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McGraw-Hill Education
IELTS
 McGraw-Hill Education
IELTS

Monica Sorrenson

Second Edition

New York | Chicago | San Francisco | Athens | London |

Madrid
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Toronto
Monica Sorrenson has been an IELTS examiner in nine countries and a
teacher in fifteen. She has qualifications from Australia and the United
Kingdom.

Copyright © 2017, 2012 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed

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CONTENTS
PART I Getting Started
Chapter 1 Introducing IELTS
What is the IELTS exam?
What are the four parts of the test?
How is IELTS marked?
How should I prepare for IELTS?
Characteristics of different bands

PART II Building IELTS Skills

Chapter 2 IELTS Listening
Introduction to the Listening test
How is the Listening test marked?
How to fill out the Listening and Reading answer sheets
Listening strategies
Always listen for evidence
Strategies for each question type (i)
Strategies for each question type (ii)
The alphabet and numbers in the Listening, Speaking,
and Writing tests
Listening Taster Test
Chapter 3 IELTS Reading
What happens in the Reading test?
How is the Reading test marked?
Academic Reading Taster Test
Reading strategies
Extra practice filling in a flowchart
Extra practice labelling a diagram
Special information about the General Training Reading
test
GT Reading Taster Test
Chapter 4 IELTS Writing
What happens in the Academic Writing test?
What happens in the GT Writing test?
How is the Writing test marked?
Model answers to Academic Writing Task 1 questions
A single table in Task 1
Assessing candidates for Academic Writing Task 1
Assessing candidates for GT Writing Task 1
Assessing candidates for Academic and GT Writing Task 2
Understanding Task Fulfilment in Writing Task 2
Tone in Academic Writing Task 2 and GT Writing Task 1
The introduction in Writing Task 2
Writing the essay
Topic and supporting sentences in Writing Task 2
The conclusion in Writing Task 2
Understanding Coherence and Cohesion in Writing
Paragraph organisation in Writing Task 2
Linkers
Punctuation
Handwriting
Understanding Vocabulary for Writing
Describing graphs and charts in Academic Writing Task 1
Using approximate language in Task 1
Nominalisation
Understanding Grammar for Writing
Grammar and Vocabulary Test 1
Grammar and Vocabulary Test 2
Grammar and Vocabulary Test 3
GT Task 1 formal letters – a request
GT Task 1 formal letters – a complaint
GT Task 1 formal letters – an offer
GT Task 1 semi-formal letters – a view
Academic Writing Taster Test
GT Writing Taster Test
Writing – Putting it all together
Chapter 5 IELTS Speaking
What happens in the Speaking test?
How is the Speaking test marked?
Speaking Taster (Buzzer) Test
Fluency and Coherence
Spoken vocabulary and grammar
Pronunciation
Speaking – Putting it all together
Chapter 6 IELTS Spelling
Writing Task 1
Writing Task 2
Spelling and Pronunciation
Spelling and remembering what you see
Chapter 7 IELTS Vocabulary and Grammar
Introduction to Vocabulary
Word families
Reference and substitution
Vocabulary in Speaking Part 1 – Personal information and
mini topics
 Phrasal verbs
Thirty-three idioms which are safe to use in the Speaking
test
Multi-choice test for vocabulary, grammar, and spelling 1
Multi-choice test for vocabulary, grammar, and spelling 2
Sentence types

PART III IELTS Practice Tests

Academic Practice Test 1
Academic Practice Test 2
Academic Practice Test 3
Academic Practice Test 4
General Training Practice Test 1
General Training Practice Test 2
Answers to Parts I and II
Answers to Part III
Appendices
IELTS Logs: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Checklists for practice and real tests
Answer sheet
PART I
Getting Started
CHAPTER 1 Introducing IELTS

What is the IELTS exam?

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is
the world’s largest exam, and as its name suggests, it is
used to test English language for college and university
entrance, as well as for immigration or registration with
professional bodies.
There are two kinds of IELTS tests: the Academic test for
further study and the General Training (GT) test for
immigration.
There is no pass or fail with IELTS. Instead, there are
bands that show a person’s level. These bands range from
0-9. A Zero is a candidate who didn’t come for the test; and
a Nine is a native speaker – someone whose English is
perfect. A Five is a person who makes a lot of mistakes but
can generally be understood. A Six is still an intermediate
speaker, whereas a Seven is starting to get good. An Eight
has perhaps only five or six errors in his or her 650 words of
writing, and in the Speaking test, makes only very
occasional errors. A Six is not that hard to score, but a
Seven takes years of intensive study and usually residence
in an English-speaking country.
The bands are used by different institutions or
authorities. If you want to attend university in many English-
speaking countries, you need at least IELTS 5.5 – the more
famous the university, or the course, the higher the score
you need. If you want permanent residence in Canada, you
need a Seven. If you’re a nurse and you want to continue
nursing in Australia, then you also need a Seven overall,
including a Seven in Speaking.
 IELTS has full and half bands, meaning that a person who
gets 6.5 is better than a Six, but not yet a Seven. One thing
to note about these scores is that it’s rather easy to go from
a Four to a 4.5, or even a Five to a 5.5, but to progress
beyond Six takes much longer. There are also candidates
who never reach Six. You can’t just take the test, take it
again, and again and again, and hope on the fifth attempt
you’ll be handed a 6.5. No. You’ve got to fit the description
of 6.5 in order to get it.
If you’d like to know which nationalities or first languages
currently achieve which scores, go to the IELTS website:
www.ielts.org. There’s plenty of interesting data there as
well as free practice materials.

What are the four parts of the test?

IELTS is made up of four sub-tests. Candidates do all of them
on one or two days. They are, in the order that they take
place: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking.
The four tests are equally weighted, or if you think of it
another way: worth 25% each. A band is given for each one,
and there is also an average or Overall Band. A candidate
receives a report within two weeks of taking the test with
five scores on it like this:

Listening Reading Writing Speaking

7 6.5 6 6.5

Overall Band = 6.5

You can see that the candidate above was best at
Listening and worst at Writing. Reading and Speaking were
the same. The majority of candidates receive a report like
this. It’s very rare for one skill to be much better than
another.
 But what was the Listening test? What did the candidate
need to do for Writing?
Read the table below about the IELTS Academic test to
understand exactly what happens. GT is the same as
Academic for Listening and Speaking, but a little different
for Reading and Writing.

ACADEMIC

Test How long What is its What question

does the format? types are
test take? there?
Listening 40 minutes Around 40 The following
questions in four may be used:
A
sections. Each
recording Multi-choice
section has 10
lasts for 30 (choosing one
minutes. questions. answer from
There are Each question is three
10 extra worth one mark. possibilities)
minutes to Multiple
Questions are
transfer easy at the start matching
answers and become (choosing more
from a more difficult as than one answer
question the test from a list of up
booklet to seven
progresses.
onto an possibilities)
answer On a test day, Choosing a
sheet after all candidates graphic
the listen to the
Note / Table /
recording same recording
Sentence /
has and have the
Summary
finished. same questions,
but these completion
recordings and (filling in gaps)
questions differ
 from test to test. Labelling maps
There are or plans
different Providing one- to
versions of all
three-word
IELTS tests.
answers
Reading 60 minutes Around 40 The following
Candidates questions in may be used:
three passages.
transfer Multi-choice
their Passage 1: (13 (choosing one
answers as or 14 questions) answer from four
they read. Passage 2: (13 possibilities)
There is no or 14 questions) Multiple
extra time. Passage 3: (13 matching
questions) (choosing more
Each question is than one answer
worth one mark. from a list of up
to seven
Questions are possibilities)
easy at the start Choosing a
and become graphic
more difficult as
the test Note / Table /
progresses. Sentence /
Summary
Words to be completion
read in the (filling in gaps)
passages: 2500- Labelling maps
2750. (With or plans
questions, there
Providing one- to
are around 3500
words.) three-word
answers
Completing a
summary by
choosing words
 that are given in
a long list
Indicating which
paragraph
contains
information
Choosing True /
False / Not Given
for facts
Choosing Yes /
No / Not Given
for views or
opinions
Choosing
headings
Labelling a
diagram or a
flowchart
Writing 60 minutes Two short pieces Task 1:
of writing called Describing a
tasks. visual input that
could be one,
Task 1: A report
or description of two, or three
a table, chart, graphs, tables, or
process, or other charts; two plans
visual input. or maps; or a
process.
Words to be
written: at least Task 2: Essays
150 that discuss one
or both sides of
Task 2: An an issue, or offer
essay on a solutions to a
social or
 academic topic problem are the
that is given. most common.
Words to be
written: at least
250
Task 1 is easier
than Task 2.
Task 2 is worth
twice as much
as Task 1.
On a test day,
every candidate
gets the same
two tasks, but
these differ from
test to test.
Speaking 11-14 There are three Questions in
minutes parts. Parts 1 and 2 are
Part 1: (4-5 personal; in Part
minutes) 3, they are more
general or
The candidate is abstract.
asked one set of
questions on Any topic of
general interest
personal
information, and may be
discussed.
two sets of
questions on Candidates need
simple topics. to: agree or
disagree; assess;
Part 2: (3-4
minutes) compare;
describe;
The candidate is explain; express
given a random possibility and
specific topic, probability;
has one minute justify an
to think, then opinion; narrate;
two minutes to speculate;
talk about it. suggest; and
There may be summarise.
one or two short Additional skills
questions at the include: the
end. ability to self-
Part 3: (4-5 correct; to
minutes) circumlocute; to
paraphrase; and
The candidate is
to ask for
asked more
general clarification.
questions
connected to
the topic of Part
2.
A single band is
given at the end
of this.
In Part 1,
candidates may
be asked the
same questions,
but in Parts 2
and 3, each
candidate gets
different
questions. These
will be similar
from test to test.
 Part 1 is easy;
Part 2, more
difficult; and
Part 3 is rather
challenging.

