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Reading passage 5

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Complete the blank (1) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Youth: The Future of Travel

Young people are invariably at the leading edge of change and innovation - and the travel industry is no exception. Young people think outside the box, push boundaries and experiment with the new. In an era of unprecedented challenge for the travel industry, youth travel represents not just an important market segment, but also a vital resource for innovation and change.

The travel industry is itself undergoing rapid change. Traditional vertical distribution chains are giving way to a more complex value network involving a wide range of different suppliers from within and beyond the travel sector. Travel is no longer solely dependent on the infrastructure of the old economy - airline seats, hotel beds and travel agents' shelves. We are entering a new, flexible, networked economy in which information and communications technology (ICT), local culture and society, education, work and play have become part of the tourism value chain. In fact, the inter-relationships between travel, other economic sectors and society as a whole have become so integrated that we might conceive of a 'value web' rather than the old value chain.

New value web

In the new tourism value web, value is created by linking actors inside and outside the tourism sector in different combinations to create and exploit new opportunities. Young people are often at the forefront of such innovation, because they are willing to cross boundaries and make new links. As early-adopting, heavy users of new technology, young people are pioneering the use of social networking sites and mobile media in searching for travel information and purchasing products.

Young people are the future of travel

Youth travel has grown rapidly in recent decades as living standards have risen and the populations of developing countries are starting to travel for the first time. Indeed, these first-time travellers are often characterized by being young and comparatively affluent. The global youth travel industry is now estimated to represent almost 190 million international trips a year, and the youth travel industry has grown faster than global travel overall. By 2020 there will be almost 300 million international youth trips per year, according to UNWTO forecasts.

The youth market therefore represents a major opportunity for future growth in the travel industry. With effective development and marketing, the potential of the youth market can be increased still further.

Why youth travel is important

Youth travel is important because it is a market for the future - not just for the future development of the young people themselves, but also the places they visit. VVYSE Travel Confederation research shows that young travellers often spend more than other tourists and they are likely to return and give more value to the destination over their lifetime. Moreover, young travellers are a growth market globally, while the spending power of older generations in Western economies may decline in the long term. Another reason why young people are important is that they are less likely to be discouraged from travelling by factors such as disease or natural disasters. They are also the pioneers who discover new destinations and are at the cutting edge of using new technology. Last but not least, young travellers gain cultural benefits from their travel, and contribute to the places they visit.

UNWTO and WYSE Travel Confederation are convinced that youth travel has moved far beyond its original status as a specialized travel niche to become an important element of the travel mix in any tourism destination. One of the reasons for this is that travel underpins many different aspects of youth lifestyles. For young people:

• Travel is a form of learning

• Travel is a way of meeting other people

• Travel is a way of getting in touch with other cultures

• Travel is a source of career development

• Travel is a means of self-development

• Travel is part of their identity - you are where you've been.

Young people see travel as an essential part of their everyday lives, rather than just a brief escape from reality. This has far-reaching consequences for the places they visit. Because of the way they travel, the social and cultural consequences of hosting young people are becoming even more important than the economic effects. So the added value to be extracted from youth travel lies in innovation, positioning, cultural links, international trade and exchange, social support, education, learning support for local communities, and so on.

Complete the blank (2) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Complete the blank (3) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Complete the blank (4) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Complete the blank (5) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Complete the blank (6) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Complete the blank (7) in the summary below using the list of words, (A-O) from the box below. (Điền chữ cái tương ứng)

Which THREE of the following reasons for the importance of youth travel are given by the writer of the text? (Điền chứ cái tương ứng, các chữ cái cách nhau bởi dấu "-", viết theo thứ tự bảng chữ cái)

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Travel is central to young people's lifestyle, partly because ______

it helps them to relax.

it is an educational experience.

it improves their confidence.

it makes them more mature.

According to the writer, the economic impact of hosting young people is _____

of no consequence compared to the social and cultural effects.

of greater consequence than the social and cultural effects.

of lesser consequence than the social and cultural effects.

just as valuable as the social and cultural effects.

The writer concludes that _______.

youth travel is not an important area for the travel industry.

the main contribution of young people to the travel industry is in innovation.

young people value the cultural links gained from travelling more than anything else.

there is a wide range of additional benefits to be derived from youth travel.

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Everything you always wanted to know about inflation (but were afraid to ask)

While inflation has been easing, Americans are still feeling its lingering effects at the grocery store. Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America hide caption

Americans have lived under the grip of inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020 — and for many people, it's still a confusing time.

As part of a series looking at how Americans are dealing with inflation, NPR asked listeners and readers to share some of the main questions they still have about inflation.

Many answered, wondering about aspects of inflation that still don't make sense to them, like whether corporations are engaging in profit-taking or whether election years impact inflation.

Here's a compilation of the top six questions asked — along with their answers.

Are companies just using inflation as an excuse to increase their profits?

It's complicated. Companies have faced the same higher costs like the rest of us — and many of them have passed on those costs to consumers.

At the same time, some companies have also been able to use higher inflation as an opportunity to raise prices beyond what simple cost increases would explain. That's not a surprise. Companies exist to maximize profits, and they'll usually charge what they feel the market can bear.

"Corporate executives can take advantage of inflation," says Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative. "They can take advantage of things like supply chain issues to jack up prices above and beyond what their input costs would justify."

Inflation fell to its lowest level in more than three years in July

But there's some good news. Those "input costs" — or the costs related to producing something — are easing, which means companies no longer need to increase their prices as much.

At the same time, consumers are pushing back against aggressive pricing strategies, so companies are starting to back down. McDonald's, for example, brought back a $5 value meal following its first sales decline since the pandemic began.

How do high interest rates slow inflation?

High interest rates help combat inflation by raising the cost of borrowing money, which can then slow economic activity — and therefore consumer spending.

For example, somebody who has to pay more for a car loan or for their mortgage may have less to spend elsewhere.

And to combat inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to their highest in over two decades.

Those higher rates have helped bring down inflation, which eased to an annual pace of 2.9% last month.

It's not just high interest rates helping to ease inflation. A big reason that inflation spiked during the pandemic was companies were not well prepared to meet the surge in demand for everything from iPhones to laptops from consumers stuck at home.

But companies have since responded to the shortages of goods seen during the pandemic by investing in supply chains.

"When we get new technology, better processes, better equipment, that can help reduce the cost of producing various goods and services, and that can be passed on to the consumer," says Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo.

Why is there a 2% target inflation rate — shouldn't it be 0%?

Setting a target inflation rate is seen as helping to ensure more stability in prices by giving a clear objective for the central bank.

New Zealand was the first country to set 2% as a target rate , in 1989, and most central banks followed suit, including the Fed, which made the target explicit in 2012.

While a 0% inflation rate may sound ideal in theory, economic growth requires some form of inflation.

Setting the target at 0% also raises the risk that the Fed could overshoot its objective, putting inflation at a negative rate, or deflation.

That's when prices fall, which may sound like a good thing, but it can be economically very harmful. Widespread price cuts are typically a symptom of economic distress.

How have election seasons impacted inflation?

In short, not by much.

Plus, economists note, each election year is different, so comparing them is rarely an apples-to-apples comparison.

The Fed has also usually fiercely guarded its independence in setting monetary policy — regardless of whether there's an election taking place.

Sometimes, though, an election can slow spending by both corporations and consumers, which can help ease inflation.

"Businesses and people are very unsure about who's going to win and what the future holds, so they decide to sort of pull back a little bit — you know, maybe not make that big expenditure, maybe not hire that new employee or make that investment until they know," says Julia Coronado, president of MacroPolicy Perspectives.

Why is it taking so long for inflation to ease?

This is where regular people and economists might see things differently.

"Inflation is coming down really fast by economist standards, and I know that's not the average person's standards," Coronado says.

Many people still feel they are paying more at the supermarket or at restaurants than they used to — and they are not incorrect.

Labor Department report shows inflation easing a bit more than expected

Inflation during the pandemic rose more than many Americans had grown used to in years prior, and all the cumulative price increases continue to hit people's wallets.

But annual inflation is easing, from an over four-decade high of 9.1% in June 2022 to 2.9% in July of this year.

But that only means prices are no longer increasing as much. It doesn't mean that prices are falling, which is deflation. And as noted, that is not usually a good thing for the economy.

Is the only solution to inflation to go through a recession?

Thankfully, no — but a recession can occur.

The difficulty with monetary policy is that the impact of interest rate changes doesn't have an immediate effect: There's usually a delay in how they filter through the economy.

That makes deciding how much to raise interest rates — as well as how long to keep them high — a difficult exercise.

Economists had worried last year that the economy would be headed for a recession. Instead, the economy grew strongly .

But recent weaker-than-expected data on employment has raised concern that the Fed has kept interest rates too high and that the economy could be slowing sharply.

There are no guarantees that a recession is coming — most economists still don't expect one.

And while the Fed has kept interest rates steady since July 2023, many expect it to cut rates next month, by either a quarter percentage point or even more.

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The Future of Getting Around in Cities: IELTS Reading Passage with Questions and Answers

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Updated on 11 January, 2024

Kanika Pruthi

Sr. content writer & study abroad expert.

The evolution of urban transportation is a subject of immense importance in our rapidly changing world. This IELTS reading passage delves into the multifaceted future of city travel, addressing technological advancements, environmental concerns, and societal shifts.

Table of Contents

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As the dawn of a new era approaches, cities worldwide are facing a transformative period in how their inhabitants traverse the urban landscape. The relentless growth in population and technological advancement paves the way for innovative transportation solutions. Electric vehicles (EVs), autonomous cars, improved public transit systems, and the emergence of eco-friendly travel options are reshaping the narrative of urban mobility.

Electric vehicles stand at the forefront of this transformation. With governments and corporations investing billions into EV infrastructure and technology, the streets of tomorrow may soon be dominated by these clean, efficient modes of transport. Autonomous vehicles, equipped with state-of-the-art AI and machine learning algorithms, promise to revolutionize the driving experience, offering safer, more efficient, and more accessible travel options.

Public transportation is also undergoing a renaissance. Cities are expanding their networks of buses, trains, and subways, incorporating smart technology to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The integration of real-time data allows for smoother, more coordinated travel experiences for commuters.

Another significant change is the rise in popularity of non-motorized transport options, such as biking and walking. Urban planners are increasingly focusing on creating pedestrian-friendly spaces and extensive bike lanes to encourage healthier, more sustainable lifestyle choices.

These emerging trends signify a pivotal shift in urban mobility, steering away from fossil-fuel dependency and moving towards a more sustainable, efficient, and accessible transportation ecosystem.

Q1. What is primarily fueling the transformation in urban transportation?

a) Population decrease

b) Technological regression

c) Population growth and technological advancement

d) Reduction in public transit systems

Q2. Which mode of transportation is at the forefront of this transformation?

a) Bicycles

b) Electric vehicles

c) Traditional cars

d) Horse carriages

Q3. Autonomous vehicles are primarily enhanced by?

a) Manual controls

b) AI and machine learning algorithms

c) Reduced safety features

d) Fossil fuels

Q4. The expansion of public transit systems aims to:

a) Increase environmental impact

b) Reduce efficiency

c) Improve commuter experiences with smart technology

d) Discourage public transit use

Q5. True or False: Urban planners are reducing the space for bike lanes and pedestrian paths.

Q6. Fill in the blank: The integration of real-time data in public transit systems allows for smoother and more _______ travel experiences.

a) Complicated

b) Coordinated

c) Disrupted

d) Unpredictable

Q7. The main objective of incorporating smart technology in public transit is to:

a) Increase travel time

b) Decrease safety

c) Reduce environmental impact

d) Discourage public use

Q8. Electric vehicles contribute to urban transportation by being:

a) Less efficient

b) Heavily polluting

c) Clean and efficient

d) Outdated

Q9. True or False: Autonomous cars will reduce the accessibility of travel options.

Q10. What is a significant societal shift in urban transportation?

a) Decrease in walking and biking

b) Increased reliance on fossil fuels

c) Rise in popularity of non-motorized transport

d) Reduction in public transportation networks

A1. c) Population growth and technological advancement

Explanation: The passage highlights that both the increase in population and advancements in technology are driving the changes in urban transportation.

