without sufficient sun to dry foods, preserves were made by heating the fruit with sugar. Sugar
kills microbes by drawing water from them and leaving the microbial cells dehydrated. In this way, the food
remains safe from microbial spoilage. Sugar is used to preserve fruits, either in an anti-microbial syrup with fruit
such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots and plums, or in crystallised form where the preserved material is cooked
in sugar to the point of crystallisation and the resultant product is then stored dry. This method is used for the
skins of citrus fruit.

E. Salting, or curing, is another ancient food preservation technique, involving the use of salt to draw moisture
from meat through the process of osmosis. There is evidence of a trade in salt meat across ancient Europe. For
example, the Gauls exported salt pork each year to Rome in large quantities, where it was sold in different cuts
and used to feed Roman armies. In the 18th century, salt meat was one of the main foods for sailors on long
voyages.

F. While traditional methods of food preservation are still very much in use, a range of modern industrial
techniques are employed by commercial food producers. Perhaps the most well known of these is pasteurisation,

62
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
which was invented by the French chemist Louis Pasteur in 1862. To remedy the frequent acidity of the local
wines, Pasteur found that it is sufficient to heat a young wine to only about 50–60 °C for a brief time to kill
microbes, and that the wine could subsequently be aged without sacrificing the final quality. Today the process
of pasteurisation is used in the dairy and food industries for microbial control, most notably in the production of
milk. Other modern methods of food preservation include vacuum packing, using artificial additives, irradiation,
electroporation and high pressure preservation.

G. Most of the food that we buy in shops and supermarkets has been preserved and made safe for consumption
using at least one of the traditional or modern techniques. However, all foods are susceptible to spoiling, and food
poisoning is still extremely common. In fact, recent research puts the figure for cases of food poisoning in the UK
at more than 500,000 per year.

Questions 1 to 5

The reading passage above has seven paragraphs, labelled A to G.

Which paragraph contains the information in the five statements below? Write the letter of the correct paragraph.
NB. You may use the same letter more than once.

1. A technique that was originally used to preserve wines.

2. Examples of foods whose appeal derives from how they are preserved.

3. Spoiled food continues to cause illness.

4. Preserved food eaten by soldiers.

5. An example of different preservation techniques working together.

Questions 6 to 9

According to the passage, are the following statements TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?

6. Several methods are employed to prevent bacterial contamination of jam.

7. Drying was only used in places with sufficient sunlight.

8. Sugar was the most valued preservative in ancient times.

9. The Romans imported salted meat because of its high quality.

63
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Exercise 3

The What and How of Happiness

A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness
and identify its sources.

Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather
than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek word ‘Eudaimonia’. But while
most people would agree that a life of happiness or flourishing is desirable, the really difficult question is to
specify just what sort of activities enable one to live well.

One important move in Greek philosophy to answer the question of how to achieve happiness is to bring in another
important concept in ancient philosophy, ‘arete’ (virtue). The philosopher Aristotle, for example, wrote that the
good or happy life is one of “virtuous activity in accordance with reason”. However, it is important to bear in
mind that the sense of ‘virtue’ operative in ancient ethics is not exclusively moral and includes more than states
such as wisdom, courage and compassion. The sense of virtue which ‘arete’ connotes would include saying
something like "speed is a virtue in a horse", or "height is a virtue in a basketball player". The alternative
translation ‘excellence’ might be helpful in conveying this general meaning of the term to a modern audience. It
is also interesting to note that for Aristotle, ‘eudaimonia' actually requires activity, or action, so that it is not
sufficient for a person to possess an ability or disposition that he or she does not use.

Another Greek philosopher, Epicurus, explained happiness in a different way. Epicurus’ ethical theory is
hedonistic. Hedonism is the view that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and that pain is the only intrinsic bad.
He understands happiness as a more or less continuous experience of pleasure and the freedom from pain and
distress. However, it is important to understand that Epicurus does not advocate the pursuit of any and every
pleasure. Rather, he recommends a policy whereby pleasures are maximised “in the long run”. Specifically,
Epicurus claims that some pleasures are not worth having because they lead to greater pains, and some pains are
worthwhile when they lead to greater pleasures. The best strategy for attaining a maximal amount of pleasure
overall is not to seek instant gratification but to work out a sensible long term policy.

More recently, writers and thinkers have continued to discuss the pursuit of happiness and the good life. In the
1930s Abraham Maslow, an American professor of psychology, created a visual aid to explain his own theory on
the subject. The idea, which he called the ‘hierarchy of needs’, is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs,
starting from the basic need for food and shelter. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid, he
reaches self-actualisation.

64
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Since the 1960s, research has produced many different views on causes of happiness, and on factors that correlate
with happiness. Sonja Lyubomirsky concludes in her book ‘The How of Happiness’ that 50 percent of a given
human's happiness level is genetically determined (based on twin studies), 10 percent is affected by life
circumstances and situation, and a remaining 40 percent of happiness is subject to self-control. Leda Cosmides
and John Tooby say that happiness comes from "encountering unexpected positive events”, while according to
Mark Leary, as reported in a November 1995 issue of Psychology Today, "we are happiest when basking in the
acceptance and praise of others”.

Richard Davidson's 2012 bestseller ‘The Emotional Life of Your Brain’ argues that positive emotion and
happiness benefit your long-term health. A study conducted in 2005 by Andrew Steptow and Michael Marmot
found that happiness is clearly related to biological markers that play an important role in health. Steptow and
Marmot collected health and well-being data from 116 men and 100 women. Interestingly, the participants who
rated themselves the least happy had cortisol (a hormone related to stress) levels that were 48% higher than those
who rated themselves as the most happy.

In spite of this finding and the plethora of research into every conceivable aspect of happiness, it seems that we
are no closer than the ancient Greeks were to achieving it at a societal level. In fact, levels of stress and mental
illness seem to suggest the opposite. Perhaps instead of studying the minutiae of happiness, we should simply
follow Aristotle’s advice and strive to ‘do and live well’.

Question 1 to 6

Match each of the following statements with the name of a writer or philosopher from the box below. Write the
correct letter, A to E, for each statement

NB. You may use any letter more than once.

A. Aristotle D. Mark Leary


B. Epicurus E. Andrew Steptow and Michael Marmot
C. Sonja Lyubomirsky

1. Genes play a considerable role in each person’s level of happiness.

2. The pursuit of happiness requires taking a long-term view of what is good for us.

3. Being unhappy can affect a chemical in the human body.

4. We are happy when other people compliment us.

65
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
5. Happiness cannot be achieved without action.

6. Negative experiences are sometimes valuable because they lead to future happiness.

Practice 1 (Cambridge 10, test 1, passage 3)


The psychology of innovation
Why are so few companies truly innovative?
Innovation is key to business survival and companies put substantial resources into inspiring employees to
develop new ideas. There are, nevertheless, people working in luxurious, state-of-the-art centres designed to
stimulate innovation who find that their environment doesn’t make them feel at all creative. And there are those
who don’t have a budget, or much space, but who innovate successfully.

For Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, one reason that companies don’t
succeed as often as they should is that innovation starts with recruitment. Research shows that the fit between an
employee’s values and a company’s values makes a difference to what contribution they make and whether, two
years after they join, they’re still at the company. Studies at Harvard Business School show that, although some
individuals may be more creative than others, almost every individual can be creative in the right circumstances.

One of the most famous photographs in the story of rock’n’roll emphasises Ciaidini’s views. The 1956 picture of
singers Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis jamming at a piano in Sun Studios in
Memphis tells a hidden story. Sun’s ‘million-dollar quartet’ could have been a quintet. Missing from the picture
is Roy Orbison’ a greater natural singer than Lewis, Perkins or Cash. Sam Phillips, who owned Sun, wanted to
revolutionise popular music with songs that fused black and white music, and country and blues. Presley, Cash,
Perkins and Lewis instinctively understood Phillips’s ambition and believed in it. Orbison wasn’t inspired by the
goal, and only ever achieved one hit with the Sun label.

The value fit matters, says Cialdini, because innovation is, in part, a process of change, and under that pressure
we, as a species, behave differently, ‘ When things change, we are hard-wired to play it safe .’ Managers should,
therefore, adopt an approach that appears counterintuitive -they should explain what stands to be lost if the
company fails to seize a particular opportunity. Studies show that we invariably take more gambles when
threatened with a loss than when offered a reward.

Managing innovation is a delicate art. It’s easy for a company to be pulled in conflicting directions as the
marketing, product development, and finance departments each get different feedback from different sets of
people. And without a system which ensures collaborative exchanges within the company, it’s also easy for small

66
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
‘pockets of innovation‟ to disappear. Innovation is a contact sport. You can’t brief people just by saying, ‘We’re
going in this direction and I’m going to take you with me.’

Cialdini believes that this ‘follow-the-leader syndrome, is dangerous, not least because it encourages bosses to go
it alone. ‘It’s been scientifically proven that three people will be better than one at solving problems, even if that
one person is the smartest person in the field.’ To prove his point, Cialdini cites an interview with molecular
biologist James Watson. Watson, together with Francis Crick, discovered the structure of DNA, the genetic
information carrier of all living organisms. ‘When asked how they had cracked the code ahead of an array of
highly accomplished rival investigators, he said something that stunned me. He said ‘e and Crick had succeeded
because they were aware that they weren’t the most intelligent of the scientists pursuing the answer. The smartest
scientist was called Rosalind Franklin who, Watson said, “was so intelligent she rarely sought advice”.

Teamwork taps into one of the basic drivers of human behaviour. ‘The principle of social proof is so pervasive
that we don’t even recognise it,’ says Cialdini. ‘If your project is being resisted, for example, by a group of veteran
employees, ask another old-timer to speak up for it.’ Cialdini is not alone in advocating this strategy. Research
shows that peer power, used horizontally not vertically, is much more powerful than any boss’s speech.

Writing, visualising and prototyping can stimulate the flow of new ideas. Cialdini cites scores of research papers
and historical events that prove that even something as simple as writing deepens every individual’s engagement
in the project. It is, he says, the reason why all those competitions on breakfast cereal packets encouraged us to
write in saying, in no more than 10 words: ‘I like Kellogg’s Com Flakes because….’ The very act of writing
makes us more likely to believe it.

Authority doesn’t have to inhibit innovation but it often does. The wrong kind of leadership will lead to what
Cialdini calls ”captainitis, the regrettable tendency of team members to opt out of team responsibilities that are
properly their ’. He calls it captainitis because, he says, ”crew members of multipilot aircraft exhibit a sometimes
deadly passivity when the flight captain makes a clearly wrong-headed decision”. This behaviour is not, he says,
unique to air travel, but can happen in any workplace where the leader is overbearing.

At the other end of the scale is the 1980s Memphis design collective, a group of young designers for whom ”the
only rule was that there were no rule”. This environment encouraged a free interchange of ideas, which led to
more creativity with form, function, colour and materials that revolutionised attitudes to furniture design.

Many theorists believe the ideal boss should lead from behind, taking pride in collective accomplishment and
giving credit where it is due. Cialdini says: ”Leaders should encourage everyone to contribute and simultaneously
assure all concerned that every recommendation is important to making the right decision and will be given full
attention ”. The frustrating thing about innovation is that there are many approaches, but no magic formula.
67
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
However, a manager who wants to create a truly innovative culture can make their job a lot easier by recognising
these psychological realities.

Questions 27-30
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27. The example of the ‘million-dollar quartet’ underlines the writer’s point about
A. recognising talent.
B. working as a team.
C. having a shared objective.
D. being an effective leader.
28. James Watson suggests that he and Francis Crick won the race to discover the DNA code because they
A. were conscious of their own limitations.
B. brought complementary skills to their partnership.
C. were determined to outperform their brighter rivals.
D. encouraged each other to realise their joint ambition.
29. The writer mentions competitions on breakfast cereal packets as an example of how to
A. inspire creative thinking.
B. generate concise writing.
C. promote loyalty to a group.
D. strengthen commitment to an idea.
30. In the last paragraph, the writer suggests that it is important for employees to
A. be aware of their company's goals.
B. feel that their contributions are valued.
C. have respect for their co-workers’ achievements
D. understand why certain management decisions are made.
Questions 31-35
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet
31. Employees whose values match those of their employers are more likely to
32. At times of change, people tend to

68
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
33. If people are aware of what they might lose, they will often
34. People working under a dominant boss are liable to
35. Employees working in organisations with few rules are more likely to
A. take chances.
B. share their ideas.
C. become competitive.
D. get promotion.
E. avoid risk.
F. ignore their duties.
G. remain in their jobs.
Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, write
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.

36. The physical surroundings in which a person works play a key role in determining their creativity.
37. Most people have the potential to be creative.
38. Teams work best when their members are of equally matched intelligence.
39. It is easier for smaller companies to be innovative.
40. A manager’s approval of an idea is more persuasive than that of a colleague.

Practice 2 (Cambridge 10, test 2, passage 2)


Gifted children and learning

A. Internationally, ‘giftedness’ is most frequently determined by a score on a general intelligence test, known
as an IQ test, which is above a chosen cutoff point, usually at around the top 2-5%. Children’s educational
environment contributes to the IQ score and the way intelligence is used. For example, a very close
positive relationship was found when children’s IQ scores were compared with their home educational
provision (Freeman, 2010). The higher the children’s IQ scores, especially over IQ 130, the better the
quality of their educational backup, measured in terms of reported verbal interactions with parents, number

69
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
of books and activities in their home etc. Because IQ tests are decidedly influenced by what the child has
learned, they are to some extent measures of current achievement based on age-norms; that is, how well
the children have learned to manipulate their knowledge and know-how within the terms of the test. The
vocabulary aspect, for example, is dependent on having heard those words. But IQ tests can neither
identify the processes of learning and thinking nor predict creativity.
B. Excellence does not emerge without appropriate help. To reach an exceptionally high standard in any area
very able children need the means to learn, which includes material to work with and focused challenging
tuition -and the encouragement to follow their dream. There appears to be a qualitative difference in the
way the intellectually highly able think, compared with more average-ability or older pupils, for whom
external regulation by the teacher often compensates for lack of internal regulation. To be at their most
effective in their self-regulation, all children can be helped to identify their own ways of learning –
metacognition – which will include strategies of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and choice of what to
learn. Emotional awareness is also part of metacognition, so children should be helped to be aware of their
feelings around the area to be learned, feelings of curiosity or confidence, for example.
C. High achievers have been found to use self-regulatory learning strategies more often and more effectively
than lower achievers, and are better able to transfer these strategies to deal with unfamiliar tasks. This
happens to such a high degree in some children that they appear to be demonstrating talent in particular
areas. Overviewing research on the thinking process of highly able children, (Shore and Kanevsky, 1993)
put the instructor’s problem succinctly: ‘ If they [the gifted] merely think more quickly, then we need only
teach more quickly. If they merely make fewer errors, then we can shorten the practice ’. But of course,
this is not entirely the case; adjustments have to be made in methods of learning and teaching, to take
account of the many ways individuals think.
D. Yet in order to learn by themselves, the gifted do need some support from their teachers. Conversely,
teachers who have a tendency to ‘overdirect’ can diminish their gifted pupils’ learning autonomy.
Although ‘ spoon-feeding ’ can produce extremely high examination results, these are not always followed
by equally impressive life successes. Too much dependence on the teachers risks loss of autonomy and
motivation to discover. However, when teachers o pupils to reflect on their own learning and thinking
activities, they increase their pupils’ self-regulation. For a young child, it may be just the simple question
‘What have you learned today?’ which helps them to recognise what they are doing. Given that a
fundamental goal of education is to transfer the control of learning from teachers to pupils, improving
pupils’ learning to learn techniques should be a major outcome of the school experience, especially for
the highly competent. There are quite a number of new methods which can help, such as child- initiated

70
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
learning, ability-peer tutoring, etc. Such practices have been found to be particularly useful for bright
children from deprived areas.
E. But scientific progress is not all theoretical, knowledge is a so vital to outstanding performance:
individuals who know a great deal about a specific domain will achieve at a higher level than those who
do not (Elshout, 1995). Research with creative scientists by Simonton (1988) brought him to the
conclusion that above a certain high level, characteristics such as independence seemed to contribute more
to reaching the highest levels of expertise than intellectual skills, due to the great demands of effort and
time needed for learning and practice. Creativity in all forms can be seen as expertise as mixed with a high
level of motivation (Weisberg, 1993).
F. To sum up, learning is affected by emotions of both the individual and significant others. Positive emotions
facilitate the creative aspects of earning and negative emotions inhibit it. Fear, for example, can limit the
development of curiosity, which is a strong force in scientific advance, because it motivates problem-
solving behaviour. In Boekaerts ’ (1991) review of emotion the learning of very high IQ and highly
achieving children, she found emotional forces in harness. They were not only curious, but often had a
strong desire to control their environment, improve their learning efficiency and increase their own
learning resources.

Questions 14-17

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the
correct letter, A-F, in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet

NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. a reference to the influence of the domestic background on the gifted child.

15. reference to what can be lost if learners are given too much guidance.

16. a reference to the damaging effects of anxiety.

17. examples of classroom techniques which favour socially-disadvantaged children.

Questions 18-22

Look at the following statements (Questions 18-22) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the
correct person or people, A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 18-22 on your answer sheet.

18. Less time can be spent on exercises with gifted pupils who produce accurate work.

19. Self-reliance is a valuable tool that helps gifted students reach their goals.

71
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
20. Gifted children know how to channel their feelings to assist their learning.

21. The very gifted child benefits from appropriate support from close relatives.

22. Really successful students have learnt a considerable amount about their subject.

List of People

A. Freeman D. Simonton

B. Shore and Kanevsky E. Boekaerts

C. Elshout

Questions 23-26

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 23—26 on your answer sheet

23. One study found a strong connection between children’s IQ and the availability of .................... and
.................... at home.

24. Children of average ability seem to need more direction from teachers because they do not have ....................

25. Meta-cognition involves children understanding their own learning strategies, as well as developing
....................

26. Teachers who rely on what is known as .................... often produce sets of impressive grades in class tests.

Practice 3 (Test plus 2, test 1, passage 2)

Why are so few tigers man-eaters?

A. As you leave the Bandhavgarh National Park in central India, there is a notice which shows a huge, placid
tiger. The notice says, ‘You may not have seen me, but I have seen you.’ There are more than a billion people In
India and Indian tigers probably see humans every single day of their lives. Tigers can and do kill almost
everything they meet in the jungle, they will kill even attack elephants and rhino. Surely, then, it is a little strange
that attacks on humans are not more frequent.

B. Some people might argue that these attacks were, in fact, common in the past. British writers of adventure
stories, such as Jim Corbett, gave the impression that village life in India in the early years of the twentieth century
involved a stage of constant siege by man-eating tigers. But they may have overstated the terror spread by tigers.

72
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
There were also far more tigers around in those days (probably 60.000 in the subcontinent compared to just 3000
today). So in proportion, attacks appear to have been as rare then as they are today.

C. It is widely assumed that the constraint is fear; but what exactly are tigers afraid of? Can they really know that
we may be even better armed than they are? Surely not. Have the species programmed the experiences of all tigers
with humans its genes to be inherited as instinct? Perhaps. But I think the explanation may be more simple and,
in a way, more intriguing.

D. Since the growth of ethology in the 1950s, we have tried to understand animal behaviour from the animal’s
point of view. Until the first elegant experiments by pioneers in the field such as Konrad Lorenz, naturalists wrote
about animals as if they were slightly less intelligent humans. Jim Corbett’s breathless accounts of his duels with
man-eaters in truth tell us more about Jim Corbett than they do about the animals. The principle of ethology, on
the other hand, requires us to attempt to think in the same way as the animal we are studying thinks, and to observe
every tiny detail of its behaviour without imposing our own human significances on its actions.

E. I suspect that a tiger’s afraid of humans lies not in some pre-programmed ancestral logic but in the way he
actually perceives us visually. If you think like a tiger, a human in a car might appear just to be a part of the car,
and because tigers don’t eat cars the human is safe-unless the car is menacing the tiger or its cubs, in which case
a brave or enraged tiger may charge. A human on foot is a different sort of puzzle. Imagine a tiger sees a man
who is 1.8m tall. A tigris less than 1m tall but they may be up to 3m long from head to tail. So when a tiger sees
the man face on, it might not be unreasonable for him to assume that the man is 6m long. If he meets a deer of
this size, he might attack the animal by leaping on its back, but when he looks behind the mind he can’t see a
back. From the front, the man is huge, but looked at from the side he all but disappears. This must be very
disconcerting. A hunter has to be confident that it can tackle its prey, and no one is confident when they are
disconcerted. This is especially true of a solitary hunter such as the tiger and may explain why lions-particularly
young lionesses who tend to encourage one another to take risks are more dangerous than tigers.

F. If the theory that a tiger is disconcerted to find that a standing human is both very big and yet somehow invisible
is correct, the opposite should be true of a squatting human. A squatting human is half the size and presents twice
the spread of back, and more closely resembles a medium-sized deer. If tigers were simply frightened of all
humans, then a squatting person would be no more attractive as a target than a standing one. This, however,
appears not to be the case. Many incidents of attacks on people involving villagers squatting or bending over to
cut grass for fodder or building material.

G. The fact that humans stand upright may therefore not just be something that distinguishes them from nearly
all other species, but also a factor that helped them to survive in a dangerous and unpredictable environment.

73
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Note:

Ethology = the branch of zoology that studies the behaviour of animals in their natural habitats

Questions 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs labelled A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14. a rejected explanation of why tiger attacks on humans are rare

15. a reason why tiger attacks on humans might be expected to happen more often than they do

16. examples of situations in which humans are more likely to be attacked by tigers

17. a claim about the relative frequency of tiger attacks on humans

18. an explanation of tiger behaviour based on the principles of ethology

Questions 19-23

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 19-23 on your
answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

19. Tigers in the Bandhavgarh National Park are a protected species.

20. Some writers of fiction have exaggerated the danger of tigers to man.

21. The fear of humans may be passed down in a tiger's genes.

22. Konrad Lorenz claimed that some animals are more intelligent than humans.

23. Ethology involves applying principles of human behaviour to animals.

Questions 24-26

Choose the correct answer, A. B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. Why do tigers rarely attack people in cars?

74
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
A. They have learned that cars are not dangerous.

B. They realise that people in cars cannot be harmed.

C. They do not think people in cars are living creatures.

D. They do not want to put their cubs at risk.

25. The writer says that tigers rarely attack a man who is standing up because

A. they are afraid of the man s height.

B. they are confused by the man's shape.

C. they are puzzled by the man s lack of movement.

D. they are unable to look at the man directly.

26. A human is more vulnerable to tiger attack when squatting because

A. he may be unaware of the tiger's approach.

B. he cannot easily move his head to see behind him.

C. his head becomes a better target for the tiger.

D. his back appears longer in relation to his height.

Practice 4 (Cambridge 11, test 3, passage 2)

Great Migrations
Animal migration, however it is defined, is far more than just the movement of animals. It can loosely be described
as travel that takes place at regular intervals - often in an annual cycle - that may involve many members of a
species, and is rewarded only after a long journey. It suggests inherited instinct. The biologist Hugh Dingle has
identified five characteristics that apply, in varying degrees and combinations, to all migrations. They are
prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy; they
involve special behaviours concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special
allocations of energy. And one more: migrating animals maintain an intense attentiveness to the greater mission,
which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.

An arctic tern, on its 20,000 km flight from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle, will take no
notice of a nice smelly herring offered from a bird-watcher's boat along the way. While local gulls will dive

75
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on. Why? The arctic tern resists distraction because it is driven at
that moment by an instinctive sense of something we humans find admirable: larger purpose. In other words, it is
determined to reach its destination. The bird senses that it can eat, rest and mate later. Right now it is totally
focused on the journey; its undivided intent is arrival.

Reaching some gravelly coastline in the Arctic, upon which other arctic terns have converged, will serve its larger
purpose as shaped by evolution: finding a place, a time, and a set of circumstances in which it can successfully
hatch and rear offspring.

But migration is a complex issue, and biologists define it differently, depending in part on what sorts of animals
they study. Joe! Berger, of the University of Montana, who works on the American pronghorn and other large
terrestrial mammals, prefers what he calls a simple, practical definition suited to his beasts: 'movements from a
seasonal home area away to another home area and back again'. Generally, the reason for such seasonal back-
and-forth movement is to seek resources that aren't available within a single area year-round.

But daily vertical movements by zooplankton in the ocean - upward by night to seek food, downward by day to
escape predators - can also be considered migration. So can the movement of aphids when, having depleted the
young leaves on one food plant, their offspring then fly onward to a different host plant, with no one aphid ever
returning to where it started.

Dingle is an evolutionary biologist who studies insects. His definition is more intricate than Berger's, citing those
five features that distinguish migration from other forms of movement. They allow for the fact that, for example,
aphids will become sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it's time for takeoff on their big journey, and
sensitive to yellow light (reflected from tender young leaves) when it's appropriate to land. Birds will fatten
themselves with heavy feeding in advance of a long migrational flight. The value of his definition, Dingle argues,
is that it focuses attention on what the phenomenon of wildebeest migration shares with the phenomenon of the
aphids, and therefore helps guide researchers towards understanding how evolution has produced them all.

Human behaviour, however, is having a detrimental impact on animal migration. The pronghorn, which resembles
an antelope, though they are unrelated, is the fastest land mammal of the New World. One population, which
spends the summer in the mountainous Grand Teton National Park of the western USA, follows a narrow route
from its summer range in the mountains, across a river, and down onto the plains. Here they wait out the frozen
months, feeding mainly on sagebrush blown clear of snow. These pronghorn are notable for the invariance of
their migration route and the severity of its construction at three bottlenecks. If they can't pass through each of
the three during their spring migration, they can't reach their bounty of summer grazing; if they can't pass through
again in autumn, escaping south onto those windblown plains, they are likely to die trying to overwinter in the

76
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
deep snow. Pronghorn, dependent on distance vision and speed to keep safe from predators, traverse high, open
shoulders of land, where they can see and run. At one of the bottlenecks, forested hills rise to form a V, leaving a
corridor of open ground only about 150 metres wide, filled with private homes. Increasing development is leading
toward a crisis for the pronghorn, threatening to choke off their passageway.

Conservation scientists, along with some biologists and land managers within the USA's National Park Service
and other agencies, are now working to preserve migrational behaviours, not just species and habitats. A National
Forest has recognised the path of the pronghorn, much of which passes across its land, as a protected migration
corridor. But neither the Forest Service nor the Park Service can control what happens on private land at a
bottleneck. And with certain other migrating species, the challenge is complicated further - by vastly greater
distances traversed, more jurisdictions, more borders, more dangers along the way. We will require wisdom and
resoluteness to ensure that migrating species can continue their journeying a while longer.

Questions 14-18

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 14-18 on your
answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

14. Local gulls and migrating arctic terns behave in the same way when offered food.

15. Experts’ definitions of migration tend to vary according to their area of study.

16. Very few experts agree that the movement of aphids can be considered migration.

17. Aphids’ journeys are affected by changes in the light that they perceive.

18. Dingle's aim is to distinguish between the migratory behaviours of different species.

Questions 19-22

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below. Write the correct letter, A-G in boxes 19-22 on your
answer sheet

19. According to Dingle, migratory routes are likely to


20. To prepare for migration, animals are likely to

77
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
21. During migration, animals are unlikely to
22. Arctic terns illustrate migrating animals’ ability to

A. be discouraged by difficulties.
B. travel on open land where they can look out for predators.
C. eat more than they need for immediate purposes.
D. be repeated daily.
E. ignore distractions.
F. be governed by the availability of water.
G. follow a straight line.

