IELTS PRACTICE TEST 30
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1
WATER ON TAP
A Early people had no need for engineering works to supply their water. Hunters and nomads camped near natural sources and populations were so sparse that pollution of the water supply did not pose a serious problem. But as civilised life developed and small settlements grew into cities, water management became a major concern, not only to supply the urban centres but also to irrigate the farms surrounding them. The solution was to find a way to raise water up from the rivers.
B Around 5000 BC, primitive attempts were made by the Egyptians. They used the Perian Wheel, a water-wheel that dipped containers into a river, lifting up water as it revolved. Another method was a simple lever-and-bucket system called the shadoof. The invention of the lever, as well as a screw, to lift water is often attributed to Archimedes (287-213 BC) but both devices were without doubt in use thousands of years before his time. A more accurate explanation is that Archimedes was the first to try to describe in mathematical terms the way these devices worked.
C By 2000 BC, the rulers of Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Egypt had constructed systems of dams and canals to control the flood waters of the Tigris, Euphrates and the Nile. Such canals not only irrigated crops but also supplied water for domestic purposes, the water being stored in large pottery jars, hand-carried from the river by household slaves. The remains of the earliest aqueduct on record have been pinpointed to the works of the Assyrian king and master builder Sennacherib (705-681 BC), who developed a 10-mile canal in three stages, including 18 fresh-water courses from the mountains.
D But we can thank the Romans for being the first to consider seriously the sanitation of their water supply. Faced with the problem of directing enough water towards Rome - water from the Tiber, a muddy, smelly river, was out of the question - they set about constructing the most extensive system of aqueducts in the ancient world. These brought the pure waters of the Apennine Mountains into the city, with settling basins and filters along the way, to ensure the water's clarity and cleanliness. The first, built around 312 BC during Appius Claudius Caecus's administration, was Aqua Appia, an underground aqueduct about 10 miles in length.
E The arch revolutionised water supply. By using it, Roman architects could raise aqueducts to the height needed to span valleys. The Aqua Marcian in Rome - around 56 miles long with a 10-mile bridged section - was built by the praetor Marcius in 144 BC, and was the first to carry water above ground. Eventually, Rome was served by eleven linked aqueducts. These kept the city's taps and fountains running - providing an astonishing 38 million gallons of water each day. Parts of several of these are still in use, although the construction of such massive water-supply systems declined with the fall of the Roman Empire. For several centuries afterwards, springs and wells provided the main source of domestic and industrial water.
F The introduction of the force pump in England in the middle of the 16th century greatly extended the possibilities of development of water-supply systems. This pump was by no means a new invention. It was in fact the brainchild of Ctesibius of Alexandria and it dates to the 3rd century Be. Like all great engineers, Ctesibius took his inspiration from his surroundings. While working on a way to raise and lower a mirror in his father's barber shop by counterbalancing it with a lead weight, he stumbled on a method of automatically closing the shop's door without it slamming. He ran a weighted line from the door over a pulley and into a pipe, which slowed the speed at which the weight dropped. As the door hissed away, opening and closing, he realised the weight was displacing air and acting as a piston. This realisation led Ctesibius to investigate methods of moving fluids along a pipe using a piston, and to the founding principle of hydraulics. Ctesibius's force pump was not capable of pumping high volumes of water but it played a vital part in ancient Greek culture. Among other uses, force pumps drained the bilges of the trading ships of the time. They were used to extinguish fires and they brought to life the fountains that graced Alexandria.
G In London, the first pumping waterworks were completed in 1562. This pumped river water to a reservoir suspended 120ft above the Thames. It was then distributed by gravity via lead pipes to surrounding buildings. In more recent times, many aqueducts have been built worldwide. Among them are the aqueducts supplying water to Glasgow (35 miles long), Marseilles (60 miles), Manchester (96 miles), Liverpool (68 miles) and Vienna (144 miles). California now has the most extensive aqueduct system in the world. Water drawn from the Colorado River's Parker Dam is carried 242 miles over the San Bernadino Mountains, supplying more than a billion gallons a day. In addition, the 338-mile Los Angeles aqueduct draws water from the Owens River in the Sierra Nevada, giving a daily supply of around 4 billion gallons.
