IELTS EASY8

TEST 1
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.
The development of the silk industry
Silk, a natural fibre produced by a particular worm called a silkworm, has been used
in clothing for many centuries.
When silk was first discovered in China over actually existed before the Silk Roadt was
4,500 years ago, it was reserved exclusively officially opened in the second century BC.
for the use of the emperor, his close relations An Egyptian mummy with a silk thread in her
and the very highest of his dignitaries. Within hair, dating from 1070 BC, has been
the palace, the emperor is believed to have discovered in the village of Deir el Medina
worn a robe of white silk; outside, he, his near the Valley of the Kings, and is probably
principal wife, and the heir to the throne wore the earliest evidence of the silk trade. During
yellow, the colour of the earth. the second century BC, the Chinese emperor
Gradually silk came into more general use, Han Wu Di's ambassadors travelled as far
and the various classes of Chinese society west as Persia and Mesopotamis, bearing
began wearing tunics of silk. As well as being gifts including silks. A range of important finds
used for clothing and decoration, silk was of Chinese silks have also been made along
quite quickly put to industrial use, and rapidly the Silk Road. One of the most dramatic of
became one of the principal elements of the these finds was some Tang silk discovered in
Chinese economy. It was used in the 1900. It is believed that around 1015 AD
production of musical instruments, as string Buddhist monks, possibly alarmed by the
for fishing, and even as the world's first luxury threat of invasion by Tibetan people, had
paper. Eventually even the common people sealed more than ten thousand manuscripts
were able to wear garments of silk. and silk paintings, silk banners and textiles in
During the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), caves near Dunhuang, a trading station on
silk ceased to be a mere fabric and became the Silk Road in north-west China.
a form of currency. Farmers paid their taxes Some historians believe the first Europeans
in grain and silk, and silk was used to pay civil to set eyes upon the fabulous fabric were the
servants and to reward subjects for Roman legions of Marcus Licinius Crassus,
outstanding services. Values were calculated Governor of Syria. According to certain
in lengths of silk as they had previously been accounts of the period, at an important battle
calculated in weight of gold. Before long, silk near the Euphrates River in 53 BC, the
became a currency used in trade with foreign Roman soldiers were so startled by the
countries, which continued into the Tang bright silken banners of the enemy that they
dynasty (6 16-907 AD). It is possible that this fled in panic. Yet, within decades Chinese
added importance was the result of a major silks were widely worn by the rich and noble
increase in production. Silk also found its way families of Rome. The Roman Emperor
so thoroughly into the Chinese language that Heliogabalus (218-222 AD) wore nothing
230 of the 5,000 most common characters of but silk. By 380 AD, the Roman historian
Mandarin· have 'silk' as their key component. Marcellinnus Ammianus reported that. The
Silk became a precious commodity, highly use of silk, which was one
sought after by other countries from an early
date, and it is believed that the silk trade

• A group of related Chinese dialects which have t An ancient trade route between China and the
been recognised as the 'national language' since mediterranean Sea
the early 20th century
 IELTS EASY8

confined to the nobility, has now spread to all

classes without distinction - even to the lowest. The
desire for silk continued to increase over the
centuries. Despite this demand, the price of silk
remained very high.
In spite of their secrecy about production methods,
the Chinese eventually lost their monopoly on silk
production. Knowledge of silk production methods
reached Korea around 200 BC, when waves of
Chinese immigrants arrived there. Shortly after 300
AD, it travelled westward, and the cultivation of the
silkworm was established in India.
Around 550 AD silk production reached the
Middle East. Records indicate that two monks from
Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), capital of
the Byzantine Empire, appeared at their emperor's
court with silkworm eggs which they had obtained
secretly, and hidden in their hollow bamboo walking
sticks. Under their supervision the eggs hatched
into worms, and the worms spun silk threads.
Byzantium was in the silk business at last. The
Byzantine church and state created imperial
workshops, monopolising production and keeping
the secret to themselves. This allowed a silk
industry to be established, undercutting the market
for ordinary-grade Chinese silk. However, high
quality silk textiles, woven in China especially for
the Middle Eastern market, continued to achieve
high prices in the West, and trade along the Silk
Road continued as before. By the sixth century the
Persians, too, had mastered the art of silk weaving,
developing their own rich patterns and techniques.
But it wasn't until the 13th century that Italy began
silk production, with the introduction of 2,000 skilled
silk weavers from Constantinople. Eventually, silk
production became widespread throughout
Europe.
World silk production has approximately
doubled during the last 30 years in spite of man­
made fibres replacing certain uses of silk. Before
this period, China and Japan were the two main
producers, together manufacturing more than 50
per cent of world production each year. After the
late 1970s, however, China dramatically increased
its silk production, and once again became the
world's leading producer.
 IELTS EASY8

Questions 1-7
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.
Chinese silk
Early Uses
Clothing
• at first, silk only available to Chinese of high rank
• emperor wore 1 ............. silk indoors
In industry
• silk items included parts of musical instruments, fishing strings and 2 ............
Currency
• silk was used as payment of 3 ............ as well as for wages and rewards
• silk replaced 4 ............. as a unit of value
• silk soon used as payment in 5 .............. trade

Evidence of silk trade

1070 BC, Egypt:
• hair of a 6 ............ contained silk
2nd century BC, Persia and Mesopotamia:
• gifts of silk were presented by Chinese ambassadors
1015 AD, north-west China:
• silk objects were hidden inside 7 .............. .
 IELTS EASY8

Questions 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVE if there is no information on this
8 Their first sight of silk created fear among Roman soldiers.
9 The quality of Chinese silk imported by the early Romans varied widely.
10 The Byzantine emperor first acquired silkworm eggs from the Chinese emperor.
11 The price of high-grade Chinese silk fell due to competition from Middle-Eastern
producers.
12 Silk was produced in the Middle East several centuries before it was produced
in Europe.
13 Global silk production has declined in recent years.
 IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 on pages 6 and 7.
The discovery of a baby mammoth
A near-perfect frozen mammoth offers clues to a great vanished species
A On a May morning in 2007, on the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia, a Nenets
reindeer herder named Yuri Khudi stood on a sandbar on the Yuribey River, looking
carefully at a diminutive corpse. Although he'd never seen such an animal before, Khudi
had seen many mammoth tusks, the thick corkscrew shafts that his people found each
summer, and this persuaded him the corpse was a baby mammoth. It was eerily well
preserved. Apart from its missing hair and toenails, it was perfectly intact. Khudi realised
the find might be significant and he knew he couldn't just return home and forget all about
it. He therefore decided to travel to the small town of Yar Sale to consult an old friend
named Kirill Serotetto. His friend took him to meet the director of the local museum, who
persuaded the local authorities to fly Khudi and Serotetto back to the Yuribey River to
collect the baby mammoth.
B Mammoths became extinct between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago and since the extinctions
coincided with the end of the most recent Ice age, many researchers believe that the
primary cause of the great die-off was the sharp rise in temperature, which dramatically
altered the vegetation. 'We have strong evidence that the temperature rise played a
significant part in their extinction.' says Adrian Lister, a palaeontologist and mammoth
expert at London's Natural History Museum. 'In Eurasia, the timing of the two events
matches closely.' The extinctions also coincided, however, with the arrival of modern
humans. In addition to exploiting mammoths for food, they used their bones and tusks to
make weapons, tools, and even dwellings. Some scientists believe humans were as much
to blame as the temperature rise for the great die-off. Some say they caused it.
C The body of the baby mammoth was eventually sent to the St Petersburg Zoological
Museum in Russia. Alexei Tikhonov, the museum's director, was one of the first scientists
to view the baby, a female. According to Tikhonov, Khudi had rescued 'the best preserved
mammoth to come down to US from the Ice Age', and he gratefully named her Lyuba, after
Khudi's wife. Tikhonov knew that no-one would be more excited by the find than Dan
Fisher, an American colleague at the University of Michigan who had spent 30 years
researching the lives of mammoths. Tikhonov invited Fisher, along with Bernard Buigues,
a French mammoth hunter, to come and view the baby mammoth. Fisher and Buigues had
examined other specimens together, including infants, but these had been in a relatively
poor state. Lyuba was another story entirely. Other than the missing hair and toenails, the
only flaw in her pristine appearance was a curious dent above the trunk.
D Fisher was particularly excited about one specific part of Lyuba's anatomy: her milk tusks.
Through his career, Fisher has taken hundreds of tusk samples. Most of these came from
the Great Lakes region of North America, and his research showed that these animals
continued to thrive, despite the late Pleistocene· temperature change. On the other hand,

• Pleistocene era: the time between roughly 2.6 million years ago and 10.000 years ago
 IELTS EASY8

to Fisher the tusks often revealed telltale evidence of human hunting. His samples
frequently came from animals that had died in the autumn, when they should have been at
their peak after summer grazing, and less likely to die of natural causes, but also when
humans would have been most eager to stockpile meat for the coming winter. He has done
limited work in Siberia, but his analysis of tusks from Wrangel Island, off the coast of
Siberia, suggests the same conclusion.
E In December 2007, Buigues arranged for the specimen to be transported to Japan to
undergo a CT scan by Naoki Suzuki of the Jikei University School of Medicine. The test
confirmed her skeleton was undamaged, and her internal organs seemed largely intact. It
also showed that the end of her trunk, and her throat, mouth, and windpipe were filled with
dense sediment. Six months later, in a laboratory in St Petersburg, Fisher, Buigues,
Suzuki, Tikhonov and other colleagues began a three-day series of tests on Lyuba. During
these, Fisher noted a dense mix of clay and sand in her trunk, mouth and throat, which
had been indicated earlier by the scan. In fact, the sediment in Lyuba's trunk was packed
so tightly that Fisher saw it as a possible explanation for the dent above her trunk. If she
was frantically fighting for breath and inhaled convulsively, perhaps a partial vacuum was
created in the base of her trunk, which would have flattened surrounding soft tissue. To
Fisher, the circumstances of Lyuba's death were clear: she had asphyxiated. Suzuki,
however, proposed a different interpretation, seeing more evidence for drowning than
asphyxiation.
F Studies are ongoing, but Lyuba has begun to shed the secrets of her short life and some
clues to the fate of her kind. Her good general health was shown in the record of her dental
development, a confirmation for Fisher that dental research is useful for evaluating health
and thus key to investigating the causes of mammoth extinction. Analysis of her well­
preserved DNA has revealed that she belonged to a distinct population of Mammuthus
primigenius and that, soon after her time, another population migrating to Siberia from
North America would take their place. Finally, Lyuba's premolars and tusks revealed that
she had been born in late spring and was only a month old when she died.
 TEST 2

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

The Clipper Races: an era of competition between cargo ships

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company had
the monopoly on trade with China and India. This meant that because no rival could
legally import tea or other goods from these countries at this time, the company was
rarely in a hurry to transport its merchandise. Instead, its priority was to minimise costs
by carrying as much as possible on each ship. This meant that its ships - known as
East lndiamen - were enormous, strong and very slow.

By 1800, the average East lndiaman could carry 1,200 tons of merchandise. The
trading pattern for China tea usually meant the East lndiamen set sail from Britain in
January, sailed round the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa, and
arrived in China in September. There they would load up that year's tea harvest, set
off again and, depending on the wind and weather, aim to arrive back by the following
September. So even with favourable sailing conditions, the round trip lasted almost
two years, and if anything went wrong it could take a lot longer.

However, by 1834 the company had lost its trading monopolies, and tea had become
a freely traded item. Having no more use for its great ships, the company sold them
off, and many were bought by merchants or their captains, who continued to plough
the seas between Britain and China. But now that tea could be traded freely, a few
smart sailors began to realise that whoever brought each new harvest of tea to Britain
first, stood to make the most money.

This was partly because if you were home first, you could sell your shipment of tea
before your competitors even arrived, and partly because consumers in Britain in the
nineteenth century believed that the fresher and earlier-picked the tea, the better the
resulting drink. Tea traders now needed faster, sleeker ships to bring their precious
cargo back. Nevertheless, in Britain this idea only caught on slowly, and white the
1840s saw a few faster ships launched, for the time being many merchants remained
satisfied with the slow but reliable East lndiamen.

In fact it was the Americans who pioneered the first clipper ships. These vessels were
fast and slender, with a narrow hull that was deeper at the back than at the front and
masses of sails on tall masts. They earned their name from the way that they clipped
off journey times British merchants resolved to build their own clippers to rival the
Americans and the first British tea clipper, Stornaway, was built in Aberdeen in 1850
More tea clippers were designed and built in Britain throughout the 1850s and 1860s,
they had a narrower beam than their American equivalents, making them less powerful
during storms, but faster in calmer weather.
There was a great spirit of competition between the British and American ships plying
the tea trade, but to begin with the Americans had the edge. Then in 1851 a British
ship owner, Richard Green, built the aptly named clipper Challenger, with the stated
intention of beating the American ships. Loaded with tea, Challenger left China for
London in 1852 at the same time as the American clipper Challenge, a much larger,
older ship, already greatly admired for its speed. Large sums were bet on which would
complete the journey first. In the event, the British ship beat its rival to London by two
days, amid much jubilation. From then on, such international races grew in popularity.

