PRACTICE IELTS READING TEST – Week 1 HOME ...

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PRACTICE IELTS READING TEST – Week 1 Part 1:

Questions 1 - 18

First look at the following advertisements for home shoppers (Questions 1 – 6)

HOME SHOPPER ADVERTISEMENTS 1 MIRROR

2 EASEL

Delightfully restored large oval mirror with oak carving panels and velvet inset. Circa 1850. Only $500.

Suitable for desk or tabletop. Would suit aspiring artist of student. Adjustable height and angle. Very good condition. $20. Phone James on 0403 757 689

Phone: - 9527 4772

3 SEWING TABLE

4 COLONIAL AMERICAN OAK TABLE

This table has timber sides and steel legs. Storage space underneath. 2 fluorescent tubes to light the surface. 1.8m x 1.4m. Perfect for any kind of craftwork. $160. Call 0124 893 654 – evenings only.

Solid extension table with strong, shaped legs. Built in early 1880s. Height 82 cm. Width 1.46 m. Excellent condition. $2800 or nearest offer. Be quick – will sell. Telephone Sally on 4473 8321

5 CASSETTE PLAYER

6 CHEST OF DRAWERS

Toshiba with headset. Vintage 1974, but like new. Price $30.

4 drawers.

Phone 0415 252 369

85cm H x 90cm L x 50cm W. Solid pine. Very good condition. $75. Ring 5774 3568 office hours.

Questions 1-6 www.bestieltsonline.com

Copyright Best IELTS Online 2012


Choose the correct heading for each advertisement from the list of headings below. Note: you may use any heading more than once. Write the correct letter from A-D in boxes 1-6 on your Answer Sheet.

List of headings A

Art and Craft

B

Home Furnishings – General

C

Antiques

D

Home Entertainment

1

……………………

2

……………………

3

……………………

4

……………………

5

……………………

6

…………………….

Now read the information below and answer Questions 7-12.

For details visit our website: www.meridian.edu.au OR email: [email protected] Meridian Language School….we have campuses all over the world! Flexible Worldwide Programme

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Study anywhere in the world.

Weekly Start Dates

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Start your course any Monday.

All Language Levels

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From beginners to advanced.

Large Choice of Business and Academic Classes

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Choose afternoon classes to suit your individual needs.

Try Before You Buy

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Do a free class to see if you like it.

Cosmopolitan Atmosphere

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Study with others from over 25 different countries.

Social Calendar of Events

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Excursions and Tours to suit all Tastes

Questions 7 – 12 Highly-satisfied Read comments from past Answer the questionsGraduates below using NO MORE -THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER students on our website. for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-12 on your Answer Sheet.

Campuses: Australia, Canada, Europe, HongCopyright Kong, Taiwan, UK,Online USA 2012 www.bestieltsonline.com Best IELTS


7.

When can students begin their study?

8.

What types of afternoon classes can students choose?

9.

What can students do before they pay for a course?

10.

How many nationalities are there in the school?

11.

What types of social activities can the students participate in?

12.

Where can people interested in studying find more information?

Questions 13 – 18 are based on the following information:

Website A In this fascinating online documentary film, producers Marco Stanovic and Pamela Wilson have chartered the ever-changing face of food throughout the last decade. With a special guest appearance from celebrity chef Simon James, this documentary is worth checking out.

Website B Have you ever had a disaster in the kitchen? Have you ever made a dish that lacks a certain something? Do your cakes always sink on one side? Is your pastry soft and sticky instead of light and crispy? Contact Anthony’s online advice website for all the answers. He will answer all your cooking questions quickly and clearly.

Website C Author Louise Canning will be online to guide you in a series of lectures that help you to help yourself. She spends her time teaching and speaking about the everchanging world of physical well-being and the challenge of providing your body with food that increases positive energy levels.

Website D Do you find it hard to stay away from junk food? Finding it difficult to eat the right kinds of food? Are you a sugar junkie? You might need to subscribe and chat to people with similar needs and concerns. Motivate each other to stay away from bad foods and get out there and exercise.

Website E Visit the Annual Melbourne food festival held on Friday 18th August. There is something for everyone with cooking demonstrations, handy cooking ideas, super sales and kitchen appliances and much more. Come and get your free sample bag and join in the fun. Tickets cost $35.00 each. Book your tickets now online.

Website F Win two free tickets for you and a friend to go and see Gordon Syms and his cookery demonstration at the RNA Hall. Register your name for the competition and at the same time talk to Gordon online before the show.

Website G Join award-winning chef Jak Wray in an

Website H Watch this instructional film online and



www.bestieltsonline.com online chat to celebrate the launch of his new book; Fresh Food People. With subjects ranging from easy pasta making to a seafood barbecue on the beach, go online to let Jak prove to you that creating fabulous food need not be hard.

learn the finer points of making pastry. Instructors from the famous Chef de Cuisine School of Cooking take you from beginner level to short, choux, filo and puff pastry at advanced level.

Look at the website descriptions above (A – H) and the website addresses (Questions 13 – 18) below. Match each website address with its most suitable description. Choose the correct letter from A –H and write it in boxes 13 -18 on your Answer Sheet. ANSWER Example:

http://www.pastrymovie.com

13

http://www.AMFF.com

....……..