A2. b) Electric vehicles

Explanation: Electric vehicles are mentioned as being at the forefront of the transportation transformation due to their efficiency and environmental benefits.

A3. b) AI and machine learning algorithms

Explanation: Autonomous vehicles are enhanced by advanced AI and machine learning, leading to safer and more efficient travel.

A4. c) Improve commuter experiences with smart technology

Explanation: Public transit systems are expanding with smart technology to enhance commuter experiences and efficiency.

Explanation: The passage states that urban planners are creating more pedestrian-friendly spaces and bike lanes.

A6. b) Coordinated

Explanation: Real-time data integration in public transit leads to more coordinated and smoother travel experiences.

A7. c) Reduce environmental impact

Explanation: Smart technology in public transit is aimed at reducing environmental impact and increasing efficiency.

A8. c) Clean and efficient

Explanation: Electric vehicles are described as clean and efficient modes of transport, in contrast to traditional, polluting vehicles.

Explanation: Autonomous cars, with their advanced technology, are expected to make travel more accessible, not less.

A10. c) Rise in popularity of non-motorized transport

Explanation: The passage discusses the growing trend of walking and biking as part of a societal shift towards healthier and more sustainable transportation options.

The future of urban transportation is poised for a significant shift, embracing sustainability, technological innovation, and improved accessibility. This reading passage and the accompanying questions not only reflect these changes but also offer IELTS learners a comprehensive understanding of this dynamic topic.

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IELTS Reading Practice – Sample 26

Five innovations that could shape the future of rail travel.

Answer the questions on the passage below.

Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

The reading passage has five sections  A-E , plus an introduction and a conclusion

Choose the correct heading for each of the five sections A-E from the list of headings below. Write the correct number  i-vii  next to each section (e.g. 6. Section F vii).

* Note – there are more headings than sections so not all the headings will be needed.

List of Headings

i.   Improved power connectivity

ii.  Innovative safety system

iii. Revolutionary mechatronic points system

iv. Active steering

v.  Cost reducing suspension technology

vi.  Increased capacity through information exchange

vii. Auto-tilt comfort

   1.   Section A 

   2.   Section B

   3.   Section C

   4.   Section D

   5.   Section E

Reading passage:

Introduction   What will the future of public transport look like? The major projects being planned today, such as the UK’s HS2 high-speed rail network, aren’t fundamentally different to what’s been built over the last 30 years. Maglev trains are largely confined to niche projects in China. Hyperloop remains an unproven glimmer in Elon Musk and Richard Branson’s eyes.

The likes of HS2 can deliver considerable improvements in network capacity through incremental changes in conventional designs, from tracks to train bogies. Yet while the rail sector is warily slow at introducing new technologies due to the long time it takes to plan and build new lines and vehicles, there are a number of technical innovations in development that, if adopted, could make the trains of tomorrow both faster and safer.

A  Switch or points failure is responsible for nearly 20% of the total delay experienced by passengers on UK railways. This occurs when there’s a problem with the mechanism that enables trains to move from one track to another at a junction. Despite the frequency of the problem, the technology used in these mechanisms has hardly changed since the first design nearly 200 years ago.

But a collaborative research project has explored radical alternative technologies. For example, one innovative design called Repoint has three independent motors that can lift and shift the rails, relying on gravity to lock them back into place and providing redundancy in case one or two of the motors fail.

This contrasts with existing switches that slide the rails sideways. They can get stuck midway so have costly additional layers of sensors and protocols to mitigate the risk.  The next-generation “mechatronic” switches aim to work faster, improve ease of maintenance and reduce the risk of failure through their backup motors.

B  Conventional suspension systems restrict a train’s speed as it travels on curved track, limiting how many trains you can run on a route. These suspension systems essentially work like large springs, automatically changing the distance between the wheels and the carriage as the train travels over uneven ground to make the ride feel smoother.

Active suspension systems are now being developed which introduce new sensors, actuators and controllers to more precisely alter the distance between wheels and carriage. This offers improved ride comfort and enables the train to travel round curves with greater speed and stability. This can be combined with systems to actively tilt the train as it rounds the corner, offering increased benefits.

C   In a conventional wheelset, both wheels are interlocked and connected with a fixed axle, preventing any relative rotation between them. When a train enters a curve or a divergent route at a junction, it must slow down to ensure the wheels are guided over the track and to prevent unwanted vibration of the wheels.  Railway researchers are now developing independently rotating wheels to include a  separate actuation mechanism that can help steer the wheelsets on the curved route.

D   High-speed electric trains need to maintain good contact with the overhead power lines via the pantograph that sits on top of the vehicle. On the UK mainline, pantograph height usually varies by about 2m to secure the connection in different areas such as in tunnels, level crossings and bridges.

Researchers are starting to develop active pantographs that have their height and the induced vibration involved in power transfer controlled by an actuator. These active pantographs can improve the contact force and eliminate contact loss problems due to rapid changes in the overhead line height and other environmental disturbances such as wind.

E   The number of trains that can run on a route (and so the capacity of the line) depends in part on the signalling system. Most railways use a fixed-block system, which divides the tracks into sections. Only one train at a time can be in each section so there has to be a significant gap between the trains.

But some railways are now starting to use a moving-block signalling system, which determines the necessary gap between trains based on the distance it takes for them to come to a stop in an emergency. But this gap could be reduced further if it’s based on real-time information about what the train in front is doing and where it will stop if it hits the brakes.

This is known as “virtual coupling” and involves the two trains communicating information about their changing speed and brake activity so that they can decrease or increase the gap between them to the minimum necessary. With shorter gaps between them, more trains could run safely on a route, increasing overall network capacity.

Conclusion   With such innovations, we could introduce trains that are able to adapt to the changing characteristics of the line in order to maintain high speeds throughout most of the journey and avoid those annoying stop-start periods of travel. Widening and disrupting the boundaries of current railway designs in this way would enable us to create a next-generation network with a step-change in performance that is fit for the 21st century – without any need for expensive levitating trains or vacuum tubes.

Source:  The Conversation . Author:  Saikat Dutta

Scroll down for the answers.

                    Answers:

  1.   A iii.    Revolutionary mechatronic points system

  2.   B vii.   Auto-tilt comfort

  3.   C iv.    Active steering

  4.   D i.     Improved power connectivity

  5.   E vi.  Increased capacity through information exchange

To learn How to Answer Matching Headings Questions , click this link.   

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Time Travel IELTS Reading Passage with Answers

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Time Travel

Time travel took a small step away from science fiction and toward science recently when physicists discovered that sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos – progeny of the sun’s radioactive debris – can exceed the speed of light. The unassuming particle – it is electrically neutral, small but with a “non-zero mass” and able to penetrate the human form undetected – is on its way to becoming a rock star of the scientific world.

Researchers from the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva sent the neutrinos hurtling through an underground corridor toward their colleagues at the Oscillation Project with Emulsion-Tracing Apparatus (OPERA) team 730 kilometres away in Gran Sasso, Italy. The neutrinos arrived promptly – so promptly, in fact, that they triggered what scientists are calling the unthinkable – that everything they have learnt, known or taught stemming from the last one hundred years of the physics discipline may need to be reconsidered.

The issue at stake is a tiny segment of time – precisely sixty nanoseconds (which is sixty billionths of a second). This is how much faster than the speed of light the neutrinos managed to go in their underground travels and at a consistent rate (15,000 neutrinos were sent over three years). Even allowing for a margin of error of ten billionths of a second, this stands as proof that it is possible to race against light and win. The duration of the experiment also accounted for and ruled out any possible lunar effects or tidal bulges in the earth’s crust.

Nevertheless, there’s plenty of reason to remain sceptical. According to Harvard University science historian Peter Galison, Einstein’s relativity theory has been “pushed harder than any theory in the history of the physical sciences”. Yet each prior challenge has come to no avail, and relativity has so far refused to buckle.

So is time travel just around the corner? The prospect has certainly been wrenched much closer to the realm of possibility now that a major physical hurdle – the speed of light – has been cleared. If particles can travel faster than light, in theory travelling back in time is possible. How anyone harnesses that to some kind of helpful end is far beyond the scope of any modern technologies, however, and will be left to future generations to explore.

Certainly, any prospective time travellers may have to overcome more physical and logical hurdles than merely overtaking the speed of light. One such problem, posited by René Barjavel in his 1943 text Le Voyageur Imprudent is the so-called grandfather paradox. Barjavel theorised that, if it were possible to go back in time, a time traveller could potentially kill his own grandfather. If this were to happen, however, the time traveller himself would not be born, which is already known to be true. In other words, there is a paradox in circumventing an already known future; time travel is able to facilitate past actions that mean time travel itself cannot occur.

Other possible routes have been offered, though. For Igor Novikov, astrophysicist behind the 1980s’ theorem known as the self-consistency principle, time travel is possible within certain boundaries. Novikov argued that any event causing a paradox would have zero probability. It would be possible, however, to “affect” rather than “change” historical outcomes if travellers avoided all inconsistencies. Averting the sinking of the Titanic, for example, would revoke any future imperative to stop it from sinking – it would be impossible. Saving selected passengers from the water and replacing them with realistic corpses would not be impossible, however, as the historical record would not be altered in any way.

A further possibility is that of parallel universes. Popularised by Bryce Seligman DeWitt in the 1960s (from the seminal formulation of Hugh Everett), the many-worlds interpretation holds that an alternative pathway for every conceivable occurrence actually exists. If we were to send someone back in time, we might therefore expect never to see him again – any alterations would divert that person down a new historical trajectory.

A final hypothesis, one of unidentified provenance, reroutes itself quite efficiently around the grandfather paradox. Non-existence theory suggests exactly that – a person would quite simply never exist if they altered their ancestry in ways that obstructed their own birth. They would still exist in person upon returning to the present, but any chain reactions associated with their actions would not be registered. Their “historical identity” would be gone.

So, will humans one day step across the same boundary that the neutrinos have? World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes that once spaceships can exceed the speed of light, humans could feasibly travel millions of years into the future in order to repopulate earth in the event of a forthcoming apocalypse. This is because, as the spaceships accelerate into the future, time would slow down around them (Hawking concedes that bygone eras are off limits – this would violate the fundamental rule that cause comes before effect).

Hawking is therefore reserved yet optimistic. “Time travel was once considered scientific heresy, and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a crank. These days I’m not so cautious.”

Questions 28-33 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 28–33 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

28 It is unclear where neutrinos come from. 29 Neutrinos can pass through a person’s body without causing harm. 30 It took scientists between 50-70 nanoseconds to send the neutrinos from Geneva to Italy. 31 Researchers accounted for effects the moon might have had on the experiment. 32 The theory of relativity has often been called into question unsuccessfully. 33 This experiment could soon lead to some practical uses for time travel.

Questions 34–39 Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 34–39 on your answer sheet.

Question 40 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.

Stephen Hawking has stated that

A Human time travel is theoretically possible, but is unlikely to ever actually occur. B Human time travel might be possible, but only moving backward in time. C Human time travel might be possible, but only moving forward in time. D All time travel is impossible.

Time Travel IELTS Reading Passage Answers

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30. NOT GIVEN

34. past actions

35. inconsistencies

36. Hugh Everett

37. alternative pathway

38. non-existence theory

39. historical identity

Also Check:   ELECTRORECEPTION IELTS Reading Passage & Answers

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Hotels of the future – B2 English Reading Test

• Reading Tests for B2

You are going to read a magazine article about a new type of hotel. For questions 1-6 , choose the answer ( A , B , C or D ) which you think fits best according to the text.

Hotels of the future

Our Travel correspondent Joana Richards reports about a new trend in hotels.

I recently visited a hotel in France which has no visible human staff. This is just one of several hotels in Europe and Asia which runs with apparently no human contact. Most of the services are provided by robots and machines. The concept is to provide an environmentally friendly hotel where staff and running costs kept to a minimum. Personally, I’ve spent my life away from robots and machines, and so kept having to remind myself that in many parts of the world, its not unusual for jobs and household tasks to be automated these days.

So I lost no time in booking myself a room at one of these hotels and going to see it for myself. And sure enough, there are the reception desk instead of a friendly receptionist wearing a uniform was a machine.