Questions 23-26

Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.

The migration of pronghorns

Pronghorns rely on their eyesight and 23 .................. to avoid predators. One particular population’s summer
habitat is a national park, and their winter home is on the 24 .................. where they go to avoid the danger
presented by the snow at that time of year. However, their route between these two areas contains three 25
.................. . One problem is the construction of new homes in a narrow 26 .................. of land on the pronghorns’
route.

78
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
LISTENING

79
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 1: SECTION 1
Dictation 1 (Cambridge 10, test 3)
Man: Good morning. Welcome to the (1)………………………………………………….. How may I help you?
Woman: Hi. I spoke to you last week about (2)……………………………………………………………..
M: Oh, yes. (3)……………………………………………………………….. So, you're her mother?
W: That’s right.
M: And, can I have your name?
W: It’s Carol, Carol Smith.
M: And your daughter’s name?
W: It's Kate.
M: Now, (4)………………………………………………………………………………….. How old is your
daughter?
W: She’s three now but (5)……………………………………………………………………….
M: I’ll put four down because that's how old she'll be when she starts.
W: Fine, (6)………………………………………………………………………………...
M: That’s good to hear. And what's your address?
W: It’s 46 Wombat Road, that's W-O-M-B-A-T. Woodside 4032.
M: And what’s the phone number?
W: Oh ... it’s ... 3345 9865.
M: So, (7)…………………………………………………………….. you’d like to bring your daughter here?
W: I’d prefer Monday and Wednesday if possible.
M: Mmm. I'll check, Monday’s fine, but I think (8)………………………………………….. for Wednesday.
Erm. Yes. Sorry. (9)………………………………………………….... We can offer you a Thursday or a Friday
as well.
W: Oh dear. (10)………………………………………………………. because she has swimming on Friday.
M: OK, got that. Because a lot of parents work, (11)……………………………………………………... We are
open from 7:30 in the morning until 6 o'clock at night. What time would you like your daughter to start?
W: I need to get to work in the city by 9:00 so (12)………………………………………………. You’re pretty
close to the city here so (13)………………………………………………………………..
M: That’s fine. Now, we also need to decide which group she'll be in.
(14)………………………………………………………………………………. There’s the green group, which
is for three to four-year-olds. And then there’s the red group which is for four- to five-year-olds.

80
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
W: (15)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
M: Well, I’ll put her in the red group and we can always change her to the green one if there are any problems.

W: That sounds fine.


M: Ok. Let's move on to meals. We can provide breakfast, lunch and dinner.
(16)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
W: Yes, she'll only need lunch.
M: Now, (17)…………………………………………………………………….. we need to know about? Does
she have (18)……………………………………………………… for example?
W: No. But she does need to wear glasses.
M: Oh, I'll make a note of that.
W: Yes, she's pretty good about wearing them, she can’t see much without them.
M: Right. OK. Now, I also need (19)…………………………………………………………………...
W: So what sort of information do you need?
M: Just the name and number of a friend or family member we can contact in case
(20)………………………………………………………………………………………….
W: That’d better be my sister... Jenny Ball. That’s B-A-double L. Her phone number is 3346 7523.
M: Great. So she is the child's aunt?
W: Yes, that’s right.
M: I’ll make a note of that as well. Now, is there anything you’d like to ask?
W: What about payment? (21)………………………………………………………………………………………
M: Well, for two days and the hours you’ve chosen, that will be $450 altogether.
W: OK, and do I have to pay that now?
M: No, (22)…………………………………………………………………………………………………….........
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
W: Oh. I’ll do that then. (23)……………………………………………… and I’m not used to the term dates just
yet.
M: Good, (24)…………………………………………………………………. Well, that’s everything.
W: Would you like me to show you around ...?

81
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 1
Questions 1-10
Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Early Learning Childcare Centre Enrolment Form


Example
Parent or guardian: Carol Smith
Personal Details
Child’s name: Kate
Age: (1)…………………..
Address: (2)…………………………… Road, Woodside, 4032
Phone: 3345 9865
Childcare Information
Days enrolled for: Monday and (3)…………………………..
Start time: (4)……………………………..
Childcare group: the (5)……………………. group
Which meal/s are required each day?: (6)……………………………….
Medical conditions: needs (7)………………………………
Emergency contact: Jenny (8)………………………
Relationship to child: (9)………………………………..
Fees
Will pay each (10)……………………………………….

Dication 2 (Cambridge 10, test 4)

Thorndyke: Thorndyke’s.

Edith: Good morning. Is that Mr Thorndyke?

T: Speaking. How can I help?

E: (1)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

T: I’m sure (2)…………………………………………………………...

82
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
E: Yes, of course.

T: Well, firstly, how did you hear about us?

E: It was my friend Mary Hampton (3)……………………………………………………………. Do you


remember?

T: Oh, yes, that was in West Park Flats, lovely lady.

E: Yes, she is.

T: And what’s your name, please?

E: It's Edith Pargetter.

T: Edith ... can you spell your surname, please?

E: It's P-A-R-G-E-double T-E-R.

T: Double T, right. And do you live in West Park Flats as well?

E: No, actually it’s (4)……………………………………………...

T: Oh, right, (5)………………………………………………………………………….

E: Yes, (6)…………………………………………………….

T: Right, I know. And what’s your phone number?

E: 875934 but (7)…………………………………………………………………….

T: So (8)………………………………………………………..?

E: Yes.

T: Fine. I've made a note of that. Can I just ask,(9)……………………………………………………………….

Where would you recommend?

E: Well, I always tell (10)……………………………………………………………………………………. from


the entrance.

T: Good, thanks.

E: And will you be able to (11)…………………………………………………………………?

T: Oh, yes. (12)…………………………………………………………………………..


83
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
E: That'd be a great help.

T: No problem. Now, what would you like me to do?

E: Firstly and most urgently is in the kitchen. (13)…………………………………………………………………


and I’d need that fixing ...

T: (14)…………………………………………….

E: Oh, yes. And as soon as possible ...

T: What I'll do is come round tomorrow morning and do that immediately.

E: Thank you so much. The other things aren’t so urgent but...

T: Now, I'll make a note of everything you want doing.

E: Well, in the kitchen I’d like some painting doing.

T: All the kitchen walls?

E: (15)………………………………………………………………………….

T: Right... it does (16)…………………………………………! Well, if you want a proper job done what I’d need
to do is (17)…………………………………………………………… before I paint it.

E: Of course. Now, Mary tells me you also do work in the garden.

T: That’s right.

E: Well, I’d like you to replace a fence.

T: Just One?

E: Yes, at the far end.

T: Fine. Shouldn’t be a problem.

E: And that’s the lot.

T: Fine. Yeah, as I say I can come round tomorrow morning (18)…………………………………………………

E: That’s great, thank you.

T: So, I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow at...

84
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 2

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
(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)……………………………..

Questions 7-10

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Area Work to be done Notes


Kitchen Replace the (7)………………………………in Fix tomorrow
the door
Paint wall above the Strip paint and plaster approximately one
(8)………………………………… (9)……………………………. in advance

Garden One (10)………………….. needs replacing (end


of garden)

Dictation 3 (Listening recent actual tests, test 1)

CLERK: Good morning, ma’am, and welcome to “Australia’s Moving Experience”! How can I help you?

WOMAN: Well, I... I hope you can help me. (1)……………………………………………... I...
85
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C: Just calm down, now. Let me guess: (2)…………………………………………………………….

W: That’s it exactly. You see, (3)…………………………………………………………………………………...

C: Here, fill out your name and address, and let me ask you a few questions. Oh, what should I call you?

W: My name is Jane, Jane Bond.

C: OK, Jane, first of all, what’s your work phone number? In case I have any questions about things.

W: My work phone is 94635550. But please try not to call me too often there. (4)………………………………….

C: So does mine, ma’am, so does mine. And what address should we ship your things to?

W: (5)………………………………………………………………. at 509 Clark House, that’s C-L-A-R-K, 1137


University Drive in Seattle.

C: Seattle? Beautiful city, I hear. (6)……………………………………………………………. OK, and when


should we come pack your things?

W: I guess that would be on Monday, March 11th.

C: Do you want any help with an after-packing clean-up?

(7)…………………………………………………………………………………...

W: Yes, that would be helpful. (8)…………………………………………….. I’d give her the keys back by 5:00
p.m. on Thursday, the 14th.

C: Great, (9)…………………………………………. That way, the place will smell clean and there’ll be no dust.

W: Well, you do think of everything! Oh, how much is this going to cost?

C: Here is a list of our basic prices.

W: Oh dear, this seems rather expensive!

C: Yes ma’am, but you’re paying for the best. We’re careful and we’re fast. Like we say

(10)…………………………………………………………………

W: Well... maybe that’s so... Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you. (11)……………………………………………….. I
won't be looking for an apartment till after I arrive in America.

(12)………………………………………………………………, then have it sent along later?

86
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C: Of course, we do that all the time. A couple of other things.

Here at "A Moving Experience”, (13)…………………………………………. We don’t just throw stuff in boxes.

Do you have any special requests? You know, (14)……………………………………………………., so you


know where to find them?

W: Like what?

C: Oh, I don’t know... Things like dishes maybe. Not to be rude, but you look like a lady who likes to eat.

W: Ahhh! Yes, I need my dishes and things where I can find them quickly.

C: Great. (15)……………………………………………………………………….. Can you think of anything


else?

W: Ummm, (16)…………………………………………. my great-grandmother gave my mother. I wouldn’t


want to lose that. So I guess you’d better put that in storage with the furniture.

C: Grandma’s tea kettle with the furniture, got it! Say, how about things like your alarm clock?
(17)………………………………………………………………………..

W: Well, you certainly think of everything! Yes, that’s right. I'll also need my alarm clock where I can find it.

C: Fine, we’ll put that in your personal package. And of course, we'll give you a list of where we pack everything.
So, all you’ll have to do on Thursday, the 14th is (18)…………………………………………………….. Um, I
couldn’t help noticing the new CD player you’re carrying. Is that a Samsung?

W: Why? Yes, it is. One of their best. Cost me nearly a hundred dollars, it did!

C: (19)………………………………………………………………………………...

W: Take care of it, but nothing special. You can just put it in storage with the furniture.

C: That looks like everything we need here. (20)……………………………………………………………………

W: That was certainly quick. Thank you, young man. This has been a most moving experience!

Practice 3

Questions 1-6

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

87
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Moving Company Service Report

Example
Full Name: Jane Bond

Phone Number: (1)……………………………


USA Address: 509 (2)…………………………………
1137 (3)……………………….
Packing Day: (4)………………….
Date: 11th March
Clean-up by: 5:00 p.m.
Day: (5)……………………
About the Price: Rather expensive
Storage Time: (6)……………………….

Questions 7-10

Where does the speaker decide to put items in? Write the correct letter, A, B, or C, next to questions 7-10.

A in emergency pack
B in personal package
C in storage with the furniture

Items

7. cutlery and dishes

8. kettle

9. alarm clock

10. CD player

Dictation 4 (Listening recent actual test, test 2)

88
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Customer: Good morning. I’ve been looking at your holidays to Australia in your Example brochure.
(1)…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Agent: Good morning. As you can see from our brochure, (2)……………………………………………………....

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

C: Yes, my husband and I are very interested in the holidays in the Outback.

A: These holidays are (3)………………………………….. Would you like (4)…………………………………...


with us, or just accommodation?

C: Can you arrange flights from Sydney?

A: Certainly.

C: OK, flights and accommodation then.

A: Right. You said that you wanted to travel next month. Which date would you prefer? I should point out that
there are no daily flights available, (5)…………………………………………………………….

C: Well, we arrive in Sydney on the 15 of April and we were thinking of travelling to the Outback on the 18 of
August, er... I mean April.

A: OK. There’s only one flight from Sydney to Alice Springs on the 18, so I’ll book you on that.
(6)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

C: Yes, please.

A: As for your stay in the Outback, (7)……………………………………………………………………... The


budget package is about 500 Australian dollars. The standard package is about 700 and the luxury one is
approximately 1,000, (8)…………………………………………………………………….. Which one would
you prefer?

C: Well, we can’t decide between the budget and standard options.

A: Ah, well, actually, just looking at my computer here, on the date that you want to fly into Alice Springs, there
is no standard accommodation available. It’s fully booked, I’m afraid.

C: That’s OK. We think that the cheapest one should be fine for us.

(9)………………………………………………………………………………………….. We prefer the


outdoors.

89
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
A: Right. Let’s look at the room options. First of all, would you prefer a non-smoking room?

C: Yes. Neither of us smokes. OK. Oh, before I forget, could you book everything in my husband's name, please?
A: Yes, of course. Are you paying by credit card?

C: Yes.

A: In that case, (10)……………………………………………………………………………………………….

C: Of course. It’s John A. Smyth. That’s Smyth with a “Y”.

A: John ... middle initial “A”... surname Smyth, S-M-Y-T-H. Is that correct?

C: Correct.

A: Thank you. I’ll just check the price. The room will cost 100 dollars a night plus 10 dollars tax, so110 dollars
per night in total. Is that OK?

C: Yes, that’s fine. Book us for three nights, please.

A: Most of the guests like to (11)…………………………………………………… while they are staying in the
Outback. Is there anything that interests you and your husband?

C: Yes, there are several things we’d like to see and do. (12)……………………………………………………….

A: Yes, that’s very popular. It’s (13)………………………………………………………………………………..

C: We were thinking about visiting one of the nearby farms.

A: There are two farms nearby - a sheep farm and a kangaroo farm.

(14)………………………………………………………………………………. Have you ridden a camel


before?

C: No, but it sounds like fun. Could you give me some more details about the kangaroo farm and the camel ride?
A: Certainly. (15)………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Which would you prefer? You can arrange to see the kangaroos in the wild if you like, rather than on a farm.

C: That sounds perfect. OK, we’ll go on the camel ride and see the kangaroos in their natural habitat.

A: OK. I’ll arrange that for you. I forgot to mention that

(16)…………………………………………………………………………………………….. It’s a place well-


known for its (17)…………………………………………………………………………….

90
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C: That sounds great! Are the carvings in the desert?

A: Yes.

C: Wonderful!

A: Well, that’s perfect then. I’m sure you'll have a lovely trip, but remember that you need take care in the sun.

C: Yes. (18)………………………………………………………………….. We really want to try to experience


the Dreamtime under the stars.

A: Of course. That’s what a trip to the Outback is really all about.

C: Yes. Now, how about the cost...

Practice 4

Questions 1-3
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD only for each answer.
NOTES OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION
Example
Information source : found in the brochure
Included services: (1)…………………………………. and accommodation
Sydney arrival date: 15 of (2)…………………………….
Accommodation criteria: (3)…………………………..

Questions 4-6

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.

BOOKING INFORMATION
Room type: (4)………………………….
Credit card holder: (5)……………………………….
Total cost for one night: (6)………………………………….

Questions 7-10

Complete the sentence below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

91
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
The (7)………………………….. is within walking distance of the accommodation.
Our customer books (8)…………………………..
Aboriginals stone carvings are in the (9)…………………………..
The Dreamtime can be experienced beneath the (10)……………………………

Dictation 5 (Listening recent actual tests, test 3)

Customer service rep: Hello, and welcome to “Under Pressure Enterprises”, Customer Service Department. This
is Kelly. How may I help you?

HEWITT: Yes, I’m calling about (1)……………………………………………………...

CR: (2)…………………………………………………….

H: Seems? There’s no seeming about it! The blasted thing (3)………………………………………………, that’s
what! It nearly scalded my hand when I went to open it. It could have killed the cat or something.
(4)……………………………………………………………………………

CR: Sir, sir, please calm down. (5)……………………………………………………………………………...

H: So you’re telling me there’s no problem! Are you calling me a liar?

CR: Sir, no one is calling you a liar.

H: Yes! (6)…………………………………………………………………………!

CR: Under Pressure will be happy to refund your money, sir. Now I just need some basic information.

H: OK, OK. Sorry. (7)…………………………………………………... My wife tells me to slow down... So,


what do you need to know?

CR: Sir, don’t worry. I just need to ask you the model number of the cooker.

H: Hmmm... where are my glasses? Ah, here! Let’s see... ah. It's R242.

CR: R242. OK, and (8)……………………………………………………………………?

H: 89.99 pounds. It was on sale, I guess I should tell you.

CR: Thank you, that’s honest of you. Now, where did you buy the cooker? Which store and which branch?

H: At that big Electric Life (9)………………………………………………………………...

92
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
CR: The City Centre Branch? H: That’s the one.

CR: And you say the problem is that the steam escapes?

H: Yes, it does!

CR: No problem, sir. If there’s steam escaping, (10)…………………………………………. So we have an R242


cooker with an escaping steam problem. It was bought from Electric Life’s City Centre Branch for 89.99. Is that
correct?

H: Yes, that is correct.

CR: Oh, I nearly forget. When did you buy the cooker?

H: Just as soon as my wife got the crazy idea she’ll live longer if she stops eating good English food: roast beef
and mash. No, (11)…………………………………………………………………………………………..

CR: Sir, sir! When did you buy it?

H: Oh, there I go again. Let’s see... we bought it just six months ago! We hardly used it either. But six months?
Is that too long? (12)…………………………………………………………………?

CR: Very well, that’s well within the warranty period. Now, what’s your name and address?

H: Name and address! What for?

CR: Sir, it is company policy. If you want your money, you must inform me.

H: Money you say? Oh, my name is Herbert Hewitt and my address is 84 Park Road.

CR: Is that here in Coventry?

H: Yes. The postal code is B0241DJ. But (13)…………………………………………………………………….


I mean...

CR: Don’t worry, Mr. Hewitt, don’t worry. (14)………………………………………………… You do have one,
don’t you?

H: Yes, that's how we paid for the cooker.

CR: Oh, yes. We still have the number on computer. (15)………………………………………………………...

H: I’m afraid I never give that sort of information out. I mean, once you have that, anyone could go charging
things and...

93
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
CR: Sir! (16)………………………………………………………………………………..

H: Oh, er, yes. Foolish me. Of course, you didn’t say “password”. Let's see. That will be April 2008.

CR: April 2008. Very well, your card still has nearly two months left to go.

(17)…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

H: You had better! If I don’t get my money... wait, wait. Yes, (18)………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………

CR: And sir, just one more question for our record. How often do you go shopping at the City Centre Branch?

H: Oh, well it’s hard to say. (19)…………………………………………………. But I can tell you this, if I don’t
get my refund, I’ll never shop there again! (He hangs up the phone.)

CR: (20)…………………………………………………………………………

Practice 5

Questions 1-4

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Product Incident Report

Example Answer
Product Rice cooker
Model number (1)…………………………..
Price of the product (2)…………………………..
Name of the branch (3)…………………………..
Problem (4)…………………………..

Questions 5-10

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Customer’s information details


Name (5)…………………………..
Address (6)…………………………..

94
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Postcode (7)…………………………..
Card’s expiry date (8)…………………………..
Method of compensation (9)…………………………..
Shopping frequency (10)…………………………..

Dictation 6 (Listening recent actual tests, test 4)

WOMAN: Hello, how may I help you?

MAN: Well (1)……………………………………………………………………………………………... I just


wondered what they were for. I noticed your phone number on all of them, so I called. Could you tell me about
your business?

W: We do do recycling, but we're not a business. Gaea's Guardians is a non-profit group.


(2)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

M: I don't know. I mean it is a good idea. (3)………………………………………………………………………..

W: And we don't come collect newspaper every day! In fact, (4)………………………………………………….

M: Oh, well then maybe I could help. (5)…………………………………………………………………………...

………………………………………. I'd like to help out, I guess.

W: That's great, sir. You're doing the right thing. OK, I need to get your contact information. What is your name,
please?

M: Peter Wisrough.

W: Peter. .. how do you spell your last name? W-I-S-R-0-W?

M: No, actually it's W-I-S-R-0-U-G-H.

W: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a terrible speller.

M: You're a good speller. (6)…………………………………………………………!

W: You're quite a card, Peter! OK, now what's your address?

M: No. 168 Bridge Road. That's here in London. How about if I have any questions?

95
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
W: (7)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………,
helpline@blackcat.com, that's H-E-L-P-L-1-N-E at B-L-A-C-K-C-A-T dot com. But I nearly forgot to ask, what's
your postcode?

M: BS97PU.

W: PS97BU?

M: No. That's B as in "boy"-S-9-7-P as in "Peter"-U. So, (8)……………………………………………………......

…………………………………………..

W. Yes, that is correct, and (9)…………………………………………..

M: Wow, that's good news! Do you recycle anything besides newspaper?

W: Oh yes, (10)…………………………………………………………

M: Oh, so I can put like glass and plastic bottles in the box?

W: Sorry again. (11)……………………………………………………………..

MAN: And where is that?

W: Our main centre isn't that far from you. It's actually right on the East Side of Central Park.

M: That new blue building?

W: That's the one!

M: Cool. Hey, (12)………………………………………………………………………………

W: (13)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………….

M: Hm, okay. (14)……………………………………………………………

W: Oh, no need, (15)………………………………………………………..

M: Great. So which one would I put magazines in?

W: Actually, they don't go in any of the bins. Unfortunately, (16)…………………………………………………..

……………………………………………. It's such a waste. So would you be interested in volunteering?

M: Um, I'll think about it. Could you send me some more info?
96
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
W: Absolutely. Along with the newspaper box, I'll be sending you our booklet, "Savvy", that is S-A-double V-Y.
It tells you about (17)……………………………………………………….. Plus it lists things you can do as a
volunteer with our group.

M: Hey, that's cool, thanks!

W: My pleasure. (18)…………………………………………………………………….

M: Nope, that’s it!

Practice 6

Questions 1-5

Complete the form below Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Example Answer
Aim protecting environment through
recycling
Type of group non-profit
Frequency of newspaper collection: (1)………………………..
Name (2)………………………..
Address (3)………………………..
Email (4)………………………..
Postcode (5)………………………..

Questions 6-10

Complete the form below Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Recycling
Ways of recycling Newspaper: in a (6)…………………………box
Nearest rubbish collection centre On the East Side of (7)………………………….
Rubbish that can be recycled Blue box: (8)…………………………….
Green box: glass and plastics
Yellow box: paper
Rubbish that cannot be recycled (9)……………………………..

97
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Name of a booklet (10)…………………………….

Dictation 7 (Listening recent actual tests, test 5)

AGENT: Good afternoon and welcome to Habitat Hunters. You must be Joseph.

RENTER: Yes, that's right. (1)…………………………………………………………………………………...

AGENT: No problem at all. In Calgary's market, (2)……………………………………………………………!

RENTER: Actually, (3)……………………………………………………………………………………………..


………………………………………………………….

AGENT: Sit right down here now, sir. Let's talk a little about (4)…………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………..

RENTER: OK, could you tell me more about those four apartments?

AGENT: Sure. The first one is on Beatle Road, just a block off campus. It's a 3-bedroom with a bathroom and (5)
…………………………………………………………………………………….

RENTER: How much?

AGENT: Well, it's $435 a month, (6)…………………………………………………...

RENTER: Okay, that sounds reasonable. (7)…………………………………………………………..

AGENT: There's a really big garden, (8)…………………………………………………………………. to clean


up nicely.

RENTER: Hmm. That sounds okay. Tell me about the next option.

AGENT: The other 3-bedroom apartment is on Oakington Avenue on campus. It is right near the building where
you have classes, and (9)……………………………………………………………………………..

RENTER: Wow, that sounds like a pretty good option.

AGENT· Well, (10)……………………………………………………………………………, the living room,


bathroom, kitchen, and washing machine are all shared. It would be nice not to have to buy living room furniture,
though.

RENTER: And how much is this one?

98
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
AGENT: $400 per month for a bedroom with an air conditioner, (11)……………………………………………,
you would pay less, $340 for it.

RENTER: Yikes, even with the air conditioner, (12)………………………………………………………………..


I'll never cook if I have to walk down the hall to use the kitchen.

AGENT: Yeah, that's true.

AGENT: Anyway, the next place is a 2-bedroom on Mead Street.

RENTER: Oh, I like Mead Street - that's off campus, right?

AGENT: Yep. It's pretty cool, but it only has 2 bedrooms, plus a living room and a study.

RENTER: But I want to live together with my two friends.

AGENT: So you could (13)……………………………………………………………………………

RENTER: Also, we guys want a TV and DVD player since we're all so much into movies.

AGENT: Well, this place has a great TV and VCR, but no DVD player.

RENTER: No DVD? That's so weird. (14)……………………………………………………………………….?

AGENT: As you said, weird enough, it also comes with a washbasin.

RENTER: Is there a washing machine? (15)…………………………………………………………………..

AGENT: I'm afraid there's no washing machine in the apartment.

RENTER: Wow, (16)…………………………………………! Maybe it's not the best choice for three college
guys. How much is it?

AGENT: Well, it's $600 per month, but of course it would be cheaper if you made it into 3 bedrooms instead of
2.

RENTER: Where is this apartment located?

AGENT: It's 2500 Mead Street, where there are a lot of bars.

RENTER: (17)…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………... How about the last place?

AGENT: This one's on-campus in the Devon Close complex. It's a one-bedroom, so it will be a little quieter than
the Mead Street place.
99
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
RENTER: One bedroom, huh? (18)……………………………………………………… What else does it have?

AGENT: It comes with a living room and a study, and (19)………………………………………………………...

……………………………………………………. You know what else is cool? There's a dining hall downstairs
so all evening meals are free. You can purchase breakfast and lunch, but meals after 6 p.m. are free .

RENTER: (20)……………………………………………………………………... Is it really expensive?

AGENT: It's alright - $500 per month, but there's no bathroom.

RENTER: What? No bathroom?

AGENT: Well, there's no bathroom in the apartment, but there's one at the end of the hall.

RENTER: Hmm. Thanks, (21)…………………………………………………………………………………….

AGENT: Yeah, which one do you prefer?

RENTER: I think I'd choose either this apartment or the one on Beatle Road.

AGENT: OK. You'd better think about it, and then you can contact me ASAP.

RENTER: Fine, thanks for your help!

Practice 7

Questions 1-10

Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Address Rooms Facilities Provided stuff Rental fee Drawback


Beatle Road 3 bedrooms, a A nearby Internet and (2) The garden is too big to
bathroom, a restaurant utilities $.............. be cleaned up.
(1)…………..
Oakington 3 bedrooms, a Shared living Living $340 - $400 Due to some shared
Avenue kitchen, a living room, room furniture facilities, it seems
room bathroom, (4)………………….
kitchen and
(3)……………
Mead Street 2 bedrooms, a living TV and VCR A (6)………….. $600 Sometimes it is quite
room, (7)…………….

100
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
(5)………………..
Devon 1 bedroom, a living A lamp with Free (9)………. $500 Not including
Close room, a study (8)……………, (10)…………………..
complex A dining hall

Dictation 8 (Listen recent actual tests, test 6)

AGENT: Good morning. City House Services. How may I help you?

CUSTOMER: Good morning. (1)……………………………………………………………...

AGENT: Certainly. I just need to ask a few questions. First, could I take your name?

CUSTOMER: Yes, it's Barbara Hill.

AGENT: Thank you. Next, is your house in London?