14

http://www.healthsupportgroup.com

....……..

15

http://www.jakwrayfoodtalk.com

....……..

16

http://www.helpwithfood.com

....……..

17

http://www.cookingdemo.com

....……..

18

http://www.selfhelp.com

....……..

H

Adapted from ‘404 Essential Tests for IELTS’ by Donna Scovell, Vickie Pastellas, Max Knobel.

Part 2:

Questions 19 - 33

Read the article about Kormilda College and answer Questions 19 - 33.




KORMILDA COLLEGE Section 1 Kormilda College is a unique school situated near Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. For 20 years, to 1989, Kormilda College operated as a government-run, live-in school for high school Aboriginal students. In 1989 it was bought from the Government by two Christian church groups and since then it has expanded enormously, to include a day school as well as boarders (residential students) in Years 8-12. Although 320 pupils of the College’s total number are Aboriginal students, drawn mainly from isolated communities across the Northern Territory, Kormilda also has a waiting list of nonAboriginal students. With a current enrolment of 600, student numbers are expected to grow to 860 in 2005. Section 2 Central to the mission of the school is the encouragement of individual excellence, which has resulted in programs designed especially for the student population. Specialist support programs allow traditional Aboriginal students, who are often second language users, to understand and succeed in the mainstream curriculum. A Gifted and Talented Program, including a special Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tertiary Aspirations program has been introduced, as has an Adaptive Education Unit. Moreover, in Years 11 and 12, students may choose to follow the standard Northern Territory Courses, or those of the International Baccalaureate (I.B.). Section 3 To provide appropriate pastoral care, as well as a suitable academic structure, three distinct sub-schools have been established.

•

Pre-Secondary: For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Years 8-10 who are of secondary school age but have difficulties reading and writing.

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Supported Secondary: For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are of secondary school age and operating at secondary school year levels 8-12 who need specific second language literacy and numeracy support.

•

Secondary: For multi-cultural Years 8-12 students.




Students remain in their sub-schools for classes in the main subject areas of English, Mathematics, Social Education and Science. This arrangement takes into account both diverse levels of literacy and the styles of learning and cultural understanding appropriate to traditional Aboriginal second-language users. In elective subjects chosen by the students – which include Indonesian, Music , Art, Drama , Science for Life, Commerce, Geography, Modern History, Woodwork Metalwork, Economics and Legal Studies – students mix on the basis of subject interest. Section 4 To aid the development of the Aboriginal Education program, a specialist curriculum Support Unit has been set up. One of its functions is to re-package school courses so that they can be taught in ways that suit the students. The education program offered to Aboriginal students uses an approach which begins with the students’ own experiences and gradually builds bi-cultural understanding. In one course, ‘Introducing Western European Culture Through Traditional Story-Telling’, students are helped to build a common base for approaching the English literature curriculum. Drawing on the oral culture of traditional Aboriginal communities, they are introduced to traditional stories of other cultures, both oral and written. In a foundational Year 10 course, ‘Theory of Learning’, concepts from Aboriginal culture are placed side by side with European concepts so that students can use their own knowledge base to help bridge the cultural divide. Another project of the Support Unit has been the publication of several books, the most popular, Kormilda Capers. The idea for Kormilda Capers came about when it became obvious that there was a lack of engaging material for the school’s teenage readers. One of the stories in the book, ‘The Bulman Mob hits the Big Smoke’, recounts the adventures of Kormilda pupils on their first visit to Sydney, Canberra and the snow country. Focussing on experiences which have directly affected the lives of students at the College, and on ideas and issues which are of immediate interest to Aboriginal students, Kormilda Capers has earned enthusiastic support within and outside the school.




Questions 19 - 20 Complete the following sentences with a number or date from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 19 – 20 on your answer sheet. 19.

Kormilda College opened as a school in ________________________

20.

At the time of writing there were _______________non-Aboriginal students at Kormilda College.

Question 21. From the list below, choose the best heading for Section 2 of the reading passage. Write the appropriate letter A-D in box 21 on your answer sheet. A. B. C. D.

Specialist teaching and teachers at Kormilda College Special Programs at Kormilda College for Aboriginal students The new look at Kormilda Programs at Kormilda College to promote individual excellence



www.bestieltsonline.com Questions 22-26 The following diagram shows how Kormilda College is organised. Complete the diagram using the information from the text. Use no more than three words for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

(22)

Sub-schools

(23)

(24)

…(25)… Maths Social Education Courses studied in sub-schools


…(26)...


www.bestieltsonline.com Questions 27-33 Read the passage about Kormilda College and look at the statements below. In boxes 27- 33 on your answer sheet write:

If the statement is true TRUE If the statement is false FALSE NOT GIVEN

If the information is not given in the passage

27.

Kormilda College educates both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students

28.

Some students travel from Arnhem Land to attend Kormilda College.

29.

Students must study both the International Baccalaureate and Northern Territory courses.

30.

The Pre-Secondary School attracts the best teachers.

31.

The specialist curriculum Support Unit adapts school courses so the students can approach them more easily.

