IELTS READING

The History Of Salt

Salt is so simple and plentiful that we almost take it for granted. In chemical terms, salt is the
combination of a sodium ion with a chloride ion, making it one of the most basic molecules
on earth. It is also one of the most plentiful: it has been estimated that salt deposits under
the state of Kansas alone could supply the entire world’s needs for the next 250,000 years.
But salt is also an essential element. Without it, life itself would be impossible since the
human body requires the mineral in order to function properly. The concentration of sodium
ions in the blood is directly related to the regulation of safe body fluid levels. And while we
are all familiar with its many uses in cooking, we may not be aware that this element is used
in some 14,000 commercial applications. From manufacturing pulp and paper to setting dyes
in textiles and fabric, from producing soaps and detergents to making our roads safe in
winter, salt plays an essential part in our daily lives.
Salt has a long and influential role in world history. From the dawn of civilization, it has been
a key factor in economic, religious, social and political development. In every corner of the
world, it has been the subject of superstition, folklore, and warfare, and has even been used
as currency.
As a precious and portable commodity, salt has long been a cornerstone of economies
throughout history. In fact, researcher M.R. Bloch conjectured that civilization began along
the edges of the desert because of the natural surface deposits of salt found there. Bloch
also believed that the first war – likely fought near the ancient city of Essalt on the Jordan
River – could have been fought over the city’s precious supplies of the mineral.
In 2200 BC, the Chinese emperor Hsia Yu levied one of the first known taxes. He taxed salt. In
Tibet, Marco Polo noted that tiny cakes of salt were pressed with images of the Grand Khan
to be used as coins and to this day among the nomads of Ethiopia’s Danakil Plains it is still
used as money. Greek slave traders often bartered it for slaves, giving rise to the expression
that someone was “not worth his salt.” Roman legionnaires were paid in salt – a solarium,
the Latin origin of the word “salary.”
Merchants in 12th-century Timbuktu – the gateway to the Sahara Desert and the seat of
scholars – valued this mineral as highly as books and gold. In France, Charles of Anjou levied
the “gabelle,” a salt tax, in 1259 to finance his conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. Outrage
over the gabelle fueled the French Revolution. Though the revolutionaries eliminated the tax
shortly after Louis XVI, the Republic of France re-established the gabelle in the early 19th
Century; only in 1946 was it removed from the books.
The Erie Canal, an engineering marvel that connected the Great Lakes to New York’s Hudson
River in 1825, was called “the ditch that salt built.” Salt tax revenues paid for half the cost of
construction of the canal. The British monarchy supported itself with high salt taxes, leading
to a bustling black market for the white crystal. In 1 785, the Earl of Dundonald wrote that
every year in England, 10,000 people were arrested for salt smuggling. And protesting
against British rule in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a 200-mile march to the Arabian Ocean to
collect untaxed salt for India’s poor.
In religion and culture, salt long held an important place with Greek worshippers
consecrating it in their rituals. Further, in the Buddhist tradition, salt repels evil spirits, which
is why it is customary to throw it over your- shoulder before entering your house after a
funeral: it scares off any evil spirits that may be clinging to your back. Shinto religion also
uses it to purify an area. Before sumo wrestlers enter the ring for a match – which is, in
reality, an elaborate Shinto rite – a handful is thrown into the center to drive off malevolent
spirits.
In the Southwest of the United States, the Pueblo worship the Salt Mother. Other native
tribes had significant restrictions on who was permitted to eat salt. Hopi legend holds that
the angry Warrior Twins punished mankind by placing valuable salt deposits far from
civilization, requiring hard work and bravery to harvest the precious mineral. In 1933, the
Dalai Lama was buried sitting up in a bed of salt. Today, a gift of salt endures in India as a
potent symbol of good luck and a reference to Mahatma Gandhi’s liberation of India.
The effects of salt deficiency are highlighted in times of war, when human bodies and
national economies are strained to their limits. Thousands of Napoleon’s troops died during
the French retreat from Moscow due to inadequate wound healing and lowered resistance
to disease – the results of salt deficiency.