CUSTOMER: Yes, it's in Kingston in Southwest London.

AGENT: OK, Southwest London and ... er, what's the postcode?

CUSTOMER: SWlOS.

AGENT: (2)…………………………………………………………………………………………….

CUSTOMER: (3)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………….

AGENT: OK, how many bedrooms does the house have?

CUSTOMER: (4)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………….

AGENT: Are those single bedrooms or doubles?

CUSTOMER: Doubles.

AGENT: Fine, two doubles ...

CUSTOMER: (5)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………….

AGENT: I understand. Three rooms have got to be cleaned, and are all of those rooms upstairs?

101
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
CUSTOMER: (6)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………
………………………...……………………………………………….

AGENT: Thank you. And do you keep any pets?

CUSTOMER: Yeah, I really love keeping them. I've got two dogs and three cats.

AGENT: OK, (7)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


……………………………………………….

CUSTOMER: Yes, I have one in front of me.

AGENT: Excellent.

(8)…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………….

CUSTOMER: Err... no.. . err... actually, replacing the bed linen...

AGENT: yes ... that would be good. No problem. (9)……………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………

CUSTOMER: The curtains… (10)………………………………………………………………………………...


……………………………………………….

AGENT: Of course. How about clothes? (11)…………………….........…………………………………………...


…………………………………………………………………………..

CUSTOMER: Washing and ironing. No, just ironing. That'll be OK.

AGENT: OK, fine. I know quite a bit about what you want now. I should let you know that we locate on 12
Amyes Road, that's A-M-Y-E-S.

CUSTOMER: Em.

AGENT: And we work from Monday to Sunday except Tuesday and Wednesday. (12)……………………………

…………………………………………………………………………….

CUSTOMER: Next Friday ... err ... no, that's no good. (13)………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………

102
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
AGENT: When is it convenient for us to come over and provide the service? Is it OK if we come in the morning?
Or we may come in the afternoon? (14)……………………………………………………………….

CUSTOMER: I'm OK with any time. (15)……………………………………………………………….

AGENT: Sure, we will.

CUSTOMER: By the way, how long would it take for the service?

AGENT: (16)……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
And of course, if it takes more than three hours, you should pay extra for it.

CUSTOMER: Er ... fine.

AGENT: So, let me just do some calculations ...

Practice 8

Questions 1-4

Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

House service information


Example Answer
Name: Barbara Hill
Location: (1)……………………. London
Postcode: SW105
Rooms: two (2)……………………….. bedrooms
The other rooms used as: an (3)………………………..
Downstairs: kitchen-diner, conservatory, and (4)…………………………..
Pets: 2 dogs and 3 cats

Questions 5-7

Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.

5. Which of these extra services does the agent agree to do?

A. Change the bed linen

B. Do some gardening work

103
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C. Clean the glass

6. What does the customer want cleaned every three months?

A. Curtains

B. Carpets

C. Mats

7. What does the customer want done with clothes?

A. Wash and iron the clothes

B. Iron the clothes

C. Clean and dry the clothes

Questions 8-10

Complete the sentences below. Write ONE WORD AND/ OR A NUMBER for each answer.

8. The agent's address is 12 ................... Road.

9. Her house will get cleaned next .................. ..

10. The maximum time of cleaning service is ................... .

Practice 9 (Cambridge 9, test 1)

Questions 1-10

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

JOB ENQUIRY
Example
- Work at: a restaurant
- Type of work: (1)………………………………………
- Number of hours per week: 12 hours
- Would need work permit
- Work in the: (2)…………………………… branch
- Nearest bus stop: next to (3)……………………….
- Pay: (4) ……………………. pounds an hour

104
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
- Extra benefits:
+ a free dinner
+ extra pay when you work on (5)………………………………
+ transport home when you work (6)……………………………
- Qualities required:
+ (7)…………………….
+ ability to (8)………………………….
- Interview arranged for: Thursday (9)……………………………… at 6p.m
- Bring the names of 2 referees
- Ask for: Samira (10)…………………………….

Practice 10 (Cambridge 9, test 2)

Questions 1-10

Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Accommodation form – Student Information


Example
Type of accommodation Hall of residence
Name Anu (1)………………………….
Date of birth (2)……………………………..
Country of origin India
Course of study (3)…………………………….
Number of years planned in hall (4)…………………………….
Preferred catering arrangement Half board
Special dietary requirements No (5)…………………………. (red)
Preferred room type A single (6)………………………
Interests the (7)…………………………
badminton
Priorities in choice of hall To be with other students who are
(8)………………..

105
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
To live outside the (9)…………………….
To have a (10)…………………. area for socializing
Contact phone number 667549

106
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 2: SECTION 2
Dictation 1 (Cambridge 9, test 1)
ANDREW: Now we go to Jane who is going to tell us about what's happening in town this weekend.

JANE: Right, thanks Andrew, and now on to what's new, and (1)………………………………………………in
Bradcaster? Well, most of you probably know Sports World – (2)………………………………………………….
that opened a few years ago – (3)……………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………... It’s going to be in the shopping centre to the west of Bradcaster,so
that will be good news for all of you (4)………………………………………… in the north of the town to get to.

(5)………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The whole


place has been given a new minimalist look (6)………………………………………………………………. The
first three (7)……………………………………………………………………………………., and on the top
floor (8)……………………………………………………... You'll find all the well-known names as well as
some less well-known ones. (9)……………………………………………………………………….. they
promise to get it for you in ten days. (10)……………………………………………………………………….
(11)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………….., and they claim to (11)……………………………………………………. in the country.
As well as that (12)……………………………………………………………………………., including the latest
designs from the States - if you can't find what you want here, it doesn't exist!

The shop will be open from 9.00 am this Saturday and if you go along to the opening then you'll have the chance
to meet the national 400 metres running champion Paul King, who's coming along to open the shop, and he will
be (13)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Then there will (14)……………………………………………………………………………….. There will be


(15)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… open
to all. Just answer fifteen out of twenty sports questions correctly to win a signed copy of Paul King's DVD 'Spring
Tips', (16)……………………………………………………………………………………… of the Bradcaster
Gym. (17)…………………………………………………………………………………………..with details of
all Bradcaster fixtures in the coming year.

(18)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………,
actually done in the shop (19)……………………………………………………. This would normally cost
£30.00 but is available at half price for this month only. (20)…………………………………………………. for

107
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
this, so to make a booking phone 560341. In addition, if you open an account you get lots more special offers
including the chance to try out equipment at special open evenings...

Practice 1

Questions 11-16

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer

SPORTS WORLD
- a new (11) .................of an international sports goods company
- located in the shopping center to the (12) ......................... of Bradcaster
- has sports (13) ……………………………….. and equipment on floors 1 – 3
- can get you any item within (14) ..............,......... days
- shop specializes in equipment for (15) ……………………….
- has a special section which just sells (16) ......................................

Questions 17 and 18

Choose the correct letter A. B or C.

17. A champion athlete will be in the shop

A. on Saturday morning only.

B. all day Saturday.

C. for the whole weekend.

18. The first person to answer 20 quiz questions correctly will win

A. gym membership.

B. a video.

C. a calendar.

Questions 19 and 20

Choose TWO letters. A-E

Which TWO pieces of information does the speaker give about the fitness test?

108
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
A. You need to reserve a place.

B. It is free to account holders.

C. You get advice on how to improve your health.

D. It takes place in a special clinic.

E. It is cheaper this month.

Dictation 2 (Cambridge 9, test 2)

Hello, (1)………………………………………………. to our Wildlife Club, (2)…………………………………


…………………………………………………………………………….. I think (3)……………………………
…………………………………..we have here, (4)………………………………………. from London. I'll start
by telling you about (5)……………………………………………………...

(6)……………………………………………………… the River Ouse, (7)………………………………………


eighty kilometres away, has its source in the common. (8)………………………………………………………….
you can see here, and by the way (9)…………………………………………………… 24 hours a day.

Then there's Holt Island, (10)……………………………………………………. In the past willows were grown
here (11)………………………………………………….., ……………………………………………. The
island is only open to the public from Friday to Sunday, because it's quite small, and if there were people around
every day, (12)………………………………………………………………..

(13)………………………………………………………………………………….. to Longfield Country Park.


Longfield has (14)…………………………………………………………………………………... Children's
activities are often arranged there, (15)……………………………………………………………... The park is
only (16)…………………………………………………., so (17)……………………………………. if you
decide to go there.

Longfield Park has a (18)………………………………………………………. throughout the year, and to give


you a sample, this is what's happening in the next few days. On Monday you can learn about herbs, and how
(19)………………………………………………………... You'll start with a tour of our herb garden, practise the
technique of using them (20)…………………………………………………………., and listen to an illustrated
talk about (21)………………………………………………………...

Then on Wednesday you can (22)……………………………………………………………… that appear in the


evening. We keep to a small number of people in the group, so if you want to go you'll need to phone the park
109
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
ranger a few days ahead. (23)……………………………………………………., which you should pay when you
turn up.

I'm sure (24)………………………………………………………………. of looking after the park, so on


Saturday you can join a working party. You'll have a choice of all sorts of activities, from planting hedges to
picking up litter, (25)………………………………………………………. when you feel like it. The rangers will
be hard at work all day, but do come and join in, even for just a short while. One thing, though, is to make sure
you're wearing something that (26)………………………………………………………………..

And finally I’d like to tell you about our new wildlife area, Hinchingbrooke park, which will be opened to the
public next month. (27)……………………………………………………………, but anyway, you can see the
(28)……………………………………………………………. As you can see, there's a lake in the north west of
the park, with a bird hide to the west of it, at the end of a path. So it'll be a nice quiet place for watching the birds
on the lake.

(29)…………………………………………………………….., there's a dog-walking area in the southern part of


the park, leading off from the path. And if you just want to sit and relax, you can go to the flower garden: that's
(30)…………………………………………………………………... And finally, there's a wooded area in the
western section of the park, between two paths. Okay, that's enough from me, so let's go on to ...

Practice 2

Questions 11-13

Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Parks and open spaces


Name of places Of particular interest Open
Halland Common Source of River House 24 Hours
Holt Island Many different Between (12)………….and………….
(11)……………………………
Long field Country Park Reconstruction of a 2000 years old Daylight hours
(13)……………….with activities for
children

110
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 14-16

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Longfield Park

14. As part of Monday’s 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.

C. attendance is tree.

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.

Questions 17-20

Label the map below. Write the correct letter A-L, next to questions 17-20.

111
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
17. bird hide ……………………

18. dog walking area………………..

19. flower garden ...............

20. wooded area…………………….

Dictation 3 (Cambridge 9, test 3)

WOMAN: (1)…………………………………………………………………, we meet Simon Winridge, co-


founder of the (2)……………………………. Winridge Forest Railway Park. Welcome, Simon. Now, perhaps
you can begin by telling us a little bit about how it all started.

MAN: Well, during the 1970s, my wife, Liz and I (3)………………………………………………., and we
(4)………………………………………………... Pretty soon we had a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Duncan. The
place was wonderful for the kids (4)……………………………………………………………………….. of
miniature railway track. (5)………………………………………………………….. of locomotives but we didn't
think anything more of it until (6)……………………………………………. near Birmingham and decided we
could do a much better job! (7)………………………………………………………………. and we opened to the
public for just a month that year. 1984 - in July - our driest month - because our children said they didn't want our
guests to have a miserable, wet visit. (8)………………………………………………………………….
It soon became clear that we were onto a winner. (9)………………………………………………….. and lay it

112
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
among more (10)…………………………………………………………………………….., and by making
cuttings through the rock.

Nowadays, we're open all year round and we're pleased to say that Winridge is (11)……………………………….
………………………………………………………. - with 50,000 visitors a year - a million and a half people
have been through our doors since we opened.

All these visitors mean (12)……………………………………………………………. and it's now a truly family
concern. (13)………………………………………………………………. with looking after the mechanical side
of things - keeping the trains going. Liz now (14)…………………………………………………………. the
large squadron of workers, which (15)……………………………………………………….. We're really pleased
that after some years away teaching, Sarah has now returned to the park and makes sure the visitors are kept fed
and watered, which keeps her pretty busy as you can imagine. Our son, Duncan, has been a stalwart of the park
for the last ten years, (16)…………………………………………………………… - and I'll say a little bit more
about that in a moment - and his new wife, Judith, (17)……………………………………………………... That's
becoming (18)……………………………………………………. for us - a lot of people want to buy souvenirs.

WOMAN: So (19)………………………………………………………………….. for the moment?

MAN: Not at all! We're constantly looking for ways to offer more to our visitors. The railway remains the central
feature and there's now 1.2 kilometres of the line laid but we'd like to lay more. Because of the geology of the
area, our greatest problem is digging tunnels. (20)…………………………………………………... We're also
(21)……………………………………………………… of the Go-Kart arena which is 120 square metres in area.
Again (22)…………………………………………………………….; we had to level the mounds on the track for
safety reasons. (23)……………………………………………………………………. to use the go-karts. And the
main attraction here is the Formula 1 Kart. We've known fights to break out over who gets it! And then finally to
our most recent development which is the landscaped…

Practice 3

Questions 11-13

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Win-ridge Forest Railway Park

11. Simon's idea for a theme park came from

A. his childhood hobby.

113
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. his interest in landscape design.

C. his visit to another park.

12. When they started, the family decided to open the park only when

A. the weather was expected to be good.

B. the children weren't at school.

C. there were fewer farming commitments.

13. Since opening, the park has had

A. 50,000 visitors.

B. 1,000,000 visitors.

C 1,500,000 visitors.

Questions 14-18

What is currently the main area of work of each of the following people?

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter A-H. next to questions 14-18.

Area of work
A. advertising E. engine maintenance
B. animal care F. food and drink
C. building G. sales
D. educational links H. staffing
People

14. Simon (the speaker) ...........

15. Liz ...........

16. Sarah ...........

17. Duncan ...........

18. Judith ...........

Questions 19 and 20

Complete the table below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR NUMBERS for each answer.
114
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Feature Size Biggest challenge Target age group
Railway 1.2 km Making tunnels
Go-Kart arena (19)...................m Removing mounds on the track (20) …………year-olds

Dictation 4 (Cambridge 9, test 4)

MAN: Hello?

WOMAN: Hi. It's Laura Carlton here. We've just arrived at the holiday flat, but (1)………………………………..

…………………………………………

MAN: Oh right! That's easy. Don't worry. In the upstairs cupboard, (2)…………………………………………...
You'll see (3)………………………………………………………………………. The first one –
(4)……………........................................................................- is the most important one for the heating and hot
water. (5)……………………………………………………. Make sure it's in the 'on' position. The switch itself
doesn't light up, (6)……………………………………………………………………... That's probably what's
happened - it's got switched off by mistake. (7)……………………………………………. - you'll see it's slightly
larger than the first one – (8)…………………………………………….. If you feel cold while you're there and
need the radiators on, (9)………………………………………………... The last of the three controls – the one
on the right – (10)…………………………………………………………. which for the water in the taps is
usually quite hot enough. (11)………………………………………………………………………………. If
(12)…………………………………………………, sometimes the heater goes out. If this happens you'll need to
(13)……………………………………………... Then there's a little square indicator under the third knob that's
a kind of alarm light. (14)………………………………………………………………….

WOMAN: It sounds complicated...

MAN: I'm sure you won't have any problems with it. (15)…………………………………………………….. on
the side of the heater. Call me back if you can’t make it work.

WOMAN: Okay.

WOMAN: While you're on the phone, (16)……………………………………………………………….., like


extra pillows for the beds and some washing powder. Is there any here?

MAN: Pillows ...yes. If you look in the cupboard, the large white one upstairs - to the left of the bathroom door -
there should be four or five on the top shelf. And if you want to do some washing, there's some powder for that
115
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
……probably by the back door. (17)……………………………………………………………. In fact, I'm sure
there's some there, in a large blue box. (18)………………………………………………………………...

And that reminds me (19)…………………………………………………………………………………. by the


sitting room window. Please make sure to put it back when you've used it. (20)……………………………………
and I had to get another one made! And if you have any trouble with the lamps, you'll find some spare bulbs in a
large cardboard box. (21)…………………………………………………… with all kinds of useful things in it.

Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention when we last spoke...

WOMAN: Yes?

MAN: I’ve left you a local map, so (22)………………………………………………………………….. It shows


the whole area. I put it in the top drawer of the chest under the TV in your bedroom. There's a whole file of local
information in there too.

WOMAN: Thanks. What about visiting the town? Can you give us any advice?

MAN: Yes. You'll need to take the car. (23)………………………………………………………. really. You
have to (24)………………………………………………………………….. now I'm afraid ... I like the one that's
by the station best and (25)……………………………………………………….. That's where all the best
restaurants are. But if you want a takeaway, the Italian one does really good pasta and pizzas. Call 7-3 double
2.8-1 for that one, or 7 double 6, double 1. 9 for the Chinese. (26)……………………………………………. to
the flat.

As for places to visit, yes, (27)……………………………………………………... The exhibition is small but


really good. It gets very crowded on Sundays, so (28)…………………………………………………., but not on
Thursdays which is market day - you won't find anywhere to park and it's also the only day of the week when
they're not open! Anything else?

WOMAN: Not for the moment. Thanks!

Practice 4

Question 11-13

Label the diagram below. Choose THREE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-E, next to question
11-13.

A. electricity indicator D. time control

116
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. on/off switch E. warning indicator
C. reset button

Question 14-18

Where can each of the following items be found?

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to question 14-18.

Locations
A. in box on washing machine E. on shelf by back door
B. in cupboard on landing F. on top of television
C. in chest of drawers G. under kitchen sink
D. next to window in living room

14. pillows ……………. 17. light bulb …………….

15. washing powder ……………. 18. map …………….

16. key …………….

117
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Question 19-20

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The best place to park in town – next to the station


Phone number for takeaway pizzas – (19)…………………………
Railway museum closed on (20)……………………………

Dictation 5 (Cambridge 10, test 2)

Good morning. (1)………………………………………………………….. to say a little about two exciting new


developments in the city: the Brackenside Open-Air Swimming Pool and the children’s Adventure Playground in
Central Park. As many of you may know (2)……………………………………………………………………., in
the extensive consultation exercise which the City Council conducted last year. (3)……………………………..
using money from the SWRDC - the South West Regional Development Commission.

First of all, Brackenside Pool, (4)………………………………………………………………., there used to be a


wonderful open-air pool on the sea front 30 years ago but (5)……………………………………………………..
For the design of this new heated pool, we were very happy to (6)………………………………………………….
……………………… Ellen Wendon, who has managed to combine a charming 1930s design, which fits in so
well with many of the other buildings in the area, (7)………………………………………………………….. -
the only one of its kind in the world – (8)………………………………………………………………….

Now, (9)……………………………………………………………………….. about whether there would be


enough room for (10)………………………………………………………………………, but the design is
deceptive and (11)………………………………………………………………... Also, just in case you were
wondering, (12)………………………………………………………………………………………: a testimony
to the excellent work of local contractors Hickman’s.

We hope that as many people as possible will be there on June 15th. (13)…………………………………………..
Coral White to declare the pool open and (14)………………………………………………………… at the pool
side. (15)……………………………………………………………………………………… we plan to have at
the entrance: you will decide (16)…………………………………………………… from the city we should have.

And now, moving on to the Central Park Playground, which we’re pleased to announce has just won the Douglas
Award for safety: the news came through only last week. (17)……………………………………………….. of
the Global Village, with the (18)…………………………………………………………………………….. - each
118
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
with (19)………………………………………………………….. For example, there is a section on Asia, and
this is (20)…………………………………………………………………………….., orangutans, tigers and so
on - fauna (21)………………………………………………………………

(22)…………………………………………………………….. - we couldn’t run to an ice rink I’m afraid but


opted instead for (23)………………………………………………………………. - I thought they could have
had slides for the glaciers but the designers did want to avoid being too literal! Then on to South America - and
here the theme is El Dorado - games replicating the search for (24)……………………………………. And then
moving up to North America, (25)………………………………………………….. -1 know the contribution of
cinema and jazz was considered but (26)………………………………………………………………………..
Eastwards to Europe then, and (27)……………………………………………………………………………….
and other fortifications. Then last, but not least, moving south to Africa and a whole set of wonderful mosaics to
(28)………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Now, the opening date for our Global Playground is 10th July. And again we'd love to see you there - so make a
date and (29)………………………………………………………………………………….

Practice 5

Questions 11-14

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

New city developments

11. The idea for the two new developments in the city came from

A. local people.

B. the City Council.

C. the SWRDC.

12. What is unusual about Brackenside pool?

A. its architectural style

B. its heating system

C. its method of water treatment

13. Local newspapers have raised worries about

119
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
A. the late opening date.

B. the post of the project.

C. the size of the facilities.

14. What decision has not yet been made about the pool?

A. whose statue will be at the door

B. the exact opening times

C. who will open it

Questions 15-20

Which feature is related to each of the following areas of the world represented in the playground? Choose SIX
answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-I, next to questions 15-20.

Features
A. ancient forts F. mountains Areas of the world
B. waterways G. music and film 15. Asia 18. North America
C. ice and snow H. space travel 16. Antarctica 19. Europe
D. jewels I. volcanoes 17. South America 20. Africa
E. local animals

Dictation 6 (Cambridge 10, test 3)

Interviewer: Today we're pleased to have on the show Alice Bussell from the Dolphin Conservation Trust. Tell
us about the Trust, Alice.

Alice: Well, obviously (1)……………………………………………………… in seas all around the world. It


tries to (2)…………………………………………………………………………………………because of
(3)…………………………………. It started ten years ago and it’s (4)………………………………………in
the country - although it's still fairly small (5)………………………………………….……………. We are
(6)……………………………………………- last year we visited a huge number of schools in different parts of
the country, going round to talk to (7)……………………………………………………………………. In fact,
about thirty-five per cent of our members are children. (8)………………………………………………………-
for example, for (9)…………………………………………….

120
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
It hopes soon to (10)…………………….…………………………- with (11)…………………………- to
monitor populations. Of course, many people (12)……………………………………………and we now have
volunteers working in observation, office work and other things.

I should also tell you about the award we won from the Charity Commission last year - for our work in education.
Although it’s not meant (13)…………………………………………… for us, it has made our activities even
more (14)……………………………………………. In the long term it may not bring in extra members but we’re
hoping it'll have this effect.

I: Is it possible to see dolphins in UK waters?

A: Yes. In several locations. And we have a big project in the east part of Scotland. This has long been a haven
for dolphins because it has very little shipping. However, that may be about to change soon because oil companies
want to (15)……………………………… there. We’re campaigning against this because, although there’ll be
little pollution from oil, (16)……………………………………………………. It means the dolphins can’t rest
and socialise. This is how I became interested in dolphin conservation in the first place.

I had never seen one and (17)………………………………………………………………………………. Then I


(18)………………..……………………………………………who had to leave their home in the Moray Firth
because of the oil companies and about (18)……………………………………………. I couldn't put the book
down - I was hooked.

I: I'm sure our listeners will want to find out what they can do to help. You mentioned the 'Adopt a Dolphin’
scheme. Can you tell us about that?

A: Of course! People can (19)……………………………………………. They receive a picture of it and news


updates. I’d like to tell you about four which are (20)……………………………………………: Moondancer,
Echo, Kiwi and Samson. Unfortunately, Echo is being (21)……………………………………………………by
our observers but we remain optimistic that he’ll be out there soon.

(22)……………………………………………- Samson and Moondancer are often photographed together but it


is Kiwi (23)………………………………………………………………………………………………and we've
(24)…………..……………………hundreds of times. They all have their own personalities - Moondancer is very
elegant and curves out and into the water very smoothly, whereas Samson has a lot of energy - he’s always leaping
out of the water with great vigor. You’d probably expect him to be the youngest - he's not quite - that’s Kiwi -
but Samson’s (25)…………….……………………………………………. Kiwi makes a lot of noise so we can
often pick her out straightaway. Echo and Moondancer are noisy too, but Moondancer's easy to find because she

121
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
has a particularly (26)…………….……………………………………………. . So, yes, they're all very
different...

Practice 6

Questions 11-12

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO things does Alice say about the Dolphin Conservation Trust?

A. Children make up most of the membership.

B. It’s the country's largest conservation organisation.

C. It helps finance campaigns for changes in fishing practices.

D. It employs several dolphin experts full-time.

E. Volunteers help in various ways.

Questions 13-15

Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C

13. Why is Alice so pleased the Trust has won the Charity Commission award?

A. It has brought in extra money.

B. It made the work of the trust better known.

C. It has attracted more members.

14. Alice says oil exploration causes problems to dolphins because of

A. noise.

B. oil leaks.

C. movement of ships.

15. Alice became interested in dolphins when

A. she saw one swimming near her home.

B. she heard a speaker at her school.

122
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C. she read a book about them.

Questions 16-20

Which dolphin does Alice make each of the following comments about?

Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, next to questions 6-10.

Dolphins 16. It has not been seen this year.


A. Moondancer 17. It is photographed more than the others.
B. Echo 18. It is always very energetic.
C. Kiwi 19. It is the newest one in the scheme.
D. Samson 20. It has an unusual shape.

Dictation 7 (Cambridge 10, test 4)

Welcome to Manham Port, where (1)……………………………………………………………………... All the


family can enjoy a day out at Manham: visit our copper mine, (2)………………………………………………...,
have your photo taken (3)……………………………………………..., experience at first-hand how people lived
at (4)……………………………………………………..., and especially how children studied, worked and
played.

The port of Manham (5)………………………………………..., …………………………in the great River


Avon, and developed here because (6)…………………………………………... of the Avon - boats can go no
higher up this river - and proved (7)……………………………………………………………………..., which is
over 23 miles away. (8)……………………………………………………... when, about 900 years ago, tin was
discovered nearby, though it wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution, when (9)…………………………………..
……………………………………….., that Manham (10)……………………………………………………

And because it was already so busy, prospectors began to look for other minerals, and by the end of the nineteenth
century, lead, copper, manganese and arsenic were added to the cargos leaving Manham.

In the early days, the ores had been smelted - or processed - in the same area they were mined. But, as demand
grew, (11)…………………………………………………………... furnaces or fires to melt the metal from the
rock and (12)……………………………………………………………..., so the rocks containing minerals had to
be shipped Iona distances.

123
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Sadly, in the twentieth century, the great port of Manham declined, and thousands of workers were forced to
(13)……………………………………………………………... The building at the port (14)…………………,
………………………………………………………………... But then, the Manham Trust was formed to
(15)……………………………………………………………………... It organised scores of local volunteers to
remove undergrowth to find the original outlines of the installations. It then brought in paid professionals to match
installations with maps of the original port complex and to set about reconstructing it.

(16)……………………………………………………………………............................................The intention,
and we believe this will be realised before the end of the year, is to return Manham Port to the condition it reached
at (17)……………………………………………………………………... But what can you do and see on your
visit today? Here are just a few highlights. We suggest you start with the visit to the copper mine. Travel on
converted mining trains and journey into the depths of the mountain along seams once worked by hundreds of
miners. (18)……………………………………………………………………... which rid the mine of water. But
please be warned that, like all mines, ours is very dark and closed in and we do say that children under five and
also dogs should NOT be taken into the mine.

(19)…………………………………………………………………….... While looking round the classrooms,


take a special look at our display of games, which is one of the largest in the world.