32.

There are no oral traditional stories in Western communities.

33.

The school helps the students make connections between Aboriginal and nonAboriginal cultures.

Adapted from http://www.kormilda.nt.edu.au/



www.bestieltsonline.com Part 3:

Questions 34 - 40

Read the article below and answer Questions 34 – 40.

Talking About the Weather: Forces that Govern Climate The Kyoto Protocol In December 1997, more than 2200 delegates from 161 countries met in Kyoto, Japan, to hammer out an agreement, or protocol, to do something about the threat of global warming. After more than a week of discussions, the delegates resolved that developed countries should cut emissions of greenhouse gases to an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. Penalties for violators of the agreement would be determined later. Assuming that all nations adhere to the treaty, how much difference will a 5.2 percent decrease make? Evidently, very little, Time Magazine reported: ‘It would take a 60% reduction to make more of a dent in the greenhouse gases that have been building up in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial revolution. Part 1 Life on earth depends on the immense nuclear furnace we call the sun. Larger than a million earths, the sun provides an ever-reliable supply of heat and light. A decline in the sun’s output would encase our planet in ice; an increase would make the earth a sizzling skillet. Since the earth orbits at a distance of 150 million kilometres from the sun, it receives only one half of one billionth of the sun’s outgoing energy. Nevertheless, this is just the right amount to produce a climate in which life can flourish. Part 2 The sun is not alone in determining the temperature of the earth; our atmosphere also plays a critical role. The earth and the moon are the same distance from the sun, so both receive proportionately about the same amount of heat from the sun. Nevertheless, while the average temperature of the earth is 15 degrees Celsius, the moon averages a chilly -18 degrees Celsius. Why the difference? The earth has an atmosphere; the moon does not.



www.bestieltsonline.com Our atmosphere – earth’s swaddling band of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases – holds some of the sun’s warmth and lets the rest escape. This process is often compared to a greenhouse. A greenhouse, as you probably know, is a structure with walls and a roof made of glass or plastic. Sunlight enters easily and heats the interior. At the same time, the roof and the walls slow the escape of the heat. Similarly, our atmosphere allows sunlight to pass through it to warm the earth’s surface. The earth in turn, sends the heat energy back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation. Much of this radiation does not go straight into space because certain gases in the atmosphere absorb and redirect it back o the earth, adding to the warmth of the earth. This process of warming is called the greenhouse effect. If our atmosphere did not trap the sun’s heat in this way, the earth would be as lifeless as the moon. Part 3 Ninety-nine percent of our atmosphere is made up of two gases: nitrogen and oxygen. Though these gases play a vital role in complex cycles that support life on earth, they play almost no direct role in regulating the climate. The job of climate regulation falls to the remaining 1 percent of the atmosphere, heat-trapping greenhouse gases, which include water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone. The most crucial greenhouse gas – water vapour – is not usually thought of as a gas at all, since we are used to thinking of water in its liquid form. Yet, each molecule of water vapour in the atmosphere is packed with heat energy. For example, when vapour in a cloud cools and condenses, heat is releases, causing powerful convection currents. The dynamic movement of water vapour in our atmosphere plays a critical and complex role in determining both weather and climate.

Part 4 The gas talked about most frequently in discussions about global warming is carbon dioxide. It is misleading to condemn carbon dioxide as simply a pollutant. Carbon dioxide is a vital ingredient in photosynthesis, the process by which green plants make food for themselves. Humans and animals breathe in oxygen and breather out carbon



www.bestieltsonline.com dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. However, having too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would apparently be like throwing an extra blanket on a bed; it could make things warmer. A Complex Array of Forces The sun and the atmosphere are not alone in determining climate. Also involved are oceans and ice caps, surface minerals and vegetation, earth’s ecosystems, an array of biogeochemical processes, and the earth’s orbital mechanics. The study of climate involves nearly all earth sciences.

Questions 34 – 37 There are four parts numbered 1-4 in this reading article. Choose the most appropriate heading for each part (1-4) from the list marked A-F. Write your answers in the spaces numbered 34 - 37 on your answer sheet. There are more headings than there are paragraphs. A. B. C. D. E. F. 34. 35. 36. 37.

Earth’s warm blanket A gas essential to plants, animals and humans. A source of heat and light. The water cycle The most essential greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases. …………… Part 1 …………… Part 2 …………… Part 3 …………… Part 4



www.bestieltsonline.com Questions 38 – 40 Using the information in this Reading passage, complete the questions 38 - 40 by adding a phrase from A-H. Write your answers in the spaces provided on your answer sheet. Beginning of the sentence: 38. 39. 40.

A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J.

Adherence to the Kyoto Protocol would … The distance of the earth from the sun … A greenhouse traps heat …

…warmer than the moon …we must come to understand the forces governing climate. …by inhibiting its escape. …a process whereby plants feed themselves. …produces conditions ideal for life. …play a direct role in regulating climate. …in regulating our climate. …mean a decrease of greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2%. …in producing clean air. …we must control environmental degradation.

Adapted from The IELTS Tutor, L. Jacklin & R.Jacklin, CLP, NCELTR, Macquarie University 2001