GENERAL TRAINING

Test How long What is its What question

does it format? types are there?
take?
Reading 60 minutes Around 40 See Academic
questions in Reading above.
Candidates
transfer three sections.
their The first two
sections are
answers
divided into two
while they
read. parts, so there
are five different
There is no
texts to read in
extra time.
total.
Each question is
worth one mark.
Questions are
easy at the start
and become
more difficult as
the test
progresses.
Words to be read
in the passages:
2000-2300.
(With questions,
 there are around
3000 words.)
Note: There are
fewer words in
the GT than the
Academic test,
but candidates
need to get
more correct
answers to be
awarded the
same band. See
page 7.
Writing 60 minutes Two short pieces Task 1: Letters of:
of writing called request, advice,
tasks. offer, complaint,
congratulation, or
Task 1: A formal
or semi-formal opinion are the
letter. most common.

Words to be Task 2: Essays

that discuss one
written: at least
or both sides of
150
an issue, or offer
Task 2: An solutions to a
essay on a social problem are the
topic that is most common.
given.
Words to be
written: at least
250

How is IELTS marked?

On the day of the test, the Speaking is marked by the
examiner who interviewed the candidate. Task 1 writing is
marked by one examiner; Task 2, by another. Listening and
Reading are calculated by a clerk who is not a Speaking or
Writing examiner. Therefore four different people evaluate
one candidate’s performance. Among other things, this
reduces corruption as the examiners and clerical markers
seldom know each other.
As we have just learnt, IELTS uses bands. Do you
remember this candidate?

Listening Reading Writing Speaking

7 6.5 6 6.5

Overall Band = 6.5

Another candidate might get:

Listening Reading Writing Speaking

5.5 5 5 5

Overall Band = 5

The majority of candidates have most skills in the same

band. If a candidate has one test that is two bands different
from another, his or her paper is marked again, and the
higher of the two marks becomes the new score.
For example: a candidate gets:

Listening Reading Writing Speaking

6 6 4 6

Overall Band = 5.5

 If his or her Writing is marked again and is still a Four or
becomes a 4.5, then the Overall Band remains a 5.5. If a
Four goes up to a Five, then the new Overall Band is a Six.
All this happens before the final report is sent out.

Listening and Reading

These two tests are made up of 40 questions each that are
either right or wrong. There are no half marks. The marking
of these is fairly easy, but they are marked twice for
accuracy.
There are multiple versions of the Listening and Reading
tests. Each version differs slightly in its degree of difficulty.
They are all pre-tested. As you already know, Academic and
GT Reading tests are also different. Here’s a guide to the
scores needed for some bands for Listening and Reading.
Since there are so many versions of these tests, this table is
approximate.

Band Listening /40 Academic GT Reading

Reading /40 /40
4 9 8 15
4.5 12 12 19
5 16 15 23
5.5 19 19 27
6 23 23 30
6.5 27 27 32
7 30 30 34
7.5 33 33 36
8 35 35 37

Writing and Speaking

As you can imagine, Writing and Speaking are harder to
mark than Listening and Reading since each candidate will
give different answers. Candidates will, however, have
common features, which determine their level.
For Writing and Speaking, these common features are
described by special criteria at each band. (Look up ‘criteria’
in your dictionary now.) This book, the second edition of
McGraw-Hill Education’s IELTS, is based on criterion
marking, so it’s important to understand how it works. A
great many candidates prepare for IELTS without having any
idea what they’re being judged on, and so can’t improve
their performance effectively. Here, the criteria will be
described and analysed. For example, Pronunciation is a
Speaking criterion, but it’s likely you’ve got only a vague
idea what pronunciation means. Once you’ve understood
what many things really make up pronunciation, then you
can start learning how to pronounce English well.
Remember this?

Listening Reading Writing Speaking

7 6.5 6 6.5

Overall Band = 6.5

There’s nothing about criteria on this report – nothing to
tell you how the examiners reached their conclusions. A
candidate knows only in a general sense that his Listening is
stronger than everything else. He probably has no idea why
his Writing got a Six.

So what are the Writing and Speaking criteria?

Writing and Speaking criteria are similar: both include a
judgment on a candidate’s vocabulary and grammar. In
Writing, candidates must also describe, analyse, and argue
well. In Speaking, pronunciation plays a major role. To
achieve a high band in IELTS, it’s important to understand
exactly what marking criteria are.

Writing criteria
There are four criteria for Writing. They’re the same for Task
1 and Task 2.
In brief, the criteria are:
1 Task Fulfilment (Also called Task Achievement or Task
Response: Answering the question fully) 2 Coherence
and Cohesion (Words, sentences, paragraphs joined
smoothly; a logical order throughout) 3 Lexical Resource
(Vocabulary) 4 Grammatical Range and Accuracy
(Grammar) Each criterion carries the same weight. This
is significant because, when asked, most candidates
believe grammar is the most important thing in writing.
While each criterion is worth the same, a large amount
of research has shown that one criterion – Lexical Resource,
called Vocabulary in the book – is most difficult. This is
because English vocabulary is vast. The most common
problem IELTS candidates have is that their vocabulary is
limited. It is boring, repetitive, childish, or inaccurate.
Perhaps the tone of their language is also inappropriate.
Usually this is because they do not read much in English.
Reading exposes you to vocabulary most quickly. Probably,
learners need to do three times the amount of work on
vocabulary that they do on any of the other criteria to
improve. This book reflects this necessity with a large
number of activities on Vocabulary.
As previously mentioned, candidates don’t have a
breakdown of criteria on their report form. But let’s look at a
typical score sheet an examiner has. This is for Writing for
Task 1:

Task Coherence Vocabulary Grammar

Fulfilment & Cohesion
 6 6 5 6

The candidate gets 5.5 for this task.

(By the way: there are no half bands within criteria.)
Here is a Writing score sheet for Task 2:

Task Coherence Vocabulary Grammar

Fulfilment & Cohesion
7 6 5 7

The candidate gets Six for this task.

Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1. The candidate
above ends up with a Six as a Writing band.
Basically, Vocabulary was this candidate’s weak point,
and if it had been a Six, he or she would have ended up with
6.5 for Writing. Now perhaps it’s a small difference between
Six and 6.5, but let’s say you want to do an MA in Canada.
The university you’ve applied for asks for 6.5 for IELTS
Writing for direct admission. If you get a Six, then you need
to do a ten-week English-language course first. That’s
another two months of your life you have to pay for and live
through before starting your MA.

Speaking criteria
There are also four criteria for Speaking. Unlike Writing,
where the tasks are rated separately, there is only one score
given for the candidate’s whole Speaking test.
In brief, the criteria are:
1 Fluency and Coherence (The ability to keep speaking;
accurate use of linkers; sound logic) 2 Lexical Resource
(Vocabulary) 3 Grammatical Range and Accuracy
(Grammar) 4 Pronunciation
 You can see that there’s no Task Fulfilment criterion.
This means the examiner doesn’t judge the content of the
candidate’s answers – the candidate can say pretty much
anything he or she likes. If you want to say your mother’s an
astronaut on the International Space Station and your
father’s Bill Gates’ best mate, that’s fine, as long as your
English is correct.
Like Writing, each criterion is worth 25%.
Generally, candidates still find Vocabulary problematic.
Fluency is also a challenge because it’s possible the
candidate has never spoken for so long in English. Also,
almost no teachers or textbooks focus on Fluency. (Is it
anywhere in the Table of Contents of your best mate’s IELTS
book?) Depending on what your first language is,
pronunciation may be difficult. If you’re German, it’s not so
hard; if you’re Vietnamese, it’s hell. Let’s say you’re from Ho
Chi Minh City, and you want permanent residence in
Australia. For residence, you may need a Seven for
Speaking. Frankly, that’s going to be extremely tough
because time and time again even if you’re really good,
you’ll get:

Fluency & Grammar Vocabulary Pronunciation

Coherence
7 7 7 6

Overall Band = 6.5

Hopefully this book will give your pronunciation a boost.
If you’ve read this far, you’ve realised that IELTS is not
just a matter of learning the question types (any old book
deals with those), but more importantly understanding the
marking criteria for Writing and Speaking. If you look at the
Table of Contents of this book, you’ll see how each criterion
is pulled apart and practised here. Then we put them all
together for the practice tests.

How should I prepare for IELTS?

The simplest answer to this question is: put in the effort. If
this means setting your alarm for 5 AM, and studying for an
hour each day before you go to work, that’s what you have
to do.
Here are six days in a week. Write in time you can spend
each day on IELTS prep. Be realistic, but also don’t be lazy.