And it's recommended that you time your visit to coincide with a guided tour. This will give you the opportunity
to ask lots of questions. Near the school is the beautiful old sailing ketch called ‘The George'. You are welcome
(20)…………………………………………………………………….... Look out for the ship’s wheel which was
missing until only five years ago when it was dredged out of the silt by a local fisherman. We have no idea how
it got there but (21)……………………………………………………………………... on the boat. Please take
care (22)…………………………………………………if you wish to visit the lower deck - we don’t recommend
you allow young children to use them.

So we hope you have a memorable visit to Manham Port and will tell your friends all about us.

Practice 7

Questions 11-15

Choose the correct letters, A, B, or C.

11. Why did a port originally develop at Manham?

A. It was safe from enemy attack.

124
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. It was convenient for river transport.

C. It has a good position on the sea coast.

12. What caused Manham’s sudden expansion during the Industrial Revolution?

A. the improvement in mining techniques

B. the increase in demand for metals

C. the discovery of tin in the area

13. Why did rocks have to be sent away from Manham to be processed?

A. shortage of fuel

B. poor transport systems

C. lack of skills among local people

14. What happened when the port declined in the 20th century?

A. The workers went away.

B. Traditional skills were lost.

C. Building were used for new purposes.

15. What did the Manham Trust hope to do?

A. discover the location of the original port

B. provide jobs for the unemployed

C. rebuild the port complex

Questions 16-20

Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Tourist attractions in Manham


Place Features and activities Advice
Cooper mine Specially adapted miners’ (16)………….. take visitors The mine is (17)………….. and
into the mountain enclosed- unsuitable for children
and animals

125
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Village school Classrooms and a special exhibition of (18)…………. A (19)…………….. is
recommended
“The George” The ship’s wheel (was lost but has now been restored) Children shouldn’t use the
(old sailing (20)……………….
ship)

Practice 8 (Cambridge 11, test 1)

Questions 11-14

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD for each answer.

Fiddy Working Heritage Farm


Advice about visiting the farm
Visitors should
- take care not to harm any (11) ……………………
- not touch any (12) ……………………
- wear (13) ……………………
- not bring (14) …………………… into the farm, with certain exceptions

Questions 15-20

Label the map below. Write the correct letter A-I, next to Questions 15-20.

15. Scarecrow ………….. 17. Black barn …………..

16. Maze ………….. 18. Covered picnic area …………..

17. Café ………….. 19. Fiddy House …………..

126
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 9 (Cambridge 11, test 2)

Questions 11-12

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO changes have been made so far during the refurbishment of the theatre?

A. Some rooms now have a different use.

B. A different type of seating has been installed.

C. An elevator has been installed.

D. The outside of the building has been repaired.

E. Extra seats have been added.

127
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 13-14

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO facilities does the theatre currently offer to the public?

A. rooms for hire D. a bookshop

B. backstage tours E. a cafe

C. hire of costumes

Questions 15-16

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO workshops does the theatre currently offer?

A. sound D. make-up

B. acting E. lighting

C. making puppets

Questions 17-20

Labe the plan below. Write the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 17-20.

128
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
17. box office 19. lighting box

18. theatre manager’s office 20. artistic director’s office

Practice 10 (Cambridge 11, test 3)

Questions 11-15

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Changes in Barford over the last 50 years

11. In Shona’s opinion, why do fewer people use buses in Barford these days?

A. The buses are old and uncomfortable.

B. Fares have gone up too much.

C. There are not so many bus routes.

12. What change in the road network is known to have benefited the town most?

A. the construction of a bypass

B. the development of cycle paths


129
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
C. the banning of cars from certain streets

13. What is the problem affecting shopping in the town centre?

A. lack of parking spaces

B. lack of major retailers

C. lack of restaurants and cafes

14. What does Shona say about medical facilities in Barford?

A. There is no hospital.

B. New medical practices are planned.

C. The number of dentists is too low.

15. The largest number of people are employed in

A. manufacturing.

B. services.

C. education.

Questions 16-20

What is planned for each of the following facilities?

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to Questions 16-20.

Plans Facilities
A. It will move to a new location. 16. railway station car park ………..
B. It will have its opening hours extended. 17. cinema ………..
C. It will be refurbished. 18. indoor market ………..
D. It will be used for a different purpose. 19. library ………..
E. It will have its opening hours reduced. 20. nature reserve ………...
F. It will have new management.
G. It will be expanded.

130
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 3: SECTION 3
Dictation 1 (Cambridge 11, test 1)
LISA: OK, Greg, so I (1)…………………………………………………………………… - the one about the
study on gender in physics.

GREG: About the study of college students done by Akira Miyake and his team? Yeah. I was interested that
(2)……………………………………………………………………. That’s an unusual combination.

LISA: Yeah. I got a little confused at first about (3)………………………………………………………


……………………………………….. - (4)…………………………………………………………………….
That’s science, technology. engineering and ...

GREG:... and math. Yes, but they were all (5)……………………………………………………………………

LISA: That’s correct. So as I understood it, Miyake and co started from the fact that women are (6)……………
………………………………………………………, and also that on average, the women who do enroll on these
courses (7)…………………………………………………………. No one really knows why this is the case.

GREG: Yeah. But what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what they could do about the relatively
low level of the women’s results. But in order to find a solution they needed to find out more about the nature of
the problem.

LISA: Right - now let’s see if I can remember... it was that in the physics class, the female students thought the
male (8)……………………………………………………………………... was that it? And they thought that the
men (9)……………………………………………………………………

GREG: That’s what the women thought, and that made them nervous, so they did get poor results. But actually
they were wrong ... (10)…………………….……………………………………………………………………

LISA: Anyway, what Miyake’s team did was quite simple - getting the students to do some writing before they
went into the physics class. What did they call it?

GREG: Values-affirmation they had to (11)……………………………………………………………………, to


them not particularly to do with the subject they were studying but more general, things like music, or people
who mattered to them.

LISA: Right. So the idea of doing the writing is that this (12)………………………………………………….

GREG: And cutting these thoughts into words (13)……………………………………………………………

131
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
……………………………………………………………………. Yeah. But what the researchers, in the study
hadn’t expected was that this one activity raised the women’s physics grades from the C to the B range.

LISA: A huge chance. Pity it wasn’t to an A, but still! No, but it does suggest that the women were seriously
underperforming beforehand, in comparison with the men.

GREG: Yes. Mind you, Miyake’s article left out a lot of details. Like, did the students do the writing just once,
or several times? And had they been told why they were doing the writing? That might have affected the results.

LISA: You mean, if they know (14)……………………………………………………………………, then they’d


just try to fulfil that expectation?

GREG: Exactly.

GREG: So anyway, I thought for our project we could do a similar study, but investigate whether it really was
the writing activity that had that result.

LISA: OK. So we could ask them to do a (15)……………………………………………………………………...


something more factual? Like a general knowledge topic.

GREG: Maybe ... or we could have half the students doing a writing task and half doing something else, like an
oral task.

LISA: Or even (16)……………………….…………………………………………………………………….


Then we’d see if it really is the topic that made the difference, or something else.

GREG: That’s it. Good. So at our meeting with the supervisor on Monday we can toll him we’ve decided on our
project. We should have our aims ready by then. I suppose we need to read the original study — the article’s just
a summary.

LISA: And there was another article I read, by Smolinsky. It was about her research on how women and men
(17)…………………………………..…………………………………………………………………….

GREG: Let me guess ... the women were better at teamwork.

LISA: That’s what I expected, but (18)…………………………………………………………………… whether


they were working in teams or on their own, But I guess it's not that relevant to us.

GREG: What worries me anyway is how we’re going to get everything done in the time.

USA: We’ll be OK now we know what we re doing. Though I’m not clear how we assess whether the students in
our experiment actually make any progress or not...
132
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
GREG: No. We may need some advice on that. The main thing's to make sure we have the right size sample, not
too big or too small.

LISA: That shouldn’t be difficult. Right, what do we need to do next? We could have a look at the timetable for
the science classes ... (19)………………………………………………………………………………………….
That'd be better.

GREG: Great. And (20)……………………………………………………………………

LISA: What for?

GREG: Well ... OK maybe let’s just go with your idea. Right, well ...

Practice 1

Questions 21-30

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


133
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
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?

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?

134
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
A. talk to a professor

B. observe a science class

C. look at the science timetable

Dictation 2 (Cambridge 11, test 2)

HELEN: I’ve brought my notes on our Biology Field Trip to Rocky Bay, Colin, so we can work on our report on
the research we did together.

COLIN: OK. I've got mine too. (1)………………………………………………………..

HELEN: Right. What did you have?

COLIN: I just put something about (2)……………………..…………………………………………………... But


we need something about (3)………….………………………………………………………..

HELEN: I agree. And something about finding (4)………………………………………………………..

COLIN: In our aims? But we weren’t really looking at that.

HELEN: I suppose not. OK, now (5)…………………………………………………………………………...


What did they tell us to bring a ruler for?

COLIN: It was something about measuring the slope of the shore, but of course we didn’t need it because we
were (6)……………………………………………………………………………...

HELEN: But not the piece of string to hold up in the air! Didn’t Mr Blake make a fuss about us leaving that
behind.

COLIN: Yeah. He does go on. Anyway (7)………………………………………………………...

HELEN: Now, (8)……………………………………………………………………………………….

COLIN: Yeah. It was clear, but I don’t think we need all these details of what time we left and what time we got
back and (9)………………………………………………………..

HELEN: OK. I’ll look at that again.

COLIN: Then we have to (10)………………………………………………………... So let’s begin with how we


measured wave speed. I was surprised how straightforward that was.

135
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
HELEN: I’d expected us to (11)…………………………………………………, not just stand there and count
the number of waves per minute. Not very precise, but I suppose it was good enough. But the way we measured
the amount of salt was interesting.

COLIN: In the water from the rock pools?

HELEN: Yeah, oh, I wanted to (12)……………………………………………………………………………….-


was it potassium chromate and silver nitrate?

COLIN: That’s right.

HELEN: OK. And (13)…………………………………………. You just left that to me. And I had to do it while
the tide was low, well that was OK, but the place I started it from was down on the beach, then I realised I should
have gone up higher to get better visibility. So I had to start all over again. But at least I’d got the squared paper
or I’d have had problems drawing it all to scale.

COLIN: Yes. It looks good. (14)………………………………………………………..and see if we need to make


any changes.

HELEN: I had a look but I couldn’t find anything. But you took some pictures, didn’t you?

COLIN: Yeah. I’ll email you them if you want.

HELEN: OK. (15)……………………………………………………………………………………... Great.

HELEN: Now when we get to our findings I thought we could (16)………………………………………we


identified on the shore and the problems organisms face in each zone. So for the highest area ...

COLIN:... the splash zone?

HELEN: Yeah, we found mostly those (17)………………………………………………………...

COLIN: But not from other organisms that might eat them, predators?

HELEN: No, that’s not the main danger for them. But the shells prevent them from drying out because they’re in
(18)………………………………………………………..

COLIN: Right. And (18)………………………………………………………………………….., or cover


themselves up. So they don’t get too hot. Then in the middle and lower zones, nearer the sea, we need to discuss
(19)………………………………………………………..

136
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
HELEN: Yes, and how organisms (19)……………………………………………………………………., or even
destroyed by being smashed against the rocks.

COLIN: (20)………………………………………………………... I don’t know what to put for that.

HELEN: No, we weren’t concentrating on that. Maybe we need to find some websites.

COLIN: Good idea. I’ve got the lecture notes from Mr Blake’s geology course, but they’re too general. But we
could ask him which books on our Reading List might be most helpful.

HELEN: Right. OK, now I did a draft of the section of sources of (21)……………………………………………,
but I don’t know if you agree. For example, the size of the sample, and whether it’s big enough to make any
general conclusions from. But I thought actually we did have quite a big sample.

COLIN: We did. And (22)………………………………………………………... But we might not be all that


accurate as far as the actual numbers go.

HELEN: Yeah we might have missed some organisms - if they were hiding under a rock, for example. I wasn’t
sure about (23)………………………………………………………... I decided it was probably OK.

COLIN: Yeah, and the descriptions we gave of the smaller organisms, they weren’t very detailed but they were
adequate in this context. (24)………………………………………………………..

HELEN: OK, we’d better mention that. Now, how ...

Practice 2

Questions 21-30

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Rocky Bay field trip

21. 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

22. What equipment did they forget to take on the Field Trip?

A. string

137
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. a compass

C. a ruler

23. In Helen’s procedure section, Colin suggests a change in

A. the order in which information is given.

B. the way the information is divided up.

C. the amount of information provided.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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

Questions 27-28

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO problems affecting organisms in the splash zone are mentioned?

A. lack of water D. high temperatures

B. strong winds E. large waves

C. lack of food

138
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 29-30

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

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

Dictation 3 (Cambridge 11, test 3)

JEREMY: Hello, Helen. Sorry I’m late.

HELEN: Hi, Jeremy, no problem. Well we’d better work out where we are on our project, I suppose.

JEREMY: Yeah. I’ve looked at the drawings you’ve done for my story, 'The Forest', and I think they’re brilliant
– (1)……………………………………………………………………..when I was writing it.

HELEN: I’m glad you like them.

JEREMY: (2)………………………………………I’d like to make.

HELEN: Go ahead.

JEREMY: Now, (3)…………………..………………………………………- it’s got trees all around it. which is
great, but the drawing’s a bit too static, isn’t it? (4)……..……………………………………….

HELEN: Yes, there’s nothing happening. Perhaps l should add the boy - Malcolm, isn't it? He would be walking
up to it.

JEREMY: Yes. Let’s have Malcolm in the drawing. (5)………………………………………- the one that he
makes friends with a bit later? (6)………………………………………………………………

HELEN: And (7)…………………………………………………………when it sees Malcolm walking past.

JEREMY: That’s a good idea.

HELEN: OK, I’ll have a go at that.

139
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
JEREMY: Then there’s the (8)…………………………………………………………. They're just outside the
forest, and there’s a lot going on.

HELEN: That’s right, you wanted them to be (9)…………………………………, but I thought it would be too
crowded. Do you think it works like this?

JEREMY: Yes, I like what you’ve done. The only thing is, could you add Malcolm to it, without changing what’s
already there.

HELEN: What about having him (10)……………………………………………………………..?

JEREMY: Yes, that would be fine.

HELEN: And do you want him watching the other people?

JEREMY: No, (11)………………………………………. So I’d like him to be crying - that’ll contrast nicely
with the next picture, where he's (12)………………………………………

HELEN: Right, I’ll do that.

JEREMY: And then (13)………………………………………………………..

HELEN: I wasn’t too happy with that one. Because (14)………………………………………, aren’t they?

JEREMY: That’s right, and it’s frozen over. At the moment it doesn’t look quite right.

HELEN: Mm, I see what you mean. I'll have another go at that.

JEREMY: And I like the wool hats they're wearing. May be (15)………………………………………, as well.

HELEN: Yeah, that’s easy enough. They can be streaming out behind the people to suggest they’re skating really
fast.

JEREMY: Mm, great. Well that’s all on the drawings.

HELEN: Right. So you’ve finished writing your story and (16)……………………………………………………,


and my story and your drawings are done.

HELEN: So the next thing is to (17)……………………………………………………………………..that goes


with the stories, and how we’re going to divide the work.

JEREMY: Right, Helen.

140
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
HELEN: What do you think about (18)………………………………………………………..as a whole, Jeremy?
That's probably quite important.

JEREMY: Yeah. Well, you’ve had most of the good ideas so far. How do you feel about drafting something, then
we can go through it together and discuss it?

HELEN: OK, that seems reasonable. And I could include something on (19)………………………………………
for our two stories, couldn’t I?

JEREMY: Well I've started writing something about that, so why don’t you do the same and we can include the
two things.

HELEN: Right. So (20)………………………………………? Do we need to write about what we think they


show, like (21)………………………………………, all that sort of thing?

JEREMY: That’s going to come up later, isn’t it? I think everyone in the class is going to read each other’s stories
and (23)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

HELEN: Oh, I missed that. So it isn’t going to be part of the report at all?

JEREMY: No. But (24)……………………………………………………………………………….of children’s


experience of reading the stories. It’s probably easiest for you to write that section, as you know more about
drawing than I do.

HELEN: Maybe, but I find it quite hard to write about. I’d be happier if you did it.

JEREMY: OK. So when do you think ...

Practice 3

Questions 21-26

Complete the table below. Write only ONE WORD for each answer.

Subject of drawing Change to be made


A (21)………………….. surrounded by trees Add Malcom and a (22)………………..noticing him
People who are (23)……………… outside the forest Add Malcolm sitting on a tree trunk and (24)………..
Ice-skaters on (25)………………covered with ice Add a (26)………………..for each person

141
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 27-30

Who is going to write each of the following parts of the report?

Write the correct letter, A-D, next to questions 7-10.

A. Helen only Parts of the report

B. Jeremy only 27. how they planned the project

C. both Helen and Jeremy 28. how they had ideas for their stories

D. neither Helen nor Jeremy 29. an interpretation of their stories


30. comments on the illustrations

Dictation 4 (Cambridge 12, test 5)

TRUDIE: OK, Stewart. We need to (1)…………………………………………. Have you thought of an angle


yet?

STEWART: Well, there’s so much we could look into. (2)…………………………………………., for instance,
or (3)………………………………………….. What do you think, Trudie?

TRUDIE: Maybe we should concentrate on this country and try and (4)…………………………………………..
…………….......... like the fact that far more people can read than a century ago. (5)………………………………

…………………………………………….

STEWART: We could include something about (6)………………………………………….., too.

TRUDIE: Yes, but remember we’re only supposed to write a short paper, so it’s probably best if we don’t go into
funding in any detail.

STEWART: Right. Well, (7)………………………………………….., to get started?

TRUDIE: OK. We obviously need to look at (8)………………………………………………….. Now that lots


of books have been digitalised, (9)………………………………………….. at home.

STEWART: And if everyone did that, (10)………………………………………..

TRUDIE: Yes.

STEWART: But (11)………………………………………….. are mostly out of copyright, aren’t they? And
copyright in this country lasts for 70 years after the author dies. So (12)…………………………………….. or
up-to-date information.

142
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
TRUDIE: That’s an important point. Anyway, (13)………………………………………….. when I’m reading a
long text on a screen. (14)…………………………………………... And it takes longer to read on a screen.

STEWART: Oh, I prefer it. (15)…………………………………………..

TRUDIE: Mm. I expect that (16)………………………………………….., Some have already become centres
where (17)……………………………………………………………………….. I think that’ll become even more
common.

STEWART: I’d like to think so, and that (18)………………………………………………….., but I’m not so
sure. (20)………………………………………….., after all. What I’m afraid will happen is that books and
magazines will all disappear, and there’ll just be rows and rows of computers. They won’t look anything like the
libraries we’re used to.

TRUDIE: Well, we’ll see.

TRUDIE: I’ve just had an idea. Why don’t we (21)……………………………………………………..as


background to our paper?

STEWART: Yes, that’d be interesting, and raise all sorts of issues. Let’s make a list of possible things we could
ask about, then work out some sort of structure. For instance, um, we could interview some of the staff, and find
out (22)………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

TRUDIE: And what their policies are. I know they don’t allow food, but I’d love to find out what types of noise
they ban - there always seems to be a lot of talking, but never music. I don’t know if that’s a policy or it just
happens.

STEWART: Ah. I’ve often wondered. Then there are things like (23)…………………………………………... I
suppose there are (24)…………………..………………………………………….., and so on.

TRUDIE: Right. Then there are (25)…………..………………………………………….. and how customers use
it. Like what measures does the library take to ensure their safety? They’d need floor coverings that aren’t
slippery, and emergency exits, for instance. Oh, and another thing - there’s the question of the kind of insurance
the library needs to have, in case anyone gets injured.

STEWART: Yes, that’s something else to find out. You know something I’ve often wondered?

TRUDIE: What’s that?

143
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
STEWART: Well, you know they’ve got an archive of local newspapers going back years? Well, next to it they’ve
(26)…………………………………………………………………………... I wonder why it’s there. Do you
know what his connection was with this area?

TRUDIE: No idea. Let’s add it to our list of thing to find out. Oh I’ve just thought - you know people might ask
in the library about local organisations. like sports clubs? Well (27)……………………………………….., or
whether they just look online.

STEWART: Right. I quite fancy finding out what the differences are between a library that’s open to the public
and one that’s part of a museum, for example - they must be very different.

TRUDIE: Mmm. Then something else I’d like to know is ...

Practice 4

Questions 21-23

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Paper on Public Libraries

21. What will be the main topic of Trudie and Stewart’s paper?

A. how public library services are organised in different countries

B. how changes in society are reflected in public libraries

C. how the funding of public libraries has changed

22. They agree that one disadvantage of free digitalised books is that

A. they may take a long time to read.

B. they can be difficult to read.

C. they are generally old.

23. Stewart expects that in the future libraries will

A. maintain their traditional function.

B. become centres for local communities.

C. no longer contain any books.

144
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 24-30

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Study of local library: possible questions


• whether it has a (24)………………. of its own
• its policy regarding noise of various kinds
• how it’s affected by laws regarding all aspects of (25)………………..
• how the design needs to take the (26)…………………….. of customers into account
• what (27)……………………….. is required in case of accidents
• why a famous person’s (28)…………………………. is located in the library
• whether it has a (29)………………….of local organisations
• how it’s different from a library in a (30)………………………….

Dictation 5 (Cambridge 12, test 7)

NATALIE: Dave, (1)…………………………………………………... I’ve done a bit of reading, but I’m not
sure (2)………………………………………………... - I missed the lecture where Dr Baker talked us through it.

DAVE: OK, well it’s quite straightforward. We’ve got our focus - that’s tourism at the Horton Castle site. And
you said you’d done some reading about it.

NATALIE: Yes, (3)…………………………………………………………………………...

DAVE: Did you remember to (4)…………………………………………………...?

NATALIE: Sure. I know what a pain it is when you forget that.

DAVE: OK, so (5)……………………………………………………………….……………………... or need at


our site. And then think about who we’re going to interview to get more information.

NATALIE: OK. So who’d that be? The people who work there? And (6)…………………………………………

DAVE: Yes, both those groups. So we’ll have to go to the site to do that, I suppose. But we might also do some
of our interviewed away from the site - we could even contact some people here in the city, like (7)……………….

…………………………………………………...

NATALIE: OK. So we’ll need to (8)…………………………..…………………………………………………...


It’s all going to take a lot of time.
145
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
DAVE: Mmm. And if we can, we should (9)……………………………………………...........……………….that
we can add to support our findings.

NATALIE: And photographs?

DAVE: I think we have plenty of those already. But Dr Baker also said we have to establish with our interviewees
whether (10)……………………………………….…………………………………………………...

NATALIE: Oh, I wouldn’t have thought of that. OK, once we’ve got all this information, I suppose we have to
analyse it.

DAVE: Yes, put it all together and (11)……………..………………………………………………….... and


analyse that carefully to find out if (12)…………………………………………………... there. That’s the main
thing at this stage, (13)……………………….…………………………………………………....

NATALIE: OK. And then once we’ve analysed that, what next?

DAVE: Well, then we need to think about (13)……………….…………………………………………………...


as possible to our readers. Thing like graphs, or tables, or charts.

NATALIE: Right.

DAVE: Then the case study itself is mostly quite standard; (14)…………………………………………………...,
and giving some background, then go through the main sections, but the thing that surprised me is that in a normal
report we’d end with some suggestions to deal with the problem or need we identified, but in a case study we end
up (15)…………………………………………………... to our readers, and they decide what ought to be done.

NATALIE: Oh, I hadn’t realised that.

NATALIE: So basically, the problem we’re addressing in our case study of the Horton Castle site is why so few
tourists are visiting it. And we’ll find out more from our interviews, but I did find one report on the internet that
suggested that (16)………………………………………………………………………………………...

DAVE: I read that too, but that report was actually written ten years ago, when the road there was really bad. But
that’s been improved now. And I think there’s plenty of fascinating stuff there for a really good day out, but you’d
never realise it from the castle website - maybe that’s the problem.

NATALIE: Yes, it’s really dry and boring.

DAVE: I read somewhere a (17)…………………………………….…………………... So we could have a look


for some information about that on the internet. What would we need to know?

146
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
NATALIE: Well, who’d use it for a start. It’d be good to know what categories the visitors fell into too, like
(18)…………………………………………………..., but I think we’d have to talk to staff to get that information.

DAVE: OK. And as we’re thinking of suggesting a visitor centre (19)…………………………………………….


I mean, (20)…………………………………………………...

NATALIE: No, but it could be a really good investment. And as (20)………………………………………


……………………………………………... I expect. That might be hard.

DAVE: Right, especially as the only possible place for it would be at the entrance, and that’s right in front of the
castle.

NATALIE: Mmm.

DAVE: But it could be a good thing for the town of Horton. At present it’s a bit of a ghost town. Once they’ve
left school and (21)…………………………………………………..., the young people all get out as fast as they
can to get jobs in the city, and the only people left are children and those who’ve retired.

NATALIE: Right. (22)………………………………………………….................................that tourists might


cause to the castle site, I mean (23)………………………………………………….... At present the tourists can
just wander round wherever they want, but if numbers increase, (24)………………………………………………
like sticking to marked ways. And there’d need to be guides and wardens around to make sure these were enforced.

DAVE: Yes, we could look at that too. OK, well ...

Questions 21-26

Complete the flow-chart below. Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to
questions 21-26.

A. patterns B. names C. sources D. questions


E. employees F. solutions G. headings H. officials

STAGES IN DOING A TOURISM CASE STUDY

RESEARCH
Locate and read relevant articles, noting key information and also (21)………………
Identify a problem or need
Select interviewees - these may be site (22)……………….., visitors or city (23)………………

147
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Prepare and carry out interviews. If possible, collect statistics.
Check whether (24)………………………… of interviewees can be use

ANALYSIS
Select relevant information and try to identify (25)………….
Decide on the best form of visuals

WRITING THE CASE STUDY


Give some background before writing the main sections
Do NOT end with (26)……………

Questions 27-30

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

The Horton Castle site

27. Natalie and Dave agree one reason why so few people visit Horton Castle is that

A. the publicity is poor.

B. it is difficult to get to.

C. there is little there of interest.

28. Natalie and Dave agree that the greatest problem with a visitor centre could be

A. covering the investment costs.

B. finding a big enough space for it.

C. dealing with planning restrictions.

29. What does Dave say about conditions in the town of Horton?

A. There is a lot of unemployment.

148
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
B. There are few people of working age.

C. There are opportunities for skilled workers.

30. According to Natalie, one way to prevent damage to the castle site would be to

A. insist visitors have a guide.

B. make visitors keep to the paths.

C. limit visitor numbers.

Dictation 6 (Cambridge 12, test 8)

KATIE: Joe, you know (1)……………………………………………………………………….. next week?

JOE: Yes.

KATIE: Well, could we discuss it? (2)………………………………………………………………………...

JOE: Of course, Katie. What are you going to talk about?

KATIE: It’s about (3)………………………………………………………………. I’ve got very interested in all


(4)………………………………………………………………………..

JOE: Uhuh.

KATIE: So I thought I’d start with Giannetti, who’s (5)……………………………………………, and in one of
his books (6)……………………………………………………………………….. based on how faithful they are
to the (7)………………………………………………….

JOE: Right.

KATIE: I’ve already made some notes on that, so I just need to sort those out before the presentation. I thought
that next I’d ask the class to (8)……………………………………………………………………….. that they’ve
seen, and to say why. That should be more fun than (9)………………………………………………………

JOE: Yes, I can certainly think of a couple!