Questions 1-6
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
EGYPTIANS (5000 BC) | MESOPOTAMIA, BABYLONIA & EGYPT(2000 BC) | ROMANS | ENGLAND |
Perian Wheel (a type of water- wheel) 1 _________ (a lever and bucket system) | systems of dams and canals water for 2 ________ and __________ 3 _________ used for keeping water in | dealt with water supply 4 _________ system of aqueducts invention of 5 ________ led to aqueducts above ground | use of force pump water pumped to reservoir and carried to buildings through 6 ______ |
Questions 7-10
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs labeled A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct Letter A-G in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
7 an invention that could only supply limited amounts of water
8 a reference to a widespread but false belief
9 reasons why water-supply systems needed to be developed
10 the name of the person responsible for creating the first known aqueduct
Questions 11-13
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
11 What was Ctesibius trying to move?
12 What did Ctesibius succeed in causing to move?
13 What area of science did Ctesibius help to establish?
READING PASSAGE 2
HOWL OF WOLVES NEARS US SUBURBS
A Phil Miller flies the single-engine plane in a tight circle at an altitude of about 300 feet. listening on his headset to beeping from a wolf's radio collar. The animal is somewhere below. in a mix of patchy pine forest and low, sparse brush scattered over a snow-covered swamp. It is a gray day, drizzling and misty. and after the plane circles a line of pines several times, the wolf is still not visible. Then Mr Miller spots a pair ¬their coats a peppery mix of gray, black and cinnamon - standing casually under a pine tree, looking for all the world like they are trying to decide whether it's worth going out in the rain. If they were really worried about the weather, they might go to the vast Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. only a two-hour drive away - or a 190-kilometer trot. no great challenge for a wolf. These wolves are not on Arctic tundra or in the confines of Yellowstone National Park. They are in Wisconsin, not exactly the suburbs. but not the wilderness either.
B In their quiet way they have shown that wolves do not need pristine wilderness to be successful, that they do not necessarily need a highly managed reintroduction programme, as used in Yellowstone. and that they can increase their range without stirring conflict among wolf proponents and opponents. 'Once wolves were thought emblematic of wilderness,' said Dr Adrian Treves, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York who has just published an analysis of what conditions are most likely to bring wolves and people into conflict. But the nearly 350 wolves of Wisconsin, in 80 known packs. have shown that they can cope with people.
C 'The wolves,' Dr Treves said, 'have managed to make dens and breed successfully for 25 years on a lot of private land. on county and state forest land, which is heavily. heavily used by recreationalists like snowmobilers. cross¬-country skiers and hunters. This is the classic case of the quiet recovery of wolves without a big fanfare, without big attention.' He added that because the wolves conducted their own repopulation. public reaction had been largely favourable. In the 1950s, northern Minnesota had a remnant population of a few hundred wolves, Dr Treves said. After the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973. the protection it afforded, along with some forest regeneration and a change in attitudes, allowed the wolves to start growing in number. There are now more than 3.000 wolves in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
D The day after flying with Mr Miller, who tracks wolves from the air, I went with Adrian Wydeven as he drove slowly around on sandy roads looking for wolf tracks in the same forested areas. Mr Wydeven, a mammalian ecologist, has been in charge of the wolf programme for the Wist'bnsin Department of Natural Resources for about 10 years. The talking stopped when we saw tracks in the sand. These were wolf tracks, not the large dog tracks we had seen earlier. 'If you look at these tracks,' he said, 'they're more elongated than those other tracks.' He noted that the wolf was not trotting but running, so that both back feet set down at once and then both front feet - a gallop. 'If he's chasing after a deer, that would make sense,' Mr Wydeven said. Stepping into the snow at the side of the road. he added. 'It looks like the deer veers off a bit here.' The tracks were fresh. 'I would say less than a day. I would say a few hours. It could be this morning. There might be just a pair.'