After 1855, American participation in the British tea trade gradually stopped. But even
without the Anglo-American rivalry, the competitive spirit continued. It was really ignited
when new ports were opened up for trade in China. These included Fouchow, which
was much closer to the tea-producing areas than Canton, the port used previously. As
a result, tea could be loaded onboard earlier and fresher, and the clippers could set off
in late May or early June - sometimes not even taking time to fill out the official
paperwork - racing back to Britain whatever the difficulties.

They sped down through the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, then raced
to get round the southernmost tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope. Then it was
north across the vast Atlantic, past the Azores, through the English Channel and into
the estuary of the River Thames. Once there, they would be towed by tugs, up the river
and into the docks.

The cargo of the winning ship could earn a premium of up to sixpence per pound-and
so the captain and crew were rewarded by the owners of the cargo. But the races were
about more than just money the crews, about 40 men on each clipper, were expert
sailors, proud of their ships, and they delighted in competing against each other.
Without their enthusiasm, the races would never have happened, since getting the ship
home as fast as possible required the crew to be totally dedicated and to sacrifice
much of their rest for the duration of the race.
Questions 1 - 6

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

In boxes 1-6 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

1 In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company
faced a lot of competition.

2 Before 1800, cargo size was the most important consideration for the East India
Company.

3 At best, voyages of the East lndiamen to China and back took nearly two years
to complete.

4 Before 1834, voyages to and from China were considered to be highly

dangerous.

5 After 1834, the ships which had served the East India Company stopped being
used for commercial purposes.

6 In the nineteenth century, British drinkers preferred tea made from mature
leaves to that made from younger leaves.
Questions 7 - 13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

Clipper races

The ships

Clipper ships were first used for trading by American merchants.

The ships were remarkable for the number of 7 ............... they had.
The performance of British tea clippers was particularly affected when there were
8 .................. at sea.

The races
It was in a ship called 9………. that the British first competed successfully against the
Americans.
Richard Green's ship arrived two days ahead of its competitor.
Competition increased when additional Chinese trading 10………. were established.
Merchants were occasionally in such a hurry that they failed to complete the 11 ......... before
leaving China.
At the end of their journey, the ships needed the help of 12 ……….

The rewards
The crews were motivated by both 13.………. and their enthusiasm for the competition.
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 on pages 6 and 7.

Orientation of birds

A For many of us, the way birds are able to orientate is both astounding and
difficult to appreciate fully. For instance, the annual migration of tire golden
plover of the Pacific takes it from Alaska to Hawaii on a flight of well over
3000 kilometres, and if it were to deviate by only one degree, it would miss
the island on which it nests.

B The first systematic studies on orientation in birds were made possible by the
'homing instinct' exhibited by so many species. Birds are caught at a time when.
they show an attachment to their territory, especially during the nesting season.
They are taken to some spot, released, and the percentage of returns is
recorded. The distance can be varied, and the direction, as well as the method
of transporting them, and then the influence of climatic and other factors on their
ability to find their way home can be studied. These experiments have shown a
wide variation in ability to home, and three types of homing behaviour have been
identified.
C In the first type, birds methodically explore the area in which they are released
until they pick up some familiar feature, and then they quickly find their way back
to the nest. Such birds possess a highly developed visual memory, as
experiments with pigeons have shown. Domestic pigeons have been trained to
peck at a certain point on an aerial photograph, with a system of rewards, and
four years later the birds were still able to respond to this training when placed
on the aerial photograph. Birds' eyes have a power of resolution two to three
times greater than ours, enabling them to pick up very fine details. If a bird uses
only this type of homing behaviour, however, it can only succeed if the point of
release is not too far away. If the birds are transported 800 kilometres from their
nest, it is only by good fortune that they find their way back as a result of long
exploratory flights. Usually, the area known to a bird is its feeding territory.
Released within this area, the birds soon make their return; release them
outside it and far fewer return. However, if a bird is released for a second time
in the same place, its visual memory comes into play, and the bird, no longer
requiring tedious exploratory flights, will return much more quickly.
D The second type of homing behaviour is shown by birds that are capable of
choosing their flight direction and holding to it for the rest of their journey. How
do they decide what direction to take? They appear to choose their normal
migration direction even if they are released in a different place from their usual
stalling point. If, for example, birds which normally fly to the north-east to reach
 latitude 45 degrees north are released at that latitude, they will immediately start
flying north-east anyway. So if they're released further to the west, they'll
maintain the correct direction, but fly west of their destination, and so fail to
arrive.
E The third type of homing behaviour shows the highest degree of orientation.
Released at one point, the birds immediately take stock of it, compare its
position with that of the nest, decide on the direction and fly off. This happens
even if the birds are in a country right off their migration routes, where they have
never been before. In one example, a laysan albatross returned to its nesting
area on Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific, having flown over 5000
kilometres from the west coastal of the USA in just over ten days. This is a
perfect example of the third type of homing, for the albatross clearly couldn't
rely on any landmarks over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

F The percentage of successful birds varies greatly, being highest in those

species with a strong migratory behaviour. Thus the lesser black-backed gull is
more migratory than the herring gull and more often reaches 'home'. Great
migrants such as the swift have the highest percentage of returns. In one case,
seven out of nine alpine swifts were recaptured at their nests after being
displaced some 1400 kilometres; one made the journey in three days.

G What part does heredity play in all this? Two research studies suggest that
instinctive, i.e. genetically inherited, behaviour patterns play a part in navigation.
The first was carried out by Ernst Schuz and it is highly significant. Schuz caught
first year European storks and released them later, after the departure of the
adult storks at a time when they normally make their south-west autumn
migration to Africa. The recaptures showed that, in spite of the fact that there
were no adults to guide them, the birds unanimously headed south-west. This
was a most striking finding, for it showed that the birds had an innate and
unlearned attraction for the African wintering area that they have occupied for
thousands of years.

H The case of starlings is a little different. These birds have a great aptitude for
homing, but this behaviour differs in the different age groups. Birds that were
shifted to the south-east of their normal migration route split into two lots. The
adults, in full possession of their gift for orientation, found their wintering area
by modifying their direction by 90 degrees, whereas the juveniles sought their
winter quarters to the south-east of their real position.
Questions 14 - 18

Complete the summery below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
Types of homing behaviour

First type:

Birds rely on their sophisticated 14...............However, they are generally most

successful if they are released within their feeding territory.

Second type:

Birds select their accustomed 15 ..............,no matter where they are released. As a
result, they may miss their 16 .............

Third type:

Birds orientate correctly, even when they are released in an unfamiliar place and have
no 17.............to make use of. One bird with this type of skill is the 18..........

Questions 19 - 22

Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A-H

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

19 the effects of distance on some birds' ability to find their nests

20 a methodology for testing the general ability of birds to find their nests

21 one aspect of physical ability in humans and birds

22 how some birds' migration was delayed for experimental purposes

Questions 23 - 26

Look at the following types of birds (Questions 23-26) and the list of points which the
author wishes to illustrate below.
Match each bird with the point which it illustrates, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.

23 domestic pigeon

24 alpine swift

25 European stork

26 starling

List of points which the author wishes to illustrate

A an ability to orientate without previous training

B the speed at which birds can fly

C the ability to remember things seen previously

D the effect of age on homing ability

E the strength required to fly a great distance

F a high success rate in finding nests

G the importance of seasonal cues for migrating birds

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading
passage 3 on pages 10 and 11.

The role of accidents in business

In 1894 Dr John Kellogg and his brother. Will, were supervising a hospital and health
spa in Michigan. The patients were on a restricted diet. One day, the brothers left
cooked wheat untended for more than 24 hours. When they returned, they saw what
they had done. It was no good to eat, but they decided to run the stale wheat through
rollers, just to see how it would turn out. Normally, the process produced long sheets,
but they were surprised to discover that this time the rollers created flat flakes. They
baked them, and then tried the same thing with corn. From this accidental discovery
came the cornflakes that generations have now been eating for breakfast.

Accidents happen; there is nothing predictable and orderly about innovation. Nobel
laureate Sir Alan Hodgkin, who discovered how nerve cells transmit electrical impulses
between the skin and the brain, commented: 'I believe that the record of my published
papers conveys an impression of directedness and planning which does not at all
coincide with the actual sequence of events.'

The same rule applies in business. The mistake that gave us cornflakes keeps
repeating itself in the history of disruptive innovation, the kind that transforms markets.
Louis Daguerre, for, instance, discovered the technique that gave us photography in
the 1830s, when drops of mercury from a shattered thermometer produced a
photographic image. The microwave was discovered when Peroy Spender, a scientist
with Raytheon, was testing a new vacuum tube and discovered that the sweet in his
pocket had melted. The artificial sweetener, saccharin, was the unintentional result of
a medical scientist's work on a chemical treatment for gastric ulcers. While working for
the firm 3M, researcher Art Fry had no idea he was taking the first steps towards Post-
It Notes when he used bits of adhesive office paper that could be easily lifted off the
page to replace the scrap paper bookmarks that kept falling out of his hymn book.

Breakthrough and disruptive innovation are rarely driven by orderly process. Usually
they come out of a chaotic, haphazard mess, which is why big companies, full of
managers schooled in business programmes designed to eliminate random variation
and mistakes, struggle with them. In these sorts of environments, accidents are called
failures and are discouraged.

It is no surprise then that research from the late British economist Paul Geroski and
London Business School's Constantinos Markides found that companies that were
skilled at innovation were usually not that skilled when it came to commercialisation,
and vice versa. Their book, Fast Second, divides businesses into 'colonists' and
'consolidators'. Small and nimble, colonists are adept at creating market niches but are
terrible institution builders. Consolidators, with their strong cultures of discipline and
cost control, know how to take clever ideas from other firms and turn them into mass-
market items. Microsoft is a prime instance of this.

With companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on research and development,

US academics Robert Austin and Lee Devin examined how managers can encourage
productive slip-ups. In their article Accident, Intention and Expectation in the Innovation
Process, they argue that business processes actually prevent helpful mis-steps from
occurring. According to their catalogue of accidents, not all false steps and mishaps
are equal. Accidents, they say, come from unlikely mental associations such as
memories and vague connections, looking for something and finding it in an
unexpected way, looking for one thing and finding something else, and not looking for
anything but finding something valuable.

Accident-prone innovation, they say, requires companies to get outside the 'cone of
expectation'. It means throwing together groups from diverse backgrounds, and
combining ideas in unpredictable ways. Other strategies also include having systems
that watch out for accidents and examine them for value, generating them when they
do not happen often enough, seizing oil the useful ones, capturing their valuable
features, and building on them to add value and give potential for useful accidents.

All this, however, requires thinking that is often counter-intuitive to the way businesses
operate. In other words, it is the kind of thinking that goes against the beliefs of most
business managers. It runs counter to the notion frequently pushes by consultants that
you can 'harness' creativity and direct it to line up with intention. 'The cost of accidents
business, people tend to call such efforts failure.'

There are tentative signs that more companies are starting to realise that failure can
lead to commercial gain, and that this is part or the risk-talking that underpins
innovation. Australia's largest brewing company, for example, made a bad error when
it launched a new beer called Empire Lager, pitched at younger consumers. Having
spent a fortune creating a beer with a sweeter taste, designing a great-looking bottle
and a television campaign, Foster's was left with a drink that no-one wanted to buy.
The target market was more interested in brands built up by word of mouth.

Instead of wiping the unsuccessful product launch, Fosters used this lesson learned
to go on and develop other brands instead. One of them, Pure Blonde, is now ranked
as Australia's fifth-largest beer brand. Unlike Empire Lager, there has been almost no
promotion and its sales are generated more by word of mouth.

Other companies are taking similar steps to study their own slip-ups. Intuit, the
company behind financial tools such as Quicken, holds regular 'When Learning Hurts'
sessions. But this sort of transformation is never easy. In a market that focuses on the
short-term, convincing employees and shareholders to tolerate failure and not play it
safe is a big thing to ask.

Questions 27-31

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NO
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27 The delay in the process used by the Kellogg brothers affected the final product.

28 Sir Alan Hodgkin is an example of someone whose work proceeded in a logical

and systematic way.
29 Daguerre is an exception to the general rule of innovation.

30 The discovery of saccharin occurred by accident during drug research.

31 The company 3M should have supported Art Fry by funding his idea of Post-It
Notes.

Questions 32 - 35

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

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet.
32 The usual business environment

33 Geroki and Markides's book

34 Microsoft is an example of a company which

35 The origin of useful accidents

A can be found in unusual thoughts and chance events.