KATIE: Right. Next I want to talk about Rachel Malchow. I came across something on the internet about her
work on film adaptations, and I was thinking (10)………………………………………………………………

JOE: Will you have enough time, though? Both to prepare and during the presentation? After all, I doubt if you’ll
be able to find all the clips you want.

149
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
KATIE: Hmm. Perhaps you’re right. OK. I’d better do some slides instead, (11)……………………………….

………………………………what she says. That should encourage discussion.

JOE: Mmm.

KATIE: Next I want to say something about (12)…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………..

JOE: You mean things like (13)………………………………………………………………………..?

KATIE: Exactly. It’s quite tricky, but I’ve got a few ideas I’d like to discuss.

KATIE: And finally I want to talk about a few adaptations, that (14)………………………………………………,
and make some comments on them. Do you know the Japanese film Ran?

JOE: I haven’t seen it. It was based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, wasn’t it?

KATIE: That’s right. It was (15)………………………………………………………………………... but


moving it to (16)………………………………………………………………………... So for example the king’s
daughters become sons, because in Japanese culture at that time, women couldn’t succeed to the throne.

JOE: OK. I hope you’re going to talk about the1993 film of Much Ado About Nothing, I think that’s one of the
best Shakespeare films. (17)………………………………………………………………………..

KATIE: Yes. I agree. And I think filming it in Italy, (18)………………………………………………………at


the time of the play.

JOE: Absolutely, Right, what’s next?

KATIE: Er, next. I thought Romeo & Juliet the 1996 film, (19)…………………………………………………….

JOE: yes, it worked really well, I thought – (20)…………………………………………………to two competing


business empires, even though they’re speaking in the English of the original play.

KATIE: You’d expect it would sound really bizarre, but I found I soon got used to it.

JOE: Me too.

KATIE: Then I thought I’d include a real Hollywood film, one (21)………………………………………..………

JOE: There must be quite a number of those.

150
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
KATIE: Yes. but I’ve picked the 1996 film of Hamlet It included every line of the text, but it’s more like a typical
action hero movie - there are (22)………………………………………………………………………..

JOE: All show and no substance.

KATIE: Exactly. Then there’s Prospero’s Books, based on The Tempest That was really innovative, from a
stylistic point of view.

Joe: Didn’t it (23)………………………………………………………………………..

KATIE: Yes, it did. I also want to mention Looking for Richard. Did you ever see it?

JOE: No. but I’ve read about it. (24)……………………………………………………………………….. from


Richard III, wasn’t it?

KATIE: That’s right. It’s more a way of looking into (25)…………………………………………………………-


the play is really just the starting point. And that’ll be where I finish.

JOE: Well, it sounds as though it’ll be very interesting.

Practice 6

Questions 21-24

Complete the table below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Presentation on film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays


Stages of presentation Work still to be done
Introduce Giannetti’s book containing a (21)……….. Organise notes
of adaptations
Ask class to suggest the (22)…………….adaptations No further work needed
Present Rachel Malchow's ideas Prepare some (23)……………
Discuss relationship between adaptations and (24)…………… No further work needed
at the time of making the film

Questions 25-30
What do the speakers say about each of the following films?
Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 25-30.

151
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Comments Films
A. clearly shows the historical period 25. Ran
B. contains only parts of the play 26. Much ado about nothing
C. is too similar to another kind of film 27. Romeo & Juliet
D. turned out to be unpopular with audiences 28. Hamlet
E. presents the play in a different period from the original 29. Prospero’s book
F. sets the original in a different country 30. Looking for Richard
G. incorporates a variety of art forms

Dictation 7 (Cambridge 10, test 2)

V: Right, well, for our presentation shall I start with the early life of Thor Heyerdahl?

O: Sure. Why don’t you begin with (1)…………………………………………………………………………...

V: That’s right, he had his own little museum. And I think (2)………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………..; I’m thinking of how Heyerdahl wouldn’t go hunting with his


dad, for example.

O: Yeah, he (3)………………………………………by listening to his mother read to him. And quite early on he
knew (4)……………………..………………………………………up. That came from his camping trips he went
on in Norway I think...

V: No, (5)………………………………………………………………………………

O: Oh, right... After university he married a classmate and together, they (6)……………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………..

V: As part of their preparation before they left home, they learnt (7)………………………………………. I guess
they needed that knowledge in order to live wild (8)……………………………………, cut off by the sea, which
is what they were aiming to do.

O: An important part of your talk should be the radical theory Heyerdahl formed from (9)……………………….
…………………………………………………………………. I think you should finish with that.

V: OK.

152
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
O: All right, Victor, so after your part I’ll talk about Thor Heyerdahl’s adult life, continuing from the theory he
had about Polynesian migration. Up until that time of course, academics had believed that humans first migrated
to the islands in Polynesia from Asia, in the west.

V: Yes, they thought that (10) ……………………………………………………………………………… that


lies between the islands and the nearest inhabited land.

O: Yes, but Heyerdahl spent ages (11)………………………………………………………………………………


to find if it was actually possible. And another communities lying to the east of Polynesia. But Heyerdahl knew
they made lots of (12)……………..……………………………………….

V: Yes, or sailing on rafts, as was shown by the long voyage that Heyerdahl did next. It was an incredibly risky
journey to undertake - sometimes I wonder if he did that trip for private reasons, you know? To show others that
he could have spectacular adventures. What do you think, Olivia?

O: Well, I think it was more a matter of simply trying out his idea, (13)…………………………………………….

V: Yes, that's probably it. And the poor guy suffered a bit at that time because the war forced him to stop his work
for some years ...

O: Yes. When he got started again and planned his epic voyage, do you think it was important to him that he
achieve it-before anyone else did?

V: Urn, (14)…………………………………………………………………. The most important factor seems to


have been that he use only (15)………………………………………to build his raft.

O: Yes. I wonder how fast it went.

V: Well, it took them 97 days from South America to the Pacific Islands.

O: Mm. And after that, Heyerdahl went to Easter Island, didn't he? We should mention the purpose of that trip. I
think he sailed there in a boat made out of reeds.

V: No, (16)………………………………………, Olivia.

O: Oh, yes, that’s right.

V: But what he wanted to do was (17)……………………………………………………..and then make one


himself to (18)……………. ……………………………………….

O: I see. Well, what a great life. Even though (18)…………….………………………………………, he certainly


left a lasting impression on many disciplines, didn’t he? To my mind, he was (19)……………………………..
153
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
what modern academics call (20)………………………………………. I mean, that they try to recreate something
from the past today, like he did with his raft trip. It’s unfortunate that his ideas about where Polynesians originated
from have been completely discredited.

V: Yes. Right, well, I'll prepare a PowerPoint slide at the end that acknowledges our sources. I mainly used The
Life and Work of Thor Heyerdahl by William Oliver. I thought the research methods he used were very sound,
although I must say (21)…………..………………………………………. I think they need to do a new, revised
edition.

O: Yeah, I agree. What about the subject matter - I found it really challenging!

V: Well, it's a complex issue ...

O: I thought the book had lots of good points. What did you think of...

Practice 7

Questions 21-22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO hobbies was Thor Heyerdahl very interested in as a youth?

A. camping D. hunting

B. climbing E. reading

C. collecting

Questions 23-24

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

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

154
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 25-30

Choose the correct letters, A, B, or C.

The later life of Thor Heyerdahl

25. 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.

26. Which do the speakers agree was the main reason for Heyerdahl’s raft journey?

A. to overcome a research setback

B. to demonstrate a personal quality

C. to test a new theory

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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.

155
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
300. 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.

Practice 8 (Cambridge 10 test 3)

Question 21-25

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Theatre Studies Course

21. What helped Rob to prepare to play the character of a doctor?


A. the stories his grandfather told him
B. the times when he watched his grandfather working
C. the way he imagined his grandfather at work
22. In the play's first scene, the boredom of village life was suggested by
A. repetition of words and phrases.
B. scenery painted in dull colours.
C. long pauses within conversations.
23. What has Rob learned about himself through working in a group?
A. He likes to have clear guidelines.
B. He copes well with stress.
C. He thinks he is a good leader.
24. To support the production, research material was used which described
A. political developments.
B. changing social attitudes.
C. economic transformations.
25. What problem did the students overcome in the final rehearsal?
A. one person forgetting their words
B. an equipment failure
C. the injury of one character

156
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Questions 26-30

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 26-30.

Action Stages in doing the ‘year abroad’ option


A. be on time 26. in the second year of the course
B. get a letter of recommendation 27. when first choosing where to go
C. plan for the final year 28. when sending in your choices
D. make sure the institution’s focus is relevant 29. when writing your personal statement
E. show ability in Theatre Studies 30. when doing the year abroad
F. make travel arrangements and bookings
G. ask for help

Practice 9 (Cambridge 10, test 4)

Questions 21-22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO skills did Laura improve as a result of her work placement?

A. communication D. marketing

B. design E. organisation

C. IT

Questions 23-24

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO immediate benefits did the company get from Laura’s work placement?

A. updates for its software D. new clients

B. cost savings E. a growth in sales

C. an improved image

Questions 25-30

What source of information should Tim use at each of the following stages of the work placement?

157
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 25-30.

Sources of information Stages of the work placement procedure


A. company manager 25. obtaining booklet
B. company’s personnel department 26. discussing options
C. personal tutor 27. getting updates
D. psychology department 28. responding to invitation for interview
E. mentor 29. informing about outcome of interview
F. university careers officer 30. requesting a reference
G. internet

158
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
UNIT 4: SECTION 4
Dictation 1 (Cambridge 11, test 1)
I’ve been looking at (1)................................................................................................, that’s the diversity of
species that (2)................................................................................................. About 20 years ago biologists
developed (3)................................................................................................ These are the areas which have
(4)................................................................................................ so one example is Madagascar. These hotspots
are significant because (5)................................................................................................ for focusing efforts at
conservation. Biologists can identify hotspots on land, fairly easily, but until recently, very little was known about
(6)................................................................................................, and no one even knew if hotspots existed there.

Then a Canadian biologist called Boris Worm did some research in 2005 on data on ocean species
(7)................................................................................................. Worm located five hotspots for
(8)................................................................................................ and looked at what they had in common. The
main thing he’d expected to find was that they had (9)......................................................................................... but
to his surprise that was only true for four of the hotspots - the remaining hotspot was quite badly off in that regard.

But what he did find was that in all cases, (10)................................................................................................had


relatively high temperatures, even when it was cool at greater depths, so this seemed to be a factor in supporting
(11)............................................................................, of these large predators. However, this wasn’t enough on its
own, because he also found that (12)............................................................................................. in it - so these two
factors seemed necessary to support the high metabolic rate of these large fish.

A couple of years later, in 2007, a researcher called Lisa Ballance, who was working in California, also started
looking for ocean hotspots, but not for fish - what she was interested in was
(13)................................................................................................. And she found three places in the oceans which
were hotspots, and what these had in common was that these hotspots were all located at boundaries between
ocean currents, and this seems to be the sort of place that has lots of the plankton that some of these species feed
on.

So now people who want to (14)........................................................................................... need to get as much


information as possible. For example, there’s an international project called the Census of Marine Life. They’ve
been surveying oceans all over the world, including the Arctic. One thing they found there which stunned other
researchers was that there were large numbers of species which (15)........................................................................
- sometimes under a layer up to 20 metres thick. Some of these species had never been seen before. They’ve even
found species of octopus living in these conditions. And other scientists working on the same project, but

159
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
researching very (16)................................................................................................ have found large numbers of
species congregating around volcanoes, attracted to them by the warmth and nutrients there.

However, biologists still don’t know how serious (17).............................................................................................


is for each individual species. So a body called the Global Marine Species Assessment is now creating a list of
endangered species on land, so they consider things like (18)...................................................................................-
how many members of one species there are in a particular place - and then they look at their distribution in
geographical terms, although this is quite difficult when you’re looking at fish, because they’re so mobile, and
then thirdly they (19)................................................................................................ is happening.

So far only 1,500 species have been assessed, but they want to increase this figure to 20,000. For each one they
assess, they use the data they collect on that species to (20)………………………………………………showing
its distribution. Ultimately they will be able to use these to figure out not only where most species are located but
also where they are most threatened.

So finally, what can be done to retain the diversity of species in the world’s oceans? Firstly, we need to set up
more reserves in our oceans, places where marine species are protected. We have some, but not enough. In
addition, to preserve species such as leatherback turtles, which live out in the high seas but have their nesting sites
on the American coast, we need to create (21) ………………………………………………, so they can get from
one area to another safely. As well as this action needs to be taken to lower the levels of fishing quotas to prevent
overfishing of endangered species. And finally, there's the problem of 'by-catch'. This refers to the catching of
unwanted fish by fishing boats - they're returned to the sea, but they're often dead or dying. If these
(22)………………………………………………………………which was more selective, so that, only the fish
wanted for consumption were caught, this problem could be overcome.

Practice 1

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Ocean Biodiversity
Biodiversity hotspots
- areas containing many different species
- important for locating targets for (31)…………………….
- at first only identified on land
Boris Worm, 2005

160
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
- identified hotspots for large ocean predators, e.g. sharks
- found that ocean hotspots:
- were not always rich in (32)……………….
- had higher temperatures at the (33)……………….
- had sufficient (34)…………………. in the water
Lisa Ballance, 2007
- looked for hotspots for marine (36)………………….
- found these were all located where ocean currents meet
Census of Marine Life
- found new ocean species living:
+ under the 6
+ near volcanoes on the ocean floor
Global Marine Species Assessment
- want to list endangered ocean species, considering:
+ population size
+ geographical distribution
+ rate of (37)………………….
- aim to assess 20,000 species and make a distribution (38)………… for each one
Recommendations to retain ocean biodiversity
- increase the number of ocean reserves
- establish (39)…………………. corridors (e.g. for turtles)
- reduce fishing quotas
- catch fish only for the purpose of (40)…………………

Dictation 2 (Cambridge 11, test 2)

We’ve been discussing the factors (1)……………………………………………………………………………..


I’m going to move on now to (2)…………………………………………………….., and I’ll illustrate this by
referring to the new Taylor Concert Hall that’s recently been completed here in the city. So, as with a domestic
building, when designing a public building, (3)………………………………………………………… - for
example, is it to be used (4)……………………………..………………………………………………………?
The second thing the architect needs to think about is (5)…………………….……………………, this includes
its (6)……………………………., obviously, but it also includes, (7)……………..………………………, how it

161
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
relates to the people it’s built for. And finally, for important public buildings, the architect may also be looking
for (8)………………………………… on which to base the design, (9)………………………………… and the
way in which it is used.

Let's look at the new Taylor Concert Hall in relation to these ideas. The location chosen was a site in
(10)………………………………………………… in previous redevelopment plans. It was occupied by a
factory that had been empty for some years. The whole area was (11)…………………………………
………………of the central business district and shopping centre, but it was only one kilometre from the ring
road. The site itself was (12)…………….………………………………… which had once been used by boats
bringing in raw materials when the area was used for manufacturing.

The architect chosen for the project was Tom Harrison. He found the main design challenge was the location of
the site in an area that (13)……………………………..………………………………. To reflect the fact that the
significance of the building in this quite run-down location was as yet unknown, he decided to create a building
centred around the idea of a mystery -something whose meaning still has to be discovered.

So how was this reflected in the design of the building? Well, Harrison decided to (14)…………………………
…………………………………………. and to make use of the presence of water on the site. As people approach
the entrance, they therefore have to cross over a bridge. He wanted to give people a feeling of suspense as they
see the building first from a distance, and then close-up and the initial impression he wanted to create from the
(15)………………………………………………………. The first side that people see, the southern wall, is just
(16)……………………………………………………………….. This might sound off-putting, but it supports
Harrison’s concept of the building - that the person approaching is intrigued and wonders what will be inside.
And this flat wall also has another purpose. At night-time, (17)……………………………………………………
………………………………., onto which images are projected.

(18)………………..…………………………………. The floor’s supported by ten massive pads. These are


(19)…………………………………………………………………… and prevent them from affecting the
auditorium. The walls are made of (20)……………………….…………………………………, all sourced from
local beech trees. In order to improve the acoustic properties of the auditorium and to amplify the sound, they are
not straight. (21)…………………………………. The acoustics are also adjustable according to the size of
orchestra and the type of music being played. In order to achieve this, there are nine movable panels in the ceiling
above the orchestra which are all individually motorized, and the walls also have curtains which can be opened
or closed to change the acoustics.

(22)……………………………………………………………………. However, (23)……………………………

162
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
……………………………………….. In spite of Harrison’s efforts to use local materials, they criticise the style
of the design as being international rather than local and say (24)……………..…………………………………
for which it is built.

Practice 2

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

DESIGNING A PUBLIC BUILDING:


THE TAYLOR CONCERT HALL
Introduction
The designer of a public building may need to consider the building’s
- function
- physical and (31)………………….context
- symbolic meaning
Location and concept of the Concert Hall
- On the site of a disused (32)…………………..
- Beside a (33)…………………….
- The design is based on the concept of a mystery
Building design
- It’s approached by a (34)……………………….. for pedestrians
- The building is the shape of a (35)…………………..
- One exterior wall acts as a large (36)………………..
In the auditorium:
- the floor is built on huge pads made of (37)…………….
- the walls are made of local wood and are (38)………………..in shape
- ceiling panels and (39)…………………… on walls allow adjustment of acoustics
Evaluation
Some critics say the (40)……………………… style of the building is inappropriate

163
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Dictation 3 (Cambridge 11, test 3)

So what I’m going to talk about to you today is something called Ethnography. This is a type of research aimed
at (1)…………………………………………………….. It was first developed for use in anthropology, and it’s
also been (2)……………………………………………………. So what’s it got to do with business, you may
ask. Well, businesses are finding that ethnography can (3)……………………………………………………….
………………………………, either present or future, as well as (4)………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….. And ethnography can also help companies to
design new products or services that customers really want.

Let’s look at some examples of how ethnographic research works in business. One team of researchers did a
project for (5)…………………………..………………………………………….. They watched how cooks used
measuring cups to (6)………………………………………………………….. They saw that the cooks had to
(7)…………………………………………., because although the measuring cups had numbers inside them, the
cooks couldn't see these easily. So (8)……………………….…………………………………………., and it was
a top seller.

Another team of ethnographic researchers (9)…………………………………………. in Uganda, in Africa. They


found that (10)………..………………………………………….…………………………………………..
Because (11)…………….…………………………………………., they were eager to know how much time
they’d spent on the call so far. So the phone company (12)…………….…………………………………………..

Ethnographic research has also been (13)………………………………………….. In one company, IT systems


administrators were observed for several weeks. It was found that a large amount of their work involved
(14)………………………………….………………………., but that they didn’t have a standard way of
(15)…………………………………………. and so on. So the team (16)………………………………………….
that would help them to do this.

In another piece of research, a team (17)…………………………………………………………………….

This led to (18)……………………………………………………………………………………., no matter


where they were. This led to (19)…………………………………………. that allowed the nurses to check records
in locations throughout the hospital.

Occasionally, research can be done even in environments where the researchers can’t be present. For example, in
one project done for an airline, (20)………………….…………………………………………. during airline
trips, in a study (21)…………………………………………………………. during a flight.

164
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
So what makes studies like these different from ordinary research? Let’s look at some of the general principles
behind ethnographic research in business. First of all, (22)……….…………………………………………. - he
or she hasn’t thought up a hypothesis to be tested, as is the case in other types of research. Instead they wait for
the participants in the research to inform them. As far as choosing the participants themselves is concerned, that’s
(23)……………………………………………………………. - the criteria according to which the participants
are chosen may be something as simple as the age bracket they fall into, or (24)………………………………
…………………………………………., for example. But it’s absolutely crucial to recruit the right people as
participants. As well as the criteria I’ve mentioned, (25)…………….………………………………………….
and being watched as they go about their activities. Actually, most researchers say that people open up pretty
easily, maybe because (26)………………………………………….

So what makes this type of research special is that it's not just a matter of sending a questionnaire to the
participants, instead the research is usually (27)…………………………………………………………………..
But that doesn’t mean that the researcher never talks to the participants. However, unlike in traditional research,
in this case it’s the participant rather than the researchers (28)………………………………………….. This
means that there’s less likelihood of the researcher (29)……………..………………………………………….

But after they’ve said goodbye to their participants and got back to their office, the researchers’ work isn't finished.
Most researchers estimate that 70 to 80 per cent of their time is spent (30)………………………………………….
………………………. - looking at photos, listening to recordings and transcribing them, and so on. The
researchers may end up with hundreds of pages of notes. And (31)…………………………………………., they
don’t focus on the sensational things or the unusual things, instead they try to (32)……………………………….
of some sort in all this data, and to discern the meaning behind it. This can result in some compelling insights that
can in turn feed back to the whole design process.

Practice 3

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

ETHNOGRAPHY IN BUSINESS
Ethnography: research which explores human cultures
It can be used in business:
- to investigate customer needs and (31)…………….
- to help companies develop new designs

165
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Examples of ethnographic research in business
Kitchen equipment
- Researchers found that cooks could not easily see the (32)………………………..in measuring cups.
Cell phones

- In Uganda, customers paid to use the cell phones of entrepreneurs


- These customers wanted to check the (33)……………….. used.
Computer companies
- There was a need to develop (34)…………………….to improve communication between system
administrators and colleagues.
Hospitals
- Nurses needed to access information about (35)……………………….. in different parts of the hospital.
Airlines
- Respondents recorded information about their (36)……………………….while travelling.
Principles of ethnographic research in business
- The researcher does not start off with a hypothesis.
- Participants may be selected by criteria such as age, (37)…………….. or product used.
- The participants must feel (38)……………. about taking part in the research.
- There is usually direct (39)……………………… of the participants.
- The interview is guided by the participant.
- A lot of time is needed for the (40)……………………. of the data.
- Researchers look for a meaningful pattern in the data.

Dictation 4 (Cambridge 11, test 4)

As we saw in the last lecture, (1)………………………………………is the rapid rise in the level of carbon
dioxide (2)……………………………………….……. If we could reduce the amount of CO2, perhaps the rate
of climate change could also be slowed down. (3)…………….………………………………………that plants
grow in, with regard to absorbing CO2. Rattan Lal, a soil scientist from Ohio State University, in the USA, claims
that (4)………………..………………………………………13 per cent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
– (5)………………………………………in the last 30 years. And research is going on into how this might be
achieved.

166
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Lal first came to the idea that soil might be valuable in this way not through an interest in climate change, but
rather (6)………….………………………………………and the people dependent on it.

Carbon-rich soil is dark, crumbly and fertile, and retains some water. But (7)……………………………………,
which is a likely effect if it (8)………………………………………. Erosion is of course bad for people trying to
(9)…….………………………………………. In the 1970s and '80s. Lal was studying soils in Africa so devoid
of organic matter that the around had become extremely hard, like cement. There (10)…………………………
……………………………………., who suggested that (11)………….……………………………………….
This is now looking increasingly likely. Let me explain. For millions of years, carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere have been regulated, in part, by a natural partnership between plants and microbes - tiny organisms
in the soil. (12)…………………………………………………………and other carbon-based substances. While
(13)………..………………………………………, some transfer from the roots to fungi and soil microbes, which
store the carbon in the soil.

(14)………………………………………………….……………………………………… and led to the loss of


carbon from the soil. When humans started (15)………………………………………, and ploughing it up for
planting, they (16)………………………………………. This created carbon dioxide and released it into the air.
And in some places, grazing by domesticated animals has removed all vegetation, releasing carbon into the air.
Tons of carbon have been stripped from the world’s soils - where it’s needed - and pumped into the atmosphere.
So what can be done? Researchers are now (17)………………………………………that even modest changes
to farming can (18)………………………………………in the atmosphere. Some growers have already started
using an approach known as regenerative agriculture.

(19)…………………..……………………………………… through established practices. These include


keeping fields planted all year round, and (20)………………..………………………………………. Strategies
like these can (21)………………..………………………………………soil, so agricultural researchers are now
building a case for their use in (22)……………………………………… One American investigation into the
potential for storing C02 on agricultural lands is taking place in California. Soil scientist Whendee Silver of the
University of California, Berkeley, is conducting a first-of-its-kind study (23)…………………………………….
She and her students are (24)………………………………………of the compost that is created from waste –
both agricultural, including manure and cornstalks, and (25)………………………………………, such as leaves,
branches, and lawn trimmings.

In Australia, soil ecologist Christine Jones is (26)………………….………………………………………. Jones


and 12 farmers are working to (27)…………….………………………………………that stay green all year

167
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
round. Like composting, (28)………………………………………………………; Jones now hopes to show that
it can be applied on working farms and that the resulting carbon capture can be accurately measured.

It’s hoped in the future that projects such as these will demonstrate the role that farmers and other land managers
can play in red (29)…………………………………………………………………………

For example, in countries like the United States, where (30)…………….………………………………………of


fertiliser, changing such long-standing habits will (31)………………………………………. Rattan Lal argues
that (32)………………………………………not just for the corn or beef they produce, but also for the carbon
they can store in their soil. Another study being carried out ...

Practice 4

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

The use of soil to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere


Rattan Lal:
- Claims that 13% of C02 in the atmosphere could be absorbed by agricultural soils
- Erosion is more likely in soil that is (31)…………………….
- Lal found soil in Africa that was very (32)………………………..
- It was suggested that carbon from soil was entering the atmosphere
Soil and carbon:
- plants turn C02 from the air into carbon-based substances such as (33)……………………..
- some C02 moves from the 4 of plants to microbes in the soil
- carbon was lost from the soil when agriculture was invented
Regenerative agriculture:
- uses established practices to make sure soil remains fertile and (35)…………………….
- e.g. through year-round planting and increasing the (36)…………………………plants that are grown
California study:
- taking place on a big (37)……………………. Farm
- uses compost made from waste from agriculture and (38)………………….
- aims to increase soil carbon by using (39)………………… that are always green
Future developments may include:
- reducing the amount of fertilizer used in farming

168
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
- giving farmers (40)……………………for carbon storage, as well as their produce

Dictation 5 (Cambridge 12, test 5)

In public discussion of business, (1)…………………………………………. Today I’m going to talk about four
of them: (2)…………………………………………………….. Most people would say they’re all ‘good things’.
I’m going to suggest that’s an over-simple view. The trouble with these values is that they’re theoretical concepts,
(3)…………….………………………………………….. Pursue values by all means, but be prepared for what
may happen as a result, (4)………………………………………….………………………………………..
Business leaders generally try to do the right thing. But all too often the right thing backfires, if those leaders
(5)…………………………………………. and (6)………………………………………….. The values can
easily get in the way of what’s actually intended.

OK. So the first value I’m going to discuss is collaboration. Er, let me give you an example. On a management
training course I once attended, we were put into groups and had to (7)………………………………………….,
using building blocks that we were given. The rule was that everyone in the team had to move at least one building
block during the construction. (8)………………………………………….. But it was really a job best done by
one person. The other teams tried to (9)…………………………………………., and descended into confusion,
with everyone getting in each other’s way. (10)……….………………………………………….. She simply
asked everyone in the team to move a piece a few centimetres, to (11)………………………………………….,
and then let the person in the team with an aptitude for puzzles like this build it alone. We finished before any
other team. My point is that (12)…………………………………………., so why make it one? Teamwork can
also lead to inconsistency - (13)………………………………………….. In the case of (14)…………………….
…………………………………………., (15)…………………………………………., and another demanded it
was aimed at consumers. (16)……………………………………………………., so gave the product a
consumer-friendly name, but marketed it to companies. The result was that it met the needs of neither group. It
would have been better to let one director or the other have his way, not both.