‘I’d like to check in please, I shouted, wondering if the machine would respond to my voice, and feeling thrilled that I was about to have my first ever conversation with a check-in machine. Nothing. I said it again but there was silence. I was hoping the machine would say something like ‘If you want to check in, press 1. But then I noticed a written message in the machine’s screen. ‘Please insert your credit card and key in your booking reference, then follow the instructions.’ No conversation. How disappointing.

Staying at the hotel costs from €35 (more if you want a bigger room). That’s a bargain for Paris, where a stay in a more conventional hotel can easily cost two or three times that much. And if you did stay there, it wouldn’t necessarily be any nicer, and certainly wouldn’t be any more memorable. The hotel is located near to the amusement park, Disneyland Paris, which was created as a visitor attraction on the east of the city with lots of amusement rides. In fact, many of the guests book the hotel purely in order to be close to the park.

Back in the hotel, as well as machines to check in, there are vending machines to serve drinks and snacks and vacuum cleaners that work without a human, using sensors to navigate around the rooms. According to the owners, the laundry has robots which do all the washing unaided. Another innovation is the use of face recognition instead of keys to get into your room. A photograph of the guest’s face is taken at the reception desk by the check in machines.

With 60 rooms in the building, there is a lot of coming and going. Guests are actively encouraged to stop and get a coffee from one of the machines in the guest lounge with other guests, so there is at least some social interaction. One area where humans are absolutely essential for the hotel is security. There are scanners and CCTV cameras everywhere, and the footage from these is watched by human security guards, no matter whether or not the hotel is full. It is their job to make sure that the guests are safe – and that no-one causes any damage to hotel property, including of course making off with a costly robot.

Critics say that businesses like these automated hotels will mean that people lose their jobs, as more and more roles can be performed by robots and machines. But there are many who see them as a vision of the future and argue that robots can make our lives easier. But this can only happen if higher manufacturing and ( line x ) operating standards are achieved, and if guests are prepared to put their trust in machines and don’t mind the lack of personal contact. Only then will this type of hotel be a success. Time will tell if this is the case.

1     The aim of this hotel is to be very

      A    efficient.

      B    friendly.

      C    profitable.

      D    unusual.

2     What aspect of the writer’s experience at reception was ‘disappointing’ (line X)?

      A    the appearance of the reception

      B    the time she wasted checking in

      C    the lack of verbal interaction with the machine

      D    the rudeness of the other guests

3     What does the writer say about the price of the rooms in the hotel?

      A    The hotel is good value.

      B    The prices are likely to rise.

      C    Other hotels provide better accommodation.

      D    It is not always clear how much a room will cost.

4     What is the writer’s main point in the fourth paragraph?

      A    There are limits to what robots and machines can do.

      B    Robots and machines can learn a wide range of skills.

      C    Different robots and machines are used for different tasks.

      D    Humans make mistakes that robots and machines do not make.

5     What risk is mentioned in the fifth paragraph?

      A    robots being stolen

      B    security guards being ineffective

      C    the hotel not doing enough business

      D    areas of the hotel becoming too crowded

6     What does ‘this can only happen’ in line X refer to?

      A    more roles being performed by robots and machines

      B    many seeing the hotel as a vision of the future

      C    robots and machines making our lives easier

      D    reduction in social human contact

1 A   2 C   3 A   4 A   5 B   6 C

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IELTSFever Academic Reading Test 15 Answers

Dear students here are the IELTSFever  Academic Reading Test 15 Answers. ( Passage 1 The Development of Travel under the Ocean , Passage 2 Vitamins, Passage 3 The Birth of Suburbia ) Dear pupils if you need to clear your doubts regarding these Answers you can ask any question throw our email or you can mention your query in the comments section. or send your questions on our  IELTSfever Facebook  page

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You can also read the following writing task 2 with answers for the IELTS exam

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In most of the societies, the role of mother and father differs. What are the causes In most of societies, the role of mother and father differs? What will be the parental roles in the future? IELTS EXAM

An increase in the production of consumer goods results in damage to the natural environment. What are the causes and possible solutions?

Dear students here are the IELTSFever  Academic Reading Test 15 Answers . ( Passage 1 The Development of Travel under the Ocean , Passage 2 Vitamins, Passage 3 The Birth of Suburbia ) Vitamins

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2 thoughts on “ieltsfever academic reading test 15 answers”.

how become true is the answer on number 4? the question is WHEN.

yeah exactly ,

it should be 1864 😛 isn’t it?

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Money blog: How to gain £6,000 by topping up your national insurance

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Today's posts include a Money Problem on the benefits or otherwise of topping up your national insurance. Leave your problem or consumer dispute below - remember to include contact details.

Monday 19 August 2024 12:12, UK

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By Jimmy Rice, Money blog editor

Every Monday the Money team answers your Money Problems or consumer disputes. Find out how to submit yours at the bottom of this post. Today's question is...

I'm 62 and have 10 years of gaps in my national insurance record as I worked for my parents' import business without a fixed wage during most of my twenties and thirties, and had periods of unemployment in my fifties. What are the benefits of topping up before I retire in a few years and can I really get £6,000 added to my pension for every £900 I put in?  Tony, Palmers Green

This is a question many people approaching retirement will be asking themselves, Tony.

First, it's worth us outlining why your national insurance record matters and who can top up.

If you reached pension age after 6 April 2016 you need 10 years of NI contributions to get a state pension - and 35 years to get the full £221.20 a week. Before that 2016 date, it's 30 years.

People may have gaps in their record for numerous reasons including: being unemployed, on a low income, self-employed, having worked abroad, or having taken a break from work to raise a family.

Ordinarily, you can pay voluntary contributions for the past six years - but currently there's an extended period meaning a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953 can pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016.

The deadline for this is 5 April 2025.

How much could topping up earn you?

It would cost £907.40 to cover all NI contributions from the 2023-24 tax year - each year is different but this is a good guide. Going back to your question, if you went on to enjoy 20 years of retirement, you would get back £6,000. It would take just three years to get your £907.40 back.

Who might want to think twice?

Just to stress, as always, that this post is not intended as financial advice. Instead, we're outlining things you should think about.

The first thing anyone should consider is if they'll fill gaps naturally through working - in which case there'd be no point topping up. Given your age, Tony, it could be an option for you - but check your state pension forecast  here .

There are lots of other things to factor in and you should seek independent financial advice.

Wealth management firm  Charles Stanley  says a key consideration is whether a higher pension would either:

• Drag you into paying tax when you retire;
• Mean you no longer qualify for certain benefits.

"You might not benefit from the full amount of extra money as some will be taken in income tax," they say.

"In addition, boosting state pension income can affect entitlements to means-tested benefits. Notably, if you claim pension credit, which tops up the income of very low earners over state pension age, any increase in the state pension would normally reduce an award. This often means that you would be no better off paying voluntary contributions."

Another consideration - and this isn't something most people want to contemplate - is that if you don't think you'll live long enough into retirement (you might be in ill-health or have a terminal illness) to benefit from topping up, then it's probably not worth it.

People should also look into whether they could transfer contributions from their spouse or civil partner .

One more way to top up

Which? advises: "Ensure that you are getting any NI credits you are entitled to before contemplating paying voluntary NI contributions for a particular year. 

"These are free and will apply, say, if you are caring for a child in the family as a parent or grandparent, claiming statutory sick pay or looking after a sick/disabled person."

If you're below state pension age, you can contact the Future Pension Centre to see if you'll benefit from topping up - they're on 0800 731 0175. If you already claim the state pension, call the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469.

Again, before taking any action you should seek independent financial advice.

If you do decide to top up, you'll need a Government Gateway account.

On there, you can see gaps, the cost of filling them and how much you could benefit - you can then pay online.

This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:

• The form above - you need to leave a phone number or email address so we can contact you for further details;
• Email [email protected] with the subject line "Money blog";
• WhatsApp us here.

Dozens of Ted Baker stores will shut for the last time this week amid growing doubts over a future licensing partnership with the retail tycoon Mike Ashley.

Sky News understands that talks between Mr Ashley's Frasers Group and Authentic, Ted Baker's owner, have stalled three months after it appeared that an agreement was imminent.

Administrators are overseeing the closure of its remaining 31 UK shops.

One store source said they had been told that this Tuesday would be the final day of trading.

Read more ...

The housing market experienced a surge in activity following the Bank of England's recent decision to cut interest rates, according to a leading property website.

Estate agents reported a 19% jump in enquiries about properties for sale after 1 August, when compared with the same period last year, research by Rightmove found.

It came after the Bank cut rates for the first time in more than four years from 5.25% to 5%.

The lead negotiator for major train union ASLEF has denied the union sees the new government as a "soft touch" after announcing fresh strikes two days after train drivers were offered a pay deal.

Drivers working for London North Eastern Railway will walk out on weekends from the end of August in a dispute over working agreements.

Lead negotiator Nigel Roebuck said it is a separate issue from the long-running row over pay, which looks likely to be resolved after a much-improved new offer from the government.

Over 40 bottles of fake vodka have been seized from a shop in Scotland after a customer reported "smelling nail varnish".

The 35cl bottles, fraudulently labelled as the popular brand Glen's, were recovered from the shop in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.

Officers from the council's environmental health officers and Food Standard Scotland (FSS) sent them for analysis after a customer raised the alarm by saying they smelt nail varnish from one of the bottles.

The bottles were found to be counterfeit.

Britons don't have long left to claim cost of living assistance from the Household Support Fund.

Introduced in October 2021, the scheme provides local councils with funding which can be used to support those struggling most with the rising cost of living.

The vast majority of councils operate their version of the Household Support Fund on a "first come, first serve" basis and will officially end the schemes once the funding has run out in September.

The help provided by councils has ranged from free cash payments, council tax discounts, and vouchers for supermarkets and energy providers.

Who is eligible?

Local authorities were instructed to target the funding at "vulnerable households in most need of support to help with significantly rising living costs" when it was first rolled out.

In particular, councils were guided to make priority considerations for those who: 

• Are eligible but not claiming qualifying benefits;
• Became eligible for benefits after the relevant qualifying dates;
• Are receiving housing benefit only;
• Are normally eligible for benefits but who had a nil award in the qualifying period.

If you do not meet these criteria, you can still contact your local council , with many having broadened their criteria for eligibility.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

Weapons maker BAE Systems is the big loser on the FTSE 100 this morning, with its shares down almost 3% in early trading.

It comes following reports over the weekend that the German government is planning to scale back aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia – in what would be a blow to the arms industry.

German media said ministers are set to slash support for Kyiv to 6% of current levels by 2027 in their upcoming budget.

However, the government there has rejected the reports and has denied it is "stopping support" to Ukraine.

Whatever the truth, the reports appear to have spooked traders.

Other companies involved in the defence sector, including Rolls-Royce Plc and Chemring Group, are also down more than 2% and 1% respectively on Monday.

It comes amid a slight slump in early trading, with the FTSE 100 down just over 0.2%, although the FTSE 250 is up 0.07%.

Gainers this morning include housebuilders Barratt Developments, up 1.5%, and Redrow Plc, which is up almost 3%.

Barratt said today it intends to push ahead with a planned £2.5bn merger with its rival despite concerns from the competition regulator.

Meanwhile, the price of oil is down amid concerns of weaker demand in China.

Ongoing ceasefire talks in the Israel-Hamas conflict have also raised hopes of cooling tensions in the Middle East, which would help ease supply risks and worries.

A barrel of the benchmark Brent Crude is currently priced at just over $79 (£61).

On the currency markets, this morning £1 buys $1.29 US or €1.17.

Winter energy bills are projected to rise by 9%, according to a closely watched forecast.

The price cap from October to December will go up to £1,714 a year for the average user, Cornwall Insight says.

It would be a £146 rise from the current cap, which is controlled by energy regulator Ofgem and aims to prevent households on variable tariffs being ripped off.

The cap doesn't represent a maximum bill. Instead it creates an average bill by limiting how much you pay per unit of gas and electricity, as well as setting a maximum daily standing charge (which all households must pay to stay connected to the grid).

Ofgem will announce the October cap this Friday.

"This is not the news households want to hear when moving into the colder months," said the principal consultant at Cornwall, Dr Craig Lowrey.

"Following two consecutive falls in the cap, I'm sure many hoped we were on a steady path back to pre-crisis prices. 