B can be taught in business schools.
C has made a success from someone else's invention.
D is designed to nurture differences.
E is unlikely to lead to creative innovation
F says that all mistakes are the same.
G shows that businesses are good at either inventing or selling.
H suggests ways of increasing the number of mistakes
Questions 36 - 40

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

36 How do Austin and Devin advise companies to get out of the 'cone of
expectation'?
A by decreasing the number of company systems

B by forming teams of different types of people

C by hiring new and creative people

D by holding regular brainstorming meetings

37 In recommending 'counter-intuitive' thinking, what do Austin and Devin imply?

A that failing at business is bad for staff morale

B that innovation cannot be planned for

C that most businesses should be devoted to avoiding mistakes

D that the cost of mistakes is an important consideration

38 The writer describes the Empire Lager disaster in order to show that

A success can come out of a business failure

B the majority of companies now value risk-talking.

C TV advertising works better on older people

D young beer drinkers do not like a sweet taste

39 Pure Blonde has been more successful than Empire Lager because

A digital media other than TV were used.

B it was advertised under a different brand name.

C it was launched with very little advertising.

D the advertising budget was larger

40 The writer concludes that creating a culture that learns from mistakes

A brings short-term financial gains.

B can be very difficult for some companies.

C holds no risk for workers.

D is a popular move with shareholders.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

TEST 3

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

An important language development

Cuneiform, the world's first known system of handwriting, originated some 6.000 years
ago in Summer in what is now southern Iraq. It was most often inscribed on palm-
sized, rectangular clay tablets measuring several centimetres across, although
occasionally, larger tablets or cylinders were used. Clay was an excellent medium for
writing. Other surfaces which have been employed -for example, parchment, papyrus
and paper - are not long - lasting and are easily destroyed by fire and water. But clay
has proved to be resistant to those particular kinds of damage.

The word 'cuneiform' actually refers to the marks or signs inscribed in the clay. The
original cuneiform signs consisted of a series of lines - triangular, vertical, diagonal
and horizontal. Sumerian writers would impress these lines into the wet clay with a
stylus - a long, thin, pointed instrument which looked somewhat like a pen. Oddly, the
signs were often almost too small to see with the naked eye. Cuneiform signs were
used for the writing of at least a dozen languages. This is similar to how the Latin
alphabet is used today for writing English, French, Spanish and German for example.

Before the development of cuneiform, tokens were used by the Sumerians to record
certain information. For example, they might take small stones and use them as tokens
or representations of something else, like a goat. A number of tokens, then, might
mean a herd of goat. These tokens might then be placed in a cloth container and
provided to a buyer as a receipt for a transaction, perhaps five tokens for five animals.
It was not that different from what we do today when we buy some bread and the clerk
gives us back a piece of paper with numbers on it to confirm the exchange.

By the 4th century BCE, the Sumerians had adapted this system to a form of writing.
They began putting tokens in a container resembling an envelope, and now made of
clay instead of cloth. They then stamped the outside to indicate the number and type
of tokens inside. A person could then 'read' what was stamped on the container and
know what was inside.

Gradually, Sumerians developed symbols for words. When first developed, each
symbol looked like the concrete thing it represented. For example, an image which
resembled the drawing of a sheep meant just that. Then another level of abstraction
was introduced when symbols were developed for intangible ideas such as 'female' of
'hot' or 'God'. Cuneiform, in other words, evolved from a way used primarily to track
and store information into a way to represent the world symbolically. Over the
centuries, the marks became ever more abstract, finally evolving into signs that looked
nothing like what they referred to, just as the letters 'h-o-u-s-e' have no visual
connection to the place we live in. At this last stage in the evolution of cuneiform, the
signs took the form of tringles, which became common cuneiform signs.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

As the marks became more abstract, the system became more efficient because there
were fewer marks a 'reader' needed to learn. But cuneiform also became more
complex because society itself was becoming more complex, so there were more ideas
and concepts that needed to be expressed. However, most linguists and historians
agree cuneiform developed primarily as a tool for accounting. Of the cuneiform tablets
that have been discovered, excavated and translated, about 75 percent contain this
type of practical information, rather than artistic or imaginative work.

Cuneiform writing was used for thousands of years, but it eventually ceased to be used
in everyday life. In fact, it died out and remained unintelligible for almost 2.000 years.
In the late 19th century, a British army officer, Henry Rawlinson, discovered cuneiform
inscriptions which had been carved in the surface of rocks in the Behistun mountains
in what is present-day Iran. Rawlinson made impressions of the marks on large pieces
of paper, as he balanced dangerously on the surrounding rocks.

Rawlinson took his copies home to Britain and studied them for years to determine
what each line stood for, and what each group of symbols meant. He found that in the
writing on those particular rocks every word was repeated three times in three
languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. Since the meanings in these
languages were already known to linguists, he could thus translate the cuneiform.
Eventually, he fully decoded the cuneiform marks and he discovered that they
described the life of Darius, a king of the Persian Empire in the 5th century BCE.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 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
1 Cuneiform tablets were produced in different shapes and sizes.
2 When Sumerian writers marked on the clay tablets, the tablets were dry
3 Cuneiform was often difficult to read because of its size.
4 A number of languages adopted cuneiform.
5 Cuneiform signs can be found in some modern alphabets.

Questions 6-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet,
The development and translation of cuneiform
Before cuneiform
• tokens, for example, 6............... were often used
• the first tokens were kept in containers made of 7....................
• tokens were used as a 8 ............... to give when selling something
th
By 4 century BCE
• tokens were put in a container that looked like a clay 9.............
Complex, abstract symbols developed
• at first, signs looked like what they indicated, e.g. 10...............
• then signs became more abstract
• eventually, cuneiform signs shaped like 11 .....................were developed
• according to experts, cuneiform was mainly used for 12..................
19th-century translation of cuneiform inscriptions by Henry Rawlinson
• Rawlinson found cuneiform inscriptions in the Behistun mountains
• Rawlinson copied inscriptions onto 13..............
• Rawlinson realised that each word of the inscriptions appeared in different languages
• When translated, Rawlinson found the writings were about a 5th-century BCE king
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which ere based on Redding Passage 2 on
pages 6 and 7.

Children's comprehension of television advertising

A In 1874, long before the advent of television, the English Parliament passed a law to
protect children 'from their own lack of experience and from the wiles of pushing
tradesmen and moneylenders' (James, 1965). The act is one of the earliest governmental
policies to address children's vulnerability to commercial exploitation and was produced
before major corporations earned huge profits by marketing
products directly to children. Yet the issues underlying this 19th-century policy remain
much the same in the 2151 century.

B Television has long been the predominant medium that advertisers have chosen for
marketing products to children. It is estimated that the average child sees more than
40.000 television commercials a year, most of which are 15 to 30 seconds in length
(Kunkel, 2001). According to another estimate, children aged 14 years and under make
$24 billion in direct, purchases and influence $190 billion in family purchases,
underscoring the high stakes involved (McNeal, 1987).

C A number of factors have contributed to an unprecedented growth in both the amount

and type of advertising directed at children. First and foremost among these are changes
in the media environment. In decades past, television programming targeted at children
was limited and relegated to time slots unpopular with their parents, such as
Saturday mornings (Turow, 1981). Today, the number of channels received in the
average US home has escalated with the diffusion of cable television and satellite
technologies. In this new multi-channel era, there are numerous national program
services devoted exclusively to children. Naturally, these channels deliver significant
amounts of child- oriented marketing messages. Although parent may be pleased that
their youngsters can now watch children's programming at any hour of the day, they may
not recognize that such viewing opportunities entail much greater exposure to advertising
than any previous generation of youth has experienced.

D Approximately 80% of all advertising targeted at children falls within four product
categories: toys, cereals, candies, and fast-food restaurants (Kunkel et al, 1992).
Commercials are highly effective at employing specific features designed to attract
children's attention. For example, they use the strategy of introducing unique sound
effects and rapidly moving images (Greer et al, 1982). The other most common
persuasive strategy employed in advertising to children is to associate the product with
playfulness and happiness, rather than to provide any actual product-related information
(Kunkel et al, 1992). For example, a commercial featuring Ronald McDonald dancing,
singing, and smiling in McDonald's restaurants without any mention of the actual food
products available reflects a playful or happy theme. This strategy is also found
frequently with cereal ads, which often include cartoon characters to help children identify
the product. In contrast, most commercials fail to mention even the major grain used in
each cereal.

E Another common feature of advertising to children is the use of product disclosures

 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

such as 'batteries not included' or 'each part sold separately'. Studies make clear that
young children do not comprehend the intended meaning of these disclaimers. For
example, fewer than one in four kindergarten through second grade children could grasp
the meaning of 'some assembly required' in a commercial. In contrast, the use of child-
friendly language such as 'you have to put it together' more than doubled the proportion
of children who understood the qualifying message (Liebert et al, 1977). The phrase 'part
of a balanced breakfast' is also a frequent disclosure included in most cereal ads to
combat the concern that sugared cereal holds little nutritional value for children.
Research shows that most children below age 7 years have no idea what the term
'balanced breakfast' means (Palmer & McDowell, 1981). Rather than informing young
viewers about the importance of a nutritious breakfast, this common disclaimer actually
leaves many children with the misimpression that cereal alone is sufficient for a meal.
This pattern of employing creative terminology in advertising content so as to obscure
certain information that might be unhelpful to the sponsor is a long-standing practice that
often misleads the consumer (Geis, 1982).

F Very young children do not recognize that there are two fundamentally different
categories of television content: programs and commercials. Most children below the age
of 4 or 6 exhibit low awareness of the concept of commercials, frequently explaining them
as if they were a scene in the program itself. Once this confusion diminishes, children first
recognize the difference between programs and commercials based on either affective
('commercials are funnier than TV programs') or perceptual ('commercials are short and
programs are long') cues {Blatt et al, 1972).

G Although most children's programs indicate that a commercial break is coming (e.g.
by saying We'll be right back after these messages'), research reveals that these
'separators' generally do not help children to recognize advertising content (Palmer &
McDowell, 1979). This likely occurs because they are not perceptually distinct from the
adjacent programming that surrounds them; in fact, many separators feature characters
that appear in the same show that the commercial has just interrupted. When an ad
includes one of the characters featured in a program, this is known as host-selling. This
type of advertising makes the task of discriminating between program and commercial
content particularly difficult for young children (Kunkel, 1988) and is thus restricted in the
US by the Federal Communications Commission during children's programs.

H In sum, because young children lack the cognitive skills and abilities of older children
and adults, they do not comprehend commercial messages in the same way as
more mature audiences, and are therefore uniquely susceptible to advertising
influence.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14 a description of recent innovations in TV broadcasting
15 a mention of the main goods and services advertised to children
16 a reference to a current limitation on television advertising aimed at children
17 two techniques used to encourage children to watch TV commercials
18 a type of advertisement that may make children believe the opposite of what is
true

Questions 19-22
Look at the following statements (Questions 19-22) and the list of researchers below.
Match each statement with the correct researcher(s). A-H
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.
19 Ads often aim to teach children that a brand is fun rather than telling them about
what is being sold.
20 Originally, children's programmes were only broadcast when adults rarely
watched TV.
21 Children have a significant impact on what adults buy.
22 Tests showed that children can follow information if simple words are used.
List of Researchers
A Kunkel
B Kunkel et al
C McNeal
D Turow
E Greer et al
F Liebert et al
G Palmer & McDowell
H Geis
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 23-26
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.
How very young children perceive commercials.
Children below the age of 4 or 6 do not understand the difference between television
programmes and commercials. In fact, these children often mistake an advertisement
for a 23 .................from the programe they are watching. This is despite the fact that
children's TV programmes usually include announcements called 24 .................. to
show that there is going to be a commercial break. The problem is made more
difficult because of a technique called 25 ................... Whereby a person or cartoon
figure from the programme is used to sell a product during the commercial break.
From the age of 4 or 6, children begin to realise that commercials are different from
TV programmes; for example, they may recognise that there is a difference in length
or that advertisements are 26 .................. than actual TV.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on
pages 10 and 11.

A New Voyage Round the World

A very old travel hook that holds an unusual place in English literature
Part travelogue, part historical record of the Caribbean pirates, part scientific treatise, A New
Voyage Round the World was William Dampier's account of his twelve-year series of journeys
around the globe from 1679 to 1691. The wealth and novelty of Dampier's descriptions, combined
with the highly counts of his comrades', escapades, proved so popular with a public hungry for
tales of discovery and adventure that A New Voyage went into its third reprint within a year of
publication. So ground- breaking was Dampier's account that the writers Swift and Defoe were
inspired to create two of the most famous books in the English language, Gulliver's Travels and
Robinson Crusoe.

Dampier's commentators have portrayed him as an unusual, not to say peculiar, man.
Notwithstanding his undoubted qualities as an observer, he has been variously characterised as
aloof, arrogant, hot-tempered and a weak leader of men. When he arrived on the western coast of
Australia, he promptly elected to leave and head north out of dislike for the cold of more southerly
latitudes. This physical sensitivity has often been seized on by his detractors, who point out that,
as a result, Dampier missed out on becoming the name forever associated with the European
discovery of Australia, that honour instead going to Captain James Cook some 80 years later. Yet
it should be remembered that he was able to endure a never-ending plague of discomforts and
ailments in the tropics. And once, wrecked off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, he
managed with his crew to survive for five weeks without help, living entirely on turtles and goats.