Now industriousness, or hard work. It’s easy to mock people who say they work hard: after all, a hamster running
around in a wheel is working hard - and getting nowhere. Of course hard work is valuable, but only when properly
targeted. Otherwise (17)………………………………………….………………………………………….. And
that’s bad for the organisation.

There’s a management model that (18)………………………………………….…………………………………


Here ‘lazy’ means having a rational determination not to carry out unnecessary tasks, it doesn’t mean trying to

169
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
avoid work altogether. (19)…….…………………………………………., and the most valuable people are those
who are both clever and lazy: (20)………………………………………….………………………………… They
come up with solutions to (21)…………………………………………. spent by the stupid and hard-working
group. Instead of throwing more man-hours at a problem, the clever and lazy group looks for a more effective
solution.

Next we come to creativity. This often works well - (22)…………………………………………. -grabbing TV


commercial, for example, (23)………………………………………….. But it isn’t always a good thing.

Some advertising campaigns are (24)…………………………………………., without having any effect on sales.
This happened a few years ago with (25)…………………………………………. bar: subsequent research
showed that (26)…………………………………………., but had no idea what was being advertised. The trouble
is that the creator (27)…………………………………………., and wrongly assumes the audience for the
campaign will share that feeling.

A company that (28)…………………..…………………………………………. than a company that only has a


few, but it may be too creative, and make smaller profits. (29)…………………………………………. that the
company has identified. Just coming up with more and more novel products isn’t necessarily a good thing.

And finally, excellence, we all know companies that claim they ‘strive for excellence’, but it takes a long time to
achieve excellence. In business, being first with a product is (30)………………………………………….. A
major study of company performance compared pioneers - that is, companies bringing out the first version of a
particular product - with followers, (31)……………………………………………….. The study found that the
pioneers commanded an average market share of 29 percent, while the followers achieved less than half that, only
13 percent - even though their product might have been better.

Insisting on excellence in everything we do (30)…………………………………………………………………


……………………………….. Sometimes, second-rate work is more worthwhile than excellence. ‘Make sure
it’s excellent’ (31)…………………………………………., but the ‘just-get-started’ approach is likely to be more
successful.

Practice 5

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Four business values

170
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Many business values can result in (31)…………………
Senior managers need to understand and deal with the potential (32)……………. that may result.
Collaboration
During a training course, the speaker was in a team that had to build a (33)…………….
Other teams experienced (34)……………………….from trying to collaborate.
The speaker's team won because they reduced collaboration.
Sales of a (35)………………. were poor because of collaboration.
Industriousness
Hard work may be a bad use of various company (36)…………………
The word 'lazy' in this context refers to people who avoid doing tasks that are (37)……………….
Creativity
An advertising campaign for a (38)………………….. was memorable but failed to boost sales.
Creativity should be used as a response to a particular (39)………………………..
Excellence
According to one study, on average, pioneers had a (40)………………… that was far higher than that of
followers.
Companies that always aim at excellence may miss opportunities.

Dictation 6 (Cambridge 12, test 6)

Over the years, (1)………………………………………………………... After all, there was a time when
(2)………………………………, and laboured in appalling conditions. Conditions have improved a lot, but
(3)………………….………………………………. And (4)…………………………………need to be able to
(5)………………………………

What is conflict in the workplace? Definitions vary, but I’m taking it to refer to (6)……………………………that
(7)………………………………, from (8)…………….…………………………………………………………...
Much of this is covered by the term bullying, by which I mean (9)………….………………………………or
aggressively against another (10)………………………………. Although all behaviour like this is a form of
conflict, (11)……………………………………………………….

As with all human behaviour, (12)………… ………………………………. But often it’s caused by someone
who (13)………………………………………………………………, in order to feel that they aren’t at the lowest
level in a hierarchy or a group of people.

171
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
In some cases (14)……….………………………………, on the basis that the personality of one is in some way
incompatible with that of the other person. (15)……………………………………………in one person could
make them (16)………………………………………………………………- not that that justifies treating them
badly, of course.

(17)………….………………………………………………………………and their team than in the company as


a whole. These conflicts are called ‘structural', and could come about, for example, when a sales team believe
(18)………………………………………………………………who do any useful work, and look down on
behind-the-scenes administrators. (19)………………………………………………………………- the situation
is likely to be very stressful for victims, (20)………………………………………………………………. For the
company, (21)……………………………………………………………, it can spiral out of control, and even
(22)…………………………………………………………

Some interesting work with chief executives - CEOs - has (23)…………………………………………why they
may treat colleagues badly. Many CEOs (24)…………………..………………………………: confidence - that
is, (25)………………………………………………………………- with (26)………………………………, a
fear of missing targets, whether set by themselves or by the directors of the company. This combination can make
them (27)……………………………………………………………….

(28)…………..………………………………, such characteristics become problematic. And it’s particularly


(29)………………………………where colleagues, managers and board members are (30)………………………

………………………………………….... When they can’t agree on strategic issues and on where they see the
business going, there are real problems.

For managers at lower levels within the organisation, it might seem that an autocratic form of management -
where the chief executive gives orders and everyone else has to obey - would see more conflict than others.
Interestingly though, a company with a more democratic business model, can suffer more, when (31)…………..
………………………………………………………….

Now I’ll say a little about (32)………………………………………………………………. Of course the ideal is


to prevent it arising in the first place. A good manager, at any level, will (33)……………………………… of the
people they work with, particularly those who report to them. (34)…………….………………………………,
and (35)………………………………als who happen to have a different role within the organisation.

Sometimes, of course, (36)……………………………………………………………………. In such cases the


(37)………………………………………………………………. However, if one of the parties in a conflict sees
human resources as simply a mouthpiece for the chief executive, then an external mediator might be able to help
172
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
by talking to both sides, and trying to find the truth of what's been happening, they can build a clear picture of the
situation, and (38)………………………………………………………, precisely because they’re independent.

Practice 6

Questions 31-40

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)……………
Someone from outside the company may be given the role of (40)……………..in order to resolve conflicts.

Dictation 7 (Cambrige 12, test 7)


K, so we’ve been looking at how (1)……………………………………………………………….. Now I’ll
(2)……………………………………………. Let’s take a look at mercury. Mercury’s one of the 120 or so
elements that make up all matter, and it has the symbol Hg. (3)………..…………………………. You may have
seen it in old-fashioned thermometers, but (4)……………….……………………………………………………

But the problem is that (5)…………………………………………………………………. The main reason for


this is (6)……………………………………………………. The main source of energy that most of them use is
still coal, and when it’s burned (7)……………………………………………………. Some of this gets deposited

173
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
into lakes and rivers, and (8)……………………………………………………, it stays in the fish’s body and it
(9)………….…………………………. So it’s been known for some time that birds which eat fish may be
affected, but what wasn’t known until quite recently is that (9)…………………………………………………….

So a woman called Claire Varian-Ramos is (10)……………………………………………………………….

And rather than looking at (11)……………………………………………………………, she’s looking for more


subtle sub-effects. And these may be to do with (12)……………………..…………………………, or with the
(13)……………………………………………………, so whether it (14)..…………………………, for example.
And she’s particularly (15)……………………………………………………. Now the process of song learning
happens (16)……………………………………………………, and what you may not know is that a young bird
seems to (17)…….……………………………………………………than by any other bird.

And Varian-Ramos has already found in her research that if (18)…………………………………………………,


if they eat food (19)………….…………………………then (20)…………….…………………………as those
produced by other birds. So quite (21)…..……………………………………………………………………,
because it can mean that they’re (22)…………………………, and so it can (23)………………………………….

Now the way she’s carrying out this research is worth thinking about. She’s using a mixture of studies using
(24)….……………………………………, and studies carried out outdoors in the wild. The lab-based studies
have the advantage that you don’t get all the variables you would in a natural setting. So the experimenter has a
(25)……………………………………….., and that means they can be (26)………….…………………………in
some ways. And of course they don’t have to worry about going out and finding the birds in order to observe
them.

So what are the implications here for humans? Well, because (27)…………….…………………………, they
may be (28)……………………………………………………. For example, it’s been found that ducks who’d
been (29)……………………………………………………over a thousand kilometres away, and presumably
eaten. But these birds likely had mercury levels high enough to (30)……………………………………………….

In addition, going back to song learning by birds, we saw that (31)……………………………………………….


Well, we also know that in humans (32).……………………………………………………, and in fact this
process is very similar in the brain regions it involves and even the genes that are involved. But mercury
contamination has other important implications for humans as well. It’s now known that
(33)……………………………………………… if the food eaten by its mother contains high levels of mercury,
and these effects can be quite substantial.

174
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
In the end, it comes down to whether more value is placed on human economic well-being or environmental well-
being. It’s true there are new regulations for (34)…………..…………………………, but these will need billions
of dollars to implement, and (35)…………….…………………………. Some argue that’s too much to pay to
protect wildlife. But as we’ve seen, the issues go beyond that, and I think it’s an issue we need to consider very
carefully.

Practice 7
Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
The effects of environmental change on birds
Mercury (Hg)
- Highly toxic
- Released into the atmosphere from coal
- In water it may be consumed by fish
- It has also recently been found to affect birds which feed on (31)…………………..
Research on effects of mercury or binds
- Claire Varian-Ramos is investigating
+ the effects on birds’ (32)………………………. or mental processes, e.g. memory
+ the effects on bird song (usually learned from a bird’s (33)…………………….
- Findings:
+ songs learned by birds exposed to mercury are less (34)……………………….
+ this may have a negative effect on birds’ (35)………………………..
- Lab-based studies:
+ allow more (36)………………………..for the experimenter
Implications for humans
- Migrating birds such as (37)…………………….containing mercury may be eaten by humans
- Mercury also causes problems in learning (38)……………………..
- Mercury in a mother’s body from (39)……………………may affect the unborn child
- New regulations for mercury emissions will affect everyone’s energy (40)…………….

Practice 8 (Cambride 12, test 8)

Questions 31-40

175
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Noise in Cities
Past research focused on noise level (measured in decibels) and people’s responses.
Noise ‘maps’
- show that the highest noise levels are usually found on roads
- do not show other sources of noise, e.g. when windows are open or people’s neighbours are in their
(31)……………………….
- ignore variations in people’s perceptions of noise
- have made people realize that the noise is a (32)…………………issue that must be dealt with
Problems caused by noise
- sleep disturbance
- increase in amount of stress
- effect on the (33)……………………… of schoolchildren
Different types of noise
Some noises can be considered pleasant e.g. the sound of a (34)………………………. in a town
To investigate this, researchers may use methods from (35)…………………..sciences e.g. questionnaires
What people want
Plenty of activity in urban environments which are (36)…………………….but also allow people to relax
But architects and town planners
- do not get much (37)…………………………. in acoustics
- regard sound as the responsibility of engineers
Understanding sound as an art form
We need to know
- how sound relates to (38)…………………….
- what can be learnt from psychology about the effects of sound
- whether physics can help us understand the (39)……………………. of sound
Virtual reality programs
- advantage: predict the effect of buildings
- current disadvantage: they are (40)…………….

176
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
WRITING

177
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
WRITING TASK 1

SENTENCE STRUCTURE
I. VOCABS

V tăng N tăng V giảm N giảm


Increase Increase Decrease Decrease
Climb Climb Decline Decline
Rise Rise Fall Fall
Grow Growth Reduce Reduction
Ascend Ascent Drop/ Dip Drop/ Dip
Go up Không có Go down Không có
Swell Không có
Soar, Rocket, Surge, Soar, Rocket, Surge Plummet, Plunge, Plummet, Plunge,
Balloon (tăng mạnh) Nosedive (giảm mạnh) Nosedive
Inch, Crawl Crawl
(tăng nhẹ)
V đạt đỉnh V chạm đáy
Peak at/ Top at Bottom at
Reach a peak of Hit a trough at
Hit the highest value on record of Hit the lowest value on record of
Hit a record-high of Hit a record-low of
Adv nhanh/ đáng kể/ Adj nhanh/ đáng kể/ Adv chậm/ không đáng Adj chậm/ không đáng
mạnh mạnh kể/ nhỏ kể/ nhỏ
Rapidly Rapid Slowly Slow
Dramatically Dramatic Steadily (Đều đặn) Steady
Considerably Considerable Gradually (Dần dần) Gradual
Significantly Significant Modestly Modest
Sharply Sharp Moderately Moderate
Remarkably Remarkable Slightly Slight
Markedly Marked Marginally Marginal
Số liệu/ xu hướng trong tương lai
Is/ are predicted/ projected/ estimated/ calculated/ expected to V: được dự đoán là sẽ
V (chiếm) + %
Account for/ Make up/ Take up/ Constitute/ Comprise

178
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
II. SENTENCE STRUCTURES

Giá dầu tăng đều đặn từ $5/l đến $7/l vào năm 2012 đến 2015.

1. The price of oil STEADILY GREW from $5/l to $7/l between 2012 and 2015.

2. The price of oil STEADILY GREW BY $2/l to reach $7/l in 2015.

3. The price of oil WITNESSED/ SAW/ EXPERIENCED/ EXHIBITED A STEADY GROWTH OF 2/l to
reach $7/l in 2015

4. A STEADY GROWTH OF $2/l to reach $7/l was SEEN/ WITNESSED/ EXHIBITED IN the price of oil
in 2015.

5. There was A STEADY GROWTH OF $2/l to reach $7/l IN the price of oil in 2015.

6. 2015 SAW/ WITNESSED/ EXHIBITED A STEADY GROWTH OF $2/l to reach $7/l IN the price of oil.

1. S adv + V from Số to Số + time.

2. S adv + V BY Số chênh lệch to reach Số cuối + time.

3. S witnessed/ saw/ experienced/ exhibited a/an adj + N OF Số chênh lệch to reach Số cuối + time.

4. A/an adj + N OF Số chênh lệch to reach Số cuối was seen/ witnessed/ exhibited IN + N + time.

5. There was a/an adj + N OF Số chênh lệch to reach Số cuối IN + N + time.

6. Time + witnessed/ saw/ exhibited a/an adj + N OF Số chênh lệch to reach Số cuối IN + N.

1. Chỉ số giá tiêu dùng đã tăng đều đặn từ khoảng 60 vào năm 1979 tới hơn 200 vào năm 2009.

....................................................................................................................................................................................

2. Giá cả đối với mặt hàng hoa quả tươi và rau củ quả nhìn chung giảm mạnh, đặc biệt là sau năm 1989.

...................................................................................................................................................................................

3. Trong giai đoạn từ 1979 đến 2004, đất nước này đã chứng kiến một mức tăng trưởng mạnh về lượng thịt gà
tiêu thụ - khoảng 250g.

...................................................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................................................

179
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
4. Có một sự tăng lên đều đặn trong khoản chi phí cho sách ở Pháp, và cuối cùng nó đã đạt đến con số 75 triệu đô
vào năm 2005.

....................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................

5. Có một sự giảm nhẹ trong thời gian sản xuất trung bình của Toyota và Honda, để mỗi công ty có thể sản xuất
1 chiếc xe trong vòng 20 tiếng vào năm 2005.

....................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................

6. Dù đôi chỗ biến động nhưng nhìn chung tỉ lệ sinh giảm cho tất cả phụ nữ ở nhóm tuổi trên 35.

....................................................................................................................................................................................

7. Năm 1990, chỉ có khoảng 8 triệu thùng dầu được sản xuất mỗi ngày và nó tăng dần, đạt đỉnh khoảng hơn 14
triệu thùng mỗi ngày vào năm 2010.

...................................................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................................................

8. Số liệu ở Mĩ và Anh dao dộng, tuy nhiên luôn duy trì ở mức thấp hơn so với 2 nước Ý và Bồ Đào Nha.
...................................................................................................................................................................................

DESCRIBE AND COMPARE DATA


1. Phần trăm người dân sử dụng Internet trên tổng số dân ở các nước năm 1990

UK: 55% US: 70%

Vietnam: 10% Japan: 25% Australia: 40%

In 1990, the percentage of people who used the Internet in the US was highest, at 70%, while the figure for the
UK was slightly lower, at 55%. 25% of Japanese citizens used the Internet, compared to only 10% in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Internet users made up 40% of the total Australian population.

2. Số người dùng xe ô tô tại VN năm 2000 theo nhóm tuổi

<30 tuổi: 1 triệu 30-40 tuổi: 2.5 triệu

40-50 tuổi: 2.2 triệu >50 tuổi: 1.2 triệu


180
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Lượng nước sạch được tiêu dùng tại các thành phố lớn (dự báo cho năm 2030)
Paris: 1,200 m3 London: 2,400 m3

New York: 2,100 m3 Berlin: 2,700 m3

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Lượng pizza được sản xuất tại các nước năm 2005

US: 2,500 grams UK: 1,000 grams

China: 5,500 grams Australia: 3,100 grams

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

181
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
5. Phần trăm dân số ở Việt Nam năm 2000

<20 tuổi: 15% 20-40 tuổi: 50%

40-60 tuổi: 25% Trên 60 tuổi: 10%

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

182
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
LINE GRAPH

1.

2.

183
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
184
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. The line graph below shows the percentage of tourists to England who visited four different
attractions in Brighton. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,
and make comparisons where relevant.

185
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
BAR CHARTS

1.

2. The chart below gives information about the most common sports played in New Zealand in 2002.

186
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
187
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
188
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
NATURAL PROCESS
1. Sau khi con ong đẻ trứng, chúng phát triển thành ấu trùng sau 10 ngày.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Sau một thời gian, những con nòng nọc nhỏ này trở nên lớn hơn và các chi bắt đầu hình thành.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Khi ếch con trưởng thành, chúng mất đuôi và 4 chi phát triển hoàn thiện.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Sau 30 ngày kể từ lúc bắt đầu vòng đời, ong con xuất hiện sau giai đoạn lột xác cuối cùng và nó đạt đến độ
trưởng thành sau 4 ngày.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

MANUFACTURING PROCESS
1. Sau khi nước biển được xử lí, các tạp chất bị đẩy khỏi hệ thống và ra biển.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Nhiều chất có hại xuất hiện sau phản ứng hóa học.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Nhiều chất bị loại bỏ khỏi hệ thống, trong khi một số được giữ lại.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Nước được chuyến hóa thành một dạng chất lỏng đặc biệt sau khi được trộn lẫn với một số chất hóa học.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Những vật dụng đã được phân loại sẽ được vận chuyển đến các nhà máy để được tái chế.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

189
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
1. The diagram shows the life cycle of the honey bee.

2.

190
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. Processes of either recycling plastic items to produce goods, or trash into dust bins to fill land.

4.

191
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
192
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
193
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
194
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
MAP
1. Rất nhiều ngôi nhà đã bị phá hủy ở phía tây thành phố, sau đó là sự xuất hiện của siêu thị và sân vận động.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Khu rừng bị chặt để mở đường cho sự xây dựng của trường học và bệnh viện.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Trong khi các ngôi nhà bị phá hủy ở phía bắc vào năm 1997, cây cối giữ nguyên hiện trạng.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Phía tây của ngôi làng không có thay đổi gì qua các năm.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Khu vực này đã được cải tạo thành 1 sân golf.


………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

195
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
196
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
197
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
TABLE
1. The table shows the amount of money given to developing countries by the USA, EU countries and other
countries from 2006 to 2010 (Figures are in millions of dollars)

2.

3.

198
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
199
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
PIE CHARTS
1. The pie charts below show electricity generation by source in New Zealand and Germany in 1980 and
2010.

Electricity Generation by Source in New Zealand

Electricity Generation by Source in Germany

• [1] more units of electricity were used in both countries in 2010 than in 1980 [2] in 2010 nuclear power
became the predominant fuel source in Germany, in contrast to coal in NZ.

• Body 1: compare total units of electricity generated in both countries in 1980 and 2010.

• Body 2: compare the fuel sources in both 1980 in NZ and Germany.

• Body 3: do the same for 2010. Note changes over the two years.

200
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2.

201
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
WRITING TASK 2
INTRODUCTION + IDEA EXTENSION
1. Introduction

- 2-3 câu gồm:

+ topic background (chủ đề bài viết): câu này paraphrase lại đề bài

+ essay’s purpose (mục đích của bài viết): trả lời câu hỏi của đề bài (Có 5 dạng chính: Opinion, Discussion,
Discussion + opinion, Problems + Solutions, 2-part question.)

- Starting sentences:

It is a common thought/ belief that…

Many people think/ believe that…

It is commonly thought/ believed that…

It is true that…

Example:

Some people think that it is more beneficial to take part in sports which are played in teams, like football. Other
people think that taking part in individual sports like tennis or swimming is better. Discuss both views and give
your own opinion.

→It is true that people have different views about which type of sports is better for them to participate in. While
there are certain benefits of playing team sports, I would argue that taking part in individual sports is a better
option.

2. Idea extension

– Giải thích nguyên nhân vì sao lại có main idea (nếu như main idea của bạn chưa thật sự thuyết phục).

– Đưa ra kết quả tích cực hoặc tiêu cực mà main idea sẽ dẫn đến (nhằm nhấn mạnh hơn mặt tốt hoặc mặt xấu mà
bạn đang nói đến).

– Đưa ra ví dụ thật cụ thể (làm sinh động hơn main idea, giúp người đọc dễ hiểu idea của bạn hơn).

202
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
Practice 1

1. Some people think that all teenagers should be required to do unpaid work in their free time to help the local
community. They believe this would benefit both the individual teenager and society as a whole.
Do you agree or disagree?

2. When choosing a job, the salary is the most important consideration. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

3. Some people regard video games as harmless fun, or even as a useful educational tool. Others, however, believe
that videos games are having an adverse effect on the people who play them. In your opinion, do the drawbacks
of video games outweigh the benefits?

4. 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?

5. Nowadays, young people admire sports stars though they often do not set a good example. Do you think this is
a positive or negative development?

6. Some people believe that studying at university or college is the best route to a successful career, while others
believe that it is better to get a job straight after school. Discuss both views.

7. Some people think that there should be some strict controls about noise. Others think that they could just make
as much noise as they want. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

8. Fewer and fewer people walk on a daily basis. What are the reasons and how to encourage them to spend their
time walking?

Practice 2

1. Main idea: One of the main causes of obesity is unhealthy diets

General example: processed food has become very common

Explanation 1: high levels of sugar and salt

Specific examples: soft drinks e.g. coke, fast food e.g. burgers, pizza

Explanation 2: lots of marketing – especially aimed at children

Result: kids have bad habits – continue when adults

203
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
LINKING PHRASES
The main causes of _______ is…
This situation is made worse because…
This results in…
Good examples include…
This has been confirmed by….

2. Main idea: Facebook and other social networking sites have negative effects on societies and local
communities.

Explanation: people take more interest in people online rather than taking part in their local community

Result: no close or supportive relationships

Further result: society as a whole becomes disjoined and fragmented

LINKING PHRASES
This is because…./ In other words,….
Consequently,
This results in…
Furthermore….

3. Main idea: most first-time offender commit crimes again after being released from prison is due to the
lack of rehabilitation.

Explanation: not given a chance to retrain and learn new skills for their future or develop an understanding of
correct moral behavior

Result: unable to find employment --> struggle financially → commit crimes again

4. Main idea: meeting people online can be risky

Explanation: people can assume fake identities online / hide true characteristics

Result: impressionable teenagers can be led to dangerous situations → parents cannot monitor online interaction
and protect their children

204
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
OPININON ESAY
I. BALANCED OPINION
1. Introduction:
Introduce the topic . While I agree that , I believe that
2. Body paragraph 1:
On the one hand, I agree that (support the statement) .
3. Body paragraph 2:
On the other hand, I believe that (give examples or arguments to point out that the statement is wrong) .
4. Conclusion:
In conclusion, while (restate the statement) _ , I do not believe that (you reject the statement in some cases) .
II. ONE-SIDED OPINION
1. Introduction:
Introduce the topic. Personally, I completely disagree/agree with this view.
2. Body paragraph 1:
For a variety of reasons,_ . Firstly, secondly, for example, finally
3. Body paragraph 2:
Apart from the practical concerns expressed above, I also believe that .
4. Conclusion:
In conclusion, I believe that .
EXAM QUESTIONS
1. Some people say that school children should be mainly taught about the literature (e.g fiction and poetry) of
their own country because it is more important than that of other countries. To what extent do you agree?

2. Museums and art galleries should focus on works that show the history and culture of their own country rather
than works of other parts of the world. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

3. Climate change is a phenomenon that affects countries all over the world. Many people strongly believe that it
is the responsibility of individuals, rather than corporations and governments, to deal with this problem. To what
extent do you agree?

4. After leaving school or university, young people should choose a job or career that they love, rather than one
that pays the best salary. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

205
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
DISCUSSION
1. Introduction

- While there are benefits to…, there are also goods reasons why it might be beneficial to…/ Many people believe
that …, whereas others believe that …
2. Body 1

On the one hand, the option to … is attractive for several reasons/… is beneficial in some ways
- Firstly… - Secondly…

3. Body 2
On the other hand, there are a variety reasons why...
- First … - Furthermore...

4. Conclusion
In conclusion, it seems evident that both … and … have their own unique advantages.

DISCUSSION- OPINION
Discuss both views and give your opinion?

1. Introduction

(It is true that the question of whether to … or … remains a source of controversy in the … field) While a number
of people believe that …, I would argue that …
2. Body 1

On the one hand …


- Firstly,..... For instance

- Secondly…
3. Body 2

On the other hand, I believe that ....


- For example…

- Another reason is that…


4. Conclusion
In conclusion, although both views certainly have some validity, it seems to me that it is better to…

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your own opinion?

1. Introduction

206
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
(It is true that these days ...)

While I accept that there are benefits and drawbacks of this …, I would argue that it is better to… The
trend/option/decision ….is disadvantageous to some extent.

2. Body 1

- The main shortcoming is that …

- In addition,...

3. Body 2

On the other hand, I believe that…because of some undeniable advantages.

- Firstly,…

-Secondly,...

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, it seems to me that there are many advantages for …, although this …has some notable
disadvantages.

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

1. Introduction

(It is true that ….)

Despite some obvious disadvantages of this trend, I would argue that these are outweighed by the advantages. On
the one hand, there are two major drawbacks when…

2. Body 1

-Firstly …For example..

-Secondly…

3. Body 2

On the other hand, I believe that the benefits are more significant than such disadvantages.

-One reason for this view is that....

-Another reason is that....

207
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
4. Conclusion

In conclusion, it seems to me that the advantages of this … are more significant than the disadvantages.

EXAM QUESTIONS

1. Some people believe that studying at university or college is the best route to a successful career, while others
believe that it is better to get a job straight after school. Discuss both views.

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. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

3. 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. Discuss both views and give your
own opinion.

4. Nowadays more and more young people hold the important positions in the government. Some people think
that is a good thing while others argue that it is not suitable. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

5. In developing countries, children in rural communities have less access to education. Some people believe that
the problem can be solved by providing more schools and teachers, while others think that the problem can be
solved by providing computers and Internet access. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

6. New technologies have changed the way children spend their free time. Do the advantages outweigh the
disadvantages?

7. It is suggested that everyone wants to have a car, a television and a fridge. Do the disadvantages of this
development for society outweigh the advantages?