E The road is just a few miles from a cattle operation that has claimed significant depredations from wolves each year. Those attacks on livestock are the central problem in any resurgence of predators, and it is those attacks that Dr Treves has been studying. The state compensates anyone who has suffered loss from wolves. The highest risk, Dr T reves said, was 'at the colonization front' where an expanding wolf population, especially young, inexperienced wolves, comes into contact with people who are unused to coping with wolves.
F His findings may lead wildlife managers away from lethal control, which Dr Treves said is inefficient at getting the wolves that are preying on livestock. The more refined the understanding of how wolves and people interact, the better the chances are for keeping the public on the side of the wolves. The wolves are doing their part to keep their population growing. When Mr Wydeven was inspecting the tracks in the road, we came on a spot where the road was all scuffed up with tracks. 'They're milling about here,' he said. I asked whether they might be playing. 'They might be, or they might be mating,' he replied. 'We're still in the breeding season.'
From "Howl of Wolves Nears U.S. Suburbs," by James Gorman. Copyright@ 2004 by the New York Times Co.
Questions 14-26
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 on the following pages
Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct numbers i-x in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Predictable behaviour
ii Interpreting evidence
iii An out-of-date image of wolves
iv New problems for wolves
v Preventing negative views of wolves
vi Wolves who may be sheltering
vii Understandable reactions
viii Contrasting behaviour patterns among wolves
ix A largely unnoticed increase
x Damage done by wolves
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
Questions 20-23
Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.
Wolves in the US
• may not require an organized 20……………………………, as carried out in one of the national parks
• have reproduced for some time on land used by 21……………………………….of various kinds
• greatest danger of wolves attacking is at a place known as 22 …………………………..
• a policy of 23……………………………..may not prevent attacks on cattle
Questions 24-26
Choose THREE letters A-F. Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
Which THREE of the following are mentioned as new developments concerning wolves in the US?
A the places they now inhabit
B their ability to adapt to climate changes
C a change from living in packs to living in smaller groups
D their ability to coexist with people
E the fact that they have benefited from environmental initiatives
F a change in their behaviour towards other animals
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3
MISSION OUT OF CONTROL
It's not just physical dangers astronauts have to contend with-
psychological friction is a big problem, says Raj Persaud
On space missions, weightlessness and radiation are often seen as being the key dangers. But there is increasing evidence to show that one of the greatest hazards lies in the crew itself. The hostile space environments and the hardware are, of course, crucial factors in any space mission. But so is the software of the human brain.
During long missions, space travellers have shown signs of increased territoriality, withdrawal and need for privacy. As a result of these sorts of psychological difficulties, one cosmonaut had a religious experience that led him to make a dangerous, unauthorised spacewalk. Nasa's Sky lab missions in 1973 and 1974 almost immediately ran into trouble. One astronaut erroneously changed the control systems while suffering from psychological problems. Crew members began the third mission with a schedule that was too strenuous. They fell behind in their work and became demoralised. On their 45th day in space, the crew went on strike, refusing to perform scheduled tasks. Disregarding orders was an unusual and dangerous response for astronauts. After concessions from mission control, the crew settled down and eventually completed an 84-day mission.
The Russians have identified three phases in adaptation to space. The first lasts up to two months and is dominated by adjustments to the new environment. This is followed by increasing fatigue and decreasing motivation, 'asthenia'. What once seemed exciting becomes boring and repetitious. Next comes a lengthy period during which the asthenia, which can include depression and anxiety, worsens. The spacefarers are unusually upset by loud noises or unexpected information. This is the period when crew members get testy with one another and with the ground crew. There have been reports describing how one crew member did not speak to another
for days; there are even rumours of fist fights ¬In one over a chess game. Tensions frequently spill over to mission control, as they did in the Skylab of strike. One Russian crew aboard a Salyut space station reportedly got so cross with mission a control that they shut down communications for 24 hours.