Day
AM
Activity
PM
Activity

For most candidates, reading needs to be a priority. Not only

is reading tested in IELTS, but as mentioned previously,
vocabulary is learnt most effectively through reading.
Twenty minutes’ reading in English every day will
dramatically improve your IELTS score. It doesn’t matter
what kinds of things you read: football, Indian cookery, the
lives of insects, as long as you’re practising. Use a
dictionary only once or twice a day. Just absorb and enjoy.
(Use the Reading Log on page 444.) It’s a good idea to take
IELTS as soon as you can. This lets you see what your level
is. You may be pleasantly surprised and discover you only
need to work on one skill for your ‘real’ test, but it’s more
likely you’ll be shocked, and panic.
You may also need to buy some more books, perhaps for
grammar or vocabulary. There are plenty to choose from.
 Some IELTS candidates like to find a buddy, a friend who
is also taking the test, to work with. It’s fun to compete,
testing each other on new vocabulary, for instance; or doing
the practice tests together under exam conditions. Learning
needs feedback, which means you don’t learn until someone
tells you what your mistakes are, so if your buddy can also
do this – in the nicest way possible – then that’s excellent.
Of course IELTS is a major exam, but there is life after
IELTS whether you get the band you need or not. You won’t
stop learning English just because you get a Six. It’s likely
your new job, or the course you’re doing in another country,
will prove more challenging than this one exam.

Characteristics of different bands

There are ten IELTS bands. The creators of the IELTS exam
describe them in this way:

9 Expert user Has fully operational command of the

language: appropriate, accurate and fluent
with complete understanding.
8 Very good Has fully operational command of the
user language with only occasional
unsystematic inaccuracies and
inappropriacies . Misunderstandings may
occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles
complex detailed argumentation well.
7 Good user Has operational command of the
language, though with occasional
inaccuracies and misunderstandings in
some situations. Generally handles
complex language well and understands
detailed reasoning .
6 Competent Has generally effective command of the
user language despite some inaccuracies,
inappropriacies and misunderstandings.
Can use fairly complex language,
particularly in familiar situations.
5 Modest Has partial command of the language,
user coping with overall meaning in most
situations, though is likely to make many
mistakes. Should be able to handle basic
communication in own field.
4 Limited Basic competence is limited to familiar
user situations. Has frequent problems in
understanding and expression. Is not able
to use complex language.
3 Extremely Conveys and understands only general
limited user meaning in very familiar situations.
Frequent breakdowns in communication
occur.
2 Intermittent No real communication is possible except
user for the most basic information using
isolated words or short formulae in familiar
situations and to meet immediate needs.
Has great difficulty understanding spoken
and written English.
1 Non user Essentially has no ability to use the
language beyond possibly a few isolated
words.
0 Did not No assessable information provided.
attempt the
test
Copyright © Cambridge ESOL. Reprinted by permission of
Cambridge ESOL.

What does all this mean?

Choose words from the box to fill in the numbered gaps
below. There is an example.

accent answers assuming going Mandarin no operational

residency

Clearly, a Nine makes (eg) no mistakes at all. An Eight has

‘occasional’ mistakes, meaning four of five wrong (1)
___________ in a Listening or Reading test (35-36/40) and five
or six mistakes in a Writing or Speaking test. Considering an
Eight writes around 650 words and says about 1350, that’s
1988/2000 correct words. While an adult Eight may have an
(2) ___________ from his or her first language, there will be
no noticeable errors in pronunciation. Bearing this in mind,
not a lot of candidates are (3) ___________ to be Eights.
The vast majority of people who learn English can never
expect to reach Eight. Furthermore, a Seven is not easy to
achieve either – it has to be earned with years of study,
practice, and perhaps living in an English-speaking
environment. A Six can’t just keep taking the IELTS exam
week after week (4) ___________ he or she will automatically
be given a Seven.
For many candidates, the difference between a Six and a
Seven is important, and this book aims to define it, as well
as to develop some higher-level skills. Having ‘(5)
___________ command’, which a Seven has, means a person
can easily work in English in an English-speaking country.
For that reason, Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand
require Sevens for (6) ___________.
The good news is that many people reach Five or 5.5
after a couple of years’ study. English is not hard to learn in
comparison to Arabic, (7) ___________, or Russian.
If you’ve already taken the IELTS exam and not got
the score you wanted . . .
Here are ten questions to ask yourself:

Which skill was my weakest?

Do I accept that this is not a matter of luck but an
indication of my level?
Which qualified person can I ask about why this is my
weakest skill?
Can I seriously devote time to improving this skill?
Can I find an IELTS buddy?
Can I take an English course or private lessons?
Do I accept that improving all my skills is not a matter of
doing ever more practice tests (especially many online
ones that resemble actual exams only in appearance)?
Do I accept that I need to understand skills more deeply
and practise more meaningfully? (See the Appendices at
the back of this book.)
Can I work on my vocabulary, grammar, and
pronunciation consistently?
If I don’t get the score I need within one year, what is Plan
B?
PARTII
Building IELTS Skills
CHAPTER 2 IELTS Listening
Introduction to the Listening test
The Listening test is the first part of the IELTS exam. It is the same test for both
Academic and General Training candidates. (eg) Test centres worldwide have
different rules about pens or pencils – check what you can bring, or what’s
provided. Candidates can’t use dictionaries in the test, nor ask anyone for help.
Candidates who copy from others are warned to stop, and if they don’t, are asked
to leave the exam.
Each candidate is given a question booklet and an answer sheet, which are
collected at the end of the test. The booklet contains the instructions and
questions, and candidates can write on it. The answer sheet is for the final
answers, which must be written neatly. Any answer that can’t be read easily is
marked wrong. Candidates are not penalised for writing in capitals, and
punctuation is not counted.
A woman, on a recording, introduces the Listening test. She says something
like: ‘The Listening test takes around 40 minutes. There are four different
recordings. You answer questions about what you hear. You have time to read the
instructions and questions before each recording, and time to check your
answers afterwards. Listen carefully as the recordings are only played once. You
write your answers on the Listening test booklet while you listen. After the last
recording, there are ten minutes to transfer your answers to your answer sheet.
Now, open your booklet to Section 1.’
The woman does not tell candidates that each recording, or section, lasts
between five to six minutes. (Pretty short, huh?) The rest of the time is for
reading questions or checking answers. The sections are divided into two parts as
well.
There are usually two question types per section. Sometimes there are three;
occasionally, there is one. Question types are:

gapfill – Fill in a gap with the missing word(s). In forms and tables, this is in
note form. In sentences and summaries, this is in grammatically correct
English. (This is also called form filling, note completion, table completion,
sentence completion, and summary completion in some IELTS books.)
short-answer – Provide answers, usually to ‘Wh-’ questions.
multi-choice (MCQs) – Choose answers from A, B, or C. These could be
single-word answers, whole-sentence answers, or choosing the correct graphic.
(There are seldom more than ten MCQs in a test.)
multiple matching – Choose two or more answers from a list that relates to a
single question. There are never more than seven items in a list (A, B, C, D, E,
F, or G). If the instructions say so, candidates may use any letter more than
once. In a Listening test, there is only likely to be one multiple matching
question. (This is also called matching lists or classification.)
 labelling of maps, plans, diagrams, or flowcharts.

No answer in the IELTS Listening test is more than three words. Sixty percent
of the answers are just one word. There are usually only three or four three-word
answers in any test. (Look at the proportion of answer types in the Practice
Tests.) Occasionally, two letters are needed for one answer.
Listening questions are all in order. That is, the answer to question 1 comes on
the recording before the answer to question 2. Often answers are repeated.
Questions become more difficult as the test progresses.

YOUR TURN
The following statements refer to the text that you have just read. For each
statement, write T (True), F (False), or NG (Not Given) in the space provided.
Underline your evidence in the text. There is an example.
Eg Academic and General Training candidates take different Listening tests. F
1 Cheating is a problem worldwide in IELTS. ____
2 Messy handwriting means Listening answers may be disregarded. ____
3 The Listening test lasts for 40 minutes. ____
4 Some Listening sections are five minutes long. ____
5 Labelling questions are generally the most difficult. ____
6 Up to 25% of the Listening test could be multi-choice questions. ____
7 IELTS answers in the Listening test may be any length. ____
8 The answer to question 7 always comes before the answer to question 8 in
the recording of the Listening test. ____

What are the four different sections of the Listening test?

Match the words in the box with the numbers in the text below. Write the
numbers in the spaces provided. There is an example.

eg
academic challenging programme refute social talking
about

Section 1 is an informal dialogue (two speakers) about a(n) —eg— or semi-

official situation. This could be someone buying tickets, or asking for
information, or reporting lost property. It might be people —1— a house to
rent or a holiday to go on.
Section 2 is an informal monologue (one speaker), like a guided tour, or a
person giving a short talk on a topic of general interest. It could be part of a
radio —2—, where the interviewer doesn’t speak much. The language and the
question types are slightly more difficult than in Section 1.
Section 3 is a more formal discussion in a(n) —3— setting: perhaps a group of
students discussing their assignment, or a student and lecturer resolving a
problem. There may be up to four speakers.
Section 4 is a mini-lecture. In this section, not only are the language of the
speaker and the question types more —4—, but there’s also a need to
understand more than just the words. What is the speaker inferring? What
does his or her intonation suggest? Whose ideas does the lecturer support or
—5—?

What is tested in the Listening test?

700 attitude global not spelling

The Listening test wants candidates to: identify speakers; assume what is
happening; find —6— information; find specific information; understand negative
language; or, a speaker’s —7—.
It also tests their reading ability since each test has around —8— words.
Vocabulary, grammar, and —9— are important as well. All answers must be spelt
correctly. This book has 18 pages on spelling for this reason.
Of the four tests, many candidates do best or second-best in Listening.
However, around the world, men do —10— score as highly as women.