What of his early life, then? Dampier was born in 1651 in Somerset, England, the son of a tenant
farmer, George, and his wife Ann. His birthplace, Hymerford House, stands to this day. His
parents died before he reached seniority and his guardians apprenticed the young William to a
ship's captain, the boy having shown very early inclinations to see the world'. There was nothing in
his childhood to set Dampier apart from the numerous other young boys who were sent to sea at
this time.

Having made brief passages to France and Newfoundland, he completed a more extended
voyage to Java, where he began to learn the art of navigation. Returning briefly to Somerset, a
neighbour offered Dampier a position overseeing his plantation in Jamaica, which he took up for a
time, but he soon returned to sea on a trading voyage among the Caribbean islands. From the
viewpoint of posterity, the most significant aspect of this time was that, as plantation manager,
Dampier first started to keep a journal.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Although Dampier wrote several books, A New Voyage Round the World is the most important
and it is worth considering just why this text met with such success. Certainly, the book would not
have done so well purely on the merits of Dampier's findings regarding meteorology and natural
history, even though they broke new ground at the time. What appealed more to book buyers of
this era was his narrative of life among the pirates of the Caribbean islands, whom he joined for
several years after leaving Jamaica. These tales of adventure among rogues and villains who had
no regard for the law sparked widespread interest among his countrymen back home. More
important even than this, however, it is the superb nature of Dampier's prose, and his ability to
communicate so vividly that raised the book above the common lot.

Dampier himself admits in the book's preface that he received help with the writing of the book,
and other evidence exists to suggest that he was assisted by an unknown source. But whatever
outside assistance he may have had, the book still has certain problems. In particular, his
observations about nature are sometimes roughly dropped into the narrative at very odd junctures
and these asides can sometimes interrupt the flow of the story Dampier himself kept his
observations about nature entirely separate from the main body of his travels, and we should
therefore hold James Knapton responsible, as he was in charge of checking and revising
Dampier's text, and his publishing company brought the finished book to a wider audience.

Dampier's life has been chronicled in full by numerous biographers, and I refer the reader in
particular to Clennell Wilkinson's excellent (and sadly out-of-print) 1929 biography, as well as the
recent portrait by Anton Gill. In short, despite wide acclaim for his writing, Dampier was not
blessed in the art of wealth accumulation Travelling with the pirates, while providing subsistence
and adventure, never netted him the treasure chest that a more astute financial operative might
have acquired. He died in 1715, aged sixty-three, in Colerman Street, London.

We have then a man of myriad and colourful parts, and perhaps not always the easiest of sailors
to get along with because of his arrogance and hot temper. But to dwell on these aspects today is
to miss the point: it is A New Voyage Round the World that should provide the most illuminating
and entertaining of Dampier's legacies. Above all, the text is studded with some wonderfully
colourful expressions, and readers will enjoy some of the finest descriptions of storms in the
English language, and the liberal wit throughout.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 27-31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27 Which of the following best summarises the writer's point in the first paragraph?
A Dampier's book does not fall into a single category.
B Readers were not interested in books on the subject of travel.
C Today's readers do not appreciate the style of Dampier's writing
D Dampier sailed round the world more quickly than anyone before.
28 The writer refers to Swift and Defoe in order to
A provide information regarding Dampier's sources.
B compare Dampier to two earlier writers.
C give an example of Dampier's influence
D highlight two of Dampier's critics
29 Dampier left the western coast of Australia because
A. He wanted to get to the north before Cook arrived
B. He found the temperature there unpleasant
C. He had problems with his crews
D. He requested medical attention
30 What does the writer more about Dampier in the second paragraph?
A. He could cope with physical hardship
B. He was a more adventurous explorer than Cook was
C. He had a kind personality than he is given credit for
D. He was calm in a crisis
31 What information is given about Dampier's early life?
A. He had a difficult relationship with the people looking after him
B. He was different from other youths who went to see
C. He wanted to travel from a young age
D. He came from a family of sailors
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 32-35
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I below.
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet.

The Text of A New Voyage Round the World

The success of the book cannot solely be attributed to the originality of Dampier's 32
................ Readers of the time were fascinated with his stories of the time he spent with outlaws
and his colorful way of writing. It seems certain that Dampier worked on the book with a mystery
33 ...................................................... Some aspects of A New Voyage Round the
World are problematic, descriptions of 34 .................... were inserted into the account
of Dampier's adventures in a way that distracted the reader. It seems that the
responsibility for the final version of the book lies with the 35..............

A. Detailed D. Editor G. The crew

illustrations E. Writer H. Artist
B. Traveller F. Scientific I. Plain
C. Nature observations language

Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3 In the boxes
36-40 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the information

NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

36 Dampier supervised his neighbour's plantation in Jamaica

37 Many people wrote biographies of Dampier as a result of personal contact with him
38 Dampier was skilled at making money
39 Dampier's patience was represented by the writer
40 A New Voyage Round the World is considered as one of the most modern books
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

TEST4
Reading passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading

Why good ideas fail

As part of a marketing course, two marketing experts comment on a hypothetical case
study involving TF, a fiction retail giant specializing in home furnishing. The experts
give concrete solutions and advice to assist students.
Hypothetical case study:
TF became a retail success in the 1970s when it succeeded in spotting homeware
trends and meeting the needs of its then trendy young customers. However; by 2004,
the IF stores were failing and a rethink was clearly necessary. Tibal Fisher, TF's
founder and CEO, decided to change its focus under the new brand name of TVs
NextStage. His aim was to recapture the now ageing customers that had given him his
early success and target consumers aged 60+ with devices and gadgets specifically
designed to assist them with the problems associated with ageing: mobile phones with
screens that were easy to read; kitchen gadgets with comfortable grips; electronic
devices that were easy to set and adjust. TF's market research proved to be very
positive, showing strong consumer support for the products.
In 2007, the stores were remodelled at a cost of US $40 million and the new brand
was launched. Each store was made more comfortable and featured a coffee shop to
help increase traffic - Tibal had predicted that if they could get customers into the
stores then the products would sell themselves. However, by 2009 it was clear that
the idea was a failure and the stores consistently remained empty. Customers
complained that the new stores felt like a senior center and reminded them that they
were growing old.
Feedback from expert
Expert 1: Donna Sturgess, global head of innovation, GlaxoSmithKline
The TF team's customer research efforts are a classic case of missing the
subconscious associations at work in consumers' minds. Tibal and his executives
looked only at surface attitudes. Since those attitudes make up a relatively small part
of the total consumer response, the executives are clueless about the reason for the
poor sales. It's critical for companies to understand that every customer relates to a
brand emotionally, and it's those emotions that trigger - or block - purchases.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

That's why we've focused on using emotional strategies behind branding for a number
of years now. A great example Is Alli (pronounced 'ally'), a drug to aid weight loss. The
product deals with a highly emotional issue, so in marketing it, we faced the same
challenge that the new TFstores are facing: the very thought of buying the product
reminds customers that they have problems they feel negatively In the case of TF's
NextStage, the problems are age and infirmity. In the case of Alli, the problems are
excessive weight and all consequences. There's always a risk that consumers'
negative feelings will discourage them from starting or staying on a diet. So, after
extensive market research, we took a number of steps to inject emotions into the whole
process of using the product.
First, we came up with a name that sounds like a helpful partner. We also aimed to
make the container both beautiful and functional - something that didn't just hold pills
but could later be used to store diet guides and recipes. Traditional market research is
unlikely to uncover Ideas like this, so we use a wide variety of techniques. Even
simple techniques such as one-on-one interviews, or ethnographical observation that
involves going into people's houses to examine their behaviour, can provide valuable
data.
Expert 2: Alex Lee, president of OXO International, maker of OXO Good Grips
household products
This retailer can get back on track by remembering a principle that applies to
consumers In general and those aged 60+ in particular: they're attracted by brands
they associate with the type of people they'd like to be - not the type they really are.
That's why marketing campaigns for surf gear feature surfers, not the city dwellers who
will wear the products while doing their shopping.
I was reminded of this principle few years ago when we wanted to find out how far we
could apply our design philosophy of makings things easier to use in order to move
from our core business, kitchen tools, into other products. We conducted what are
known as focus groups, where participants were asked to look at photos of people
and pick those they are perceived to be users and nonusers of our products.
Consistently they picked people who looked fit as the sort who would use our
products, and people who look old and boring as the sort who wouldn't. Yet the
participants, all owners of our products, looked a lot more like the later than the
former.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Although the needs of elderly users and those with deteriorating vision or dexterity are
very much taken into consideration when we develop new designs, we try to offer that
appeal to 20- and 30-year-olds. We believe that referring to these products as helping
tools would serve only to harm the brand in our customers' eyes. That's why our
philosophy of universal design, which involves creating products that are comfortably
useable by the largest possible range of people, is never explicitly stated as part of our
marketing position.
We've found that market research does not need to be very sophisticated. For
instance, we have conducted simple surveys in the lobby of our building offering free
products in exchange for people's opinions. Some may call this unscientific but we have
uncovered great insights this way. Sometimes the most important signals come from an
executive's own instincts. In Tibal fisher's case, this could have told him what his surveys
and focus groups didn't: 60-plus-year-olds won't support a business that expects them
to act their age.

Questions 1 - 5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer, 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

1. The TF NextStage stores planned to sell products to make life easier for older
people
2. TF's market research indicated that people liked the products.
3. It cost more than expected to remodel the TF stores.
4. The TF NextStage coffee shops sold their own brand of food and drink.
5. TF NextStage customers liked the atmosphere in the new stores.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 6 - 13
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet

Feedback from experts

Donna Sturgess
Problems with customer research:
• TF team limited their research to attitudes that occur at a 6 ........ level in
customers' minds
• TF didn't consider customers' emotions

How my company dealt with a similar problem:

• Product: Alli
• Use: help people achieve 7............
• Marketing aim: help customers see the product a positive way by:
- Giving the product a 8........... that seems helpful and supportive
- Giving the product a reusable 9..........

Market research
• Does not need to be complex
• Good information can come from interviews or studying the 10 ...... of
consumers in the home

Alex Lee
Problem:
• Customers are attracted to the ideal not the reality, e.g. ads for surf gear

How my company dealt with a similar problem:

• We organised 11............. to find out what images customers associate with
our products
• we do not call our products helping tools in our marketing campaigns

Market research:
• Can be basic, e.g. by doing 12................
• Company executives should follow their 13................
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-28, which are based on
Reading Passage 2,
Keeping the water away
New approaches to flood control
A. Recently, winter floods on the rivers of central Europe have been among the
worst for 600 to 700 years, and dams and dykes (protective sea walls) have failed to
solve the problem. Traditionally, river engineers have tried to get rid of the water quickly,
draining it off the land and down to the sea in rivers re- engineered as high-performance
drains. But however high they build the artificial riverbanks, the floods keep coming back.
And when they come, they seem to be worse than ever.
B. Engineers are now turning to a different plan: to sap the water's destructive
strength by dispersing it into fields; forgotten lakes and floods plains. They are reviving
river bends and marshes to curb the flow, and even plugging city drains to encourage
floodwater to use other means to go underground. Back in the days when rivers took a
winding path to the sea, floodwaters lost force and volume while meandering across
flood plains and inland deltas, but today the water tends to have a direct passage to the
sea. This means that, when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once.
C. Worse, when the flood plains are closed off, the river's flow downstream
becomes more violent and uncontrollable; by turning complex river systems into the simple
mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised
safety. The Rhine, Europe's most engineered river; is a good example. For a long time
engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its plain. The aim was partly to
improve navigation, and partly to speed floodwaters out of Alps and down to the North
Sea. Now, when it rains in the Alps, the peak flows from several branches of the Rhine
coincide where once they arrived separately, and with four-fifths of the Lower Rhine's
flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise. The result is more frequent flooding and greater
damage. The same thing has happened in the US on the Mississippi river, which drains the
world's second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico. Despite some $7 billion
spent over the last century on levees (embankments) the situation is growing worse.
D. Specialists in water control now say that a new approach is needed - one which
takes the whole landscape into consideration. To help keep London's feet dry, the UK
Environment Agency is reflooding 10 square kilometres of the ancient flood plain of the
River Thames outside Oxford. Nearer to London, it has spent £100 million creating new
wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain. Similar ideas ate being
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

tested in Austria, in one of Europe's largest river restorations to date. The engineers
calculate that the restored flood plain of the Drava River can now store up to 10 million
cubic metres of floodwater, and slow down storm surges coming out of the Alps by more
than an hour, protecting towns not only in Austria, but as far downstream as Slovenia
and Croatia.
E. The Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone
furthest. This nation, built largely on drained marshes and seabed, has had several
severe shocks in the last two decades, when very large numbers of people have had to
be evacuated. Since that time, the Dutch have broken one of their most enduring national
stereotypes by allowing engineers to punch holes in dykes. They plan to return up to a
sixth of the country to its former waterlogged state in order to better protect the rest.