8. The development of tourism contributes to English becoming the most prominent language in the world. some
people think this will lead to English becoming the only language to be spoken globally

What are the advantages and disadvantages to having one language in the world?

9. Some people think that all university students should study whatever they like. Others believe that they should
only be allowed to study subjects that will be useful in the future, such as those related to science and technology.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

208
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
CAUSES – SOLUTIONS
1. INTRODUCTION

It is true that ... There are a number of reasons behind this phenomenon/tendency/trend/view and several solutions
should be adopted (by governments and individuals) to improve the situation.

2. BODY 1: CAUSES/ REASONS

There are two primary reasons why the …

- One reason is that …

- Furthermore …

3. BODY 2: SOLUTIONS

Fortunately, several measures could be taken to prevent this problem

- The first solution would be …

- A second measure would be …

4. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is clear that there are various reasons for …, and steps need to be taken to tackle this problem.

PROBLEMS – SOLUTIONS
1. INTRODUCTION

It is true that ... Several problems have resulted from this tendency and they should be tackled by a number of
effective solutions from (both individuals and the government).

2. BODY 1: PROBLEMS

- Firstly, due to............ As a result/ consequence,......

- Secondly, stemming from the fact that S+V, ......... This may lead to...........

3. SOLUTIONS

Since such issues are serious, the government and individuals should take steps immediately to address these
problems.

- The first solution would be …

209
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
- A second measure would be …

4. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there are various negative consequences of .........................................and appropriate steps need to
be taken to tackle these problems, not only by the government but also by individuals.

EXAM QUESTIONS

1. Many people believe that international tourism is a bad thing for their country. What are the reasons? Solutions
to change negative attitudes.

2. The consumption of the world's resources (oil, and water etc.) is increasing at a dangerous rate. What are causes
and solutions?

3. The older people who need employment have to compete with younger ones. What problems can this create?
What are some solutions?

32

4. Fewer and fewer people walk on a daily basis. What are the reasons and how to encourage them to spend their
time walking?

5. People today do not feel safe either at home or when they are out. What are the causes? What are the solutions?

6. In some countries the average weight of people is increasing and their levels of health and fitness are decreasing.
What do you think are the causes of these problems and what measures could be taken to solve them?

7. Many offenders commit more crimes after serving the 1st punishment. Why is this happening and what can be
done to tackle this problem?

8. An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to
work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What can be done to deal with this situation?

210
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
SPEAKING

211
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
PART 1
I. Running
1. Do you like running?

→ YES → helps keep my mind off things + keep fit → spend … minutes jogging everyday without fail

→ NO → prefer other sports like …./ not a fan of sports or workouts at all → prefer ….to keep myself in shape

2. Have you ever taken a running class?

→ NO → an easy form of exercise → no need to take a class → read about how to run effectively like breathing
techniques and such

3. Where do you think is a good place to run?

→ open spaces like a park, around a lake → fresh air, large space, especially early in the morning

4. Do you like watching running race on TV?

→ NO → too boring → prefer watching other sports such as…

II. Science

1. Have you ever taken science classes?

→ Of course → compulsory subjects at school → learnt many science subjects such as physics, bilogy and such
→ really enjoy these subjects because they are fascinating/ really hate these subjects because they are so tedious

2. Is science important?

→ Yes for sure → helps people understand the way the world functions and teaches people about basically every
aspect in life, such as health, technology, you name it

3. What kind of science do people usually study?

→ it largely depends on their interest and the career they want to pursue → many options nowadays: computer
science, engineering and so on

III. Pencil/ pen


1. When was the last time you bought a pen or pencil?

→ don’t really remember → prefer typing to handwriting → bcz typing is faster and easier to read
212
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
→ not long ago → …

2. Do you usually use a pen or pencil?

→ PEN → I can write faster and I feel like my handwriting is neater and therefore

→ PENCIL → jot down ideas → can erase mistakes easily

3. What do you think when someone gives you a pen or pencil as a gift?

It’s the thought that count → gladly receive the gift no matter what it is

IV. Voice

1. Has your voice ever changed?

→ my voice cracks/ breaks when I turn … → used to have high-pitched voice → now I have more modulated/
pleasant voice

→ never → have always sounded like this my whole life → happy with it/ want it to be more….

2. Do you enjoy recording your voice and listening to it?

→ YES → a great way to practice speaking skills → can learn to control my pronunciation and intonation

→ NO → weird to listen to my own voice

3. Are there some people’s voices you don’t like?

V. House or Flat
1. What kind of housing do you live in?

→ an apartnment/ a studio/ a house → everything is accessible → is within walking distance to…

2. Which is your favorite room in your home?

→ bedroom → my own private corner

VI. Number
1. Are you good at remembering numbers?

→ YES → can work well with numbers

→ NO → terrible with numbers


213
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. Do you often use numbers?

→ I’m a student → maths is compulsory → have to work with numbers on a daily basis

3. Is there any special number you like?

…. → I believe it brings me good luck

NOT REALLY → every number is the same to me → however in my culture, ….. is believed to be a lucky
number

VII. Sweets
1. Do you like to eat sweets?

YES → have a sweet tooth → especially love ….

NO → don’t really have a sweet tooth → rarely eat sweets → prefer snacking on …… instead

2. Do you like sweets now compared to when you were a child?

NO → sweets were a luxury → couldn’t afford to buy them everyday → didn’t taste as good as the sweets now
but I liked them better

YES → many flavors and brands to choose from

3. Why do people like sweets?

→ people generally have a tendency to prefer sweetness over other tastes → many people believe eating sweets
boosts their mood

4. Have you ever tried to make sweets?

YES → tried to make ….. before by ….. → had a lot of fun

NO → not really good at cooking or DIY stuff → prefer buying sweets at the store → so many options

VIII. Being alone

1. Do you like to be alone?

YES → I’m a loner → enjoy my own company

NO → I’m extroverted → spend a lot of time hanging out with my friends → I’ll be bored out of my mind being
alone
214
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. When was the last time you were alone and what did you do then?

NOT LONG AGO → just relaxed, binged watching …. On TV

3. What do you like to do when you are alone?

IX. Scenery
1. Is there any beautiful scenery in your hometown?

YES → lots of beautiful attractions such as…..

2. Do people like to take photos of beautiful scenery?

It depends → I guess most people just love to take photos of every single thing they see → personally, I prefer….

3. Why do people prefer to use mobile phones to take photos of beautiful scenery?

It is handy >< carrying a camera around can be a hassle

X. Museum
1. Have you had any field trip to museums to learn history?

YES → back in primary school → was taken to HCM museum to learn about his life and his role in Vietnamese
history

2. Do you learn a lot of history at school?

YES → a compulsory subject from primary school to high school → learnt a lot of interesting historical facts

NO → a compulsory subject from primary school to high school BUT it was too boring → didn’t bother to really
learn it, only memorized enough to pass the exam

3. When was the last time you read a history publication?

NOT at all interested in the subject → never read any history publication

XI. Art

1. Do you like arts?

It depends on which types of arts → not interested in painting bcz sometimes it is too abstract → however, i’m a
big fan of music

215
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. Have you ever visited an art gallery?

YES → only once ….. ago → was just curious

NNO → have never set foot in an art gallery

3. Is there any artwork on the wall in your room?

XII. Laugh
1. Do you like to watch movies or Tv shows that make people laugh?

YES → I’m relaly into/ I do take a liking to comedy → my all-time favorite TV comedy show is….

NO → prefer shows that deal with serious issues such as….

2. Do you usually make your friends laugh?

It depends → I cracked my close friends up all the time because we have the same sense of humor → other friends
who are not very close sometimes think I’m weird

XIII. Water sports


1. Have you done any water sports?

YES → I love being under water → …. is my favorite activity

NO → I hate/ I don’t feel comfortable being under water

2. Are water sports popular in Vietnam?

Swimming is popular but sports like surfing or water motorcycling are not → however they are starting to pick
up because of the development of tourism

XIV. Teacher
1. Do you like any teachers of yours?

2. Do you want to be a teacher?

XV. Park
1. What do people often do in the park?

→ all sorts of things: jogging, taking a leisurely stroll, you name it


216
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. Did you often visit the park when you were a child?

YES → there was a small park in my neighborhood → often went there with….. to…..

NO → there was no park in my neighborhood/ never really liked going to the partk

XVI. Breaks
1. Do you prefer long or short breaks?

→ a short break from time to time → can recharge my mind because it can be draining after a long period of
working hard

2. Why are breaks important?

Woring for long stretches without break can lead to stress and exhaustion → taking breaks helps refress the mind
and increase creativy and productivity

3. What do you often do in your breaks?

XVII. Animals

1. What wild animal do you like most?

→ Wolves → something mythical about them → cannot be tamed or domesticated by humans

2. Have you ever seen any wild animals before?

→ only in the zoo or natural park → would be fascinating to observe wild animals in their natural habitats

3. Do you like to go to the zoo?

→ NO → zoos in VN are poorly maintained → do not have wide varieties of animals

→ YES → often take my niece/ nephew/ … to the zoo → fun and educational activity → kids can learn to care
about and respect animals

4. Have you ever kept pets?

→ YES → a puppy/ kitten/ bunny…. → chubby, adorable and smart

→ NO → difficult to take care of a pet → have to take responsibility for its well-being

217
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
XVIII. Friends
1. What kinds of people do you like to make friends with?

→ kind and genuine people → confide in

2. Do you think you are a good friend for others?

→ YES → pretty consider about other people’s feeling → a good listener

3. What do you think makes good friends?

→ a good friends should have many qualities → mainly: kindness, consideration and genuineness

XIX. Maths
1. Do you think mathematics is important?

→ YES → the most widely used subject in the world → help the mind to reason and organized complicated
situations or problems into clear, simple, and logical steps

2. Do you think it is difficult to learn mathematics well?

→ YES → an abstract subject → advanced and challenging → difficult to comprehend numbers and abstract math
concepts

3. Are girls generally good at mathematics?

→ has nothing to do with gender → require logical thinking, patience and hard-work

4. Do you often use a calculator?

→ YES → I work with numbers/ my major is related to numbers → a must-use item

→ RARELY → do not work with numbers/ do not have a lot of math-related subjects → only use calculators for
some simple calculations

XX. Patience
1. Do you think patience is important?

YES → helps us think clearly and make informed decisions

218
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. Have you ever lost your patience?

YES → lost my cool a few times when ….

NEVER → learnt to be patient since I was a kid → always try to stay calm no matter what

XXI. Tea/ coffee


1. Do you like tea or coffee?

2. Do you think people in your country like drink tea or coffee?

3. Do you buy tea & coffee for your family or your friends?

(Đề có thể ra)


XXII. Jeans
1. Do you wear jeans?

→ YES: easy to mix and match → for example: mixed with some formal dress wear or worn casually

2. How often do you wear jeans?

→ a pair of jeans is versatile → wear it quite often/ daily/ 2-3 times a week… → comfy and stylish

3. Why do you think jeans are popular in Vietnam?

→ reasonable prices and easy to wear → many types of jeans to choose from: ripped jeans, high-rise jeans, slim
fit…. → suitable for everyone

XXIII. Tiredness
1. What things make you tired?

→ a sedentary lifestyle/ inadequate or poor-quality sleep/ stress

2. What do you do when you feel tired?

→ do some stretches and light work-out → help me feel energized

→ take a leisurely stroll outdoors and soak in some fresh air → feel more relaxed and energized

→ take a rest, listen to music, binge watch a movie → great stress-reliever → feel decompressed and energized

219
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. Who do you prefer to talk to when you feel mentally tired, your friends or your family?

→ emotionally exhausted → talk to a close friend who understands me → seek advice and get it all out

→ emotionally drained → be alone to sort myself out → talk to somebody who doesn’t understand will make the
situation worse

4. Do you want to talk to strangers when you feel mentally tired?

→ sometimes it’s easier to talk to strangers → a brief conversation → no harm

XXIV. Sun
1. Do you like sunshine?

→ YES: bask in the sunshine → an instant mood-booster → feel happier and more energetic on a beautiful sunlit
day

→ NO: can get scorching especially during summer → makes me feel exhausted if I’m out in the sun for too long

2. What do you do on sunny days?

→ if it’s not sweltering → plenty of ways to enjoy a warm sunny day → take a leisurely stroll → makes me feel
alive and make my spirits high → or have a picnic with my family or friends → perfect to spend quality time with
the people I treasure

3. Have you ever used sunscreen?

→wear sunscreen → on a daily basis → minimizes the penetration of UV rays into the skin

XXV. Bags
1. Do you use bags often?

→ YES → carry a messenger bag/ backpack/ clutch bag → store my bare essentials like phone, money… → very
handy

2. What types of bags do you like?

→ Backpack → lightweight, simple and handy → great for everyday use → carry books or clothes or electronic
devices

→ Messenger bag → smart and casual + convenient and practical to use → easier to access items than a backpack
→ a large number of pockets → easily organize all of my belongings

220
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
→ Clutch → trendy and fashionable → works wonderfully as an an accessory for my outfits

3. Do you have different bags for different occasions?

→ YES → backpack for work/ study and travel → can store more items → messenger bag for every day use
because it is handy → clutch for going out/ parties because it’s a fashion item

XXVI. Haircut
1. What is your favorite hairstyle?

→ pony tail/ shoulder-length/ pixie/ undercut…

→ an important part of your look → gives u beauty as well as personality → simple, smart and stylish

2. How often do you have your haircut?

→ prevent damaged, tired and flat looking hair → cut it frequently/ when I notice breakage or split ends → keep
my hair strong and healthy

3. How much do you usually spend on your haircut?

→ a hefty amount/ a reasonable amount

4. Do you often change your haircut?

→ not often → choose a style and stick with it → easy to take care of

XXVII. Language
1. Do you think it is difficult to learn a new language?

→ YES → it takes time and effort → master a language

2. Will you learn another language in the future?

→ YES → take up … in the near future → a beautiful language and probably can come in handy when I travel
to…./ a very useful language because many … companies are penetrating the Vietnamese market

XXVIII. Concentration
1. When do you need to focus?

→ when I try to produce good results → studying/ working/ doing housework

221
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. What may distract you when you are trying to stay focused?

→ I’m not easily distracted → can work well even when being interrupted or disturbed

→ I’m easily distracted → the smallest background noises like music, people taking…. → get on my nerves

3. What do you do to help you concentrate?

→ find a quiet place → work early in the morning/ late at night → most effective

XXIX. Trust
1. Who do you trust most?
2. Have you ever lost trust in someone?

→ YES → broke my heart → somebody betrayed my trust → foundation of all meaningful relationships → cannot
trust that person again

→ NO → careful about who to trust → nobody ever fails me → hope I never have to be in that situation

3. What kind of people do you trust?

→ do not throw my trust around → put my trust in someone → expect them to honor that trust → best friend/
dad/ mom….

4. Do you trust artificial intelligence?

→ NO → a system that allow machines to compute actions or knowledge from a set of data → prone to make
mistakes

→ YES → many cutting-edge technologies nowdays → able to process data and find patterns human cannot

XXX. Street market


1. Are street markets common in your country?

→ an inherit to the Vietnamese culture and the lifestyle of the country → holds a special place in Vietnamese
culture, not just as retail space but also a communal and social space → usually occupy a central spot in the town
→ frequented by locals and nowadays tourists

2. What is usually sold there?

→ offer wide varieties of products, from clothes to food and electronic items, you name it → bargain to score a
great deal

222
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. Do you think people like street markets? Why?

→ YES → a great place to find dirt cheap stuff → a vibrant atmosphere → fun to walk around at weekends + a
great way to explore local lifestyle for foreigners

→ NO → always crowded → local vendors tend to rip off tourists and clueless buyers → low quality merchandise

XXXI. Borrowing/ lending


1. Have you borrowed books from others?

→ YES → a friend of mine is an avid reader → has all kinds of books, from comics to novels → borrow a book
whenever I’m bored out of my mind and want to read something

→ NO → I’m an avid reader → have all kinds of books, especially…

2. Have you ever borrowed money from others?

→ NO → money can break a relationship → can cause guilt, resentment and a loss of trust → try to avoid bringing
money into a relationship

3. Do you like lending things to others?

→ It depends → if the borrower is mindful → no big deal → if that’s an inconsiderate person then most probably
not

4. How do you feel when people don’t return things they borrowed from you?

→ feel disrespected and annoyed → break my trust and do not keep their words → cause inconvenience for me
as well

XXXII. Sky
1. How often do you look at the sky?

→ has never crossed my mind → can’t remember the last time I → too busy with other important things to bother
looking at the sky

→ often in a dreamy mood → often look at the sky and ponder/ think about life

2. Do you prefer the sky in the morning or the sky at night?

→ never spent time looking at and appreciating the beauty of the sky → if I have to choose:

+ morning → looking at a beautiful blue sky → watch the clouds float → feel positive

223
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
+ evening → sky is glimmered with stars, the moon is reflected on the sea → calm my mind and make me
appreciate the beauty of life

3. Can you see the moon and stars at night where you live?

→ NO → hazy sky → light pollution

4. Is there a good place to look at the sky where you live?

XXXIII. Perfume
1. Do you use perfume?

→ YES → wear different fragrances depending on the season → citrus scents for hot summer days → fruity
scents for colder weather

→ NO → high quality perfumes are expensive, cheaper ones do not last long and do not smell as good → can
annoy other people

2. What kind of perfume do you like?


3. What does perfume mean to you?

→ different scents and the way smb wears perfume → speak volume about their personality → wear a lot +
choose a strong scent → convey that he or she is powerful, passionate or simply wants to draw attention

4. Do you give perfume as a gift?

→ It depends

+ YES → a close friend who I know well → can guess his or her favorite fragrance based on the personality →
wear every day → a sign of affection

+ NO → just an acquaintance → may not like the scent and will not use it → a waste of money

XXXIV. Smile
1. Do you like to smile?

→ YES → wear a smile every day → want to look pleasant and amicable → a way to reassure myself that
everything’s gonna be ok → the key to a stress-free life

→ NO → feel like I’m putting on a mask → to be happy doesn’t mean it has to be physically expressed with a
smile

224
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. When do people smile at others?

→ a sign of kindness, encouragement and friendliness → especially when directed at another person

3. Do you smile when people take pictures of you?

→ YES → give a radiant smile before the cameras → love to see photos of myself smiling → make me happy

→ NO → feel awkward when I’m the subject of a photo → camera-shy → do not like being taken photos of

4. Can you recognize a fake smile?

→ YES → can totally tell when smb forces a smile → look at the eyes → not expressive → the smile is not
genuine

XXXV. Garbage
1. Why do some people throw garbage on the street?

→ laziness, lack of awareness and basic manner → have no idea what harm it could do to the environment or the
scenery

2. What do you do with garbage when you are on the street?

→ throw it into the trash cans → if not, put it in my bag and throw it away when I find one → hate littering

3. How do you feel when you see people throw garbage on the street?

→ extremely annoyed → especially when bins are nearby → people should be mindful about not destroying the
environment and atmosphere

4. Do you think your city is clean or not?

→ NO → a decline in the air quality → filled with emissions from traffic and factories → lack of green and open
spaces → no where to go for a breath of fresh air

XXXVI. Visit Relatives


1. Do you often visit your relatives?

→ YES → a family-oriented person → pay a visit to my close relatives every now and then → strengthen the
family bond

→ NO → live far away from my family + have a lot of work to do → give them a phone call every once in a
while

225
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. What do you do when visiting relatives?

→ nothing in particular → spend time talking and catching up → always fun because they are all pleasures to be
around

3. Why do people visit relatives?

→ not sure about people from other countries → Vietnamese culture is family-oriented → make efforts to keep
in touch and maintain a good relationship with both blood and distant relatives

XXXVII. Island
1. Have you ever been to an island?

→ YES → plenty of time → visited …. Island located in ….. a while ago → a tourist hotspot → crystal clear
water, white sands, wide varieties of recreational activities → had a whale of a time

→ NO → haven’t got the chance to because I got carried away with work/ study/ I don’t have a lot of money for
travelling → would love to visit … island located in ….

2. Are there any island in your country?

→ YES → VN has a coastal line of 3600km → home to plenty of the world’s most breathtaking islands → ideal
destination for those who want a sun-soaked holidays → Phu Quoc island, Con Dao island → idyllic beaches,
romantic sunsets and a serene atmosphere

3. Do you want to live on an island if you have a chance?

→ YES → after retirement/ when I earn a lot of money → enjoy life → watch sunset, take a leisurely stroll along
the beach, go for a dive to explore the world under the water

→ NO → exciting at 1st but can get boring after a while → many islands are packed with tourists → if not, too
isolated and mundane

226
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
PART 2
1. Describe an intelligent person (v) have a sharp mind
You should say: (v) have a knack for
Who this person is (v) instill in smb smt
How you know this person (n) a pleasure to be around
What this person does
And explain why you think this person is intelligent

2. Describe a person who helps others (v) lend people a helping hand
You should say: (adj) compassionate
Who this person is (adj) full of energy
How he/she helps others (v) radiate warmth and compassion
Why he/she helps others (v) hold smb in high regard
And how you feel about this person
3. Describe an energetic person
You should say
Who this person is
How you knew this person
Why you think this person is energetic
And explain how you feel about this person

4. Describe an old person that you know and


respect
You should say:
Who this person is
What you know about his/her younger life
What you usually do together
And explain why you respect this old person

227
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
5. Describe a friend that you got in contact again (n) leadership quality
You should say (v) radiate confidence
Who he or she is (v) reminisce about
What he or she is like (v) flash through my mind
How you got in contact with him or her again
And explain how you felt about it

6. Describe a foreign country u want to learn (n) bucket list


about (n) internship
7. Describe a job u want to do short term in a (n) trainee program
foreign country
You should say
What the job is
Where you want to do it
How you knew it
And explain why you want to do it
8. Describe a part of the city where you often visit (v) splurge on
to relax (adj) frugal
You should say: (v) melt the city’s hustle and bustle away
- where the place is (v) allow myself to forget all about my stressors
- what the place looks like (v) give myself a treat
- how you spend your time in this place (v) feel pampered
And explain why this place helps you to relax (v) get my money’s worth
9. Describe an activity u do occasionally which is
expensive
You should say
What it is
Who you do it with
Why it is expensive
And explain how you feel about it

228
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
10. Describe a film that makes u laugh (v) crack me up
You should say (adj) hilarious
What it is (adj) relatable
When you watched it (n) comedic timing
Who you watched it with
And explain why it made you laugh

11. Describe an useful book (v) give me profound insight into


You should say: (v) read smt from cover to cover
What it is (adj) be completely hooked
When you read it
Why you think it is useful
And explain how you felt about it
12. Describe a tradition in your country (n) the veneration of the dead/ ancestor worship
You should say (n) filial piety
What it is (n) joss paper/ spirit money
Who take part in it (v) make offerings
What activities there are (v) burn incense sticks
And explain how you feel about it (n) after life
(n) the deceased
(n) the living
13. Describe an area of science that interests u (adj) mind-boggling
You should say: (adj) captivating
What it is (n) cosmology
When you knew it (n) celestial objects and phenomenon
How you learned it (n) meteor shower
And explain why you are interested (n) shooting star
(n) myth
(v) pique smb’s interest and curiosity
(n) speck of dust in the universe
14. Describe a piece of good news u received (adj) be at a loss for words
You should say: (v) break the news to smb
What it is To my great surprise

229
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
When you knew it It feels like a huge weight was lifted off my chest.
How you learned it (v) gather myself
And explain why you are interested
15. Describe an ambition u have had for a long time (n) perennial desire
(v) get away from work drudgery and obligations
(v) attain a goal
16. Describe a skill you think you are good at (n) a critical lifesaving skill
teaching other people (adj) informative
(v) do chest compression and rescue breaths
(v) practice on dummies
(n) 1st aid response drills
(n) sudden cardiac arrest
17. Describe a time u saw a child behave badly in (v) grate on smb
public (v) tick smb off
(adj) stern
(v) keep it down
(adj) mis-behaved
(adj) ignorant
18. Describe an occasion u wore the best clothes (adj) candid
19. Describe a photo somebody took of you (adj) dressy
(v) compliment my figures
(v) look flattering on me
(n) a designer suit
(adj) revealing
(adj) fit → slim fit
(adj) dashing
20. Describe a thing u once forgot to do (v) work to tight deadlines
(v) breathe on smb’s neck
(adj) be cut out for
21. Describe an important decision (adj) be in a tight spot
(v) take a chance
(v) weigh up the pros and cons of smt
(v) give smt a serious thought

230
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
(v) rush into a decision
22. Describe a time when you had to learn the (v) recite
words of something and then say or sing it from (adj) nerve-racking
memory (v) pluck up my courage to V
(n) an indelible memory
23. Describe a time when you worked with people (v) track each other’s progress and coordinate the flow
in a group (v) stick to the plan
(v) split all the work among us
24. Describe an event u didn’t like the music (adj) blaring
(adj) grating
(v) sound like a bag of cats
25. Describe a time when you watched a live sports (adj) thrilling
event (v) Enjoy the game to the fullest
26. Describe a time when you had to wait in a long (adj) be biased toward
line of people/queue (adj) leave me totally spellbound
(adj) intriguing
(adj) riveting
27. Describe a time when you felt very bored (adj) be bored to death
(v) bore smb to death
28. Describe a time when you first communicated
in a foreign language
29. Describe an interesting conversation that you
remember well
30. Describe a conversation that you were not (adj) dreadful
interested in (v) ramble on about
(v) go on and on about
(v) cut smt short
(adj) be bored out of my mind
31. Describe a time when you worked with people (v) track each other’s progress and coordinate the flow
in a group (v) stick to the plan
(v) split all the work among us
(n) common room
32. Describe a time u got lost (adj) be frantic with worry

231
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
(adj) be on the verge of tears
(v) freak smb out
(v) keep a clear head

232
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
PART 3
ARTS (n) the aesthetic quality of
1. What kind of art do you enjoy? (v) enrich smb’s imagination
2. What are the traditional art forms in your (n) contemporary arts
country?
3. What makes a good painting?
4. Do you think children should study art at
school?
5. How can children benefit from learning art?
6. How has art changed in the last few decades
in your country?
CLOTHES (v) speak volume about smb
1. Can clothing tell you much about a person? (v) become recognizable by customers
2. Why do some companies ask their staff to (v) promote a brand
wear uniforms? (n) fashion sense
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of having uniforms at work?
4. When do people wear traditional clothing in
your country?
5. How have clothes fashions changed in your
country over the last few decades?
6. What is the difference between clothes that
young people and old people like to wear?
EDUCATION (n) attribute/ quality
1. What makes a good student? (v) assimilate knowledge
2. What role should the teacher have in the (adj) engaging
classroom? (adj) be superseded with
3. Do you think computers will one day replace
teachers in the classroom?
4. How has teaching changed in your country
in the last few decades?
5. What is the difference between the way
children learn and the way adults learn?