"However, the lingering impact of the energy crisis has left us with a market that's still highly volatile and quick to react to any bad news on the supply front.

"Despite this, while we don't expect a return to the extreme prices of recent years, it's unlikely that bills will return to what was once considered normal. Without significant intervention, this may well be the new normal."

Cornwall Insight warned that the highly volatile energy market and unexpected global events, such as the recent escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war, could see prices rise further at the start of the new year.

To avoid this vulnerability, Cornwall Insight said domestic renewable energy production should increase and Britain should wean itself off energy imports.

Kellogg's appears to have shrunk its packets of Corn Flakes. 

Two of its four different pack sizes have reduced in weight by 50g, according to The Sun. 

What used to be 720g boxes are now 670g, while 500g boxes have become 450g. 

The newspaper says the 670g boxes are being sold for £3.20 in Tesco - the same price customers were paying for the larger box back in May. 

The 450g boxes are being sold for £2.19, only slightly less than the previous price of £2.25.

Other supermarkets have similar pricing, although in Morrisons the price has gone down in proportion to the size reduction.

The 250g and 1kg pack sizes remain unchanged. 

Kellogg's has said it is up to shops to choose what they charge, but Tesco said the manufacturer should comment on pricing. 

Sky News has contacted Kellogg's for comment.

A spokesperson is quoted by The Sun: "Kellogg's Corn Flakes are available in four different box sizes to suit different shopper preferences and needs. 

"As the cost of ingredients and production processes increase, it costs us more to make our products than it used to.

"This can impact the recommended retail price. It's the grocer's absolute discretion and decision what price to charge shoppers."

WHSmith has launched a café brand as it seeks to expand into the food-to-go market.

The first café is in Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton and offers teas and coffees, hot breakfasts and pastries

Its branding is the same as the Smith Family Kitchen food-to-go range launched three months ago.

WHSmith UK travel managing director Andrew Harrison said: "Whether it's in a hospital or on their journeys, customers tell us that quality food and drink options are what they prioritise most in the different locations we serve.

"That's why we have been doubling down on our food ranges and formats to ensure our customers don't need to compromise on quality or value, as demonstrated today with the launch of Smith's Kitchen."

Thanks for popping into Money, our live blog for consumer and personal finance news and tips, as we kick off a new week. Here are five reasons to pop back over the coming days...

Topping up your national insurance

Coming up this morning is this week's Money Problem , focusing on a question from reader Tony, in Palmers Green, who wants to know if he could really add £6,000 to his retirement pot with a £900 top-up to his national insurance.

Bring back Spangles

Thousands of you have got involved in our Bring It Back series in the last few weeks, suggesting the old-school sweets or treats that you'd love to see revived. This week, published first thing tomorrow, we're looking at a classic that's been mentioned time and again in our comments section - Spangles. We'll be hearing what Mars had to say about a potential return.

Why should you pay with credit card?

We'll also take a deeper dive into one of the most common pieces of consumer advice: that you should try to pay on credit card for big purchases. Why do you get extra protection, how does it work and what is and isn't covered - we'll have all the answers in Tuesday's Basically .

Yorkshire pudding secrets from top Yorkshire chef in Cheap Eats

Anyone who makes their own Yorkshire puddings - or wants to - should check back on Wednesday morning as one of Yorkshire's top chefs, James Mackenzie from the Michelin-starred Pipe and Glass in South Dalton, picks his Cheap Eats in East Yorkshire and at home - revealing his secrets for perfect/huge Yorkies, including a common mistake many people make.

Everything to know about savings and mortgages

Every Thursday we hear from Savings Champion founder Anna Bowes, who offers some advice for making the most of your spare cash and reveals the best rates on the market right now. Then on Fridays we do similarly with mortgages, hearing from industry experts on what anyone seeking to borrow needs to know at the minute before rounding up the best rates with the help of the guys from Moneyfacts.

We've got lots of others tips and features planned for this week, so bookmark  news.sky.com/money  and check back from 7am each weekday - or 8am on Saturday for our weekend feature.

The Money blog is produced by the Sky News live team, with contributions from  Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young, Ollie Cooper and Mark Wyatt, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. It is edited by Jimmy Rice.

By Emily Mee , news reporter

Openly discussing how you split your finances with your partner feels pretty taboo - even among friends.

As a consequence, it can be difficult to know how to approach these conversations with our partner or what is largely considered fair - especially if there's a big imbalance salary-wise. 

Research by Hargreaves Lansdown suggests in an average household with a couple, three-quarters of the income is earned by one person. 

Even when there is a large disparity, some couples will want to pay the same amount on bills as they want to contribute equally. 

But for others, one partner can feel resentful if they are spending all of their money on bills while the other has much more to spend and is living a different lifestyle as a result. 

At what stage of the relationship can you talk about money?

"We've kind of formally agreed there is some point in a relationship you start talking about kids - there is no generally agreed time that we start talking about money," says Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown. 

Some couples may never get around to mentioning it, leading to "lopsided finances". 

Ms Coles says if you want to keep on top of finances with your partner, you could set a specific date in the year that you go through it all. 

"If it's in the diary and it's not emotional and it's not personal then you can properly go through it," she says.

"It's not a question of 'you need to pull more weight'.  It's purely just this is what we've agreed, this is the maths and this is how we need to do that."

While many people start talking about finances around Christmas, Ms Coles suggests this can be a "trying time" for couples so February might be a "less emotional time to sit down". 

How do you have the conversation if you feel the current arrangement is unfair?

Relationship counsellor at Relate , Peter Saddington, says that setting out the balance as "unfair" shouldn't be your starting point. 

You need to be honest about your position, he says, but your conversation should be negotiating as a couple what works for both of you. 

Before you have to jump into the conversation, think about: 

• Letting your partner know in advance rather than springing it on them;
• Making sure you and your partner haven't drunk alcohol before having the conversation, as this can make it easy for it to spiral;
• Having all the facts to hand, so you know exactly how much you are spending;
• Using 'I' statements rather than 'you'. For example, you could say to your partner: "I'm really worried about my finances and I would like to sit down and talk about how we manage it. Can we plan a time when we can sit down and do it?"

Mr Saddington says if your partner is not willing to help, you should look at the reasons or question if there are other things in the relationship that need sorting out. 

If you're having repeated arguments about money, he says you might have opposite communication styles causing you to "keep headbutting". 

Another reason could be there is a "big resentment" lurking in the background - and it may be that you need a third party such as a counsellor, therapist or mediator to help resolve it. 

Mr Saddington says there needs to be a "safe space" to have these conversations, and that a third party can help untangle resentments from what is happening now. 

He also suggests considering both of your attitudes to money, which he says can be formed by your early life and your family. 

"If you grew up in a family where there wasn't any money, or it wasn't talked about, or it was pushed that you save instead of spend, and the other person had the opposite, you can see where those conversations go horribly wrong. 

"Understanding what influences each of you when it comes to money is important to do before you have significant conversations about it."

What are the different ways you can split your finances?

There's no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are several ways you can do it - with Money blog readers getting in touch to let us know their approach...

1. Separate personal accounts - both pay the same amount into a joint account regardless of income

Paul Fuller, 40, earns approximately £40,000 a year while his wife earns about £70,000. 

They each have separate accounts, including savings accounts, but they pay the same amount (£900) each a month into a joint account to pay for their bills. 

Paul says this pays for the things they both benefit from or have a responsibility for, but when it comes to other spending his wife should be able to spend as she likes. 

"It's not for me to turn around to my wife and expect her to justify why she thinks it's appropriate to spend £150 in a hairdresser. She works her backside off and she has a very stressful job," he says. 

However, their arrangement is still flexible. Their mortgage is going up by £350 a month soon, so his wife has agreed to pay £200 of that. 

And if his wife wants a takeaway but he can't afford to pay for it, she'll say it's on her.

"Where a lot of people go wrong is being unable to have those conversations," says Paul.

2. Separate personal accounts - whoever earns the most puts more into a joint account

This is a more formal arrangement than the hybrid approach Paul and his wife use, and many Money blog readers seem to do this in one form or another judging by our inbox.

There's no right or wrong way to do the maths - you could both put in the same percentage of your individual salaries, or come up with a figure you think is fair, or ensure you're both left with the same amount of spending money after each payday.

3. Everything is shared

Gordon Hurd and his wife Brenda live by their spreadsheet. 

Brenda earns about £800 more a month as she is working full-time while Gordon is freelance. Previously Gordon had been the breadwinner - so it's a big turnaround.

They each have separate accounts with different banks, but they can both access the two accounts. 

How much is left in each account - and their incomings and outgoings - is all detailed in the spreadsheet, which is managed weekly. 

Whenever they need to buy something, they can see how much is left in each account and pay from either one. 

Gordon says this means "everyone knows how much is available" and "each person's money belongs to the other". 

"We have never in the last decade had a single disagreement about money and that is because of this strategy," he says.

Money blog reader Shredder79 got in touch to say he takes a similar approach. 

"I earn £50k and my wife earns just under £150k. We have one joint bank account that our wages go into and all our outgoings come out of. Some friends can't get their head around that but it's normal for us."

Another reader, Curtis, also puts his wages into a joint account with his wife. 

"After all, when you have a family (three kids) it shouldn't matter who earns more or less!" he says. 

Reader Alec goes further and says he questions "the authenticity of any long-term relationship or the certainly of a marriage if a couple does not completely share a bank account for all earnings and all outgoings". 

"As for earning significantly more than the other, so what? If you are one couple or long-term partnership you are one team and you simply communicate and share everything," he says. 

"Personally I couldn't imagine doing it any other way and I do instinctively wonder what issues or insecurities, whether it be in trust or something else, sit beneath the need to feel like you need to keep your finances separate from one another, especially if you are a married couple." 

A reader going by the name lljdc agrees, saying: "I earn half of what my husband does because I work part-time. Neither of us has a solo account. We have one joint account and everything goes into this and we just spend it however we like. All bills come out of this too. Sometimes I spend more, sometimes he spends more."

4. Separate accounts - but the higher earner pays their partner an 'allowance'

If one partner is earning much more than the other, or one partner isn't earning for whatever reason, they could keep separate accounts and have the higher earner pay their partner an allowance. 

This would see them transfer an agreed amount each week or month to their partner's account.

Let us know how you and your partner talk about and split finances in the comments box - we'll feature some of the best next week

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Seeing the Future in with Video Conferencing Reading Answers

13 min read

Updated On Sep 26, 2023

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Table of Contents

• Reading Passage 

Seeing the Future in with Video Conferencing Reading Answers With Location and Explanation

Tips for answering the question types in the above reading passage.

• Also check: 

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

There are three sections in IELTS Reading and you will get 20 minutes for each passage. So, if you want to boost your confidence, begin by solving and reviewing passages like  Seeing the Future in with Video Conferencing Reading Answers  and similar passages.

The Academic passage,  Seeing the Future in with Video Conferencing Reading Answers,  is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test. If you want more passages to solve, try taking one of our IELTS reading practice tests.

There are 13 questions in  Seeing the Future in with Video Conferencing Reading Answers , which showcase two different IELTS Reading question types. They are:

• Matching Headings  (Q. 1-6)
• Multiple-Choice Questions  (Q. 7-13)

Do you have a book with everything from tips, strategies to Practice Tests

for IELTS Academic Reading? 

If not, check out the  IELTS Reading Academic Test Guide ! 

Reading Passage 

Seeing the future in with video conferencing.

A Video-conferencing (or Video teleconferencing-VTC) as a means of communication intra- and inter-business has essentially been possible since the dawn of television. But the early systems, first demonstrated in 1968, were in fact so prohibitively expensive and of such poor picture quality that they were not viable applications for general public use.

B However, in the 1980s, digital telephone networks like ISDN began to proliferate, so that by the 1990s the decrease in cost brought the equipment necessary for video-conferencing within the reach of the masses. The I990s also saw the arrival of IP (Internet Protocol) based video-conferencing with more efficient video compression technologies being introduced, thus permitting desktop, or personal computer (PC)-based video conferencing. VTC had come on the scene in a big way as free services, web plugins and software, such as NetMeeting, and MSN Messenger, Skype, and others brought cheap, albeit low quality, VTC to the public at large.