F. Water use in cities also needs to change. At the moment, cities seem to create
floods; they are concreted and paved so that rains flow quickly into rivers. A new breed of
'soft engineers' wants cities to porous, Berlin is one place where this is being done. Tough
new rules for new developments mean that drains will be prevented from becoming
overloaded after heavy rains. Architects of new urban buildings are diverting rainwater
from the roofs for use in toilets and the irrigation of roof gardens, while water falling onto
the ground is collected in ponds, or passes underground through porous paving. One
high-tech urban development can store a sixth of its annual rainfall, and reuse most of
the rest.

G. Could this be expanded to protect a whole city? The test case could Los
Angeles. With non-porous surfaces covering 70% of the city, drainage is a huge
challenge. Billions of dollars have been spent digging huge drains and concreting
riverbeds, but many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city ships
water from hundreds of kilometres away to fill its taps and swimming pool. Los Angeles
has recently launched a new scheme to utilise floodwater in the Sun Valley section of
the city. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots
and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots; houses and public
buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks, and road drains will
empty into old gravel pits to recharge the city's underground water reserves. Result:
less flooding and more water for the city. It may sound expensive, until we realise how
much is spent trying to drain cities and protect areas from flooding, and bow little this
method achieves.
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Questions 14 -19
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter. A-G, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet
14 how legislation has forced building designers to improve water use
15 two reasons why one river was isolated from its food plain
16 how natural water courses in the past assisted flood control
17 an example of flood control on one river, affecting three countries
18 a country which has partly destroyed one of its most typical features in order to control
water
19 the writer's comment on the comparative cost effectiveness of traditional flood control
and newer methods

Questions 20 and 21
Choose TWO letters A-E.
Write the correct letter, in boxes 20 and 21 on your answer sheet
According to the article, which TWO of these statements are true of the new approach to
flood control?
A. It aims to slow the movement of water to the sea.

B. It aims to channel water more directly into rivers.

C. It will cost more than twice as much as former measures.

D. It will involve the loss of some areas of land.

E. It has been tested only in The Netherlands.

Questions 22-26
Choose NO MORE THAN MO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.
22 Some of the most severe floods for many centuries have recently occurred in parts
of.......................
23 The Rhine and the ..................... rivers have experienced similar problems with
water control
24 An area near Oxford will flooded to protect the city of ....................
25 Planners who wish to allow water to pass more freely through city surfaces are
called .............................
26 A proposal for part of the city of .................... could show whether small-scale water
projects could apply on a large scale.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27- 40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3?
The Diprotodon (a rhinoceros-sized wombat), an example of Australia's now extinct
megafauna

Australia's Megafauna Controversy

Just how long did humans live side by side with megafauna in Australia?
Barry Brook, Richard Gillespie and Paul Martin dispute previous claims of a lengthy
coexistence

Over the past 50 millennia, Australia has witnessed the extinction of many species of large
animals, including a rhinoceros-sized wombat and goannas the size of crocodiles Debate
about the possible cause of these extinctions has continued for more than 150 years and
one the crucial questions raised is how long humans and megafauna coexisted in Australia.
We need to know the overlap of time to make an informed choice between the two main
theories regarding the causes of these extinctions. If humans and megafauna coexisted for
a protracted period then climate change is the more likely cause. However, if the
megafauna became extinct shortly after the arrival of humans, then humans are the likely
culprits
The archaeological site at Cuddie Springs in eastern Australia appears to be well
preserved. This dusty claypan holds within its sediments a rich cache of flaked stone and
seed-grinding tools, and side by side with these clear signals of human culture are the
bones of a dozen or more species of megafauna. Ors Judith Field and Stephen Wroe of the
University of Sydney, who excavated the site, claim that it provides unequivocal evidence
of a long overlap of humans and megafauna, and conclude that aridity leading up to the last
Ice Age brought about their eventual demise. In the long-standing explanation of this site,
artefacts such as stone tools and extinct animals remain were deposited over many
thousands of years in an ephemeral lake- a body of water existing for a relatively short
time - and remained in place and undisturbed until the present day.

There is no disputing the close association of bones and stones at Cuddie Springs, as
both are found 1 to 1.7 metres below the modern surface. The dating of these layers is
accurate: ages for the sediments were obtained through radiocarbon dating of charcoal
fragments and luminescence dating of sand grains from the same levels (revealing
when a sample was last exposed to sunlight). Intriguingly, some of the stone show
surface features indicating their use for processing plants, and a few even have well-
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

preserved blood and hair residues suggesting they were used in butchering animals.

But is the case proposed by Field aside Wroe clear-cut? We carried out a reanalyse of
the scientific data from Cuddie Springs that brings into question their conclusions. The
amount of anthropological evidence found at the site is remarkable: we estimate there
are more than 3 tonnes of charcoal and more than 300 tonnes of stone buried there.
Field and Wroe estimate that there are approximately 20 million artefacts. This plethora
of tools is hard to reconcile with a site that was only available for occupation when the
lake was dry. Furthermore, no cultural features such as oven pits have been
discovered. If the sediment layers have remained undisturbed since being laid down,
as Field and Wroe contend, then the ages of those sediments should increase with
depth. However, our analysis revealed a number of inconsistencies.
First, the charcoal samples are all roughly 36,000 years old. Second, sand in the two
upper levels is considerably younger than charcoal from the same levels. Third, Field
and Wroe say that the tools and seed-grinding stones used for plant and animal
processing are accient, yet they are very similar to implements found elsewhere that
were in use only a few thousand years ago. Also interest is the fact that a deep drill core
made a mere 60 metres from the site recovered no stone artefact or fossil bones
whatsoever. These points suggests strongly that the sediments have been moved about
and some of the old charcoal has been re-deposited in younger layers. Indeed, one
sample of cow bone found I metre below the surface came from sediments where
charcoal dated at 6,000 and 23,000 years old is mixed with 17,000-year-old sand. The
megafauna bones themselves have not yet dated, although new technological
developments make this a possibility in the near future.

We propose that the archaeologists have actually been sampling the debris carried by
ancient flood channels beneath the site, including charcoal transported from bushfires
that intermittently occurred within the catchment. Flood events more likely explain the
accumulation of megafauna remains, and could have mixed old bones With fresh
deposits. European graziers also disturbed the site in 1876 by constructing a well to
provide water their cattle. Given the expense of well-digging, we speculate that the
graziers made sure it was protected from the damage caused by cattle hooves by lining
the surface with small stones collected from further afield, including prehistoric quarries.
This Idea Is consistent with the thin layer of stones spread over a large area, with cattle
occasionally breaking through the gravel surface and forcing the stone and even cattle
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

bones deeper into the waterlogged soil.

The lack of conclusive evidence that humans and megafauna coexisted for a lengthy
period casts doubt on Field and Wroe's assertion that climate change was responsible
for the extinction of Australia's megafauna. However, we do not suggest that newly
arrived, well-armed hunters systematically slaughtered all the large beasts they
encountered. Recent studies based on the biology of modern-day large
Mammals, combined with observations of people who still practise a traditional hunter-
gatherer lifestyle, reveal an unexpected paradox and suggest a further possible
explanation as to what happened. Using a mathematical model, It was found that a group
of 10 people killing only one juvenile Diprotodon each year would be sufficient to bring
about the extinction of that spaces within 1,000 years. This suggests that here, as in other
parts of the word, the arrival of humans in lands previously inhabited only by animals
created a volatile combination in which large animals fared badly.

Questions 27-30
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information if

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

27 Field and Wroe argue that findings at the Cuddie Springs site show that people
lived in this area at the same time as megafauna.
28 Field and Wroe believe it is likely that smaller megafauna species survived the last
Ice Age
29 The writers believe that the dating of earth up to 1.7m below the present surface
at Cuddie Springs is unreliable.
30 Some artefacts found at Cuddie Springs were preserved well enough to reveal
their function
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Questions 31 - 35
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below
Write the correct letter, A-I in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet

The writers' arguments against Field and Wroe's analysis of the scientific data
from Cuddie Springs

One objection to Field and Wroe's interpretation is the large quantity of charcoal,
31............ and artefacts found at Cuddie Springs. Such large numbers of artefacts
would impossible if the area had been covered with 32 ....... for a period. There is
also a complete lack of man-made structures, for instance those used for 33............

Other evidence that doubt on Field and Wroe's claim is the fact that while some
material in the highest levels of sediment is 36,000 years old, the 34........... in the
same levels
is much more recent. The tools used to process plants and animals may also be newer than
Field and Wroe believe. Further evidence against human occupation of the area is the absence
of tools and 35........... a short distance away.

Questions 36-40
Choose the letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
36 What conclusions did the writers reach about the inconsistencies in the data from
Cuddie Springs?
A. The different layers of sediment have been mixed over time.
B. The sand evidence is unhelpful and should be disregarded.
C. The area needs to be re-examined when technology improves.
D. The charcoal found in the area cannot be dated.
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37 According to the writers, what impact could a natural phenomenon have had on this site?
A. Floods could have caused the death of the megafauna.
B. Floods could have disturbed the archaeological evidence.
C. Bushfires could have prevented humans from settling in the area for any length of time
D. Bushfires could have destroyed much of the evidence left by megafauna and
humans

38 What did the writers speculate about the people who lived at this site in 1876?

A. They bred cattle whose bones could have been confused with megafauna
B. They found that the soil was too waterlogged for farming
C. They allowed cattle to move around freely at the site
D. They brought stones there from another area

39 In the final paragraph what suggestion do the writers hide about Australia's
megafauna?
A. A rapid change in climate may have been responsible for the extinction of the
megafauna.
B. Megafauna could have died out as a result of small numbers being killed year after year.
C. The population of humans at that time was probably insufficient to cause the
extinction of the megafauna.
D. The extinction of ancient animals should not be compared to that of modern-day
species.

40 Which of the following best represents the writers' criticism of Field and Wroe?
A. Their methods were not well thought out
B. Their excavations did not go deep enough.
C. Their technology failed to obtain precise data.
D. Their conclusions were based on inconsistent data.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Test 5
READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 on
pages 2 and3
Voyage of going: beyond the blue line 2
A. One feels a certain sympathy for Captain James Cook on the day in 1778 that he
"discovered" Hawaii. Then on his third expedition to the Pacific, the British navigator had
explored scores of islands across the breadth of the sea, from lush New Zealand to the lonely
wastes of Easter Island This latest voyage had taken him thousands of miles north from the
Society Islands to an archipelago so remote that even the ok! Polynesians back on Tahiti knew
nothing about it. Imagine Cook's surprise, then, when the natives of Hawaii came paddling out in
their canoes and greeted him in a familiar tongue, one he had heard on virtually every mote of
inhabited land he had visited Marveling at the ubiquity of this
Pacific language and culture, he later wondered in his journal: "How shall we account for this
Nation spreading it self so far over this Vast ocean?"
B. Answers have been slow in coming. But now a startling archaeological find on the island of
Efate, in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, has revealed an ancient seafaring people, the distant
ancestors of today's Polynesians, taking their first steps into the unknown. The discoveries there
have also opened a window into the shadowy work! of those early voyagers. At the same time,
other pieces of this human puzzle are turning up in unlikely places. Climate data gleaned from
slow-growing corals around the Pacific and from sediments in alpine lakes in South America may
help explain how, more than a thousand years later, a second wave of seafarers beat their way
across the entire Pacific.
C. What we have is a first-or second-generation site containing the graves of some of the Pacific's
first explorers," says Spriggs, professor of archaeology at the Australian National University and
co-leader of an international team excavating the site. It came to light only by luck A backhoe
operator, digging up topsoil on the grounds of a derelict coconut plantation, scraped open a
grave- the first of dozens in a burial ground some 3,000 years old It is the oldest cemetery ever
found in the Pacific islands, and it harbors the bones of an ancient people archaeologists call the
Lapita, a label that derives from a beach in New Caledonia where a landmark cache of their
pottery was found in the 1950s. They were daring blue-water adventurers who roved the sea not
just as expbrers but also as pioneers, bringing abng everything they would need to build new
lives- their families and livestock, taro seedlings and stone tools.
D. Within the span of a few centuries the Lapita stretched the boundaries of their world from the
jungle-clad vokanoes of Papua New Guinea to the bneliest coral outliers of Tonga, at feast 2,000
miles eastward in the Pacific. Abng the way they expbred millions of square miles of unknown sea,
discovering and cobnizing scores of tropical islands never before seen by human eyes: Vanuatu,
New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