According to Henry Cooper, who wrote a book, A House in Space, on the loneliness of the long distance astronaut, at least three missions have been aborted for reasons that were in part psychological. In the 1976 Soyuz-21 mission to the Salyut-5 space station, the crew was brought home early after the cosmonauts complained fiercely of an acrid odour in the space station's environmental control system. No cause was ever found, nor did other crews smell it; conceivably, it was a hallucination. Coincidentally, the crew had not been getting along. The crew of the Soyuz T-14 mission to Salyut-7 in 1985 was brought home after 65 days after Vladimir Vasyutin complained that he had a prostate infection. Later, the doctors believed that the problem was partly psychological. Vasyutin had been getting behind in his work and was under pressure, having been passed over for a flight several times before. Alexander Laveikin returned early from the Soyuz TM-2 mission to the Mir space station in 1987 because he complained of a cardiac irregularity. Flight surgeons could find no sign of it. The cosmonaut had been under stress - he had made a couple of potentially serious errors. And he had not been getting along with his partner, Yuri Romanenko.
The same psychological phenomena curse men and women on expeditions to remote places. Isolation and sensory deprivation are the common denominators, whether the mission is in the Arctic wastes or the realm of the deep, causing a series of symptoms - heightened anxiety, boredom, depression, loneliness, excessive fear of danger and homesickness. The scientists and support staff who work in Antarctica have been studied by Dr Joanna Wood of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston, who also studies how crews behave in a special test chamber. 'After a few months, you get tired of looking at the same faces. People frequently have behaviours that might be endearing in the larger society, but when you're living with it day after day it's an annoyance.'
This continent, the last to be explored by humans, is the coldest, windiest and driest land mass. Because of the extreme environment, researchers must 'winter over' for six months out of the year. During this period, there is little contact with the outside world and groups tend to be confined indoors by the extreme temperatures. Antarctica has served as one of the primary means of gathering psychosocial data for space missions, according to Dr John Annexstad, a space scientist and ten-time veteran of scientific missions to Antarctica.
During the first few months of an Antarctic mission, interpersonal problems don't play a major part. The problem arises, says Dr Annexstad, after the initial shock and awe of the environment wear off, and crew members get to know their surroundings a little better. Then they begin to rebel against authority and each other. In one ice base, anxiety episodes increased from 3 during the first four months to 19 during the last four. In a study of personnel who wintered over in the Antarctic, 85 per cent reported periods of significant depression, 65 per cent had periods of anger or hostility, 60 per cent suffered from sleep disturbance, and 53 per cent had impaired cognition. During the 1977 International Biomedical Expedition to Antarctica, a 12-man adventure lasting 72 days, bickering became such a problem that psychologists accompanying the expedition had to intervene. Antarctic literature is full of stories about teammates who stopped talking to one another or even fought – one concerns a cook with a meat cleaver facing off against an engineer brandishing a fire axe.
Questions 27-29
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.
27 Space travellers on long missions demonstrate the desire to have some………………………… .
28 Astronauts can get into a state called…………………………. after two months in space.
29 The causes of psychological problems on both space missions and expeditions to remote places are………………………together with…………………….. .
Questions 30-35
Look at the statements (Questions 30-35) and the list of space missions below.
Match each statement with the space mission it refers to.
Write the correct letter A-D in boxes 30-35 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
30 Two of the astronauts had a bad relationship with each other.
31 The astronauts decided not to carry out their duties.
32 One of the astronauts did not complete the mission.
33 One of the astronauts had failed to be selected for previous missions.
34 One of the astronauts made a mistake with the equipment.
35 The astronauts perceived something that may not have existed.
List of Space Missions
A Skylab
B Soyuz-21
C Soyuz T-14
D Soyuz TM-2
Questions 36-40
Complete the summary below using words from the box.
Write your answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
Antarctic missions
According to Dr John Annexstad, relationships are not an important factor during the first part of a mission because crew members lack 36…………………………………..with their environment and have a feeling of 37……………………………. After this, there is less 38……………………………..from crew members and the number of events caused by 39………………………..increases enormously as the mission continues. According to some stories, relationships can even result in 40……………………………involving crew members.
expectation boredom cooperation improvement
sympathy discussion familiarity error
determination carelessness disappointment violence
amazement involvement misunderstanding confidence
failure tension competition envy