Questions 1-3
Choose THREE letters A-H.
Which THREE statements are true of salt?
A A number of cities take their name from the word salt.
B Salt contributed to the French Revolution.
C The uses of salt are countless.
D Salt has been produced in China for less than 2000 years.
E There are many commercial applications for salt.
F Salt deposits in the state of Kansas are vast.
G Salt has few industrial uses nowadays.
H Slaves used salt as a currency.

Questions 4-8
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet.
Salt is such a 4 ______________________. that people would not be able to live without it. As
well as its uses in cooking, this basic mineral has thousands of business 5
____________________. ranging from making paper to the manufacture of soap. Being a prized
and 6 _______________________, it has played a major part in the economies of many
countries. As such, salt has not only led to war but has also been used to raise 7
________________________ by governments in many parts of the world. There are also many
instances of its place in religion and culture, being used as a means to get rid of evil 8
_______________________.

Questions 9-14
Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about the statement
9. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN It has been suggested that salt was responsible for the first war
10. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN The first tax on salt was imposed by a Chinese emperor
11. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN Salt is no longer used as a form of currency
12. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN Most of the money for the construction of the Erie Canal came
from salt taxes
13. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN Hopi legend believes that salt deposits were placed far away
from
14. TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN A lack of salt is connected with the deaths of many of Napoleon’s
soldiers during the French retreat from Moscow
 The harm that picture books can cause

A
There is a great concern in Europe and North America about declining standards of literacy
in schools. In Britain, the fact that 30 per cent of 16 year olds have a reading age of 14 or
less has helped to prompt massive educational changes. The development of literacy has
far-reaching effects on general intellectual development and thus anything which impedes
the development of literacy is a serious matter for us all. So the hunt is on for the cause of
the decline in literacy. The search so far has focused on socioeconomic factors, or the
effectiveness of 'traditional' versus 'modern' teaching techniques.
B
The fruitless search for the cause of the increase in illiteracy is a tragic example of the saying
'They can't see the wood for the trees'. When teachers use picture books, they are simply
continuing a long-established tradition that is accepted without question. And for the past
two decades, illustrations in reading primers have become increasingly detailed and
obtrusive, while language has become impoverished — sometimes to the point of
extinction.
C
Amazingly, there is virtually no empirical evidence to support the use of illustrations in
teaching reading. On the contrary, a great deal of empirical evidence shows that pictures
interfere in a damaging way with all aspects of learning to read. Despite this, from North
America to the Antipodes, the first books that many school children receive are totally
without text.
D
A teacher's main concern is to help young beginner readers to develop not only the ability
to recognise words, but the skills necessary to understand what these words mean. Even if a
child is able to read aloud fluently, he or she may not be able to understand much of it: this
is called 'barking at text'. The teacher's task of improving comprehension is made harder by
influences outside the classroom. But the adverse effects of such things as television, video
games, or limited language experiences at home, can be offset by experiencing 'rich'
language at school.
E
Instead, it is not unusual for a book of 30 or more pages to have only one sentence full of
repetitive phrases. The artwork is often marvellous, but the pictures make the language
redundant, and the children have no need to imagine anything when they read such books.
Looking at a picture actively prevents children younger than nine from creating a mental
image, and can make it difficult for older children. In order to learn how to comprehend,
they need to practise making their own meaning in response to text. They need to have
their innate powers of imagination trained.
F
As they grow older, many children turn aside from books without pictures, and it is a
situation made more serious as our culture becomes more visual. It is hard to wean children
off picture books when pictures have played a major part throughout their formative
reading experiences, and when there is competition for their attention from so many other
sources of entertainment. The least intelligent are most vulnerable, but tests show that
even intelligent children are being affected. The response of educators has been to extend
the use of pictures in books and to simplify the language, even at senior levels. The
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge recently held joint conferences to discuss the
noticeably rapid decline in literacy among their undergraduates.
G
Pictures are also used to help motivate children to read because they are beautiful and eye-
catching. But motivation to read should be provided by listening to stories well read, where
children imagine in response to the story. Then, as they start to read, they have this
experience to help them understand the language. If we present pictures to save children
the trouble of developing these creative skills, then I think we are making a great mistake.
H
Academic journals ranging from educational research, psychology, language learning,
psycholinguistics, and so on cite experiments which demonstrate how detrimental pictures
are for beginner readers. Here is a brief selection:
I
The research results of the Canadian educationalist Dale Willows were clear and consistent:
pictures affected speed and accuracy and the closer the pictures were to the words, the
slower and more inaccurate the child's reading became. She claims that when children come
to a word they already know, then the pictures are unnecessary and distracting. If they do
not know a word and look to the picture for a clue to its meaning, they may well be misled
by aspects of the pictures which are not closely related to the meaning of the word they are
trying to understand.
J
Jay Samuels, an American psychologist, found that poor readers given no pictures learnt
significantly more words than those learning to read with books with pictures. He examined
the work of other researchers who had reported problems with the use of pictures and who
found that a word without a picture was superior to a word plus a picture. When children
were given words and pictures, those who seemed to ignore the pictures and pointed at the
words learnt more words than the children who pointed at the pictures, but they still learnt
fewer words than the children who had no illustrated stimuli at all.
Questions 1-4
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet
1 Readers are said to 'bark' at a text when ...
A. they read too loudly.
B. there are too many repetitive words.
C. they are discouraged from using their imagination.
D. they have difficulty assessing its meaning.