E. What little is known or surmised about them has been pieced together from fragments of
pottery, animal bones, obsidian flakes, and such oblique sources as comparative linguistics and
geochemistry. Although their voyages can be traced back to the northern islands of Papua New
Guinea, their language variants of which are still spoken across the Pacific came from Taiwan.
And their peculiar style of pottery decoration, created by pressing a carved stamp into the clay,
probably had its roots in the northern Philippines. With the discovery of the Lapita cemetery on
Efate, the volume of data available to researchers has expanded dramatically. The bones of at
feast 62 individuals have been uncovered so far including old men, young women, even babies-
and more skeletons are known to be in the ground Archaeobgists were also thrilled to discover
six complete Lapita pots. It's an important find, Spriggs says, for it conclusively identifies the
remains as Lapita. "It would be hard for anyone to argue that these aren't Lapita when you have
human bones enshrined inside what is unmistakably a Lapita urn."
F. Several lines of evidence also undergird Spriggs's conclusion that this was a

community of pioneers making their first voyages into the remote reaches of Oceania. For one
thing, the radiocarbon dating of bones and charcoal places them early in the Lapita expansion. For
another, the chemical makeup of the obsidian flakes littering the site indicates that the rock wasn't
local; instead it was imported from a large island in Papua New Guinea's Bismarck Archipelago, the
springboard for the Lapita's thrust into the Pacific. A particularly intriguing clue comes from chemical
tests on the teeth of several skeletons. DNA teased from these ancient bones may also help answer
one of the most puzzling questions in Pacific anthropobgy: Did all Pacific islanders spring from one
source or many? Was there only one outward migration from a single point in Asia, or several from
different points? "This represents the best opportunity we've had yet," says Spriggs, "to find out who
the Lapita actually were, where they came from, and who their cbsest descendants are today.
G. "There is one stubborn question for which archaeobgy has yet to provide any answers: How did
the Lapita accomplish the ancient equivalent of a moon landing, many times over? No one has
found one of their canoes or any rigging, which could reveal how the canoes were sailed Nor do the
oral histories and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights, for they segue into myth long
before they reach as far back in time as the Lapita." All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had
canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin,
a professor of archaeology at the University of Auckland and an avid yachtsman. Those sailing
skills, he says, were developed and passed down over thousands of years by earlier mariners who
worked their way through the archipelagoes of the western Pacific making short crossings to islands
within sight of each other. Reaching Fiji, as they did a century or so later, meant crossing more than
500 miles of ocean, pressing on day after day into the great blue void of the Pacific. What gave
them the courage to launch out on such a risky voyage?
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

H. The Lapita's thrust into the Pacific was eastward, against the prevailing trade winds, Irwin notes.
Those nagging headwinds, he argues, may have been the key to their success. "They could sail out for
days into the unknown and reconnoiter, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they
could turn about and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds. It's what made the whole thing work."
Once out there, skilled seafarers would detect abundant leads to follow to land: seabirds and turtles,
coconuts and twigs carried out to sea by the tides, and the afternoon pileup of clouds on the horizon
that often betokens an island in the distance. Some islands may have broadcast their presence with
far less subtlety than a cloud bank. Some of the most violent eruptions anywhere on the planet during
the past 10,000 years occurred in Melanesia, which sits nervously in one of the most explosive
volcanic regions on Earth. Even less spectacular eruptions would have sent plumes of smoke bilbwing
into the stratosphere and rained ash for hundreds of miles. It's possible that the Lapita saw these signs
of distant islands and later sailed off in their direction, knowing they would find land For returning
explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagoes provided a safety net to keep
them from overshooting their home ports and sailing off into eternity.
I. However they did it, the Lapita spread themselves a third of the way across the Pacific, then called it
quits for reasons known only to them. Ahead lay the vast emptiness of the central Pacific, and perhaps
they were too thinly stretched to venture f arther. They probably never numbered more than a few
thousand in total, and in their rapid migration eastward they encountered hundreds of islands more
than 300 in Fiji alone. Still, more than a millennium would pass before the Lapita's descendants, a
people we now call the Polynesians, struck out in search of new territory.

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
.YES if the statement is true
NO if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage 1

1. Captain cook once expected the Hawaii might speak another language of people from other pacific
islands.
2. Captain Cook depicted a number of cultural aspects of Polynesians in his journal.
3. Professor Spriggs and his research team went to the Efate to try to find the site of ancient cemetery
4. The Lapita completed a journey of around 2,000 miles in a period less than a centenary.
5. The Lapita were the first inhabitants in many pacific islands.
6. The unknown pots discovered in Efate had once been used for cooking.
7. The um buried in Efate site was plain as it was without any decoration.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Summary
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 1, using no more
than Two words from the Reading Passage 1 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-10 on your answer sheet.
Scientific Evident found in Efate site
Tests show the human remains and the charcoal found in the buried um are from the start
of the Lapita period. Yet The .........8........ covering many of the Efate site did not come
from that area.
Then examinations carried out on the ......... 9........ discovered at Efate site reveal that
not everyone buried there was a native living in the area. In fact, DNA could identify the
La pita's nearest.........10 ...........present-days.
Questions 11-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for
each answer.
11 What did the Lapita travel in when they crossed the oceans?
12 In lrwins's view, what would the Latipa have relied on to bring them fast back to the
base?
13 Which sea creatures would have been an indication to the Lapita of where to find land
?

READING PASSAGE 2

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

Multitasks

Do you read while listening to music? Do you like to watch TV while finishing your
homework? People who have these kinds of habits are called multi-taskers.
Multitasks are able to complete two tasks at the same time by dividing their focus.
However, Thomas Lehman, a researcher in Psychology, believes people never really
do multiple things simultaneously. Maybe a person is reading while listening to music,
but in reality, the brain can only focus on one task. Reading thewords in a book will
cause you to ignore some of the words of the music. When people think they are
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

accomplishing two different tasks efficiently, what they are really doing is dividing their
focus. While listening to music, people become less able to focus on their surroundings.
For example, we all have experience of times when we talk with friends and they are
not responding properly. Maybe they are listening to someone else talk, or maybe they
are reading a text on their smart phone and don't hear what you are saying. Lehman
called this phenomenon "email voice"
B
the world has been changed by computers and its spin offs like smart-phones or
cellphones. Now that most individuals have a personal device, like a smart-phoneor a
laptop, they are frequently reading, watching or listening to virtual information. This
raises the occurrence of multitasking in our day to day life. Nowwhen you work, you
work with your typewriter, your cellphone, and some colleagues who may drop by at
any time to speak with you. In professional meetings, when one normally focuses and
listens to one another, people are more likely to have a cell phone in their lap, reading
or communicating silently with more people than ever, liven inventions such as the
cordless phone has increased multitasking. In the old days, a traditional wall phone
would ring, and then the housewife would have to stop her activities to answer it. When
it rang, the housewife will sit down with her legs up. and chat, with no laundry or
sweeping or answering the door. In the modern era, our technology is convenient
enough to not interrupt our daily tasks .
.C
Earl Miller, an expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studied the
prefrontal cortex, which controls the brain while a person is multitasking.
According to his studies, the size of this cortex varies between species, He found that
for humans, the size of this part constitutes one third of the brain, while it is only 4 to 5
percent in dogs, and about 15% in monkeys. Given that this cortex is larger on a
human, it allows a human to be more flexible and accurate in his or her multitasking..
However, Miller wanted to look further into whether the cortexwas truly processing
information about two different tasks
simultaneously. He designed an experiment where he presents visual stimulants to his
subjects in a wax that mimics multi-tasking. Miller then attached sensors tothe patients
"heads to pick up the electric patterns of the brain. This sensor would show if "the
brain particles, called neurons, were truly processing two different tasks. What he
found is that the brain neurons only lit up in singular areas one at a time, and never
simultaneously.
D
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Davis Meyer, a professor of University of Michigan, studied the young adults in a similar
experiment. He instructed them to simultaneously do math problems and classify
simple words into different categories. For this experiment. Meyer found that when you
think you are doing several jobs at the same time, you are actuallyswitching between
jobs. Even though the people tried to do the tasks at the sametime, and both tasks
were eventually accomplished, overall, the task look more time than if the person
focused on a single task one at a time.
E
People sacrifice efficiency when multitasking, Gloria Mark set office workers as his
subjects. He found that they were constantly multitasking. He observed that nearly
every 11 minutes people at work were disrupted. He found that doing different jobs at
the same time may actually save time. However, despite the fact that they are faster, it
does not mean they are more efficient. And we are equally likely to self-interrupt as be
interrupted by outside sources. He found that in office nearly every 12 minutes an
employee would stop and with no reason at all,cheek a website on their computer, call
someone or write an email. If they concentrated for more than 20 minutes, they would
feel distressed. He suggestedthat the average person may suffer from a short
concentration span. This short attention span might be natural, but others suggest that
new technology may be the problem. With cellphones and computers at our sides at all
times, people will never run out of distractions. The format of media, such as
advertisements, music, news articles and TV shows are also shortening, so people are
used to paying attention to information for a very short time
F
So even though focusing on one single task is the most efficient way for our brainsto
work, it is not practical to use this method in real life. According to human nature, people
feel more comfortable and efficient in environments with a varietyof tasks, Edward
Hallowell said that people are losing a lot of efficiency in the workplace due to
multitasking, outside distractions and self-distractions. As it matter of fact, the changes
made to the workplace do not have to be dramatic.
No one is suggesting we ban e-mail or make employees focus on only one task.
However, certain common workplace tasks, such as group meetings, would be more
efficient if we banned cell-phones, a common distraction. A person can alsoapply these
tips to prevent self-distraction. Instead of arriving to your office and checking all of your
e-mails for new tasks, a common workplace ritual, a person could dedicate an hour to a
single task first thing in the morning. Self-timing is a great way to reduce distraction and
efficiently finish tasks one by one, instead of slowing ourselves down with multi-tasking.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet

14 a reference to a domestic situation that does not require multitasking

15 a possible explanation of why we always do multitask together
16 a practical solution to multitask in work environment
17 relating multitasking to the size of prefrontal cortex
18 longer time spent doing two tasks at the same time than one at a time

Questions 19-23

Look at the following statements (Questions 19-23) and the list of scientists below.
Match each statement with the correct scientist, A-E.

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet. NB
You may use any letter more than once.
List of Scientists
A Thomas Lehman
B Earl Miller
C David Meyer
D Gloria Mark
E Edward Hallowell

19 When faced multiple visual stimulants, one can only concentrate on one ofthem.
20 Doing two things together may be faster but not better.
21 People never really do two things together even if you think you do.
22 The causes of multitask lie in the environment.
23 Even minor changes in the workplace will improve work efficiency

Questions 24-26

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write
your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

A term used to refer to a situation when you are reading a text and cannot focuson
your surroundings is 24 .........
The 25 ........... part of the brain controls multitasking.
The practical solution of multitask in work is not to allow use of cellphone in
26 ............... .

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3
on pages 10 and 11.

Grimm's Fairy Tales

A. The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, named their story collection Children's
and Household Tales and published the first of its seven editions in Germany in
1812. The table of contents reads like an A-list of fairy-tale celebrities: Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin,
Hansel and Gretel, the Frog King. Drawn mostly from oral narratives, the 210 stories
in die Grimm's' collection represent an anthology of fairy tales, animal fables, rustic
farces, and religious allegories that remain unrivalled to this day.

B. Such lasting fame would have shocked the humble Grimms. During their lifetimes
the collection sold modestly in Germany, at first only a few hundred copies a year.
The early editions were not even aimed at children. The brothers initially refused to
consider illustrations, and scholarly footnotes took up almost as much space as the
talcs themselves. Jacob and Wilhelm viewed themselves as patriotic folklorists, not
as entertainers of children. They began their work at a time when Germany had
been overrun by the French under Napoleon, who were intent on suppressing local
culture. As young, workaholic scholars, single and sharing a cramped flat, the
Brothers Grimm undertook the fairy-tale collection with the goal of serving the
endangered oral tradition of Germany.

C. For much of the 19th century teachers, parents, and religious figures, particularly
in the United States, deplored the Grimms' collection for its raw, uncivilized content.
Offended adults objected to the gruesome punishments inflicted on the stories'
villains. In the original "Snow White" the evil stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot
iron shoes until she falls down dead. Even today some protective parents shy from
the Grimms' talcs because of their reputation for violence.
D. Despite
người thầy tên sometimes rocky reception, Children's and Household Tales gradually
its Huy took
IELTS EASY8

root with the public. The brothers had not foreseen that the appearance of their work would
coincide with a great flowering of children's literature in Europe. English publishers led the
way, issuing high-quality picture books such as Jack and the Beanstalk and handsome
folktale collections, all to satisfy a newly literate audience seeking virtuous material for the
nursery. Once the Brothers Grimm sighted this new public, they set about refining and
softening their tales, which had originated centuries earlier as earthy peasant fare. In the
Grimms' hands, cruel mothers became nasty stepmothers, unmarried lovers were made
chaste, and the incestuous father was recast as the devil.

E. In the 20th century the Grimms' fairy tales have come to rule the bookshelves of children's
bedrooms. The stories read like dreams come true: handsome lads and beautiful damsels,
armed with magic, triumph over giants and witches and wild beasts. They outwit mean,
selfish adults. Inevitably the boy and girl fall in love and live happily ever after. And parents
keep reading because they approve of the finger-wagging lessons inserted into the stories:
keep your promises, don't talk to strangers, work hard, obey your parents. According to the
Grimms, the collection served as "a manual of manners".