C Video-conferencing has been disparaged for the lack of eye-contact that can affect the efficacy of the medium and for the fact that participants can be camera conscious. But these obstacles are not insurmountable. The size of modern televisions along with the vast improvement in picture quality as a result of the arrival of the digital age has enhanced the potential of the latest video-conferencing equipment, going somewhat towards solving the former problem. Early studies by Alphonse Chapanis found that the addition of video hindered rather than improved communication. However, as with video and sound recording of meetings, interviews etc, awareness of the presence of the technology diminishes with time to the point that its presence is not felt. A further drawback common to all technology is the ever-present possibility of technical hitches. But in the end, video-conferencing is no different from any electronic device like a PC or a telephone and so in time, any problems will be ironed out.

D Conferencing by video has enhanced the performance of different organizations through its efficiency and effectiveness, saving both time and money for businesses and, in this carbon-conscious age, by the reduction in the environmental cost of business travel from one corner of the world to another. These apart, video-conferencing has an immediacy that is difficult to challenge. It is now essential in any work situation where organizations with employees on different sites or in different parts of the globe can contact each other rapidly. Like a telephone line permanently connected it is easy to dial up a colleague in seconds anywhere in the world.

E And what about the equipment? The equipment for video-conferencing is relatively straightforward to use. It has, in fact, been commonplace in the news media for a number of years as corporations have broadcast live from the back of a truck or van in news hotspots around the world. Two ISDN lines are needed at each location: one for video output and the other for video input; a high-quality camera with omnidirectional microphones or microphones which can be hand-held, clipped on, or central is required; and for data transfer, a LAN is also needed. And, of course, a television screen at each end is essential.

F The potential use of video-conferencing in the educational field has yet to be fully exploited. In this day and age when academic institutions are supposed to be more revenue-conscious and much more flexible, video-conferencing could be employed to bring business into the educational field and vice versa. The system can also be used to take expertise anywhere in the world. It is no longer necessary for experts to travel vast distances for conferences or to teach. In certain areas, say remote islands like the Outer Hebrides in Scotland or the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, where it may be difficult to find teachers in specialist subjects like languages, video conferencing is a perfect way to bring education within the reach of everyone. Video-conferencing is certainly not a panacea for every problem, not an end in itself, but a useful tool that can complement rather than supplant existing teaching methods.

G Like the electronic or smart whiteboard, whose introduction in the classroom has met with resistance, video-conferencing may take some time to become mainstream, if ever. But, perhaps with the mounting concern about our carbon footprint, the environment will ultimately be the biggest spur. A sobering thought is whether classrooms and offices of the future will consist solely of TV screens.

Check:  Free IELTS Online Tests 2023 | Practice IELTS Mock Test Online

Questions 1-6

Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G. 

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A and C-G from the list of headings below. 

Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i. Some criticisms of video-conferencing

ii. The future of conferencing by video

iii. The transmission of education to remote areas

iv. The first stages of video-conferencing

v. The necessity of having two TVs

vi. How video-conferencing can benefit organizations

vii. How video-conferencing became more accessible to the general public

viii. The various pieces of equipment needed

ix. The lack of exploitation of video-conferencing in education

1 Paragraph A

2 Paragraph C

3 Paragraph D

4 Paragraph E

5 Paragraph F

6 Paragraph G

Questions 7-9

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet.

7 Video-conferencing was not common initially because of

A the cost and poor image quality.

B poor advertising and marketing.

C  the lack of skilled technicians.

D constant electronic failures.

8 Video-conferencing became more practical on personal computers once

A the Internet became more widespread.

B the picture quality became perfect.

C the software became free for the general public.

D video compression technology worked better.

9 Video-conferencing has been attacked for

A several problems that cannot be solved.

B the lack of large TV screens.

C there not being direct eye contact.

D the failure of new digital technology.

Questions 10-12

Choose THREE letters A-F.

Write your answers in boxes 10-12 on your answer sheet. 

NB Your answers may be given in any order.

Which  THREE  of the following statements is true of video-conferencing?

A It is cost-effective for businesses to use.

B Operating VC equipment is not complicated.

C It will solve many problems in the classroom.

D More people now have the necessary skills to use video-conferencing.

E Modern equipment rarely breaks down.

F People in remote areas can have expertise taken to them.

10 …………………………….

11 ……………………………..

12 ……………………………..

Questions 13

Write your answer in box 13 on your answer sheet.

13 The writer concludes that the success of video-conferencing in the classroom

A is less likely than that of the whiteboard.

B will certainly be short-lived.

C may be linked to many unknown factors.

D may finally depend on the environment.

Want to discuss your IELTS queries with the best experts for FREE? 

All you have to do is  book your session  now! 

1 Answer: iv

Question type:  Matching Information

Answer location:  Paragraph A

Answer explanation:  In the first paragraph, it is stated that  “Video-conferencing (or Video teleconferencing-VTC) as a means of communication intra and inter-business has essentially been possible since the dawn of television. But the early systems, first demonstrated in 1968, were in fact so prohibitively expensive and of such poor picture quality that they were not viable applications for general public use.”.  From the keywords,  ‘early systems ’ and ‘ since the dawn of television ’ , it can be concluded that the first paragraph discusses the early stages of video-conferencing when it was expensive and the picture quality was not good. Hence, the answer is iv (The first stages of video-conferencing).

2 Answer: i

Answer location:  Paragraph C, line 1, line 4 & line 6

Answer explanation:  In the mentioned paragraph, it is given  “Video-conferencing has been disparaged for the lack of eye-contact that can affect the efficacy of the medium and for the fact that participants can be camera conscious. But these obstacles are not insurmountable….Early studies by Alphonse Chapanis found that the addition of video hindered rather than improved communication….A further drawback common to all technology is the ever-present possibility of technical hitches.”.  The above-mentioned sentences from Paragraph C lists the three criticisms of video-conferencing – the lack of eye contact affecting the efficacy of the medium, added feature of video hindered communication and technical glitches. Hence, the answer is i (Some criticisms of video-conferencing).

3 Answer: vi

Answer location:  Paragraph D

Answer explanation:  In the specified paragraph, it is given  “Conferencing by video has enhanced the performance of different organizations through its efficiency and effectiveness, saving both time and money for businesses…employees on different sites or in different parts of the globe can contact each other rapidly.   ”.   In other words, the fourth paragraph of this passage states the various ways in which video-conferencing has helped organization. It saves time and money, helps to prevent environmental pollution and increases efficiency and effectiveness. Hence, the answer is vi (How video-conferencing can benefit organizations) . 

4 Answer: viii

Answer location:  Paragraph E

Answer explanation:  The fifth paragraph begins with the question “ And what about the equipment? ”.  It points out that this particular paragraph deals with the various equipment required for video-conferencing, namely Two ISDN lines, a high-quality camera, a television screen at both ends and for data transfer, a LAN. Hence, the answer is viii (The various pieces of equipment needed).

5 Answer: ix

Answer location:  Paragraph F

Answer explanation:  Through a first sentence of the sixth paragraph,  “The potential use of video-conferencing in the educational field has yet to be fully exploited.” , it can be concluded that this paragraph refers to the various ways in which video-conferencing is yet to be used to benefit everyone in the education sector like expanding its scope through business, allowing teachers to reach out to difficult parts of the world without traveling and connecting with experts all over the world. Hence, the answer is ix (The lack of exploitation of video-conferencing in education).

6 Answer: ii

Answer location:  Paragraph G

Answer explanation:  In the concluding paragraph, it is written  “…video-conferencing may take some time to become mainstream, if ever…A sobering thought is whether classrooms and offices of the future will consist solely of TV screens.”.  It points out the fact that the passage ends with a discussion on the future of video-conferencing, whether it will become mainstream and if it will benefit education and business. Hence, the answer is ii (The future of conferencing by video).

7 Answer: A

Question type:  Multiple-Choice Question

Answer location:  Paragraph A, line 2

Answer explanation:  In Paragraph A, it is said that  “But the early systems, first demonstrated in 1968, were in fact so prohibitively expensive and of such poor picture quality that they were not viable applications for general public use.”.  This indicates that video-conferencing was not common ( not viable applications ) initially ( early systems ) because of the high cost ( prohibitively expensive ) and poor picture ( image ) quality. Hence, the answer is A (the cost and poor image quality).

8 Answer: D

Answer location:  Paragraph B, line 2

Answer explanation:  The following line – The I990s also saw the arrival of IP (Internet Protocol) based video-conferencing with more efficient video compression technologies being introduced, thus permitting desktop, or personal computer (PC)-based video conferencing. – establishes the fact that the introduction of the efficient video compression technologies helped video-conferencing to become more practical on personal computers. Hence, the answer is D (video compression technology worked better).

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9 Answer: C

Answer location:  Paragraph C, line 1

Answer explanation:  In the specific line, it is mentioned that  “Video-conferencing has been disparaged for the lack of eye-contact that can affect the efficacy of the medium and for the fact that participants can be camera conscious.” . In other words, the writer has stated that the lack of eye-contact reduces effectiveness of video-conferencing and it is one of the reasons for the criticism of this medium. Hence, the answer is C (there not being direct eye contact).

10 Answer: A

Answer location:  Paragraph D, line 1

Answer explanation:  In Paragraph D, it is stated that  “Conferencing by video has enhanced the performance of different organizations through its efficiency and effectiveness, saving both time and money for businesses…”.  From this quoted line, we can conclude that video-conferencing has benefitted organizations as it saves time and money ( cost effective ). Hence, the answer is A (It is cost-effective for businesses to use.).

11 Answer: B

Answer location:  Paragraph E, line 2

Answer explanation:  The given line specifies that  “The equipment for video-conferencing is relatively straightforward to use.”.  It is indicated that operating the equipment for video-conferencing is not complicated ( relatively straightforward ). Hence, the answer is B (Operating VC equipment is not complicated.).

12 Answer: F

Answer location:  Paragraph F, line 3 & line 5

Answer explanation:  In the quoted lines, it is mentioned that  “The system can also be used to take expertise anywhere in the world…In certain areas, say remote islands like the Outer Hebrides in Scotland or the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, where it may be difficult to find teachers in specialist subjects like languages, video conferencing is a perfect way to bring education within the reach of everyone.” . It can be inferred that video-conferencing can help connect teachers to students from remote areas of the world. It will give people in remote areas access to quality education without travelling. Hence, the answer is F (People in remote areas can have expertise taken to them.).

13 Answer: D

Answer location:  Paragraph G, line 2

Answer explanation:  In the specified line, it is mentioned that  “But, perhaps with the mounting concern about our carbon footprint, the environment will ultimately be the biggest spur.”.  It is indicated that even with the various benefits of video-conferencing, it will take time to become mainstream as it finally depends on the approval of the environment ( environment will ultimately be the biggest spur ). Hence, the answer is D (may finally depend on the environment).

Now that you know the answers of Seeing The Future In With Video Conferencing Reading Answers with location, it is time to check out some quick tips to answer the types of questions in the  Seeing The Future In With Video Conferencing Reading Answers.

Matching Headings: 

You must match the heading in this type of question to the appropriate paragraph or reading segment in the text. Your ability to figure out the paragraph’s key concept and its supporting ideas will be put to the test.

• Take your time to  rephrase the potential headings’ keywords .
• Find the main idea  by scanning and skimming the paragraphs. Sometimes the essential idea of the paragraph is expressed in the header.
• For clarification on the paragraph’s main idea,  see the first and last sentences . Likewise,  quickly scan the middle  of the paragraph to make sure you comprehend it.
• Don’t try to match words . Your primary goal is to  match a correct paragraph .
• Choose the heading that best fits the paragraph  after reading it again if two seem to be appropriate.
• The  number of headings will always be greater than the number of paragraphs  or sections, therefore some headings will never be utilized.

Check out:   How to Finish 3 IELTS Reading Comprehension in Less Than 60 Mins?

Multiple-Choice Questions:

You will be given a reading passage followed by several questions based on the information in the paragraph in multiple-choice questions. Your task is to understand the question and compare it to the paragraph in order to select the best solution from the available possibilities.