2 The text suggests that...

A. pictures in books should be less detailed.
B. pictures can slow down reading progress.
C. picture books are best used with younger readers.
D. pictures make modem books too expensive.

3 University academics are concerned because ...

A. young people are showing less interest in higher ed
B. students cannot understand modem academic text
C. academic books are too childish for their undergraduates
D. there has been a significant change in student literacy

4 The youngest readers will quickly develop good reading

A. learn to associate the words in a text with pictures.
B. are exposed to modern teaching techniques.
C. are encouraged to ignore pictures in the text.
D. learn the art of telling stories.

Questions 5-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage
5. YES/NO/NOT GIVEN It is traditionally accepted that children's books should contain few
pictures.

6. YES/NO/NOT GIVEN Teachers aim to teach both word recognition and word meaning.

7. YES/NO/NOT GIVEN Older readers are having difficulty in adjusting to texts without pictures.

8. YES/NO/NOT GIVEN Literacy has improved as a result of recent academic conferences.

Questions 9-12

Reading Passage has ten paragraphs, A-J.

Which paragraphs state the following information?

Write the appropriate letters A-J in boxes 9-12 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more paragraphs than summaries, so you will not use them all.

9. _______ The decline of literacy is seen in groups of differing ages and abilities.

10. _______ Reading methods currently in use go against research findings.

11. _______ Readers able to ignore pictures are claimed to make greater progress.

12. Illustrations in books can give misleading information about word meaning.

Questions 13

From the list below choose the most suitable title for the whole of Reading Passage.

Write the appropriate letter A-E in box 13 on your answer sheet.

A. The global decline in reading levels

B. Concern about recent educational developments
C. The harm that picture books can cause
D. Research carried out on children's literature
E. An examination of modern reading styles
 The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography

A While many diseases that affect humans have been eradicated due to improvements
in vaccinations and the availability of healthcare, there are still areas around the world
where certain health issues are more prevalent. In a world that is far more globalised than
ever before, people come into contact with one another through travel and living closer and
closer to each other. As a result, super-viruses and other infections resistant
to antibiotics are becoming more and more common.
B Geography can often play a very large role in the health concerns of certain populations.
For instance, depending on where you live, you will not have the same health concerns as
someone who lives in a different geographical region. Perhaps one of the most obvious
examples of this idea is malaria-prone areas, which are usually tropical regions that foster a
warm and damp environment in which the mosquitos that can give people this disease can
grew. Malaria is much less of a problem in high-altitude deserts, for instance.
C In some countries, geographical factors influence the health and well-being of the
population in very obvious ways. In many large cities, the wind is not strong enough to clear
the air of the massive amounts of smog and pollution that cause asthma, lung problems,
eyesight issues and more in the people who live there. Part of the problem is, of course, the
massive number of cars being driven, in addition to factories that run on coal power. The
rapid industrialisation of some countries in recent years has also led to the cutting down
of forests to allow for the expansion of big cities, which makes it even harder to fight the
pollution with the fresh air that is produced by plants.
D It is in situations like these that the field of health geography comes into its own. It is an
increasingly important area of study in a world where diseases like polio are re-emerging,
respiratory diseases continue to spread, and malaria-prone areas are still fighting to find a
better cure. Health geography is the combination of, on the one hand, knowledge regarding
geography and methods used to analyse and interpret geographical information, and on the
other, the study of health, diseases and healthcare practices around the world. The aim of
this hybrid science is to create solutions for common geography-based health problems.
While people will always be prone to illness, the study of how geography affects our health
could lead to the eradication of certain illnesses, and the prevention of others in the future.
By understanding why and how we get sick, we can change the way we treat illness and
disease specific to certain geographical locations.
E The geography of disease and ill health analyses the frequency with which certain diseases
appear in different parts of the world, and overlays the data with the geography of the
region, to see if there could be a correlation between the two. Health geographers also
study factors that could make certain individuals or a population more likely to be taken ill
with a specific health concern or disease, as compared with the population of another area.
Health geographers in this field are usually trained as healthcare workers, and have an
understanding of basic epidemiology as it relates to the spread of diseases among the
population.
F Researchers study the interactions between humans and their environment that could lead
to illness (such as asthma in places with high levels of pollution) and work to create a clear
way of categorising illnesses, diseases and epidemics into local and global scales. Health
geographers can map the spread of illnesses and attempt to identify the reasons behind an
increase or decrease in illnesses, as they work to find a way to halt the further spread or re-
emergence of diseases in vulnerable populations.
G The second subcategory of health geography is the geography of healthcare provision. This
group studies the availability (of lack thereof) of healthcare resources to individuals and
populations around the world. In both developed and developing nations there is often a
very large discrepancy between the options available to people in different social classes,
income brackets, and levels of education. Individuals working in the area of the geography of
healthcare provision attempt to assess the levels of healthcare in the area (for instance, it
may be very difficult for people to get medical attention because there is
a mountain between their village and the nearest hospital). These researchers are on the
frontline of making recommendations regarding policy to international organisations, local
government bodies and others.
H The field of health geography is often overlooked, but it constitutes a huge area of need in
the fields of geography and healthcare. If we can understand how geography affects our
health no matter where in the world we are located, we can better treat disease, prevent
illness, and keep people safe and well.

Questions 1-6
Reading Passage has eight sections, A-H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. _____ an acceptance that not all diseases can be totally eliminated
2. _____ examples of physical conditions caused by human behaviour
3. _____ reference to classifying diseases on the basis of how far they extend
geographically

4. ______ reasons why the level of access to healthcare can vary within a country
5. ______ a description of health geography as a mixture of different academic fields
 6. ______ a description of the type of area where a particular illness is rare

Questions 7-13 g
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
7. Certain diseases have disappeared, thanks to better
________________ and healthcare.
8. Because there is more contact between people, ____________ are losing their
usefulness.
9. Disease-causing _________________ are most likely to be found in hot, damp
regions.
10. One cause of pollution is ___________________ that burn a particular fuel.
11. The growth of cities often has an impact on nearby __________________
12. ___________________ is one disease that is growing after having been eradicated.
13. A physical barrier such as a ____________________ can prevent people from
reaching a hospital.