Dates, apricots and nuts for sale in a market, Marrakesh, Morocco

A About the task

1 Read the information about the task type. Then look at the notes about the task you
read on a b i o g There are three mistakes. Can you correct them?
.

The Matching Information task tests your ability to read a passage carefully and understand the main ideas as
well as detailed information and arguments. On the question paper, you see a set of numbered statements.
You r job is to read the passage and find the information and ideas that match the statements.
Here are the basic rules for the Matching I nformation task:
• The passage is divided into paragraphs and each paragraph has a letter written above it.
• The lettered paragraphs are in the correct order.
• The numbered list of statements is in random order.
• The statements do not use exactly the same words and phrases as the passage, but they do refer to the
same information and ideas.
• The statements often tell you the type of information you are looking for, for example. a comparison or a
description.
• The answer to each question is the letter that appears above the relevant paragraph.
• Some letters may not be used if those paragraphs include no answers.
• Sometimes a letter may be used more than once because some paragraphs may include more than one
answer. (The instructions tell you if this is possible.)
• You decide which of the paragraphs contains the information in each statement.
• You write the correct letter on the answer sheet.

You are only reading to check facts and figures.

2 The pa ragra phs in the passage are numbered.
3 The numbered statements are in random order.

4 The statements include the same words that you find in the passage.

5 You don't have to use all the letters.

G You can sometimes u se the letters more than on ce .

I On the answer sheet, you write one letter for eac h que stion .

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 TASK TYPE 5 Matching Information

C Tips and tactics

3 Work i n pairs. Read the tips and tactics and discuss these questions.
a Which tips and tactics do you think are the most useful?
b Did you use any of these tips and tactics when you answered the sample questions
in Section B?
c Which tips will you use i n the future?
Before you read the passage, read the title and the list of statements and think about
what you're going to read.
2 Read the passage quickly to get an idea of the type of information and ideas in each
paragraph. Mark any sections that contain the type of information and ideas indicated in
the list of statements.
3 Write the number of the statement next to these sections. You probably need to mark
more than one section for each statement at this stage.
4 Then read the numbered statements in order, and read the sections you have marked
with that number carefully to decide which section contains exactly the information or
idea in the statement.
5 Remember that the statements don't use exactly the same words and phrases as you
see in the passage.
6 Quickly read the paragraph or section again to make sure you haven't missed anything.
7 When you are sure you have found the correct section, write only the correct letter on
the answer sheet.
8 Remember that some sections may contain two answers and some none at all.
9 Always answer all the questions, even if you're not sure of the answer.

D Skills-building exercises
Q FOCUS 4 Look at the list of language functions (1-10) and match each one to the phrase that
best introduces that function (A-J).
Identifying
language features 1 an explanation A Research has shown that . . .

in a passage and
matching them to
words indicating
function
10 a reference
3 a finding
2 an example B Unlike others of its type, . . .
C To my mind, . . .
4 a prediction D As Dr Smith suggested, . . .
5 a description E There are four stages, the first of which . . .
6 a personal opinion F The reason for this is that . . .
7 a claim G I would like to put forward the idea that . . .
8 a comparison H A similar pattern can b e found i n . . .
9 a contrast I For instance, when the . . .
J There are likely to be considerable . . .

5 Look at the passage about elephants' teeth on page 109. Look at the underlined
sections of the passage. For each section, choose the best match (A, B or C).
A detailed information supporting a claim
B a physical description of an animal
c a reference to a piece of research
2 A a comparison with other species
B an explanation of how something works
c reasons to doubt a theory
3 A a comparison with another species
B reasons why something happens
c a reference to a similar process
4 A a worrying prediction
B mention of a drawback
c a finding that contradicts a theory

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 1413t'ijiJM§*M!.11"m11.1.y

PHAN In terms of its long-term wellbeing and survival, an elephant's teet11 are a vital part of
its anatomy. 1 An African elephant consumes around 100 kilograms of vegetation a day.
To process that quantity of food, the animal needs to chew constantly. Each tooth is
worn down until it is no longer usable, at which point it falls out.
2
Whereas most animals have two sets of teeth in their lifetime. an elephant gets
througl1 six. Each set - one tooth on the top and on the bottom - lasts about three
years in a young animal, but up to ten later in life. 3 Unlike human teeth. which sprout
from the gum line. elephants' teeth start at the back of the mouth and move forward
like a conveyor belt.
It's an effective system until there aren't any teeth left. 4 Elephants that live to an old
age - about 70 years in captivity - often succumb to starvation. because they are
unable to chew.