233
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
6. How can a teacher make lessons for children
more interesting?
FAMILY (n) a family-oriented culture
1. Is family important in your country? (n) a nuclear family
2. How has the size of the family changed in (n) an extended family
the last few decades in your country?
3. How do you think the family will change in
the future?
4. What role do grandparents play in the family
in your country?
5. Who do you think should be responsible for
the care of the elderly, the family or the
government?
FOOD (n) food hygiene
1. Do you think diet is important? (v) have a healthy/ poor diet
2. What is a balanced diet? (adj) be rich in
3. What is the typical diet of people in your (n) staple food
country?
4. Do many people eat in restaurants in your
country?
5. Why do some people enjoy eating out?
6. What’s the difference between restaurant
food and home cooked food?
HEALTH (v) lead a/an healthy/ active lifestyle
1. How can people improve their health? (n) compassion
2. Do elderly people do much exercise in your (n) ability to work under pressure
country? (n) medical breakthroughs
3. Do you think all illness can be prevented?
4. Do you think there will be less illness in the
future?
5. Do you think health care should be free?
6. What makes a good doctor?
INTERNET (adj) easily accessible

234
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
1. Do most people have a computer at home in (v) Surf the internet
your country? (n) a reliable source of information
2. Do you think all information on the internet (v) interact face to face
is true? (n) rigorous content check
3. How can people find reliable information on (n) the imposition of censorship
the internet?
4. How has the internet changed the way we
live?
5. How has the internet changed the way we
work?
6. Do you think the internet is safe for children
to use unsupervised?
MEDIA& NEWS (n) educational channel
1. Do you believe everything you read in the (adj) entertaining
newspapers? (v) act a certain way
2. How do most people get their news in your (n) technological breakthroughs
country?
3. How do you think people will get their news
in the future?
4. How has TV changed our lives?
5. Do you think TV influences the way we
think?
6. Should children be allowed to watch a lot of
TV?
7. Are all people on TV famous?
8. Do you think famous people have a
responsibility to act as role models for the
younger generation?
NATURE (adj) environmentally conscious
1. What are the main environmental problems (n) wild life conservation
in your country? (v) raise smb’s awareness of
2. Why should people be concerned about the
environment?

235
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
3. How can people protect the environment?
4. Do you think money should be spent on
protecting animals?
5. Do you think more should be done to protect
natural beauty spots in your country?
SOCIETY (n) poverty
1. What social problems are there in your (n) income gap
country? (n) social status
2. What can be done to alleviate poverty? (n) underprivileged individual
3. Are there many charities in your country?
4. What is the difference between major crime
and minor crime?
5. Do you think all criminals should go to
prison?
6. Why do so many people move to live in
cities?
7. What problems does over population cause?
TRAVEL (n) a symbol of status
1. Why do some people prefer to travel abroad (adj) open-minded
rather than in their own country? (v) develop different approaches to a problem
2. Do you think traveling to another country
can change the way people think?
3. Do you think it is good for children to
experience life in a foreign country?
4. How have holidays changed over the past
few decades?
5. Do you think it is safer to travel now than in
the past?
WORK (v) take into consideration/ take into account
1. Do you think job satisfaction is more (n) gender equality
important than salary when choosing a job? (v) have the right to V
What skills do you think are needed to get a (n) labor-intensive tasks
good job these days? (adj) highly-respected

236
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
2. Do you think women should be able to do all
the same jobs that men do?
3. How has technology changed the way we
work?
4. What is the difference between white collar
and blue collar jobs?
5. What jobs do you think are most valuable to
society?

237
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
TOPIC VOCABULARY

238
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA1: THE ART
1. the aesthetic qualities of smt: The qualities related to beauty and understanding the beauty of smt

Một trong những ưu điểm của việc học nghệ thuật là học sinh có thể hiểu và trân trọng chất lượng thẩm mỹ của
những bức họa, tác phẩm văn học và âm nhạc..

2. the imposition of censorship: the act of preventing something from being available to the public, because it
is considered offensive or a political threat

Tôi tin rằng kiểm duyệt bắt buộc có những lúc là cần thiết để bảo vệ thanh thiếu niên khỏi những hình ảnh đồi
trụy.

3. to appeal to audiences: to attract or interest those who go to watch a play or film

Những vở kịch nói về các vấn đề đương thời thường hấp dẫn người xem.

4. literary and artistic heritage: the traditon of writing or painting that a country, city or town has had for many
years, distinguishing it as an important part of its character

Du khách đến Anh có thể thưởng thức di sản văn hóa nghệ thuật phong phú bằng cách đến những điểm du lịch
như nơi sinh của Shakespeare và Viện triển lãm quốc gia tại London.

5. genres of music: particular types or styles of music

Những thể loại âm nhạc khác nhau được yêu thích bởi những lứa tuổi khác nhau, như là nhạc cố điển thì được
người cao tuổi ưa thích hơn.

6. a literary genius: a person with outstanding ability in writing

Dù không phải đứa trẻ nào cũng sẽ là thiên tài văn học, nhưng việc cho học sinh sáng tác văn học ở trường vẫn
là rất quan trọng.

7. works of literary fiction: types of literature which describe imaginary people and events, not real ones

Phải sáng tạo rất nhiều mới có thể viết được những tác phẩm văn học giả tưởng, và những tác giả vĩ đại thường
được coi là những thiên tài văn học thực thụ..

8. funding for the arts: the act of providing money for artists, writers, musicians etc

Quỹ nghệ thuật của nhà nước khuyến khích người có năng khiếu nghệ thuật thể hiện tài năng của họ tới công
chúng.

239
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA2: BUSINESS AND MONEY

1. To break into a market/ to penetrate a market: to enter a market


Rất khó khăn để thâm nhập thị trường quần áo thể thao do sự cạnh tranh mạnh từ các thương hiệu dẫn đầu
như Nike.
2. To reach a consensus: to come to an agreement
Các giám đốc của công ty đã đạt được thỏa thuận về kế hoạch kinh doanh mới.
3. To go out of business/ to go bankrupt: if a company goes out of business, it stops doing business
permanently, especially because it has failed
Nếu ta bán thực phẩm với mức giá đó, không sớm thì muộn ta cũng sẽ phá sản.
4. To make cutbacks: to reduce smt (especially a company’s spending)
Công ty giảm ngân sách ở các cửa hàng tại New York khiến nhiều nhân viên bị sa thải.
5. To squander a chance/ savings: to waste money or supplies, or to waste opportunities by not using them to
your advantage
James đã lãng phí tất cả tiền tiết kiệm vào vụ kinh doanh mạo hiểm không thanh công khi bán kem ở Alaska.
6. A heavy workload: having many tasks to perform
Rất nhiều nhân viên của công ty đã xin nghỉ do ốm đau và áp lực tới từ khối lượng công việc quá lớn.
7. Enhance their public image: to make their company appear more attractive to people
Để nâng cao hình ảnh của mình với công chúng, một số công ty đã quyên góp một số tiền rất lớn cho việc từ
thiện.
8. To gain a competitive edge: to achieve an advantage over another company or organization, often by providing
the same goods or services at a lower price
Chất lượng cao của những chiếc ô tô Volks Swagen, cùng với giá cả hợp lý đã khiến công ty có lợi thế cạnh
tranh hơn tất cả đối thủ trên thị trường thế giới.
9. Pension scheme: a system in which you and your employer pay money regularly into a fund, to use when you
retire from work
Một trong những lợi ích của việc làm cho công ty liên doanh lớn là những công ty lớn thường có chế độ lương
hưu rất tốt.
10. To be made redundant: to lose one’s job
Nhà máy sản xuất ô tô bị đóng cửa và 1000 nhân viên bị mất việc.

240
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA3: MEDIA AND ADVERTISING
1. to carry a story: to include an item in a news report
Truyền thông ngày nay thường truyền tải quá nhiều câu chuyện về người nổi tiếng và không có đủ các tin tức
quan trong khác.

2. to make front page headlines: to be an important item of news in the newspapers, on radio or TV
Có vẻ như từng sự kiện không quan trọng trong cuộc sống của người nổi tiếng đều có thể trở thành những tin
trang nhất các báo.
3. up to the minute: having the latest information
Báo chí không thể cập nhật tin tức từng phút về sự kiện ngay khi vừa diễn ra.

4. celebrity endorsement: a form of brand or advertising campaign that involves a well known person using their
fame to help promote a product or service
Sự tham gia của những ngôi sao truyền hình nổi tiếng thường được các công ty sử dụng để khuyến khích người
tiêu dùng tin và mua sản phẩm của họ.
5. to slash the prices of products: to reduce the price dramatically
Các siêu thị luôn tiến hành các chương trình xúc tiến lớn tại chỗ khi họ giảm giá sốc các sản phẩm.

6. to buy goods impulsively: to buy things suddenly without any planning and without considering the effects
they may have
Quảng cáo kích động người tiêu dùng mua hàng một cách bốc đồng.

7. to be swayed by advertisements: to be influenced to buy things as a result of advertising


Nếu người tiêu dùng không dễ bị dao động bởi quảng cáo thì ngành công nghiệp quảng cáo đã không tồn tại.

8. to launch a product: to introduce a new product


Công ty đã nhận ra dịch vụ marketing là rất cần thiết để phát hành sản phẩm thành công.

9. brand awareness: the action of bringing the name of a company to the attention of the public
Quảng cáo, chứ không phải chất lượng của sản phẩm, là điều tạo nên sự nhận thức thương hiệu của người tiêu
dùng. Điều này có thể thấy bởi sự thành công của những doanh nghiệp dẫn đầu thị trường như Nike hay Coca
Cola.

10. prime time television: the hours during which most people are watching TV
Dù quảng cáo vào giờ vàng rất đắt, nhưng lại đảm bảo tiếp cận được số người xem rất đông.

11. to impose regulations on: to control something by means of rules


Chính phủ cần đặt quy định cho ngành quảng cáo để bảo vệ người tiêu dùng.

241
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA4: TOURISM

1. Peak season >< Off season: time of the year during which demand is highest/ lowest

Một số công ty du lịch có các chương trình khuyến mại hấp dẫn ngay cả vào mùa cao điểm.

2. To swarm with tourists: when people swarm somewhere, they move there in a large group or in large numbers

Vào mùa cao điểm, thành phố này đầy du khách.

3. An outing: a short journey made by a group of people, usually for pleasure or education

Hàng năm, các giáo sư đưa sinh viên đi thăm quan ở phòng lưu trữ của thư viện quốc gia.

4. A boost to tourism: the act of improving the development of tourism

Kì nghỉ lễ quốc khánh, cùng với rất nhiều gói tour hấp dẫn và các hoạt động giải trí cung cấp một đòn bẩy để
phát triển du lịch.

5. A bucket list: a list of the things that a person would like to do or achieve before they die

Tôi còn rất nhiều điều chưa thực hiện hết trong danh sách những việc cần làm trước khi chết.

6. Vantage point: a place, especially a high place, that provides a good, clear view of an area

Từ đỉnh cao sừng sững, chúng tôi có thể nhìn thấy thành phố trải rộng trước mắt.

7. To break the bank: to use up all one's money/ to cost too much

Vào kì nghỉ sắp tới, tôi muốn đưa gia đình đi nghỉ ở nơi nào đó đẹp nhưng cũng không quá đắt đỏ.

8. Intangible cultural heritage: non-physical aspects of culture that a group or society inherit from past
generations,

Tuy mong manh, di sản văn hóa phi vật thể là một yếu tố quan trọng trong việc duy trì sự đa dạng về văn hóa
khi chúng ta đang phải đối mặt với toàn cầu hóa.

9. Hustle and bustle: a large amount of activity and work, usually in a noisy surrounding

Sự ồn ào náo nhiệt trong cuôc sống thành thị gây phiền nhiễu cho rất nhiều người.

10. To get away from it all: to have a holiday in a very quiet place where you can relax

Du khách luôn tới những cảnh đẹp tự nhiên để tránh đám đông ồn ào và thoát khỏi nhịp sống vội vã thường
ngày.

242
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA5: EDUCATION
1. To cover a lot of ground: to deal with much information and many facts
Bài giảng lịch sử hôm nay sử dụng rất nhiều tài liệu.

2. A high-flyer: someone who has a lot of ability and a strong wish to be successful and
is therefore expected to achieve a lot

Những người tham vọng thường kiếm được 25% hơn đồng nghiệp cùng ngành của họ.
3. To grasp smt: to understand something, especially something difficult
Chính phủ nhìn nhận rằng tình trạng vô gia cư là 1 vấn đề cần giải quyết nhưng lại thất bại trong việc hiểu tầm
quan trọng của vấn đề này.
4. To be out of one’s depth: not having the knowledge, experience, or skills to deal with a
particular subject or situation

Tôi không theo kịp khi học lớp cao cấp, nên phải chuyển qua lớp trình độ trung cấp.
5. In the top tier of smt: the most important people in a group, companies in an industry, etc.
Các ngân hàng danh tiếng thường cung cấp dịch vụ tuyệt vời cho những khách hàng giàu có.

6. Top-tier institutions: leading or prestigious educational institutions


Các trường danh tiếng thường có yêu cầu đầu vào khắt khe.

7. Streaming in schools: the policy of dividing pupils into groups of the same level of ability
Việc phân loại học sinh là 1 chính sách quản lí nhằm phục vụ cho các học sinh có khả năng khác nhau ở các
trường học.

8. Extracurricular activities: not part of the usual course work or studies in school or college
Nhìn chung, các hoạt động tình nguyện không phải lúc nào cũng là hoạt động ngoại khóa.

9. Tertiary education/higher education: education at college or university level


Hơn 60% học sinh tốt nghiệp phổ thông ở Mỹ tiếp tục theo học đại học.

10. A virtual classroom: an online classroom


Một trong những bất cập của một lớp học trực tuyến đó là học sinh không có cơ hội trao đổi trực tiếp với bạn
học.

243
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA6: SPORT AND EXERCISE

1. An extreme sport: a sporting activity which is very dangerous

Cá nhân tôi không hiểu tại sao một vài người có thể tham gia chơi môn thể thao mạo hiểm, họ nên nghĩ đến các
rủi ro trước.

2. To have a knack for smt: to have a skill or an ability to do smt easily and well

Bơi lội không phải là sở trường của tôi. Tôi học bơi từ bé nhưng không giỏi lắm, tôi đoán nói chung là tôi không
có năng khiếu thể thao.

3. To give smt a go: to attempt smt

Chỉ một số ít người có thể trở thành vận động viên chuyên nghiệp, nhưng nếu có đam mê thì cũng đáng để thử.

4. To shy away from smt: to avoid something that you dislike, fear, or do not feel confident about

Ngày nay, hầu hết mọi người đều có lối sống lười vận động và thường có xu hướng ngại đi tập gym.

5. To foster a competitive spirit: encourage the desire to beat others in a sports event

Vấn đề của việc khuyến khích thể thao ở trường học đó là do thể thao đẩy mạnh tinh thần cạnh tranh giữa các
học sinh thay vì dạy cho chúng hiểu được rằng chỉ cần làm tốt nhất những gì chúng có thể trong mọi mặt của cuộc
sống.

6. Essential sports gear: the equipment and clothing needed to practice a particular sport

Để giảm thiểu rủi ro của các môn thể thao nguy hiểm, người chơi cần phải trải qua một khóa huấn luyện kỹ càng
và sử dụng toàn bộ các thiết bị thể thao cần thiết được yêu cầu.

7. The endorsement of sporting goods: an advertising statement, usually by a famous sportsperson, saying that
they use or like a particular product

Bên cạnh mức lương hấp dẫn, các ngôi sao thể thao nổi tiếng còn kiếm được rất nhiều tiền từ việc làm đại diện
cho các sản phẩm thể thao chẳng hạn như máy tập hoặc quần áo tập hoặc sản phẩm khử mùi

244
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA7: HEALTH

1. Eating disorders: problems which occur when people are unhappy with their bodies, and therefore eat far too
much or far too little

Ám ảnh với đồ ăn, cân nặng và hình dáng cơ thể có thể là dấu hiệu của rối loạn ăn uống.

2. The outbreak of an epidemic: a large number of diseases occurring at the same time in a particular community

Việc thiếu hụt các chương trình của chính phủ cho vắc xin phòng bệnh và chăm sóc sức khỏe thường xuyên có
thể dẫn tới sự bùng phát của dịch bệnh, nhất là tại các nước đang phát triển.

3. A sedentary/ inactive lifestyle: involving little exercise or physical activity

Lối sống thiếu vận động làm tăng nguy cơ chết sớm.

4. A strict regimen: any set of rules about food and exercise that someone follows, especially in order to improve
their health

Sau cơn đau tim, bác sĩ đã thiết lập một chế độ nghiêm ngặt cho anh ấy.

5. Inadequate development: insufficient or obstructed growth of the body

Một trong những vấn đề mà lối sống thiếu vận động gây ra đó là béo phì hoặc chậm phát triển.

6. Strain: stress or overwork, physical or mental

Dạo này anh ấy rất hay bị căng thẳng.

7. To ameliorate the physical effects: to make the health problem less damaging

Nhằm giảm nhẹ các tác động do chấn thương, bệnh nhân cần được điều trị bằng vật lí trị liệu.

8. Pursuits: hobbies or sports which people do for enjoyment

Tôi thích những hoạt động ngoài trời như đạp xe hay trượt tuyết.

9. To have a regular check-up: to have a regular examination carried out by a doctor or dentist

Để xác định các vấn đề sức khỏe ở giai đoạn đầu, mọi người nên đi khám bệnh thường xuyên để có thể có các
biện pháp ngăn chặn nếu cần thiết.

10. To carry health risks: have effects which could be bad for one’s health

Nhiều nghiên cứu chỉ ra rằng sự nghèo nàn và thứ bậc thấp trong xã hội cũng đem lại những rủi ro sức khỏe
tương tự như là thuốc lá hay đồ uống có cồn.
245
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA8: THE ENVIRONMENT

1. To discharge chemical waste: dispose of waste products from chemical processes


Hàng ngày, một lượng lớn rác thải hóa học bị thải ra biển, gây hại cho rất nhiều loại cá và sinh vật biển.
2. Environmental degradation: the process or fact of the environment becoming worse
Chặt phá rừng là một trong những nguyên nhân chính dẫn đến suy thoái môi trường.
3. To be bio-degradable: a substance or chemical that can be changed to a natural harmless state by the action
of bacteria
Bao bì phân hủy sinh học giúp làm giảm lượng chất hóa học có hại thải vào không khí.
4. To deplete natural resources: reduce in size or amount
Nếu chúng ta tiếp tục làm suy giảm nguồn tài nguyên thiên nhiên, chúng ta sẽ gây hại nghiêm trọng đến môi
trường.
5. Soil erosion: the loss of soil by wind and rain activity
Chặt phá rừng đã làm tăng cao một cách nghiêm trọng sự sói mòn đất ở Brazil.
6. Landfills: organised areas where waste is buried in the ground
90% lượng giác thải ở Mỹ được vứt bỏ ở các bãi rác vệ sinh.
7. Habitat loss: destruction or disappearance of an animal’s natural home
Việc đốn gỗ đã gây ra việc mất môi trường sống của động vật hoang dã ở rất nhiều nước trên thế giới.
8. Endangered species: may soon not exist because there are very few now alive
Chặt phá rừng, phát triển đô thị và săn bắt trái phép đã khiến nhiều giống loài có nguy cơ bị tuyệt chủng vì
chúng bị mất môi trường sống.
9. Food chain: the natural system of animals eating other animals and plants
Chuỗi thức ăn bị phá vỡ vì sự mất đi của nhiều loài sinh vật, gây ảnh hưởng lớn đến toàn bộ động vật.
10. Famine: situation in which there is not enough food for a great number of people, causing illness and death
Mất mùa có thể gây ra nạn đói lan rộng.
11. Irrigation: supplying water to land for agriculture
Sự tưới tiêu và các phương pháp trồng trọt tốt hơn là bước đầu để đối phó với nạn đói.

246
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA9: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

1. Crime of passion: refers to a crime, especially murder, caused by sexual jealousy


Những người phạm tội do ghen tuông sau đó thường rất hối hận khi nghĩ lại những gì đã làm.
2. To serve a prison sentence: to carry out confinement in prison as a punishment
Họ phải chịu mức tù phạt dài vì tham gia vào vụ ám sát.
3. To turn to crime/ drugs: to start committing crimes or using drugs
Trong thời gian còn trẻ mà thất nghiệp, nhiều người trẻ bắt đầu dấn thân vào con đường tội phạm để kiếm tiền.
4. To be tough on crime: to punish crime severely (>< to be soft on crime)
Tỉ lệ tội phạm chắc chắn sẽ giảm nếu chính phủ có những biện pháp mạnh tay và đưa ra hình phạt nghiêm
khắc với những kẻ phạm tội.
5. To reintegrate/ re-assimilate into society/ community: to restore someone through education or therapy
Chính quyền địa phương đang tập trung vào việc xác định các chương trình và chiến lược giúp người phạm tội
tái hòa nhập cộng đồng thành công.
6. To act as a deterrent: smt which makes somebody less likely to do something
Thời gian thi hành án dài hơn sẽ là rào cản và là một biện pháp hữu hiệu để giải quyết vấn đề tệ nạn gia tăng.
7. To put on probation: to make a convicted person see an official at regular intervals to check on their good
behavior, as an alternative to going to prison
Thanh niên phạm tội được hưởng án treo vì tội trạng của anh ta không nghiêm trọng tới mức phải ở tù.
8. A non-custodial sentence: a sentence which is not served in prison
Có rất nhiều hình thức phạt một tòa án có thể đưa ra: phạt tiền, án treo và lao động công ích.
9. To impose a ban on sth: to enforce an official rule which says that something is not allowed
Hầu hết các chính phủ đều ban hành lệnh cấm bán thuốc lá cho người dưới 16.

247
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA10: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

1. To convict a criminal: to find an offender guilty and to punish them


Một khi tòa đã tuyên án, hình phạt phải được thực thi.
2. Law-abiding citizens: people who obey and respect the law
Chính phủ cần có biện pháp hiệu quả để bảo vệ những công dân tuân thủ pháp luật.
3. To enforce the law: to make sure that the law is obeyed
Vai trò của cảnh sát và tòa án là thực thi pháp luật.
4. Capital punishment: punishment by death
Ở một số bang của nước Mỹ, những người phạm tội giết người phải chịu án tử hình.
5. Forensic evidence: connected with the scientific tests conducted by the police when investigating a crime
Những phương pháp hiện đại của cảnh sát bao gồm việc sử dụng các bằng chứng pháp y, ví dụ như lấy mẫu
DNA để điều tra tội phạm.
6. To punish wrongdoers: to punish people
Những biện pháp nghiêm khắc hơn cần được chính phủ đưa ra để trừng trị kẻ phạm tội.
7. To arrest suspects: to stop and hold people who the police think may have committed a crime
Chính phủ cần trao quyền hạn nhiều hơn cho cảnh sát để bắt tạm giam kẻ tình nghi.
8. To install surveillance cameras: to install security cameras
Công ty an ninh đã cài đặt những camera giám sát ở tất cả cửa ra vào và cửa thoát hiểm của khu mua sắm.
9. Juvenile delinquency: criminal acts committed by people between the ages of 10 and 18
Có nhiều người cho rằng thiếu sự dạy dỗ của bố mẹ nguyên nhân chính dẫn đến sự gia tăng tỉ lệ tội thực hiện
bởi trẻ vị thành niên.

248
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA11: TECHNOLOGY

1. A technological breakthrough: an important new discovery


Một đột phá công nghệ của năm vừa qua đó là trí tuệ nhân tạo có thể học giống như người mà không cần hướng
dẫn rõ ràng.
2. Real-life interactions: face-to-face communication with other people
Mạng xã hội không chỉ làm giảm sự tương tác trực tiếp mà còn làm thay đổi chất lượng các mối quan hệ vì có
nhiều người thường chỉ thích trò chuyện và giải quyết các vấn đề thông qua tin nhắn hoặc email.
3. Cutting-edge technology/ leading-edge technology/ state-of-the art technology: the most advanced
position in technology
Qua thời gian, các nhà khoa học đã mang đến những công nghệ tiên tiến nhằm mang lại cuộc sống tiện nghi hơn
cho mọi người.
4. To be obsolete: not in use any more, having been replaced by something newer and better or
more fashionable
Chúng ta đã quen với màn hình cảm ứng, Internet nhanh và việc có thể kết nối với thế giới trong vài giây và dần
dần có những thứ từng được coi là mốt đã trở nên lỗi thời.
5. Labor-saving appliances: machines that reduce the amount of work or effort needed to do smt
Ở Việt Nam vài thập niên trước, chỉ một phần nhỏ dân số có điều kiện tiếp cận với các thiết bị tiết kiệm sức lao
động như máy giặt, máy sấy, nhưng ngày nay, những sản phẩm tiện nghi này có mặt ở mọi nhà.
6. A driverless car/ an automated car/ an autonomous vehicle/ a self-driving car: a car that is capable of
sensing its environment and navigating without human input
Ngày nay, xe không người lái không còn là 1 chủ đề lạ lẫm nữa. Trí thông minh nhân tạo ngày càng trở nên công
phu hơn và nó có thể làm nhiều thứ hơn là lái và điều khiển một phương tiện.
7. To be superseded by: to be replaced by smt
Những đổi mới công nghệ mới nhất thường nhanh chóng bị thay thế bởi những thiết bị mới và tiến bộ hơn.
8. The delicate touch of the human hand: the carefulness of a human
Những công việc nặng nhọc và tốn sức có thể được thực hiện bởi máy móc một cách dễ dàng và chính xác. Tuy
nhiên, luôn có những công việc yêu cầu sự cẩn thận của bàn tay con người.
9. Technophile >< technophobe (n): someone who is loves >< afraid of technology
Tôi không phải là người thích công nghệ cho lắm nên tôi không thực sự quan tâm điện thoại hay máy tính mình
sử dụng là của hãng nào, miễn là chúng hoạt động tốt.

249
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja
VA12: TRANSPORTATION

1. To upgrade and expand public transport provision: to improve bus and train services and to make these
services more available

Một cách để giảm lượng phương tiện trên đường là nâng cấp và mở rộng hệ thống giao thông công cộng.

2. To invest in transport infrastructure: to spend money on improving roads, railway lines, train and bus
stations

Chính phủ cần đầu tư vào giao thông hạ tầng để việc di chuyển trên đường bộ và đường tàu hỏa an toàn hơn.

3. An integrated transport system: a system of timetables so that bus and train services are connected and work
together successfully

Một hệ thống giao thông có kết nối sẽ tạo thuận lợi cho người đi đường đổi chuyến xe bus và tàu để đến nơi mà
không cần chờ đợi quá lâu.

4. Free bus/train passes: documents which allow you to travel free on buses or trains

Cung cấp vé đi tàu xe miễn phí cho trẻ em và người già sẽ khuyến khích nhiều người sử dụng phương tiện công
cộng hơn.

5. Dedicated bus lanes/cycle lanes: a section of a road, indicated by white lanes that only buses or cycles are
allowed to use

Chính quyền thành phố nên dành ra những phần đường ưu tiên cho xe bus và xe đạp để khuyến khích mọi
người dùng phương tiện giao thông công cộng hoặc đạp xe trong thành phố.

6. To ease traffic flow: to enable traffic to move more easily

Việc dành đường ưu tiên cho xe bus và xe đạp sẽ giúp giảm lưu lượng giao thông tại các trung tâm thành phố.

7. Road safety measures: actions to ensure that the roads are made safer

Số người tử vong trên đường bộ sẽ giảm đi nếu chính quyền đưa ra các biện pháp an toàn giao thông đường
bộ chặt chẽ hơn

250
IELTS NINJA- MS. QUỲNH MAI Facebook page: Ielts Ninja

You might also like