How is the Listening test marked?

What are the missing words below? Write the letters to complete each one.
There are 40 questions in the Listening test. Each one is worth one mark.
There are no half marks even when a question asks for two answers as it does
occasionally. Candidates should answer every question because if they get one
wrong, they don’t lo __ __ a mark.
Typically, a Six thinks the test is quite easy, but sco __ __ __ around 23 out of
40. This is because the questions are, in fact, not so easy, and spelling counts. A
Six makes sev __ __ __ __ spelling mistakes. A candidate below a Six has serious
problems with Section 4, and leaves many answers blank, or gue __ __ __ __
them. He or she doesn’t have time to read all the questions. Only a Seven or
above is completely comfortable with the test.
The people who mark the Listening test have strict instructions. Each paper is
marked tw __ __ __. A candidate can ask for his or her Listening paper to be
marked again, but this is expensive, and the v __ __ __ majority of candidates do
not get any more marks. IELTS is so confident about its marking that a candidate
who does go up gets his or her re-marking fee b __ __ __ !

Bands
Here is a table of approximate marks for IELTS bands.
Refer to this page when you do your practice tests.
 Band 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5
Mark out of 40 9 12 16 19 23 27 30 33 35 37

In a real IELTS test, these bands could be one or two marks higher or lower.
For example: a Four might equal 8 or 10; a Seven might be 29 or 31. Each test is
slightly different.

How to fill out the Listening and Reading answer

sheets
The Listening answer sheet
Let’s imagine one candidate wants to move to Canada, another hopes to become
an accountant in Australia, and a third would like to work as a registered nurse in
the United States. All of these people need a Seven in all four tests, which is
difficult. If they get 32/40 or 33/40 in Listening or Reading, their applications will
be rejected. Only one or two marks in IELTS can make a huge difference to a
person’s future.
Sometimes candidates know the answers in the Listening test, but don’t fill
out the answer sheet properly. Or, their spelling is poor.
Below is a fake answer sheet. You don’t need to know what the questions are to
understand the problems with the answers.
The incorrect answers are marked according to the following:

G = Grammatical mistake
Sp = Spelling mistake T = Too many words
U = Unclear answer V = Vocabulary mistake

Suggest a solution for each one as in the examples.

Candidate’s answers Problem Solution

Eg quater Sp quarter / ¼
Eg to expensive V too expensive
Eg B/D U Which one?
1 new acommodation Sp
2 high buildings V
3 studing in groups Sp
4 differents nationalities G
5 ivi U
6 spreaded throughout Asia G
7 150,00$ U
 32 Mz Masters Sp
33 school principle V
35 obey traffic rules & regulations T
36 local goverment Sp
37 due to late G

Here are three more answers. Which one is correct?

38 barbecue
barbicue with neighbours
39
40 comunity
sense of community

The Reading answer sheet

What are the missing words below? Write the letters to complete each one.
The Reading test is similar to the Listening test in its format. If answers are
illegible, they’re marked wro __ __. If there are two many or too f __ __ answers,
again, they’re wrong. If there’s a word a candidate provides from his or her head
in a sum __ __ __ __ question, for example, the spelling must be perfect, but if
there’s a word given in a box which the candidate accid __ __ __ __ __ __ __ copies
down wrongly, then he or she still gets a mark.
Unlike the Listening test, there is no trans __ __ __ time at the end of the
Reading test. Candidates must read, answer, and fill out the sheet with __ __ the
one hour.
Some candidates answer Passage 3 in the Reading fir __ __ because it’s the
longest and most difficult. If you do this, be ca __ __ __ __ __ where you write your
answers on your answer sheet.
It’s a good idea to make a little ma __ __ after questions 14 and 27 on your
answer sheet to show where Reading passages end. This way, if you need to go b
__ __ __ to answer anything in the last few minutes of the test, you can quickly
find the place on your sheet.

IF YOU WANT A SEVEN

Here are 12 more incorrect Listening answers. What should they be?

Candidate’s answers Problem Solution

1 writting a journal Sp
2 six-pages story G
3 U
 4 footbreak Sp
5 adjust review mirror V
6 discover in 1955 G
7 U

8 opposing thumbs V
9 gorillas, orangutans, chimps, T
humans
10 made researches V&G
11 three millions people G
12 endangered specious V

Listening strategies
Section 1
In Section 1 of the Listening test, candidates identify speakers and understand
simple specific information.
It’s a good idea to work out as much as possible about the recording before
it’s played. In the instruction time and the 30 seconds reading time, ask yourself:
Who are these speakers? What are they talking about? Who wants what? Don’t
forget to read the title to help you.
Remember, there’s more information in the recording than you’re tested on.
It’s important to know exactly what you want to find out, so you don’t get tired
concentrating on every single word. Underline key words in the questions – not
almost every word. Circle any negative ideas.
Now, let’s look at which question types are easy, and which may need more
practice.
Read all the questions on the next two pages. They are for the first part of
Section 1 of a Listening test.
Which set – I, II, or III – do you think would be the hardest to answer? Why?

PLAY RECORDING 1 and answer the Set III questions shown.

The first part of Section 1

LOST PROPERTY AND THEATRE TICKETS

Set I
Choose the correct letter: A, B, or C.
1 Emma left her raincoat at the theatre
A on Saturday.
B last night.
C two nights ago.
2 The man at the theatre has
A one coat and one umbrella.
B two coats and one umbrella.
C two coats and two umbrellas.
Choose two letters from the list below.
3 What features does Emma’s coat have?
A a hood
B embroidery
C outside pockets
D inside pockets
E a short zipper
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
4 What time does the woman start work? ..............................
5 How does the man say he feels about helping Emma? ..............................

Set II
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS for each
answer.
1 Emma is calling the .............................. Theatre.
2 Emma describes her coat as being quite .............................. .
3 Emma says her two coat pockets are .............................. .
4 The man’s colleague is called .............................. .
5 Emma shouldn’t collect her coat between .............................. .

Set III
1 Which picture shows Emma’s coat?
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each
answer.

LOST PROPERTY REPORT

Name: Emma 2 ..............................
Item(s) lost: Green Gore-Tex coat
When this item will be collected: 3 .............................
Phone: 4 .............................
PM duty officer: 5 .............................. McPherson

The second part of Section 1

Listening sections are usually divided into two parts with a pause for you to read
the second lot of questions.
Which set is harder here: Set IV or Set V?

PLAY RECORDING 2 and answer either Set IV or Set V.

Set IV

Classify the following statements according to whether they are related to

A ‘A Christmas Carol’
B ‘A Doll’s House’
C ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Write the correct letter, A, B, or C, on your answer sheet.
This play:
6 has had excellent reviews.
7 opens towards the end of November.
8 might make audiences laugh.
9 has no seats available next week.
10 can only be seen with a new ticket.

Set V
Choose the correct letter: A, B, or C.
6 Emma is unable to see ‘A Doll’s House’ because she is
A going to the seaside.
B making a presentation.
C attending a conference.
7 Letter Z on Emma’s ticket means that she can
A change it for another one.
B get her money back.
C do either A or B.
8 Emma won’t see ‘A Christmas Carol’ because
A the critics didn’t rate it highly.
B it’s not the kind of production she likes.
C it’s booked out.

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each
answer.
9 The final performance date of ‘A Doll’s House’ is .............................. .
10 Emma’s refund will be put into her .............................. account.

IF YOU WANT A SEVEN

Play Recording 1 again, and answer Sets I and II to see why they’re more
difficult than Set III and are unlikely to be in a real IELTS test. Then answer the
following questions. Write your answers in the blanks.
1 Looking back at Set II on page 21, why would question 4 never be in the
IELTS exam?___
_________________________________________
2 Which other question in Set II would not be in Section 1? _________
Why not?_________________________________________
 3 Which section(s) could the question above be in, Section 2, Section 3, or
Section 4? ____
4 Why might Sets IV and V be equally difficult? ____________
_________________________________________

Always listen for evidence

There’s no recording script given to you in the Listening test, but let’s analyse
one. Why is some writing below italics, and other writing bold?
Line #
Woman Before I forget. I’ve got a ticket for a play ‘A Doll’s House’
in November, but I won’t be able to use it. I have to
go to a conference abroad. I wonder if I could exchange
it, or get a refund?
Man Do you have the ticket there with you?
Woman Yes, I do. 5
Man In the top right-hand corner of the ticket there’s a letter: X,
Y, or Z. Which letter do you have?
Woman Um . . . I’ve got Z.
Man That means your ticket is exchangeable or
refundable. So, which would you like: another date for the 10
same show; another show; or, your money back?
Woman The critics have been raving about your production of ‘A
Doll’s House’. I’d love to see it.
What’s the last date it’s on?
Man The twenty-first of November.
Woman That’s no good. I’ll still be at the conference – that might
15
even be the day of my presentation. What show’s next?
Man ‘A Christmas Carol’. I’m sure you know it. However, it’s
been updated, and it’s more of a comedy than the original.
Woman I’m afraid that’s not my cup of tea. What about next
week? Is there a performance of ‘A Doll’s House’ then, 20
before I go away?
Man Yes, there is, but it’s completely booked out.
Woman Could I use my ticket for another play next year? Aren’t you
doing ‘Romeo and Juliet’?
Man That’s scheduled for February – opening on Valentine’s Day. 25
Unfortunately, we only exchange tickets within the same
 season, so you’d have to buy another ticket if you wanted
to see that.
Woman It looks like a refund is my only option.
Man Would you like me to put the money into your credit
27
card account directly?
Woman If you can, that’d be lovely.