F. Altogether some 40 persons delivered tales to the Grimms. Many of the storytellers came
to the Grimms' house in Kassel. The brothers particularly welcomed the visits of Dorothea
Viehmann, a widow who walked to town to sell produce from her garden. An innkeeper
daughter, Viehmann had grown up listening to stories from travellers on the road to Frankfurt.
Among her treasure was "Aschenputtel" -Cinderella. Marie Hassenpflug was a 20- year-old
friend of their sister, Charlotte, from a well-bred, French-speaking family. Marie's wonderful
stories blended motifs from the oral tradition and from Perrault's influential 1697 book, Tales
of My Mother Goose, which contained elaborate versions of "Little Red Riding H ood", "Snow
White", and "Sleeping Beauty", among others. Many of these had been adapted from earlier
Italian tales.

G. Given that the origins of many of the Grimm fairy tales reach throughout Europe and into
the Middle East and Orient, the question must be asked: How German are the Grimm tales?
Very, says scholar H einz Rolleke. Love of the underdog, rustic simplicity, creative
energy-these are Teutonic traits. The coarse texture of life

during medieval times in Germany, when many of the tales entered the oral tradition, also
coloured the narratives. Throughout Europe children were often neglected and abandoned,
like Hansel and Gretel. Accused witches were burned at the stake, like the evil mother-in-law
in "The Six Swans". "The cruelty in the stories was not the Grimm's fantasy", Rolleke points
out" It reflected the law-and-order system of the old times".
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

H. The editorial fingerprints left by the Grimms betray the specific values of 19th­ century Christian,
bourgeois German society. But that has not stopped the tales from being embraced by almost every
culture and nationality in the world. What accounts for this widespread, enduring popularity? Bernhard
Lauer points to the "universal style" of the writing, you have no concrete descriptions of the land, or the
clothes, or the forest, or the castles. It makes the stories timeless and placeless," The tales allow us to
express 'our utopian longings'," says Jack Zipes of the University of Minnesota, whose 1987 translation
of the complete fairy tales captures the rustic vigour of the original text. They show a striving for
happiness that none of us knows but that we sense is possible. We can identify with the heroes of the
tales and become in our mind the masters and mistresses of our own destinies."

I. Fairy tales provide a workout for the unconscious, psychoanalysts maintain. Bruno Bettelheim
famously promoted the therapeutic of the Grimms' stories, calling fairy tales the "great comforters. By
confronting fears and phobias, symbolized by witches, heartless stepmothers, and hungry wolves,
children find they can master their anxieties. Bettelheim's theory continues to be hotly debated. But
most young readers aren't interested in exercising their unconsciousness. The Grimm tales in fact
please in an infinite number of ways, something about them seems to mirror whatever moods or
interests we bring to our reading of them. The flexibility of interpretation suits them for almost any time
and any culture.
Questions 27-32
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 27-32
on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement is true
NO if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

27. The Grimm brothers believed they would achieve international fame.
28. The Grimm brothers were forced to work in secret.
29. Some parents today still think Grimmfairy tales are not suitable for children.
30. The first edition of Grimm's fairy tales sold more widely in England than in
Germany.

31. Adults like reading Grimm's fairy tales for reasons different from those of
children.
32. The Grimm brothers based the story "Cinderella" on the life of Dorothea
Viehmann

Questions 33-35
Choose the correct letter, A, 8, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.

33. In paragraph 4, what changes happened at that time in Europe?

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

A. Literacy levels of the population increased.

B. The development of printing technology made it easier to publish.
C. Schools were open to children.
D. People were fond of collecting superb picture books.
34. What changes did the Grimm Brothers make in later editions?
A. They made the stories shorter.
B. They used more oral language.
C. The content of the tales became less violent.
D. They found other origins of the tales.
35. What did Marie Hassenpflug contribute to the Grimm's Fairy tales?
A. She wrote stories.
B. She discussed the stories with them.
C. She translated a popular book for the brothers using her talent for languages.
D. She told the oral stories that were based on traditional Italian stories.

Questions 36-40
Summary
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no
more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
36. Heinz rolleke said the Grimm's tales are "German"because the tales
37. Heinz Rolleke said the abandoned children in tales
38. Bernhard Lauer said the writing style of the Grimm brothers is universal because
they
39. Jack Zipes said the pursuit of happiness in the tales means they
40. Bruno Bettelheim said the therapeutic value of the tales means that the fairy
tales
A. reflect what life was like at that time
B. help children deal with their problems
C. demonstrate the outdated system
D. tell of the simplicity of life in the German countryside
E. encourage people to believe that they can do anything
F. recognize the heroes in the real life
G. contribute to the belief in nature power
H. avoid details about characters' social settings.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

TEST6
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

The history of tea

The story of tea begins in China. According to legend, in 2737 BC, the Chinese
emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water,
when some leaves from the tree blew into the water. Shen Nung, a renowned herbalist,
decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created. The tree was a
Camellia sinensis, and the resulting drink was what we now call tea. It is impossible to
know whether there is any truth in this story. But tea drinking certainly became
established in China many centuries before it had even been heard of in the West.
Containers for tea have been found in tombs dating from the Han Dynasty (206
BC-220 AD) but it was under the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD), that tea became firmly
established as the national drink of China.

It became such a favourite that during the late eighth century a writer called Lu Yu wrote
the first book entirely about tea, the Ch'a Ching, or Tea Classic. It was shortly after this
that tea was first introduced to Japan, by Japanese Buddhist monks who had travelled
to China to study. Tea received almost instant imperial sponsorship and spread rapidly
from the royal court and monasteries to the other sections of Japanese society.

So at this stage in the history of tea, Europe was rather lagging behind. In the latter half
of the sixteenth century there are the first brief mentions of tea as a drink among
Europeans. These are mostly from Portuguese who were living in the East as traders
and missionaries. But although some of these individuals may have brought back
samples of tea to their native country, it was not the Portuguese who were the first to
ship back tea as a commercial import. This was done by the Dutch, who in the last
years of the sixteenth century began to encroach on Portuguese trading routes in the
East. By the turn of the century they had established a trading post on the island of
Java, and it was via Java that in 1606 the first consignment of tea was shipped from
China to Holland. Tea soon became a fashionable drink among the Dutch, and from
there spread to other
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

countries in continental western Europe, but because of its high price it remained
a drink for the wealthy.

Britain, always a little suspicious of continental trends, had yet to become the
nation of tea drinkers that it is today. Starting in 1600, the British East India
Company had a monopoly on importing goods from outside Europe, and it is likely
that sailors on these ships brought tea home as gifts. The first coffee house had
been established in London in 1652, and tea was still somewhat unfamiliar to
most readers, so it is fair to assume that the drink was still something of a
curiosity. Gradually, it became a popular drink in coffee houses, which were as
many locations for the transaction of business as they were for relaxation or
pleasure. They were though the preserve of middle- and upper-class men; women
drank tea in their own homes, and as yet tea was still too expensive to be
widespread among the working classes. In part, its high price was due to a
punitive system of taxation.

One unforeseen consequence of the taxation of tea was the growth of methods to
avoid taxation-smuggling and adulteration. By the eighteenth century many
Britons wanted to drink tea but could not afford the high prices, and their
enthusiasm for the drink was matched by the enthusiasm of criminal gangs to
smuggle it in. What began as a small time illegal trade, selling a few pounds of tea
to personal contacts; developed by die late eighteenth century into an astonishing
organised crime network, perhaps importing as much as 7 million lbs annually,
compared to a legal import of 5 million lbs! Worse for die drinkers was that
taxation also encouraged the adulteration of tea, particularly of smuggled tea
which was not quality controlled through customs and excise. Leaves from other
plants, or leaves which had already been brewed and then dried, were added to
tea leaves. By 1784, the government realised that enough was enough, and that
heavy taxation was creating more problems than it was words. The new Prime
Minister, William Pitt the Younger, slashed the tax from 119 per cent to 12.5 per
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

cent. Suddenly legal tea was affordable, and smuggling stopped virtually
overnight.

Another great impetus to tea drinking resulted from the end of the East India
Company's monopoly on trade with China, in 1834. Before that date, China was
the country of origin of the vast majority of the tea imported to Britain, but the end
of its monopoly stimulated the East India Company to consider growing tea
outside China. India had always been the centre of the Company's operations,
which led to the increased cultivation of tea in India, beginning in Assam. There
were a few false starts, including the destruction by cattle of one of the earliest tea
nurseries, but by 1888 British tea imports from India were for the first time greater
than those from China.

The end of the East India Company's monopoly on trade with China also had
another result, which was more dramatic though less important in the long term: it
ushered in the era of the tea clippers. While the Company had had the monopoly
on trade, there was no rush to bring the tea from China to Britain, but after 1834
the tea trade became a virtual free for all. Individual merchants and sea captains
with their own ships raced to bring home the tea and make the most money, using
fast new clippers which had sleek lines, tall masts and huge sails. In particular
there was a competition between British and American merchants, leading to the
famous clipper races of the 1860s. But these races soon came to an end with the
opening of the Suez Canal, which made the trade routes to China viable for
steamships for the first time.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 1-7
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 1
Use ONE WORD for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

1 Researchers believed the tea containers detected in .................... from the

Han Dynasty was the first evidence of the use of tea.

2 Lu Yu wrote a ....................about tea before anyone else in the eighth century.

3 It was ....................from Japan who brought tea to their native country from
China.

4 Tea was carried from China to Europe actually by the.................... .

5 The British government had to cut down the taxation on tea due to the serious
crime of .....................

6 Tea was planted in ....................besides China in the 19th century.

7 In order to compete in shipping speed, traders used ....................for the race.

Questions 8-13

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

In boxes 8-13 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

8 Tea was popular in Britain in the 16th century.

9 Tea was more fashionable than coffee in Europe in the late 17th century.

10 Tea was enjoyed by all classes in Britain in the seventeenth century.

11 The adulteration of tea also prompted William Pitt the Younger to reduce the
tax.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

12 Initial problems occurred when tea was planted outside China by the East
India Company.

13 The fastest vessels were owned by America during the 19th century clipper
races.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on
Reading Passage 2 below.
Biodiversity
A
It seems biodiversity has become a buzzword beloved of politicians, conservationists,
protesters and scientists alike. But what exactly is it? The Convention on Biological
Diversity, an international agreement to conserve and share the planet's biological
riches, provides a good working definition: biodiversity comprises every form of life, from
the smallest microbe to the largest animal or plant, the genes that give them their
specific characteristics and the ecosystems of which they are apart.
B
In October, the World Conservation Union (also known as the IUCN) published its
updated Red List of Threatened Species, a roll call of 11,167 creatures facing extinction
- 121 more than when the list was last published in 2000. But the new figures almost
certainly underestimate the crisis. Some 1.2 million species of animal and 270,000
species of plant have been classified, but the well-being of only a fraction has been
assessed. The resources are simply not available. The IUCN reports that 5714 plants
are threatened, for example, but admits that only 4 per cent of known plants has been
assessed. And, of course, there are thousands of species that we have yet to discover.
Many of these could also be facing extinction.
C
It is important to develop a picture of the diversity of life on Earth now so that
comparisons can be made in the future and trends identified. But it isn't necessary to
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

observe every single type of organism in an area to get a snapshot of the health of the
ecosystem. In many habitats, there are species that are particularly susceptible to
shifting conditions, and these can be used as indicator species.
D
In the media, it is usually large, charismatic animals such as pandas, elephants, tigers
and whales that get all the attention when a loss of biodiversity is discussed. However,
animals or plants far lower down the food chain are often the ones vital for preserving
habitats - in the process saving the skins of those more glamorous species. There are
known as keystone species.
E
By studying the complex feeding relationships within habitats, species can be identified
that have a particularly important impact on the environment. For example, the
members of the fig family are the staple food for hundreds of different species in many
different countries, so important that scientists sometimes call figs "jungle burgers". A
whole range of animals, from tiny insects to birds and large mammals, feed on
everything from the tree's bark and leaves to its flowers and fruits. Many fig species
have very specific pollinators. There are several dozen species of the fig tree in Costa
Rica, and a different type of wasp has evolved to pollinate each one. Chris Lyle of the
Natural History Museum in London - who is also involved in the Global Taxonomy
Initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity - points out that if fig trees are
affected by global warming, pollution, disease or any other catastrophe, the loss of
biodiversity will be enormous.
F
Similarly, sea otters play a major role in the survival of giant kelp forests along the
coasts of California and Alaska. These "marine rainforests" provide a home for a wide
range of other species. The kelp itself is the main food of purple and red sea urchins
and in turn, the urchins are eaten by predators, particularly sea otters. They detach an
urchin from the seabed then float to the surface and lie on their backs with the urchin
shell on their tummy, smashing it open with a stone before eating the contents. Urchins
that are not eaten tend to spend their time in rock crevices to avoid the predators. This
allows the kelp to grow - and it can grow many centimetres in a day. As the forests
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

form, bits of kelp break off and fall to the bottom to provide food for the urchins in their
crevices. The sea otters thrive hunting for sea urchins in the kelp, and many other fish
and invertebrates live among the fronds. The problems start when the sea otter
population declines. As large predators they are vulnerable - their numbers are
relatively small to disease or human hunters can wipe them out. The result is that the
sea urchin population grows unchecked and they roam the seafloor eating young kelp
fronds. This tends to keep the kelp very short and stops forests developing, which has a
huge impact on biodiversity.
G
Conversely, keystone species can also make dangerous alien species: they can wreak
havoc if they end up in the wrong ecosystem. The cactus moth, whose caterpillar is a
voracious eater of prickly pear was introduced to Australia to control the rampant cacti.
It was so successful that someone thought it would be a good idea to introduce it to
Caribbean islands that had the same problem. It solved the cactus menace, but
unfortunately, some of the moths have now reached the US mainland - borne on winds
and in tourists' luggage - where they are devastating the native cactus populations of
Florida.
H
Organisations like the Convention on Biological Diversity work with groups such as the
UN and with governments and scientists to raise awareness and fund research. A
number of major international meetings - including the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg this year - have set targets for governments around the
world to slow the loss of biodiversity. And the CITES meeting in Santiago last month
added several more names to its list of endangered species for which trade is
controlled. Of course, these agreements will prove of limited value if some countries
refuse to implement them.