• Before reading the passage,  read the question and select the keywords . Check the keyword possibilities if the question statement is short on information.
• Then, using the keywords,  read the passage  to find the relevant information.
• To select the correct option,  carefully read the relevant words  and match them with each option.
• You will find several options with  keywords  that do not correspond to the information.
• Try opting for the  elimination method  mostly.
• Find the best option by  matching the meaning rather than just the keywords .

To learn more, check  How to solve Multiple Choice Question Types in IELTS Reading

Also check: 

• Reflecting On The Mirror, Effort And Science To Win, Fueling The Future – IELTS Reading Answers
• Working in the movies, Complementary and alternative medicine, The cloud messenger Reading Answers | IELTSMaterial.com
• Our Vanishing Night, Is there a psychologist in the building?, Have Teenagers Always Existed? Reading Answers
• Driverless Cars Reading Answer | IELTSMaterial.com
• The Concept of Intelligence Reading Answers || IELTSMaterial 2023
• Western Immigration of Canada – IELTS Reading Answers
• In the Future all Cars, Buses and Trucks will be Driverless- IELTS Writing Task 2 | IELTSMaterial.com

Practice IELTS Reading based on question types

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What’s your VO2 max? The answer could transform your health.

This key metric reflects how much oxygen your body uses during a workout. But it isn’t just for athletes—your VO2 max is a critical indicator for your future health and longevity.

When it comes to physical fitness, different activities demand different metrics. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) enthusiasts track heart rates, runners and cyclists monitor speed and mileage, and strength trainers count repetitions and weights. Yet, there’s another crucial metric worth considering: VO2 max.

“VO2 max measures the capacity of your body to consume oxygen during a given exercise,” says Jayson Gifford , an exercise physiology professor at Brigham Young University. It involves multiple body systems, including your lungs, arteries, and brain. A 2016 meta-regression and meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Exercise Science called it “the strongest predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.” But is it truly the gold standard when it comes to your athletic performance?  

What is the best measure of physical fitness?  

“In terms of aerobic performance, it’s a fantastic estimate of performance,” Gifford says. Athletes and active individuals typically have higher VO2 max levels , which helps them excel in cardiovascular activities like running and cycling.

However, only tracking this measurement would be a mistake. “Your VO2 max is extremely important for performance, but it’s not the only determinant,” Gifford says.  

Consider Paula Radcliffe, the British long-distance runner who previously held the women’s marathon world record. Her VO2 max was 70 ml/kg/min in 1990, 1995, and 2003—the year she set the record. Despite her VO2 max remaining constant, her performance improved.  

( What lifting weights does to your body—and your mind .)

Gifford says you must look at your VO2 max with two other important metrics: your lactate threshold and critical power. Your lactate threshold is the highest intensity you can sustain before lactic acid buildup causes fatigue. Critical power marks the transition between sustainable and unsustainable exercise,   according to a 2022 article published in the Journal of Applied Physiology that Gifford co-authored. Like your lactate threshold, going above your critical power will cause you to fatigue quickly.

Athletes with the same VO2 max may perform differently if one has a higher lactate threshold or critical power.   Examining these three metrics gives you the best holistic understanding of your athletic performance.  

Why VO2 max is a crucial metric for longevity  

VO2 max isn’t just about athletic performance; it’s also vital for health and longevity.  

“It’s the gold standard for determining your cardiorespiratory fitness, which is just a fancy way of saying how in shape you are,” says Nicole Harkin , a preventive cardiologist and founder of Whole Heart Cardiology. While primarily studied in athletes and those with cardiovascular diseases, VO2 max is also a key metric for the general population to understand their mortality risk.  

( Here’s why running is the ultimate cardiovascular sport. )

Gifford adds that it is the best predictor of future health outcomes, including early mortality, cardiovascular disease, and even Alzheimer’s disease. “Having a low VO2 max has about the same cardiovascular risk as smoking,” he says.  

Research supports this: a 2018 review in Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark named VO2 max the strongest predictor of life expectancy. In 2016, the American Heart Association recommended incorporating VO2 max into clinical evaluations for its predictive value.

Even slight increases in VO2 max can significantly impact longevity and health. “For every milliliter per kilo per minute increase from your personal baseline, you decrease, on average, your risk of all-cause mortality, which means dying from anything—heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, infections—by 10 percent,” Harkin says.  

How to increase your VO2 max

To increase your VO2 max, you’ll also want to make sure that you’re layering in some HIIT or vigorous exercise with that more moderate-intensity cardio. Harkin suggests aiming for 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly. Addressing cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure or cholesterol, also helps.

But Gifford warns to be cautious of fitness watches, which often overestimate VO2 max. For a more accurate reading, consider exercise testing with an exercise physiologist or cardiologist (with your physician’s approval).

( Swimming just might be the best exercise out there. Here’s why .)

Understanding your VO2 max will allow you to gauge your current level of cardiovascular health and fitness and build upon it. While it’s a great metric to target, don’t be discouraged by exercises or activities that fail to push the needle.  

In a study Gifford conducted, a subject trained for eight weeks—and his VO2 max didn’t increase at all. But his lactate threshold and critical power did, as did the length of time he could ride a bike at 10 miles per hour. “So if you just had the idea that VO2 max is the only thing, you’d really miss a lot of it,” Gifford says.  

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• Full IELTS Practice Tests
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Space Travel and Health

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Solution for: Space Travel and Health

Answer table.

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A. Space biomedicine is a relatively new area of research both in the USA and in Europe. Its main objectives are to study the effects of space travel on the human body, identifying the most critical medical problems, and finding solutions to those problems. Space biomedicine centers are receiving increasing direct support from NASA and/or the European Space Agency (ESA).

B. This involvement of NASA and the ESA reflects growing concern that the feasibility of travel to other planets, and beyond, is no longer limited by engineering constraints but by what the human body can actually withstand. The discovery of ice on Mars, for instance, means that there is now no necessity to design and develop a spacecraft large and powerful enough to transport the vast amounts of water needed to sustain the crew throughout journeys that may last many years. Without the necessary protection and medical treatment, however, their bodies would be devastated by the unremittingly hostile environment of space.

C. The most obvious physical changes undergone by people in zero gravity are essentially harmless; in some cases, they are even amusing. The blood and other fluids are no longer dragged down towards the feet by the gravity of Earth, so they accumulate higher up in the body, creating what is sometimes called ‘fat face`, together with the contrasting ‘chicken legs’ syndrome as the lower limbs become thinner.

D. Much more serious are the unseen consequences after months or years in space. With no gravity, there is less need for a sturdy skeleton to support the body, with the result that the bones weaken, releasing calcium into the bloodstream. This extra calcium can overload the kidneys, leading ultimately to renal failure. Muscles too lose strength through lack of use. The heart becomes smaller, losing the power to pump oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, while the lungs lose the capacity to breathe fully. The digestive system becomes less efficient, a weakened immune system is increasingly unable to prevent diseases and the high levels of solar and cosmic radiation can cause various forms of cancer.

E. To make matters worse, a wide range of medical difficulties can arise in the case of an accident or serious illness when the patient is millions of kilometers from Earth. There is simply not enough room available inside a space vehicle to include all the equipment from a hospital’s casualty unit, some of which would not work properly in space anyway. Even basic things such as a drip depend on gravity to function, while standard resuscitation techniques become ineffective if sufficient weight cannot be applied. The only solution seems to be to create extremely small medical tools and ‘smart` devices that can, for example, diagnose and treat internal injuries using ultrasound. The cost of designing and producing this kind of equipment is bound to be, well, astronomical.

F. Such considerations have led some to question the ethics of investing huge sums of money to help a handful of people who, after all, are willingly risking their own health in outer space, when so much needs to be done a lot closer to home. It is now clear, however, that every problem of space travel has a parallel problem on Earth that will benefit from the knowledge gained and the skills developed from space biomedical research. For instance, the very difficulty of treating astronauts in space has led to rapid progress in the field of telemedicine, which in turn has brought about developments that enable surgeons to communicate with patients in inaccessible parts of the world. To take another example, systems invented to sterilize wastewater onboard spacecraft could be used by emergency teams to filter contaminated water at the scene of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. In the same way, miniature monitoring equipment, developed to save weight in space capsules, will eventually become tiny monitors that patients on Earth can wear without discomfort wherever they go.

G. Nevertheless, there is still one major obstacle to carrying out studies into the effects of space travel: how to do so without going to the enormous expense of actually working in space. To simulate conditions in zero gravity, one tried and tested method is to work underwater, but the space biomedicine centers are also looking at other ideas. In one experiment, researchers study the weakening of bones that results from prolonged inactivity. This would involve volunteers staying in bed for three months, but the center concerned is confident there should be no great difficulty in finding people willing to spend twelve weeks lying down.AII in the name of science, of course.

Questions 1-5

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E and G from the list of headings below. Write the correct member (i-x) in boxes 1—5 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i. The problem of dealing with emergencies in space ii. How space biomedicine can help patients on Earth iii. Why accidents are so common in outer space iv. What is space biomedicine? v. The psychological problems of astronauts vi. Conducting space biomedical research on Earth vii. The internal damage caused to the human body by space travel viii. How space biomedicine First began ix. The visible effects of space travel on the human body x. Why space biomedicine is now necessary

Example Paragraph A Answer iv 1 i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x Paragraph B Answer: x 2 i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x Paragraph C Answer: ix 3 i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x Paragraph D Answer: vii 4 i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x Paragraph E Answer: i Example Paragraph F Answer ii 5 i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x Paragraph G Answer: vi

Questions 6-7

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. 6. Where, apart from Earth, can space travelers find water?  6 Answer: (ON/FROM) MARS 7. What happens to human legs during space travel?  7 Answer: THEY BECOME THINNER

Questions 8-12

Do the following statements agree with the writer’s views in Reading Passage?  Write YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer NO, if the state does not agree with the views of the writer NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

8 YES NO NOT GIVEN The obstacles to going far into space are now medical, not technological. Answer: YES 9 YES NO NOT GIVEN Astronauts cannot survive more than two years in space. Answer: NOT GIVEN 10 YES NO NOT GIVEN It is morally wrong to spend so much money on space biomedicine. Answer: NO 11 YES NO NOT GIVEN Some kinds of surgery are more successful when performed in space. Answer: NOT GIVEN 12 YES NO NOT GIVEN Space biomedical research can only be done in space. Answer: NO

Questions 13-14

Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer

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The Plan to Bring an Asteroid to Earth

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The history of dolls.

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• 5 - Summary, form completion

The Bite That Heat

• 5 - TRUE-FALSE-NOT GIVEN
• 4 - Sentence Completion
• 4 - Summary, form completion

The dugong: sea cow

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We’re in debt to the Earth. How can we repay it?

"earth overshoot day" reminds us that humans consume more resources than the planet can provide. correcting that requires reimagining human behavior..

On Christmas Day 1971, for the first time in Homo sapiens’ roughly 300,000 years of hobbling about, humanity’s demands on the Earth exceeded what the planet could provide in a year. That practice has continued, and worsened, for the last half century.

Since the early 2000s, the nonprofit Global Footprint Network has calculated what it calls “ Earth Overshoot Day ,” the date on which we outstrip our resources each year. At present, human society consumes resources at a rate that would take 1.75 Earths to sustain. So, from August 1 of this year onward, everything we consume adds to our collective debt. In the language of ecological economists: We’re in overshoot.

The date itself is a handy construct, meant to illuminate a larger problem — in reality, the Earth does not reset each year. In the science of planetary accounting, overshoot is more like charging groceries to a credit card after you already blew your monthly budget shopping online. It can’t go on forever. Eventually, those bills come due.

The debt we accrue manifests in three main ways: Waste accumulates , resources deplete, and ecosystems degrade . As these impacts grow, Earth’s ability to regenerate diminishes — what that means in the long run remains unclear, but seems likely that the consequences will grow more severe as our debts mount. “We still do live off the land,” said David Lin, the chief science officer at the Global Footprint Network. Modern life makes that easy to forget — removed, as most are, from the touch and scent of soil and crop. The concept of overshoot was, in a sense, developed to remind us of the demands we place on the land.

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Two researchers at the University of British Columbia, Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, created a metric called the ecological footprint in the early 1990s and, along with it, the idea of overshoot. They intended for this to be a “comprehensive sustainability metric,” encompassing not just a single dimension like greenhouse gas emissions, but the full scope of human impacts on the planet. Wackernagel went on to co-found the Global Footprint Network to track and, hopefully, end the overshoot his metric had revealed.