YOUR TURN
For each sentence below, find words in the script above that provide evidence
for the idea expressed. Write the words in the blank provided. Quote line
numbers. There is an example.

Set IV
6 ‘A Doll’s House’ has had excellent reviews The critics have been raving
about . . . (line 11) 7 ‘A Christmas Carol’ opens towards the end of
November. _______________
_________________________________
8 ‘A Christmas Carol’ might make audiences laugh. _______________
_________________________________
9 ‘A Doll’s House’ has no seats left next week. _______________
_________________________________

Set V
7 Emma can either change her ticket for another one, or get her money back.
________
_________________________________
8 ‘A Christmas Carol’ is not the kind of production Emma likes.
_______________
_________________________________
Answer the following question.
9 This date ‘the twenty-first of November’ (line 14) isn’t hard to hear, but many
candidates don’t write it correctly on their answer sheet. What does this
date look like when written?
_________________________________

Timing
What are the missing words below? Write the letters to complete each one.
You have about 2¾ m __ __ __ __ __ __ of speaking to listen to in each part of a
Listening section. That makes 5½ minutes for one whole section. You have at
least one minute of pau __ __ __ for reading questions and checking answers.
That’s about seven minutes. You have ten questions to answer in that time.
Therefore, you have 40 S __ __ __ __ __ __ PER QUESTION while the recording is
playing.
At the beginning, there is some time for instructions that you can ig __ __ __ __
and use instead for reading ahead. There are ten minutes after the fourth
recording for you to tra __ __ __ __ __ your answers from the booklet to the
answer sheet. You need to practise so you can do this neatly in just fi __ __
minutes, and spend the rest of the time checking or guessing.

Strategies for each question type (i)

The following pages may be some of the most important in this book. The
strategies are the same for Reading test questions.
Again, what are the missing words? Write the letters to complete each one.

How do you an __ __ __ __ MCQs?

1 In Sections 1 and 2 of the Listening test, try to read the stems (underlined)
and the three choices (A, B, and C) in the 30 seconds before the recording is
played. (A Six can read both stems and choices easily.)
1 Emma left her raincoat at the theatre
A on Saturday.
B last night.
C two nights ago.
In Sections 3 and 4, it’s better to read only the stems in the reading
time. In Section 4, there’s slightly more reading time at the start (45
seconds), but there’s no break in the middle to read as in the other three
sections. Therefore, it’s essential to work as fast as possible, keeping stems
for MCQs in your head while the recording is played. Read the choices, and
answer as you listen. Use this technique in the tests.
2 MCQs work in different ways. At the very beginning of the test (questions 1-5),
you’re listening for the same simple words or phrases like ‘last night’ above.
Later, you’re listening for synonyms or paraphrases. For question 7 in Set V,
we hear that Emma can either ‘exchange’ or ‘refund’, which are another way
of saying choices A and B, so the answer is choice C.

7 Letter Z on Emma’s ticket means that she can

A change it for another one.
B get her money back.
C do either A or B.
3 MCQs are about eliminating wrong answers. Look at question 8 in Set V.

8 Emma won’t see ‘A Christmas Carol’ because

A the critics didn’t rate it highly.
B it’s not the kind of production she likes.
C it’s booked out.

You might not know the idiom used in the recording, ‘not my cup of tea’
(line 19) (check in your dictionary), but you can still get this question right. We
don’t know what the critics said about ‘A Christmas Carol’; critics are only
mentioned in relation to ‘A Doll’s House’. Therefore, choice A is wrong. ‘A
Doll’s House’ is ‘booked out’; we don’t know about ‘A Christmas Carol’, so
choice C is wrong. That leaves choice B as the correct answer.
4 Another type of MCQ has two close answers, but one of them may be too
specific. For question 6 in Set V, Emma does say she’s making ‘a
presentation’ (line 16), but she’s doing this at ‘a conference’, so the more
general answer, choice C, is better.

6 Emma is unable to see ‘A Doll’s House’ because she is

A going to the seaside.
B making a presentation.
C attending a conference.

5 Section 3 and 4 MCQs can be difficult because both stems and choices are
long. Reading the stems only in your preparation time is the best thing to do.
One MCQ (often called a global MCQ – usually question 30 or 40) is about a
speaker’s attitude. You may have to work this out from intonation as much as
vocabulary.
6 When you have no idea, or you’ve run out of time with MCQs, choose choice
B.

How do you choose two answers from a l __ __ __ (like question 3 in Set

I)?
1 Eliminate in the same way as in an MCQ.
Unlike with MCQs, read the stem and the choices.
Again, the choices are in order in the recording.
Watch out in question 3 below for similar-sounding options like
‘inside/outside pockets’. Choice E is wrong because the coat is ‘shortish’, but
the zipper is ‘long’. Emma doesn’t mention any embroidery, so choice B is
wrong.

3 What features does Emma’s coat have?

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 CHAPTER LIV.
THE EGYPTIAN TURTLE.

Cum ventre humano tibi negotium est, qui nec ratione mitigatur, nec prece ullâ
flectitur.—Livy.

It is hard lines for an Egyptian turtle when he once gets turned on

his back in Aboukir Bay. After that, for the remaining term of his
natural life, it is all Ramadan with him, after sunset as well as after
sunrise. He is carried to Alexandria, and sold there, if a fine well-
grown reptile, for half a sovereign: the smaller reptiles go for less. He
is put on board a P. and O. boat, and carried to Southampton, all the
way on his back, for another half sovereign. Add to this whatever
one may have to pay for his railway journey, and you may take him
home with you, and two or three more with him for your friends, at no
great cost. Though perhaps it would be hardly worth while to give a
turtle to one who knows no other way of having him cooked than
converting him into soup.
Something ought to be done, and might be done to mitigate their
long fast from Aboukir Bay to London. At sea, gourmandizing is the
order of the day; but the turtle on board are famishing all the while. It
might not be ill done, if those, whose only occupation is eating, and
then eating again, were to give a thought to the difference in this
matter between themselves and those of their fellow-travellers who
are getting nothing at all to eat. It makes the matter worse that we
inflict starvation on the very creature we are contemplating as a feast
for ourselves. It is no justification to say, learnedly, that Chelonians
can dispense with food for long periods. It is bad for all concerned. It
is morally hardening to those who inflict unnecessary suffering, and
to those—the passengers on the P. and O. boats—who witness its
effects, progressing regularly from day to day. As the poor wretches
lie on their backs—there were about fifty on board the boat I came
home by—you see that the plastron, that is the name the belly shell
goes by, is changing its shape. At first it is convex. It gradually, as
the fasting is prolonged, loses its convexity, and becomes flat. This
must be bad, but there is worse yet to come. Times goes on, and
what had become flat, begins to sink, and becomes concave. The
fifty owners of these shrinking and subsiding stomachs must have
found the process very pinching: and the more so as they had
nothing else in particular to think about while lying all this time on
their backs. The alterations of shape they have been passing
through measured their sufferings. They had never themselves done
anything so bad to what they had fed on. How could they without
reason?
 CHAPTER LV.
INSECT PLAGUES.

Who can war with thousands wage?—Percy’s Reliques of Ancient Poetry.

As to the insect plagues of Egypt, I found the mosquitoes alone

annoying. Had I been in the country in the summer or autumn, my
experience would, I have no doubt, have been different. And as to
the mosquitoes, I found them seriously annoying only at Alexandria.
At one time I had my face, hands, and ankles very badly bitten. My
own carelessness, however, was the cause of this, for I was at that
time in the habit of reading and writing at night with open windows.
This was giving my bloodthirsty assailants, who had been attracted
by the candle, every facility. They had free ingress, and found their
victim off his guard and exposed to their attacks. At Zech’s hotel at
Cairo, I found no mosquitoes. In going up the river I had a chasse
every night, before I turned in, to clear off the few that might be in my
berth. I generally found one or two. Herodotus mentions the use by
the Egyptians of the mosquito net.
In a Belgravian hotel I have been badly bitten, and by a larger,
blacker, and more venomous kind of mosquito than those that forced
themselves on my notice in Egypt. On the same occasion I saw
ladies who were suffering so much from their attacks that they were
obliged to have recourse to medical treatment. This ferocious
species is supposed to have been imported to Thames-side in some
one or other of the earlier stages of insect existence, through the
medium of the water-tanks of our West African palm-oil traders.
It is curious that fleas, which so abound in Egypt, are not found in
Nubia. Many insects are very local: but one is surprised at finding
such a cosmopolite as the flea conspicuously absent in a country,
which might have been supposed especially adapted to his manners
and customs. In Egypt, as has been the case elsewhere, I often felt
industrious fleas at work upon me; but I am not aware that a flea
ever yet succeeded in biting me. Others I heard complaining much of
them.
The boat in which I went up the river had just been painted, and so
I saw nothing in it of the Egyptian bug; but I heard that they
abounded in other boats. I found the Hotel d’Europe, at Alexandria,
and Zech’s, at Cairo, quite free from them.
The domestic fly is about as troublesome in Egypt in winter as it is
in this country in autumn.
 CHAPTER LVI.
THE SHADOOF.

He shall pour the water out of his buckets.—Book of Numbers.