Q FOCUS
6 Look at the passage below about quinoa. Underline the sections in the passage that
contain the following ideas (1-6).
Identifying
information in a 1 a prediction regarding the future
passage 2 an unfortunate consequence of a development
3 a statement of an aim
4 an example illustrating a point
5 a possible positive result of a development
6 evidence of expanding production

The growing appetite is affecting The long-term objective is

Quinoa is a food that has been a
staple of south American cuisine
for millennia. The grain which
people eat is in fact the seed of
a plant species that originated
around Lake Titicaca in Peru
and Bolivia. Since the turn of
the century, other cultures have
developed a taste for it too, with
imports to the us rising from
3 million kilograms per year to 30
million.
South America, however, where
farmers are struggling to meet
demand, and some urban
populations are unable to afford
the resultant price increases.
To cash in on the crop's
popularity, countries on other
continents have begun moving
from customer to cultivator.
Tl1ere are now quinoa farms in
56 countries, including France,
Thailand, Australia and the us.
Quinoa is also being grown in
Africa, because the UN hopes its
high protein content will help to
alleviate hunger.
diversity, says Kevin Murphy,
a plant breeder at Washington
State University. 'There are
hundreds of varieties of
quinoa, and our goal is to
develop the ideal one for
each climate.' For now, most
retail stores in the us remain
stocked with south American
quinoa. With continued crop
experimentation, though,
Murphy adds, it won't be long
before locally grown - and less
expensive - quinoa becomes
an everyday option.

7 Work in pairs and answer the questions.

1 Did you and your partner underline the sarne sections of the passage?
2 Are your answers all the same? Compare your ideas with another pair.

ACADEMIC READING 109

 1M1i'Hif,fi§ij§ffil.!!..iji!!.!.F

IELTS PRACTICETASK

Leonardo's lost mural

A
According to historical records, in 1502 Florentine statesman Piero Soderini commissioned the artist Leonardo
da Vinci to paint a fresco on the inside wall of the Hall of the Five Hundred - a room named after the 500
members of the Republic of Florence's Grand Council - which now serves as the city hall. The painting, six
metres long and three metres tall, was to depict the scene of the knights of the Italian League defeating an
army from Milan near the Tuscan town of Anghiari. Da Vinci, it is said, used the opportunity to try out a new oil­
painting technique, but it was not very successful, possibly because of the high humidity in the hall. He never
completed the mural.

B
I n the 1 550s, biographer and artist Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to remodel the Hall of the Five Hundred
and paint several enormous murals, each four or five metres high. One mural - picturing the same battle - was
to be painted over Leonardo's unfinished work, but at least one source describes Vasari as a Leonardo fan who
couldn't bring himself to destroy the work.

c
Maurizio Seracini, an art diagnostician at the U niversity of California, San Diego, has spent around 40 years on
a quest to find out what happened to da Vinci's painting. He has said, Tm convinced it's there.' A break came in
the 1 970s, when he climbed a scaffold in front of Vasari's painting and spied two words inscribed on a banner
one of the knights is carrying: 'cerca trova; it said, which roughly translates as 'seek and find'. Seracini took it
as a clue that rather than doing what had been asked, Vasari had built a false wall in front of da Vinci's work and
painted his mural on that surface instead.

D
A team led by Seracini eventually got permission to scan the entire building with high-frequency surface­
penetrating radar. The scanning revealed some sort of hollow space directly behind the section of mural where
the inscription had been found. To peek behind Vasari's fresco, the team planned to drill 14 strategically located
centimetre-wide holes in the work. But an outcry ensued after journalists publicised the project. Some 300
Italian scholars petitioned the mayor of Florence to halt the work. 'But the team was making little boreholes
some nine to twelve metres above the ground; said art historian Martin Kempof of Oxford U niversity, who
wasn't involved in the work. 'That kind of damage can be repaired invisibly.'

E
Despite the public protests, i n late 2011 Seracini and his team were given permission to continue their work
- but not in the 14 spots they'd originally hoped to investigate. To avoid damaging original portions of Vasari's
painting, museum curators permitted them to drill only into existing cracks and recently restored spots. This
time the researchers struck gold: a hollow space behind 17 centimetres of fresco and brick. They inserted an
endoscopic camera into the space and took video footage of rough masonry work as well as spots that appear
to have been stroked by a brush. A substance removed from the void was analysed with x-rays, and the results
suggested it contained traces of black pigment.

F
Based on the x-ray data, Seracini thinks the black pigment, whid1 is made up of an unusual combination of
manganese and iron, is similar to those found in brown glazes of what is probably da Vinci's most famous
painting, La Gioconda (Mona Lisa). That Seracini found components unique to Renaissance painting leads him
to call the results 'encouraging evidence', yet he complained that further samples couldn't be collected because
he was only permitted to work on the project within a very narrow time period. 'Unless I get hold of a piece of it,
and prove that it is real paint, I cannot say anything definite, and that's very frustrating; he said.

fresco (n) a painting done directly in the wet plaster of a wall; a type of mural

110 ACADEMIC READING

 TASKTVPE 5 Matching Information

Questions 1-8

The Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-F, next to each statement.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 a compromise that allowed work to continue
2 a connection that lends weight to a theory
3 a report that suggests great professional respect
4 a restriction that prevented a conclusion from being reached
5 evidence of instructions not being followed
6 a long-term commitment to an i nvestigation
7 an experiment that failed to produce satisfactory results
8 an independent opinion on a contentious issue

Which statement best describes how you feel about Matching Information tasks?

I feel confident about doing Matching I nformation tasks.

I did OK, but I still need to do more work on Matching Information tasks.
I need more practice with Matching I nformation tasks. I need to focus on . . .

ACADEMIC READING 111