Today, York University’s Ecological Footprint Initiative has taken over responsibility for aggregating and maintaining all the data required to track, estimate, and project, for every nation around the world, the metrics that can be used to understand and correct overshoot. These metrics include ecological footprint — which describes the cumulative impact, including carbon emissions, of humanity’s urban and industrial activities like logging, fishing, farming, building, and mining — and biocapacity, which reflects the abilities of forests, fish stocks, soils, landscapes, and mountainsides to recover from human demands. Comparing these two metrics determines if we’re in overshoot territory and, if we are, how bad it is. 

Crunching these numbers is no simple task. “We stitched together about 47 million rows of input data to generate the system,” said Eric Miller, the environmental economist who directs the Ecological Footprint Initiative, with results going as far back as 1961.

From those tables, the Global Footprint Network and Miller’s team show not just how much we have blown past our planetary budget this year, but also a running total of our debt. And while the date of Overshoot Day has remained comparably stable for the past decade, the debts keep piling up. At the moment, the Global Footprint Network estimates that our debt totals 20.5 Earth-years. So, were all human activity to cease at this moment, the planet would not finish repairing itself from all the harms we’ve done to it until 2045.

Miller noted that discussing things in terms of ecological footprint and overshoot both helps quantify the problem of overconsumption and creates the space to discuss comprehensive solutions to the overlapping ecological crises confronting the planet. It “implies not only reducing absolute emissions,” Miller said, “but also changing the way we use lands and waters.” For instance, it can help us understand how certain climate solutions, like biofuels for aviation, might solve one problem — namely, carbon emissions — while introducing others, like harvesting crops to feed planes instead of people.

From the viewpoint of the ecological footprint, climate change is not the core crisis. Instead, it is merely a symptom of overshoot, in which the waste gases of our overactive industries stockpile in the atmosphere and warm the planet. Biodiversity loss is another symptom of overshoot. As are soil degradation, deforestation, water scarcity, and more.

Yet, though the United Nations climate secretariat has published blog posts about Earth overshoot , the subject has yet to appear in international agreements or national policies. The various commitments that have been drafted and adopted at international, national, state, local, and even corporate levels have placed the emphasis on planet-warming pollution. “So, understandably,” said Miller, “the world is a bit more gripped with the question of greenhouse gas emissions.” 

But only attempting to fight the symptoms of overshoot didn’t make sense to Phoebe Barnard, a global change scientist affiliated with the University of Washington. “We all need to be talking about the root causes and becoming aware of them so we can work on them,” she said. She co-founded a nonprofit called the Stable Planet Alliance with two colleagues to focus on the issue of ecological overshoot, as well as the behaviors and practices that have created the problem.

“We think that the Earth is put here as a food pantry for humanity, or that resources are there for our private profit,” Barnard said, “rather than as gifts that the Earth has given us.”

Barnard and her colleagues argue that tackling overshoot requires addressing harmful behaviors and beliefs, like the pursuit of perpetual growth and profit.

They place a particular focus on marketing as both a cause of the problem and a potential solution. The marketing industry has so far acted as an engine of overconsumption by making people yearn for things they had neither the need nor preexisting desire for. But, Barnard said, “What if we could use the means of the marketing industry — which has got the science of behavior change down to a T — to reverse engineer humanity out of its cul-de-sac at the edge of the cliff?”

Global Footprint Network’s approach includes not only raising awareness around Earth Overshoot Day, but also its #MoveTheDate campaign , which promotes actions to reduce overshoot (and “move the date” of Earth Overshoot Day nearer to year’s end). These include promoting things like ecosystem restoration, 15-minute cities , green electricity, and regenerative agriculture. While these overlap significantly with typical climate solutions, discussing these actions in terms of overshoot underscores the fact that we cannot pursue endless growth as we chase aspirations for owning more, nicer stuff to achieve ever greater standards of living.

Both the Global Footprint Network and Barnard also tackle a controversial element that they say is essential to combatting overshoot — population growth and pronatalism, as Barnard and her colleagues describe the desire to expand human populations. In a post for Earth Overshoot Day, Global Footprint Network co-founder Wackernagel acknowledged the “cruel” history of efforts to limit population growth, but argued for reframing the discussion “in a compassionate and productive direction” that also uplifts and advances sex and gender equality. 

“Let’s take that conversation away from the old white men who’ve been dominating the conversation, and get women around the world to talk about it,” Barnard said. She pointed out that educating girls and women is often enough to bend birth rates downward, and promote a myriad of other benefits .

But ultimately, the biggest challenge in tackling overshoot — just as with tackling its symptoms like climate change — comes not from understanding the problem or the range of solutions that exist, but implementing them. After all, when we consider what it would take to reduce overshoot and repay our ecological debt, it’s a lot like wondering what you can do to fix your personal finances. “You can ask that in a mathematical sense,” said Lin, the Global Footprint Network scientist. But for each possibility, he added, “Can you do that? Are you willing to do that?” That’s the question.

• Can we ‘decouple’ emissions from economic growth? These economists say no.
• Meet the students of the world’s first master’s degree in degrowth
• How to build a zero-waste economy

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Heat pumps are expensive. What if billionaires bought them for everyone?

What defines a heat wave the answer could decide where disaster dollars go., in georgia, companies want to cut emissions. utilities are holding them back., how forecasts of bad weather can drive up your grocery bill, illinois legislature puts the brakes on a carbon capture boom, recent supreme court decisions are already slowing climate progress, research shows that what you call climate change doesn’t matter much, the rural americans too poor for federal flood protections, for florida corals, unprecedented marine heat prompts new restoration strategy — on shore, modal gallery.

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READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

BEEN THERE; DONE THAT – IN ZERO GRAVITY

Until recently, only nation-states and their agencies were capable of sending satellites and astronauts into space. We’ve all heard of NASA, ESA, and the ISS (International Space Station), but now some private firms are challenging those institutions. The question is: are these companies merely chasing tourist dollars, or will their space exploration benefit humanity?

Currently, there are at least four big American and two British companies involved in the new space race – the mission to send tourists to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. There they can experience the thrills of weightlessness and the marvellous sight of our planet so far away.

One such company, Blue Origin, was founded by Jeff Bezos. The billionaire Bezos was the man behind Amazon, America’s largest online retailer. The main project of Blue Origin is a vertical take-off and landing rocket, designed exclusively for tourism.

Armadillo Aerospace was also set up by a well-known American: John Carmack. He gave the world the video games Doom and Quake. Armadillo is developing a similar spacecraft to that of Blue Origin. Fares for suborbital trips will start at around $100,000. Although the spacecraft is still in the testing stage, a travel agency, Space Adventures, has signed a deal with Armadillo to sell seats.

A cheaper alternative to Armadillo’s trip may be a ride on a Lynx spacecraft. This is the brainchild of Jeff Greason, of XCOR Aerospace. This company subcontracts for NASA and is well known for producing reliable craft. Its new tourist spacecraft can take off and land on a runway at a civilian airport. It may be able to make four daily suborbital flights but will carry only one passenger each time.

Richard Branson, a British entrepreneur, is planning to start space-tourist flights on his Virgin Galactic craft. These will carry six passengers, paying up to $200,000 for their space thrill. Once thrust upwards, the craft will head for the edge of the atmosphere. The whole journey will last just a few minutes.

Starchaser, a company headed by Briton, Steve Bennet, hopes its rockets will offer a more enduring experience – a 20-minute flight, several minutes of which will be spent in zero gravity.

But probably the most impressive private space company is SpaceX. This was set up by Elon Musk, an internet entrepreneur born in South Africa. Musk made his fortune creating PayPal, which eBay bought from him for $1.5bn. While anyone else with that kind of money may well have retired, Musk works 100 hours a week at his Los Angeles rocket factory, intent on realising his dream.

For Musk, space travel is not just about ticking things off in a Lonely Planet guidebook. He believes the future of humanity lies in its ability to colonise other planets. Since his days as a student at Penn State University, he has been passionate about the future. He is certainly living on other planets is the only way humans can prevent self-destruction or save themselves from a catastrophic event like the impact of a large meteorite.

Musk established SpaceX in 2002. Yet within only seven years, it had launched a satellite from its rocket, Falcon 1. By contrast, agencies like NASA and ESA take decades to achieve similar feats. In 2010, SpaceX sent its much larger Falcon 9 rocket into space. The next venture is to provide a taxi service to the ISS with Dragon, a small shuttle that Falcon 9 launches. This will deliver cargo and astronauts to the station. Dragon is radically different in design from the existing Shuttle, and far less costly.

In fact, before building Falcon and Dragon, Musk thoroughly researched the costs of building and launching rockets. He could not understand why government agencies spent so much money on these activities, and he concluded, quite simply, that they were inefficient. To prove his theory, SpaceX has produced the Merlin engine, which is elegantly designed, extremely powerful, and relatively cheap. It runs on highly refined kerosene that costs half the price of other rocket fuel. In most of SpaceX’s spacecraft, parts are re-usable, an innovation in the industry. There are also fewer stages in rocket transformation. That is: there are fewer times a rocket separates into smaller parts. All of this means spacecraft can be produced at a fraction of the cost of competitors while maintaining the same high safety standards.

Musk maintains that the Falcon 9, a rocket that carries astronauts, is so powerful it could already reach Mars if it were assembled in Earth’s orbit. He believes this technological advance will occur within 20 years – something most experts consider unlikely. Moreover, he firmly believes living on Mars is possible within the lifetime of his children. For him, the new space race is not only about selling tickets for a mind-blowing ride, but also about securing the future of our species.

For other private companies, however, there is no urge to invest heavily in missions to distant planets. Making a profit at the high end of the tourist market here on Earth is their only goal.

Questions 1-4

Reading Passage 1 has five sections: A-E .

Choose the correct heading for sections B-E from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-vii , in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i            To colonise or generate revenue?

ii           The big six

iii         NASA spends too much

iv          It’s not rocket science

v           Public or private spacecraft?

vi          Why Americans dominate

vii         An idealist and a realist  

Example          Answer

Section A        v  

1    Section B

2    Section C

3    Section D

4    Section E

Questions 5-9

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND / OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.

5   A ticket on one of Armadillo Aerospace’s trips into space is likely to cost …………………… .

6   A single passenger will journey on a(n) ………………….. spacecraft.

7   A ride on Virgin Galactic will take only …………………… minutes.

8   On a Starchaser spacecraft, a passenger will experience ……………………… minutes of weightlessness.

9   Elon Musk sold ………………….. , and set up SpaceX, which builds rockets.

Questions 10-13

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 23-27 on your answer sheet, write:

TRUE                if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE               if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN      if there is no information on this

10    Musk is a keen supporter of human settlement in space.

11    Overall, SpaceX’s rockets are faster than its competitors.

12    Musk believes a manned spacecraft will reach Mars within 20 years.

13    Most private space companies share Musk’s enthusiasm for distant space travel.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26  which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.  

BRAND LOYALTY RUNS DEEP

At almost any supermarket in Sydney, Australia, food from all over the world fills the shelves. Perhaps you fancy some Tick Tock Rooibos tea made in South Africa, or some Maharaja’s Choice Rogan Josh sauce from India. Alongside local Foster’s beer, Chinese Tsingtao and Indonesian Bintang are both to be found. For homesick Britons, the confectionary aisle is stocked with Mars Bars and Bountys, while for pining Poles sweets manufactured by firms like Wawel or Solidarposc are available. Restaurants in Sydney range from Afghan to Zambian, catering for different ethnic groups as well as the rest of the curious general public.

All of this variety is a result of population movement and changes in global trade, and, to a lesser extent, reduced production and transportation costs. While Australia can claim around 40% of its population as the first generation, other countries, like Switzerland, may have fewer international migrants, but still, have people who move from city to city in search of work. Even since the 1990s, taxes or tariffs on imported goods have decreased dramatically. The World Trade Organisation, for example, has promulgated the idea of zero tariffs, which has been adopted into legislation by many member states. It is estimated that within a century, agriculture worldwide has increased its efficiency five-fold. Faster and better-integrated road and rail services, containerisation, and the ubiquitous aeroplane have sped up transport immeasurably.