In Egypt, where mythology, manners and customs, writing, and all

the arts appear never to have had a period of infancy, or of
adolescence, but to have come into being all in a perfected state and
all together, it is hard to say what is older than other things. It is so
with everything Egyptian; and so, of course, with the shadoof, the
machine used in raising water, by human labour, for irrigating the
land. It is the oldest machine with which we are historically
acquainted: though, of course, it implies the use of the plough,
which, as well as the hoe, must have been brought into the valley of
the Nile by the immigrant ancestors of the Egyptians.
Mechanically, the shadoof is an application of the lever. In no
machine which the wit of man, aided by the accumulations of
science, has since invented, is the result produced so great in
proportion to the degree of power employed. The lever of the
shadoof is a long stout pole poised on a prop. The pole is at right
angles to the river. A large lump of clay from the spot is appended to
the inland end. To the river end is suspended a goat-skin bucket.
This is the whole apparatus. The man who is working it stands on
the edge of the river. Before him is a hole full of water, fed from the
passing stream. When working the machine, he takes hold of the
cord by which the empty bucket is suspended, and, bending down,
by the mere weight of his shoulders dips it in the water. He then
rises, with his hand still on the cord. His effort to rise gives the
bucket full of water an upward cant, which, with the aid of the
equipoising lump of clay at the other end of the pole, lifts it to a
trough into which, as it tilts on one side, it empties its contents. The
man continues bending down and rising up again in this manner for
hours together, apparently without more effort than that involved in
these movements of his body. What he has done has raised the
water six or seven feet above the level of the river. But if the river
has subsided twelve or fourteen feet, it will require another shadoof
to be worked in the trough into which the water of the first has been
brought. If the river has sunk still more, a third will be required before
it can be lifted to the top of the bank, so as to enable it to flow off to
the fields that require irrigation. I sometimes saw as many as twenty
series of shadoofs at work, two or three in each series, within a
range of half a mile. The poor fellows who work them are, except for
the barest decency, completely divested of every article of clothing:
an almost invisible loin cloth, and a tight-fitting cotton skull-cap, are
the whole of their apparel. They work all day in the wet, and in the
sun. As the materials for the shadoof—the pole, the prop, the skin,
and the clay—are all to be had on the spot, the poor fellah is able, in
a few minutes, to set up a machine that is of great service to him, at
little or no cost.
The other machine used in Egypt for raising water is called the
sakia. This is the Persian water-wheel. It is a large wheel with a
continuous row of jars arranged on its tire, something like the
buckets of a dredging-machine. These jars dip up the water as the
wheel revolves, and empty it, as the further revolution of the wheel
brings their mouths downwards, into a trough. It is worked by
bullocks, or buffaloes. A few years back there were many more of
these at work than there are at present. A murrain, or rinderpest,
having destroyed the cattle, the fellahs were obliged to take their
place, and revert to the old shadoof of the early Pharaohnic times.
 CHAPTER LVII.
ALEXANDRIA.

Wide will wear. Narrow will tear.

Ancient Alexandria left its mark on the world. Its history, however,
appears to connect it rather with great names than with great events.
Fancy is pleased with the picture of the greatest of the Greeks,
Philip’s godlike son, Aristotle’s pupil, who carried about with him his
Homer in a golden casket, the Conquistador of Asia, and the heir of
the Pharaohs, tracing, with the contents of a flour-bag, the outlines of
the nascent city, which was to bear his name of might, and to
sepulchre his remains.
The trade of Phœnicia revived in its harbours, and on its quays. It
became the Heliopolis, as well as the Thebes, of Hellenic Egypt.
Even the Hebrew part of the population caught the infection of the
place, and showed some capacity for philosophy and letters. Here it
was that their sacred Scriptures were, in the Septuagint translation,
first given to the educated world. And Plato, too, was soon more
studied in the schools of Alexandria than in his native Greece.
Here fell the Great Pompey. And here, in pursuit of him, came the
Cæsar, who bestrode the world like a Colossus; to be followed in our
own time by the only modern leader of men, whose name, if he had
possessed the generous magnanimity of the two captains of Greece
and Rome, history might have bracketed with theirs.
Here ‘the unparalleled lass,’ rather, perhaps, of the greatest of
poets than of history, having beguiled to his ruin the soft triumvir,
preferred death to the brutalities of a Roman triumph.
Matters, however, of this kind—and they might be multiplied—are
only bubbles on the surface. They interest the fancy, but have no
effect on the great current of events. We, at this day, are neither the
better nor the worse for them. But of the theology of Alexandria we
must speak differently. It is through that that it affected, and still
affects, the whole of Christendom. Sixteen hundred years have
passed, and Alexandrian thought still holds its ground amongst us.
It would help us to a right understanding of what this thought was,
and how it came to be what it was, if we knew something about the
city, the times, the country, and the mental condition of its
inhabitants. Alexandria, like Calcutta and New Orleans, having been
called into existence by the requirements of commerce, had been
obliged, for the sake of a harbour, to accept a singularly monotonous
and uninteresting site. This alone must have had much influence on
the cast of thought of its inhabitants. All who visit it will, I think, feel
this. One cannot imagine a healthy and vigorous literature springing
up in a place where Nature has neither grandeur nor beauty. Being
mainly a commercial city, its inhabitants—as must be the case in all
large commercial cities in the East—were composed of many
nationalities. They had brought with them their respective religions
and literatures, as well as manners and customs. It also contained
the most brilliant Greek Court in the world, in which we might be
certain that Greek inquisitiveness, and mental activity, would not be
extinguished. This will account for the libraries and the schools of
Alexandria.
We must understand why it never could become anything in the
world of action. It was not because the Egypt of the Ptolemies was
inferior to the Egypt of the Pharaohs. It might have been its superior
in every particular of power and greatness, and yet have been
unable to do anything in the outer world. What kept it quiet was a
consciousness of moral and intellectual inferiority to the people time
had at last educated and organized on the northern shores of the
Mediterranean.
The mental activity of the Alexandrians was all connected with
their libraries and schools. The work they did belongs to a condition
of mind which can use libraries and schools, but which really
originates nothing. It was all work upon other people’s work. They
never produced anything of their own. They never could have had an
Æschylus, or an Aristophanes; a Thucydides, or an Aristotle. The
genius that can originate implies vigour, freedom, individuality,
irrepressible impulse—in two words, expansive humanity. Nothing of
this kind could have been the growth of Alexandria. The possession
it was of these qualities which made the Greeks original, and great in
everything they undertook: in art, in war, in government, in
colonization, in philosophy, in poetry, in history. The genius which
showed itself in their literature was only the same genius which
showed itself in other forms and directions, as needs required: which
showed itself in everything Greek. Alexandria could not have
produced a Pericles, or a Phidias, or an Alexander, any more than a
great writer. It would have taken the same mental stuff to make one
of these, as to make a poet, an historian, or a philosopher. They all
work with the same motive power. The main conditions, too, are the
same in all. It is the object only to which the work is directed that
varies. The Greeks were, emphatically, men. It was this that made
them creative. Humanity was the soul of everything they created; the
stamp upon everything they did; and this it is that gives to their work
its eternal value.
The mind of Alexandria was a parasitical plant. It fastened itself on
the work of others; and endeavoured to extract from it what they had
already assimilated, and which its own limited capacities disqualified
it from extracting, first hand, for itself from the rich store-house of
Nature. It could live upon their work, and turn it to its own narrowly-
bounded purposes. For instance, the Greek language had been
perfected by the long series of generations who had used it, and who
had known nothing of grammars and dictionaries: but at Alexandria it
was studied for the sake of the grammar and of the dictionary.
Homer had been loved in the Greek world, because he spoke, as a
man, to men’s hearts and imaginations. He was valued at
Alexandria, not for his poetry—the men and women he had created
—but because he supplied a text to comment on. So with the divine
dreams of Plato: their use, at Alexandria, was that they supplied
some materials for the construction of systems.
It was exactly in this spirit that the Gospel was laid on the
dissecting tables of Alexandria. The object proposed was to set up a
skeleton to be called Christian Theology; and to inject and arrange
certain preparations, to be called Christian doctrines. Here was a
strange perversion. Never were the uses to which a thing had been
ingeniously turned so thoroughly alien to its real nature and design.
The objects of the Gospel were moral and religious. Its appeals were
addressed to the ordinary conscience, and to the ordinary
understanding: in them its philosophy is to be found. But the
systematizers of Alexandria had no taste for dealing with such
materials. The Christian religion, as presented to us in their theology,
has not one particle of the Gospel in it: no heart, no soul; no human
duties, no human motives—nothing human, nothing divine. It is
something as hard, and as dry, as a mummy; and would be as dead,
were it not for its savage, truculent spirit. It is an attempt to construct
a material god, mechanically, of body, parts, and passions—the
Egyptian passions of the day; such as burnt, volcanically, in the
hearts of the crocodile haters, and crocodile worshippers, of Ombos
and Tentyra, and impelled them to eat each other’s still quivering
flesh, and drink each other’s blood hot. The watch-word, the source,
the main-spring, of Christ’s religion, the one word that fulfils it, is
absent from this travesty of it.
This anatomical Christianity, in which there is no Gospel, this
systematic divinity, in which there is nothing divine, this mechanical
theology, which contradicts the idea of God, Alexandria had the chief
hand in inflicting on the world, and a grievous infliction they were.
Christendom is still suffering from it. It is the anatomy of a body from
which the heart, the blood, the flesh, the muscles, all that rendered it
a living power, and made it beautiful and beneficent, have been
removed. It is the systematization of a Hortus Siccus. It is a theology
that kills religion, in order that it may examine it. The religion that is
fixed and formulated; a matter of definitions, and quantitive
proportions; that can be handled, and measured, and weighed; that
can be taken to pieces, and put together again by a monk in his cell,
just as if it were a Chinese puzzle; cannot be the living growth of
minds whose knowledge is ever being extended, and of consciences
that are ever becoming more sensitive. It cannot indeed, as far as
these things go, be a religion at all. A religion, though burdened with
them, and perpetually dragged by them into the sphere of formalism,
controversy, and passion, may, and will, live on in spite of them; for
nothing can kill religion: still the two are antagonistic and
incompatible.
The Alexandrian theologians interpreted Christianity in accordance
with the criticism, the knowledge, the ignorance, the mind, and the
conscience of their day. They could hardly have done otherwise.
They came from caves in the desert, and from old tombs, and they
returned to them for fresh inspiration. They had a right to interpret
things according to the light that was in them. So have we. Our light,
however, is somewhat different from theirs. ‘The New
Commandment’ was not one that at all commended itself to their
sepulchral, troglodytic minds. It finds no place in their creeds. We,
however, give it the first place in ours. The perfect law of liberty was
unintelligible to them: their only thought about it was to make it
impossible: to us it is as necessary as the air we breathe. They held
that man is for the creed: we that the creed is for man. Which is right
makes much difference.

For the traveller who is desirous of seeing the present in

connexion with the past, Alexandria has many other reminiscences.
Homer mentions the Isle of Pharos, which formed the harbour. On
this classic rock Ptolemy Philadelphus built a magnificent lighthouse
of white marble. This was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the
world. Its name, which was borrowed from the rock on which it had
been placed, has passed into most of the languages of Europe, as
the appellative of these useful structures. We, however, who employ
them more largely than any other people, and who have in our
Eddystone the finest and most interesting structure of this kind in the
world, built under widely different conditions from those of the
tideless middle sea, very properly give to them a name of our own.
The causeway, three-quarters of a mile in length, which was
formed for the purpose of connecting Ptolemy’s Pharos with the
mainland, having been enormously expanded, in the course of two
thousand years, by the same process, which, in the same period,
has raised the present to more than twenty feet above the original
level of Rome, is now the Frank quarter of the city. The whole of this
space must, therefore, in the time of Homer, and down to the time of
Alexander, have been under water.
The city, having become the capital of Egypt, grew rapidly in
population, wealth, and splendour. The Ptolemies disposed of the
revenue of Egypt, which had now become the chief entrepôt of the
commerce of the world; and they spent it with no niggard hand in
embellishing their capital. Few great cities have had so large a
proportion of their space occupied by magnificent public buildings.
Nothing, however, need be said here of its palaces, theatres, and
temples, except that they were worthy of the city which filled the first
place in the cities of the Greek world, and in the universal empire of
the Cæsars was second only to Rome.
Pompey’s Pillar, as the inscription upon it informs us, was erected
in honour of Diocletian.
Cleopatra’s Needle had originally stood at Heliopolis, where it had
been set up by Thuthmosis III., and afterwards seen by Joseph and
Moses. It was transplanted from Heliopolis to Alexandria by one of
the Roman Emperors, after the time of Cleopatra. It had been cut
from the granite quarries of Syené. It has, therefore, travelled from
the John o’Groat’s House to the Land’s End of Egypt.
Its deservedly world-famous library recurs to every one who thinks
about Old Alexandria. No other library had ever such a history. It was
founded two hundred and eighty-three years before the Christian
era; that is to say, before Rome had entered on her Punic wars.
While those wars were raging the Alexandrians must, within the walls
of this library, have canvassed the news of the day with much the
same feelings with which we were ourselves, but just now, talking
over the last intelligence from Sedan and Metz, from the Loire and
the Seine. In the Greek world a public library had never before been
heard of. It was connected with a great mass of buildings called the
Museum, which was a kind of institution for the promotion of study,
discussion, and learning. Eventually it contained 700,000 volumes.
Of these 400,000 were at the Museum; the remainder were in a
building connected with the great Temple of Serapis. With the
Ptolemies the enrichment of this library was always a great concern.
They dispersed their collectors wherever books were to be obtained;
and were ready to pay the highest price for them. It was the boast of
the city that the library contained a copy of every known book. At last
it was overtaken by the fate which awaits all the works of man. In
Cæsar’s attack on the city the great library of the Museum was
accidentally burnt. The library, therefore, which is supposed to have
been destroyed by the command of the Caliph Omar, could only
have contained the books, that might have remained to his time, of
the inferior library of the Serapeum. This we know had been very
much dilapidated by neglect, and in other ways, during the
intervening seven centuries of occasional violence, and of constant
decay. One, however, is hardly disposed to acquiesce in the opinion
on this subject of the historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire; for, among so large a collection of books, there must, one
would suppose, have been some precious works of antiquity, which
we should now value highly, but which were then lost to us
irreparably.
While we regard with reverence this great library, both for the
antiquity of the date of its establishment, and for the useful and noble
purposes it was intended to serve, those of perpetuating, and of
extending, knowledge, we should be guilty of an injustice if we were
to forget that it was not the first institution of its kind. The idea of
establishing a public library, which the Ptolemies deserve much
credit for carrying out liberally and thoroughly, had nothing original in
it in one country, at all events, of the world, and that one was Egypt.
Eleven centuries before their time, as we have already seen, the
Great Rameses, in his temple-palace at Thebes, had erected a
public library. The walls of it are still standing. We need not repeat
what we have said elsewhere about the sculptures on its walls, the
inscription over its doors, the manuscripts dated from it still in
existence, and the tombs of its librarians. This was done more than
three thousand years ago. Perhaps, then, other ideas and practices,
we may be in the habit of regarding as modern, were also familiar to
the Egyptians of that remote day. Those times, indeed, may, in some
not unimportant matters, be virtually nearer to us than the times of
our Edwards and Henries.
 CHAPTER LVIII.
CAIRO.

Mores hominum multorum, et urbes.—Horace.