Even with this rise in the availability of non-local products, recent studies suggest that supermarkets should do more to increase their number to match more closely the proportion of shoppers from those countries or regions. Thus, if 10% of a supermarket’s customers originate in Vietnam, there ought to be 10% Vietnamese products in store. If Americans from southern states dominate in one northern neighbourhood, southern brands should also be conspicuous. Admittedly, there are already specialist shops that cater to minority groups, but minorities do frequent supermarkets.

Two separate studies by Americans Bart Bronnenberg and David Atkin have found that brand loyalty (choosing Maharaja’s Choice over Patak’s, or Cadbury’s over Nestlé) is not only determined by advertising, but also by a consumer’s past. If a product featured in a person’s early life in one place, then, as a migrant, he or she is likely to buy that same product even though it is more expensive than an otherwise identical locally-produced one.

In the US context, between 2006 and 2008, Bronnenberg analysed data from 38,000 families who had bought 238 different kinds of packaged goods. Although the same brands could be found across America, there were clear differences in what people purchased. In general, there were two leading brands in each kind of packaged good, but there were smaller brands that assumed a greater proportion of consumers’ purchases than was statistically likely. One explanation for this is that 16% of people surveyed came from interstate, and these people preferred products from their home states. Over time, they did buy more products from their adopted state, but, surprisingly, it took two decades for their brand loyalty to halve. Even people who had moved interstate 50 years previously maintained a preference for home-state brands. It seems the habits of food buying change more slowly than we think.

Bronnenberg’s findings were confirmed by Atkin’s in India although there was something more unexpected that Atkin discovered. Firstly, during the period of his survey, the cost of all consumables rose considerably in India. As a result, families reduced their spending on food, and their calorific intake fell accordingly. It is also worth noting that although India is one country, states impose tariffs or taxes on products from other Indian states, ensuring that locally-produced goods remain cheaper. As in the US, internal migrants bought food from their native place even when it was considerably more expensive than local alternatives, and at a time when you might expect families to be economising. This element made the brand-loyalty theory even more convincing.

There is one downside to these findings. In relatively closed economies, such as India’s, people develop tastes that they take with them wherever they go; in a more globalised economy, such as America’s, what people eat may be more varied, but still dependent on early exposure to brands. Therefore, according to both researchers, more advertising may now be directed at minors since brand loyalty is established in childhood and lasts a lifetime. In a media-driven world where children are already bombarded with information, their parents may not consider appropriate yet more advertising is hardly welcome.

For supermarkets, this means that wherever there are large communities of expatriates or immigrants, it is essential to calculate the demographics carefully in order to supply those shoppers with their favourite brands as in light of Atkin and Bronnenberg’s research, advertising and price are not the sole motivating factors for purchase as was previously thought.

Questions 14-18

Choose the correct letter: A , B , C , or D .

Write the correct letter in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14    In this article, the writer refers to food products that are sold

A    at markets.

B    wholesale.

C    online.

D    retail.

15    In Sydney, shoppers can buy beer from

A    China and Indonesia.

B    India and South Africa.

C    Poland.

D    Vietnam.

16    The greater variety of goods and brands now available is mainly due to:

A    cheaper production and more migration.

B    changes in migration and international trade.

C    cheaper production and transport.

D    changes in migration and transport.

17    The writer thinks supermarkets ………… should change their products slightly.

A    in Australia

B    in India and the US

C    in Switzerland

D    worldwide

18    The writer suggests that:

A    the quality of products at specialist shops will always be better than at supermarkets.

B    specialist shops will close down because supermarkets will be cheaper.

C    specialist shops already supply minority groups, so supermarkets shouldn’t bother.

D    specialist shops already supply minority groups, yet supermarkets should compete with them.

Question 19

Which chart below – A , B , or C – best describes the relationship between shoppers at one Sydney supermarket, and what research suggests that same supermarket should sell?

Write your answer in box 19 on your answer sheet.

Questions 20-26

Which study/studies do the following statements relate to?

In boxes 20-26 on your answer sheet, write:

A          if the information relates only to Atkin’s study

B          if the information relates only to Bronnenberg’s study

C          if the information relates to both Atkin’s and Bronnenberg’s studies

20    There was a correlation between brands a shopper used in childhood, and his or her

preferences as an adult.

21    One reason for the popularity of smaller brands was that many people surveyed came

from another state where those brands were bigger.

22    Even living in a new state for a very long time did not mean that shoppers chose new

23    In general, food became more expensive during the time of the study. Despite this,

families bought favourite brands and ate less.

24    Taxes on products from other states also increased the cost of food. This did not stop

migrants from buying what they were used to.

25    Children may be the target of more food advertising now.

26    Advertising and price were once thought to be the main reasons for buying products. This

theory has been modified now.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Diprotodon, human, Pleistocene & modern wombat skeletons

Imagine a bird three times the size of an ostrich, or a burrowing animal as big as an elephant. How about a kangaroo three metres tall? Such creatures were all Australian megafauna, alive during the Pleistocene.1

Fifteen million years ago, 55 species of megafauna were widespread in Australia, the largest of which was the marsupial2 diprotodon, weighing around 2700 kilograms (5952 lb). Giant snakes, crocodiles, and birds were also common. Wombats and kangaroos reached more than 200 kg (440 lb), and even koalas weighed 16 kg (35 lb). Then, rather suddenly, around 46 thousand years ago (46 kyr), all these animals became extinct. Some scientists claim this was due to environmental pressures, like climate change or fire; others favour predation.3

At the end of the Pleistocene, humans reached Australia via Indonesia, and, according to the archaeological record, by 45 kyr their settlement was widespread. One hundred and sixty archaeological sites in Australia and New Guinea have been much surveyed. There is some disagreement about the dates of these sites; meantime, a forceful movement aims to push human settlement back before 45 kyr.

Dating the rare bones of megafauna was highly controversial until 20 years ago when a technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was developed. With OSL, the age of minerals up to 200 kyr can be established with + / – 10% accuracy.

The largest OSL dating of megafauna was carried out in 2001 by Roberts, who put the extinction date for megafauna at around 46 kyr, very early on in the time of human habitation.

Megafaunal bones are rare enough, but, at archaeological sites with human habitation, they are extremely rare with fewer than 10% of the 160 sites containing them. Bones that show cutting, burning, or deliberate breaking by humans are virtually non-existent, and thus far, not one megafaunal skeleton shows conclusively an animal was killed by humans. There are no ‘kill sites’ either whereas, in New Zealand, where the giant moa bird became extinct in the 18th century due to hunting, there are sites with hundreds of slaughtered creatures. As a result, many scientists still believe that humans were not responsible for megafaunal extinction – especially as the weapons of Australian Aborigines at 45 kyr were only wooden clubs and spears.

There is, perhaps, a cultural record of megafauna in Aboriginal myths. The Adnyamathanha people of South Australia tell of the Yamuti, something like a diprotodon. An ancient rock painting in Arnhem Land shows an extinct giant echidna. But this record is small and open to interpretation.

If the Aborigines were not technologically advanced enough to kill them, what else might have destroyed megafauna? One theory has been climate change – perhaps there was a relatively hot, dry period between 60-40 kyr. Research suggests otherwise. Indeed, at 40 kyr, the climate was moderate, and Lake Eyre, in central Australia, grew. If there was desertification, scientists would expect megafauna to have moved towards the coast, looking for food and water, but instead, the fossil record details an equal distribution of the dead inland and on the coast.

In addition, changes in specific vegetation occurred after the extinction of the megafauna. Trees that relied on large animals to eat their fruit and disperse their seed covered far smaller areas of Australia post 40 kyr. These plants were not threatened by climate change; rather, they died off because their megafaunal partners had already gone.

Typically, climate change affects almost all species in an area. Yet, around 46 kyr, only the megafauna died. Previously, there had been many species of kangaroo, some as heavy as 200 kg (440 lb), but, after, the heaviest weighed only 32 kg (70 lb). This phenomenon is known as dwarfing, and it occurred with many animals in the Pleistocene.

Dwarfing has been studied extensively. In 2001, Law published research related to fish farming. Despite excellent food and no predators, farmed fish become smaller as generations continue. This adaptation may be a response to their being commercially useless at a smaller size, meaning they hope to survive the harvest.

Of the dwarf marsupials, the most notable development over the giants was their longer reproductive lives, which produced more young. They were better runners as well, or, those that were slow-moving retreated to the mountainous forest, beyond the reach of humans.

If climate change isn’t a credible factor in extinction, what about fire? Fire is caused naturally by lightning strikes as well as by humans with torches. Surprisingly, the charcoal record for many thousands of years does not show a marked increase in fire after human habitation of Australia – there is only a slow increase over time. Besides, it could be argued that forest fires aid megafauna since grass, their favoured food, invariably replaces burnt vegetation.

Johnson, an archaeologist, has proposed that the Aborigines could have wiped out all 55 megafaunal species in just a few thousand years. He believes that the 45 kyr human settlement date will be pushed back to make this extinction fit, and he also maintains that 700 years are enough to make one species extinct without large-scale hunting or sophisticated weapons. Johnson used computer modelling on a population of only 1000 animals to demonstrate this. If just 30 animals are killed a year, then the species becomes extinct after 520-700 years. Human populations in Australia were small at 45 kyr – only 150 people occupied the same 500 square kilometres as 1000 animals. However, at a rate of killing just two animals a year by each group of ten people, extinction is highly likely.

A recent study on the albatross has shown the bird has almost disappeared due to females’ occasionally being hooked on fishing lines. A large number of animals do not need to be killed to effect extinction especially if an animal breeds late and infrequently like the albatross and like megafauna.

———————-

1 A period of 2.6 million-10,000 years ago. 2 This mammal, like a kangaroo, keeps its very young baby in a pouch. 3 The killing of a group or groups of animals by another group.

Questions 27-30

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G , below.

Write the correct letter, A-G , in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

27   Many animals in the Pleistocene were

28   Australian megafauna became extinct

29   The figure 45 kyr refers to

30   OSL represented

A      surprisingly swiftly.

B      optically stimulated luminescence.

C      over a long period of time.

D      considerably larger than their modern equivalents.

E      the date of megafaunal disappearance.

F      human habitation of Australia.

G      a breakthrough in dating technology.

Questions 31-34

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.

31   ‘Kill sites’ for moas have been found in ……………………. , but no equivalents have been

found for megafauna in Australia.

32   It seems unlikely megafaunal extinction was caused by ……………………. .

33   Modern kangaroo species bear more ……………………. than megafaunal species.

34   Johnson does not think it is strange that megafaunal ……………………. with proof of

hunting have not yet been found.

Questions 35-39

Look at questions 35-39 and the list of people below.

Match each statement with a person or group of people.

Write the letters in boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet.

List of people

A      The Adnyamathanha

B      Johnson

D      Roberts

35   This scientist used reliable dating techniques to propose a likely extinction date for megafauna.

36   These people have a mythical description of a creature like a diprotodon.

37   This scientist drew on data from fish farming to understand dwarfing.

38    This person believes dates will be revised so that the period between human settlement in Australia and the extinction of megafauna is longer.

39   This scientist developed a theory that even with basic weapons, Aborigines made megafauna extinct.  

Question 40

Choose the correct letter: A , B , C , D , or E .

Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 3?

A     The rise and fall of giant mammals in Australia

B     Is a koala still cute at 16 kilograms?

C     Climate change: killer of Australian megafauna

D     Modern research techniques solve an archaeological puzzle

E     Invisible hunters caused mass extinctions

Reading Test 67

Reading test 69, answer reading test 68.

5. around $100,000 ( dollar sign necessary )

6. Lynx ( capital optional )

7. a few (‘a’ necessary )

9. PayPal ( capitals optional )

11. NOT GIVEN

31. New Zealand ( capitals optional )

32. climate change/ environmental pressures

34. bones/skeletons

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Author : Key A.   

Tags: ielts   grammaire  

ISBN : 978-0-2304-6214-4

Year : 2014

Reading for IELTS

101 IELTS reading past papers with answers

Ready for IELTS. Workbook

Cambridge ielts consultants. Ielts band 9. Grammar secrets