Just as the interest of Alexandria belongs to what we call antiquity,

so does Cairo derive the whole of its interest from existing sources. I
say what we call antiquity, for by that word we mean the classical
period of Greece and Rome; but this classical period is, in reality,
only the connecting link between our modern world and the old
primæval world of Egypt; it is thus the true middle ages of universal
history; while true antiquity is the domain of Pharaohnic Egypt. But
as to Cairo: El Islam is of the things that now are, and Cairo was
never anything but a Mahomedan city. Its most interesting memories
are of the mighty Saladin, who fortified it, and preferred it to all other
cities. It is the true capital of Arabdom. Not its holy city, but its Paris.
Its history is all of Caliphs and Khedivés.
But the first thing to understand about any famous city is how it
came to be where it is. Cairo is where it is, because Memphis was
where it was. Its site is the natural centre of Egypt. It occupies, by
the dispensation of Nature, the place in Egypt which the heart does
in the human body. Being situated at the apex of the Delta, it
commands the axis of communication throughout the whole of the
upper country, and all the divergent lines of communication which
traverse the Delta. He who establishes himself here has cut the
country in two; and can concentrate all its resources, or assail any
point, at his will. It is the vital centre. Just so was it with Memphis
under the old Monarchy, and the Hyksos, and during the subsequent
history. No sooner had an invader got a firm footing here than the
rest of the country was prostrate, and helpless. The master of Cairo
is the master of Egypt.
 The city is situated on the right bank of the river, at the foot of a
spur of the Mokattam, or Arabian, range of hills. In order to get
drinkable water it was necessary that it should be placed so low as
that the water of the river might be brought into it. The reader is now
aware that there are no springs in Egypt, and that the water of the
wells, from the nature of the soil, is brackish and undrinkable. There
is, however, in the citadel of Cairo a well of sweet water; the well is
sunk through the limestone, of course to somewhat below the depth
of the height on which the citadel stands; and so it came to suggest
to me the thought that, if borings were made of sufficient depth to
pass completely through the nitrous alluvium of the valley, and to
perforate the subjacent strata, it might be possible to find water fit for
drinking anywhere, and everywhere. It might not often be worth while
to go to this expense, because in most places it would still be
cheaper to get water from the river; but it would be interesting to
ascertain whether or no good water could be obtained in this way. If
so, there would then be one small matter, at all events, which had
escaped the sagacity of the old Egyptians.
But to return to the site of Cairo: the level ground, on which it
stands, beginning at Boulak, its harbour on the river, reaches back
about a mile, where it is met by the high ground, which enters the
city at the south-east angle. On this point stands the citadel
commanding the city. The hills of the range which throws out this
spur are seen rising, to a considerable height, on the east of Cairo.
They are utterly devoid of vegetation; and being of about the colour
of the sand of the desert (they are of limestone), they glare in the
sun, and are very striking and conspicuous objects in the scenery of
the place. Wherever you leave the city, except at its north-west
angle, and in the direction of the river, you enter at once on the
absolute desert.
There is no view in Egypt to be compared with that from the
Citadel of Cairo. The city, with all its oriental picturesqueness, is at
your feet. Domes and minarets are everywhere. You look over it, and
your eyes rest sometimes on the green culture, sometimes on the
drab desert of Egypt. Beyond, stretching away till it is lost in the haze
of distance, is the Valley of Egypt. Through it winds old Nile. It is
closed on either side by the irregular ranges of the Libyan and
Arabian hills. You know that these pass on through Egypt into Nubia,
as the boundaries of the valley. Beyond the river, at the distance of
eight or nine miles, on the lower stage of the Libyan range, stand the
Great Pyramids of Gizeh. Further off, at about double the distance
from you, stand the older Pyramids of Abouseir. Seen from no other
point are the Pyramids so impressive. There they stand, at the
entrance of the valley, and have stood for more than five thousand
years, to tell all who might come down into Egypt of its greatness
and glory. They have none of the forms, or features, of architecture.
They are mountains, escarped for monuments, by Titan’s hands.
And a little further on are the mounds of Memphis. There lived the
men—one would give something to see a day of the life of that old
world—who imagined, and made these mountains. You remember
that all you saw of them at Memphis was a colossal statue prostrate
on the ground. As you look now on the Pyramids you understand
that Colossus. These Titan builders felt themselves more than men.
You think how pleasant it would be to sit here, on the parapet of
the citadel, inhaling the calumet of memory and imagination; your
dear friend, however, who is with you, and who is the most patient
and best fellow living, has had enough of it; and he summons back
your thoughts from their flight into the far-off tracts of antique time,
by a proposal to take another look at the Khan Khaleel Bazaar. As
you move away you tell him, to be revenged, ‘that history, like
religion, has no power over those who have no imagination; or an
imagination furnished only with the images of their own sight-and-
self-bounded world.’ ‘Nonsense,’ he replies; and you find yourself
again jostling your way through the narrow, crowded, irregular
streets of Cairo, upon an ass, with a little swarthy urchin running
before you to clear your path. And though everybody seems to
submit to him, and to attend readily to his shouts of ‘Right,’ ‘Left,’
‘Mind your legs,’ you will always have to keep a sharp look-out
yourself. You will often be brought to a standstill. There are no
trottoirs. The people on foot, the camels, and donkeys, are all
jumbled up together. The projecting loads on the camels’ sides seem
almost arranged for giving you a lick on the head, and knocking you
off your ass.
At last you emerge from the side streets into the Mouské. This is
the main artery of the city, and here is the full tide of Cairene life. It is
now between four and five o’clock, and the tide is at the top of the
flood. The street is straight, and, for a Cairene street, wide enough;
the crowd is great; but here everybody, as a matter of course,
endeavours to make way for everybody. What you first notice is the
abundance of colour. The red tarboosh is perhaps the commonest
covering for the head. The turbans vary much; some are of white
muslin; some of coloured shawls. The variety of dress is great.
Nineteen-twentieths of the passers-by are clad in some form or other
of Oriental costume. Their complexions vary as much as their dress.
There is every shade, from the glossy black of the Nubian to the
dead white of the Turk. The predominant colours are the different
shades of yellowish brown which have resulted from the varying
degrees of intermixture of Arabs and Copts. Here, at home, the men
being at work during the day, it often happens that there are as many
women in the street as men. In Cairo the former are often entirely
wanting in the street scene, and are never seen in a large proportion.
In stature the men are almost always above what we call the middle
height, well proportioned, and never fat or pursy, like our beef-eating
and beer-drinking people. Their features are regular and pleasing.
Their bearing staid and dignified.
There are in the crowd men with water-skins and water-jars. For
some insignificant coin—there are four hundred paras in a shilling—
they sell drinks to thirsty souls. There are hawkers of bread, of fish,
of vegetables, of dates, of oranges, and of a multitude of other
matters. These articles are generally cried, if not in the name of the
Prophet, still with some pious, or, if not so, then with some poetical,
formula. Perhaps a carriage of the Viceroy passes containing some
of the ladies of the hareem. They will be escorted by two black
guardians of the hareem on horseback, one on each side of the
carriage, and preceded by two runners carrying long wands, and
dressed in spotless white, with the exception of their red fezes and
gaily-coloured shawls. The latter they use as sashes. Each will have
cost them fifteen pounds, or more.
When you have become accustomed to the people in the streets,
you look at the people in the shops; of course not the Frank, but the
native shops. These are merely recesses in the walls of the houses,
which form the street. The merchant, or shopkeeper, seldom lives in
the house, in the ground floor of which his shop is situated, but
generally somewhere at a distance. He has no shopmen, or
assistants. The recess, in which he carries on his business, if large,
is about in space a cube of ten or twelve feet. It has no door or
windows, but is closed with shutters, which the shopkeeper takes
down when he comes to do business. He puts them up whenever he
wants to go to Mosk, or elsewhere. When his shop is open for
business he will be seen seated, cross-legged, on the floor in front of
his goods. Every shop being a dark hole, and having its owner
seated in front of it, reminded me of a prairie-dog village, where
every hole has a prairie-dog seated in front of it, much in the same
way; and, too, on the look out. These traders appear to have no Arab
blood in them, but to be Greeks, Jews, Turks, Syrians, anybody and
everybody except the people of the country. Many of them have an
unhealthy appearance. Few of them are good-looking.
As to the houses, what most frequently attracts the eye is the
carved wood lattice of the windows. The first floor is frequently
advanced beyond the ground-floor. The archway of the door is, in the
better class of houses, often ornamented with carved stone-work;
and the door itself decorated with a holy text—reverently; perhaps,
also, with some lurking idea of excluding evil influences.
But this style of building is now becoming obsolete; and the new
houses in and around the Esbekeyeh, and between the Esbekeyeh
and Boulak, are being built in the Frank style. The Viceroy has here,
for the space of about a square mile, laid out broad macadamized
streets, with broad trottoirs on each side, as if he were contemplating
an European city. Not much, however, with the exception of these
roadways, has yet been done towards carrying out his grand
designs, except around the Esbekeyeh. This is the grand place, or
square, of Cairo. It now contains a public garden, that would be an
ornament worthy of any great European city. It is well lighted with
gas made from English coal. As you go to the opera—for there is an
opera, too, in Cairo—and return after it is over to your hotel, you are
glad of the light; but you are, at the same time, conscious of a little
sentimental jar. You did not go to Egypt to find coal gas, and London
gas-lamp-posts in the city of Saladin, and of the Caliphs, and in the
land of the Pharaohs. You are no longer surprised that the new
houses are built in the Frank style.
The Mosks of Cairo may be counted by the hundred. Some have
great historical interest; some great artistic merit; some are the great
schools of the country.
The old Mosks of Cairo throw much light on the history of the
pointed arch, particularly the oldest of them all, that of Ahmed Ebn e’
Tooloon; which, however, is in so ruinous a condition that it is no
longer in use. Its date, as recorded in two Cufic inscriptions on the
walls, is 879 a.d.—that is to say, three hundred years before the
pointed arch was adopted in this country. It is very improbable that
this Mosk of Tooloon was the first building in which it was used,
because it is not introduced here hesitatingly, as would have been
done had it been struggling for recognition, but is boldly and firmly
carried out in every part of the structure, and even with some
combination of the horseshoe shape, as if it were a form with which
the architect had become so familiar that he had even begun to
modify it. So great a change in construction, and in the effects
produced by form, must have had to fight for some time against
previously-established forms. We may, therefore, safely decide that
its introduction reaches further back than the date just given. This is
saying that the world is indebted for it to Saracenic thought, and
taste. This need not surprise us, because at that time there was no
other people whose thought was so prolific; and theirs was prolific
because it had been aroused to effort by their great achievements.
Just as we learn to walk by walking, and to talk by talking, so do men
learn how to do great things by doing great things. Other Cairene
Mosks continue this history of the pointed arch.
The Mosk of Sultan Hassam has features that are worth noticing.
Few buildings exhibit greater freedom of design, which comes, I
suppose, of that depth of feeling, which is able to break the fetters of
thought. Such a structure could have been the product only of a time
when mind was deeply moved, and had become conscious of its
power. Men knew then what they wanted, and believed in
themselves, that they could satisfy their want. In such times servile
imitations, and reproductions are impossible. They do not express
what all feel. They do not supply what all are asking for. In this Mosk
the porch, the inner court, the astonishing height of the outer wall,
springing from the declivity of the hill-side, all the details, and the
whole general effect, show that those who built it were conscious of
real, deep aspirations, and were not acting under factitious ones;
and that they were conscious also of possessing within themselves
the power of giving form to their aspirations. It interprets to us the
mind of its builders. They were full of vigour, and self-reliance. They
yearned to give expression, in forms of beauty, and grandeur, to
what was stirring within them.
As I was thus communing, historically, with the intense
Mahomedan feeling, which had given a voice to every stone in the
building, I was interrupted by another voice, but it was one of a kind,
which, we may presume, will never have a thought of clothing itself
in forms of beauty, and grandeur. ‘Look,’ it said to me, ‘up there at
those crosses.’ ‘No,’ I replied. ‘It is impossible. There can be no
crosses here.’ The objects I was invited to look at crown the cornice
of the central, hypæthral court. They bear some kind of resemblance
to fleurs de lis. ‘Yes,’ the voice continued. ‘Any one can see now just
how it all is. These are the old places from which those ritualists get
their mediæval crosses, and all that kind of thing.’
The great Mosk of El Azar is the university of Egypt, and of the
surrounding countries. The foreign students are divided according to
nations. Those of Egypt according to the provinces they come from.
The cycle of religion, law, science, and polite learning, as these
words are understood in the East, is here taught. Some come merely
to qualify themselves for professions, or occupations, in which what
they may acquire here will be needed. Others come with the
intention, as was contemplated in our own universities, of life-long
study.