There is cause for optimism, however. There seems to be a growing understanding of

the need for sustainable agriculture and sustainable tourism to conserve biodiversity.
Problems such as illegal logging are being tackled through sustainable forestry
programmes, with the emphasis on minimising the use of rainforest hardwoods in the
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

developed world and on rigorous replanting of whatever trees are harvested. CITES is
playing its part by controlling trade in wood from endangered tree species. In the same
way, sustainable farming techniques that minimise environmental damage and avoid
monoculture.
J
Action at a national level often means investing in public education and awareness.
Getting people like you and me involved can be very effective. Australia and many
European countries are becoming increasingly efficient at recycling much of their
domestic waste, for example, preserving natural resources and reducing the use of
fossil fuels. This, in turn, has a direct effect on biodiversity by minimising pollution, and
an indirect effect by reducing the number of greenhouse gases emitted from
incinerators and landfill sites. Preserving ecosystems intact for future generations to
enjoy is obviously important, but biodiversity is not some kind of optional extra. Variety
may be "the spice of life", but biological variety is also our life-support system.

Questions 14-20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
14 The term "biodiversity" consists of living creatures and the environment that they
live in.
15 There are species that have not been researched because it's unnecessary to
study all creatures.
16 It is not necessary to investigate all creatures in a certain place.
17 The press more often than not focuses on animals well-known.
18 There is a successful case that cactus moth plays a positive role in the US.
19 Usage of hardwoods is forbidden in some European countries.
20 Agriculture experts advise farmers to plant single crops in the field in terms of
sustainable farming.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 21-26
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.
Because of the ignorance brought by media, people tend to neglect significant creatures
called 21 ......................... Every creature has diet connections with others, such
as 22................. .............., which provide a majority of foods for other species. In
some states of America, the decline in a number of sea otters leads to the boom
of 23..... ....................... An impressing case is that imported 24............ ................
successfully tackles the plant cacti in 25 .............................. However, the operation
is needed for the government to increase its financial support
in 26 .............................

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below.
Nature works Polylactic acid

A dozen years ago, scientists at Cargill got the idea of converting lactic acid made from
corn into plastic while examining possible new uses for materials produced from corn
wet milling processes. In the past, several efforts had been made to develop plastics
from lactic acid, but with limited success. Achieving this technological breakthrough
didn't come easily, but in time the efforts did succeed. A fermentation and distillation
process using com was designed to create a polymer suitable for a broad variety of
applications.

B
As an agricultural based firm, Cargill had taken this product as far as it could by 1997.
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

The company needed a partner with access to plastics markets and polymerization
capabilities, and began discussions with The Dow Chemical Company. The next step
was the formation of the joint venture that created Cargill Dow LLC. Cargill Dow's
product is the world's first commercially available plastic made from annually renewable
resources such as com:
• Nature Works TM PLA is a family of packaging polymers (carbon-based molecules) made
from non-petroleum based resources.
• lngeo is a family of polymers for fibers made in a similar manner.

C
By applying their unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars, Cargill
Dow has created a more environmentally friendly material that reaches the consumer in
clothes, cups, packaging and other products. While C argill Dow is a stand-alone
business, it continues to leverage the agricultural processing, manufacturing and
polymer expertise of the two parent companies in order to bring the best possible
products to market.

D
The basic raw materials for PLA are carbon dioxide and water. Growing plants, like
com, take these building blocks from the atmosphere and the soil. They are combined in
the plant to make carbohydrates (sucrose and starch) through a process driven by
photosynthesis. The process for making Nature Works PLA begins when a renewable
resource such as corn is milled, separating starch from the raw material. Unrefined
dextrose, in turn, is processed from the starch.

E
C argill Dow turns the unrefined dextrose into lactic acid using a fermentation process
similar to that used by beer and wine producers. This is the same lactic acid that is used
as a food additive and is found in muscle tissue in the human body. Through a special
condensation process, a lactide is formed. This lactide is purified through vacuum
distillation and becomes a polymer (the base for NatureWorks PLA) that is ready for use
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

through a solvent-free melt process. Development of this new technology allows the
company to "harvest" the carbon that living plants remove from the air through
photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in plant starches, which can be broken down into
natural plant sugars. The carbon and other elements in these natural sugars are then
used to make NatureWorks PLA.

F
Nature Works PLA fits all disposal systems and is fully compostable in commercial
composting facilities. With the proper infrastructure, products made from this polymer
can be recycled back to a monomer and re-used as a polymer. Thus, at the end of its
life cycle, a product made from Nature Works PLA can be broken down into its simplest
parts so that no sign of it remains.

G
PLA is now actively competing with traditional materials in packaging and fiber
applications throughout the world; based on the technology's success and promise 1
Cargill Dow is quickly becoming a premier player in the polymers market. This new
polymer now competes head-on with petroleum-based materials like polyester. A wide
range of products that vary in molecular weight and crystallinity can be produced, and
the blend of physical properties of PLA makes it suited for a broad range of fiber and
packaging applications. Fiber and non-woven applications include clothing, fiberfill,
blankets and wipes. Packaging applications include packaging films and food and
beverage containers.

H
As Nature Works PLA polymers are more oil- and grease-resistant and provide a better
flavor and aroma barrier than existing petroleum-based polymers, grocery retailers are
increasingly using this packaging for their fresh foods. As companies begin to explore
this family of polymers, more potential applications are being identified. For example,
PLA possess two properties that are particularly useful for drape fabrics and window
furnishings. Their resistance to ultraviolet light is particularly appealing as this reduces
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

the amount of fading in such fabrics, and their refractive index is low, which means
fabrics constructed from these polymers can be made with deep colors without requiring
large amounts of dye. In addition, sportswear makers have been drawn to the product
as it has an inherent ability to take moisture away from the skin and when blended with
cotton and wool, the result is garments that are lighter and better at absorbing moisture.

PLA combines inexpensive large-scale fermentation with chemical processing to

produce a value-added polymer product that improves the environment as well. The
source material for PLA is a natural sugar found in plants such as com and using such
renewable feedstock presents several environmental benefits. As an alternative to
traditional petroleum-based polymers, the production of PLA uses 20%-50% less fossil
fuel and releases a lower amount of greenhouse gasses than comparable petroleum­
based plastic; carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is removed when the feedstock is
grown and is returned to the earth when the polymer is degraded. Because the
company is using raw materials that can be regenerated year after year, it is both cost­
competitive and environmentally responsible.

Questions 27-30
Write the letters A-Fin boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27 scientists manage to
28 Cargill needs to have contacts with
29 Nature work is used for
30 lngeo is used to
A make things like clothes
B produce plastic from plant
C selling plastic in market
D fermentation process
E drape fabrics
F wrapping products
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 31-34
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage.
Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.
Process: Polylactic acid
product

Milling om

31

32___

33___ Lactidc

acuum distiJlalioa

Sol cnr-free m !ting

Questions 35-40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
35 Why did choose the PLA as material for food packaging?
A It smells good
B It can save food freshness
C It can be used on other materials
D Some other things need to be revised about it.
36 What is PLA packaging is used for?
A absorbing moisture
B composting facilities
C Packaging fresh food
D manufacturing
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

37-38 Which two features of PLA are correct?

A It takes in moisture of skin
B It is waterproof
C comfortable sportswear
D It's fading under the sun
E It is only made in deep color
39-40 Which two features of PLA are correct?
A It is made of renewable raw materials
B It involves the removal of carbon dioxide
C It is no use of fossil fuel product
D It uses renewable raw resources
E It is sustenance which can absorb the CO2 in the atmosphere
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

38 what happened to organic farming in India?

A Yields increased

B Farmers were reluctant to accept it.

C farmers could apply it successfully by following instructions.

39 conclusion in international organic farming review focuses on

A whether people are interested in organic farming

B comparing different methods of organic farming in different countries

C wether organic farming is beneficial to wildlife

40 According to speaker, what is the main advantages of organic farming?

A it depends on consumers.

Bit can produce food of more nutritional value.

Cit can protect the enviroment.

TEST7

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading

Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

A. Leatherback turtles follow the general sea turtle body plan of having a large,
flattened, round body with two pairs of very large flippers and a short tail. Like other sea
turtles, the leatherback's flattened forelimbs are adapted for swimming in the open
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

ocean. Claws are absent from both pairs of flippers. The Leatherback's flippers arc the
largest in proportion to its body among extant sea turtles. Leatherback's front flippers
can grow up to 2.7 meters (9 ft) in large specimens, the largest flippers (even in
comparison to its body) of any sea turtle. As the last surviving member of its family, the
leatherback turtle has several distinguishing characteristics that differentiate it from
other sea turtles. Its most notable feature is that it lacks the bony carapace of the other
extant sea turtles.
B. During the past month, four turtles have washed up along Irish coasts from Wexford
to Kerry. These turtles arc more typical of warmer waters and only occur in Irish waters
when they stray off course. It is likely that they may have originated from Florida,
America. Two specimens have been taken to Coastal and Marine Resources Centre
(stored at the National Maritime College), University College Cork, where a necropsy
(post mortem for animals) will be conducted to establish their age, sex and their exact
origin. During this same period, two leatherback turtles were found in Scotland, and a
rare Kemp's Ridley turtle was found in Wales, thus making it an exceptional month for
stranded turtles in Ireland and the UK.
C. Actually, There has been extensive research conducted regarding the sea turtles'
abilities to return to their nesting regions and sometimes exact locations from hundreds
of miles away. In the water, their path is greatly affected by powerful currents. Despite
their limited vision, and lack of landmarks in the open water, turtles are able to retrace
their migratory paths. Some explanations of this phenomenon have found that sea
turtles can detect the angle and intensity of the earth's magnetic fields.
D. However, Loggerhead turtles are not normally found in Irish waters, because water
temperatures here are far too cold for their survival. Instead, adult loggerheads prefer
the warmers waters of the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and North America's east
coast. The four turtles that were found have probably originated from the North
American population of loggerheads. However it will require genetic analysis to confirm
this assumption. It is thought that after leaving their nesting beach as hatchlings (when
they measure 4.5 cm in length), these tiny turtles enter the North Atlantic Gyre (a giant
circular ocean current) that takes them from America, across to Europe (Azores area),
down towards North Africa, before being transported back again to America via a
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

different current. This remarkable round trip may take many years during which these
tiny turtles grow by several centimetres a year. Loggerheads may circulate around the
North Atlantic several times before they settle in the coastal waters of Florida or the
Caribbean.
E. These four turtles were probably on their way around the Atlantic when they strayed
a bit too far north from the Gulf Stream. Once they did, their fate was sealed, as the
cooler waters of the N orth East Atlantic are too cold for loggerheads (unlike leatherback
turtles which have many anatomical and physiological adaptations to enable them to
swim in our seas). Once in cool waters, the body of a loggerhead begins to shut down
as they get 'cold stunned', then get hypothermia and die.
F. Leatherbacks are in immanent danger of extinction. A critical factor (among others) is
the harvesting of eggs from nests. Valued as a food delicacy, Leatherback eggs are
falsely touted to have aphrodisiacal properties in some cultures. The leatherback, unlike
the Green Sea turtle, is not often killed for its meat; however, the increase in human
populations coupled with the growing black market trade has escalated their egg
depletion. Other critical factors causing the leatherbacks' decline are pollution such as
plastics (leatherbacks eat this debris thinking it is jellyfish; fishing practices such as
longline fishing and gill nets, and development on habitat areas. Scientists have
estimated that there are only about 35,000 Leatherback turtles in the world.
G. We are often unable to understand the critical impact a species has on the
environment-that is, until that species becomes extinct. Even if we do not know the
role a creature plays in the health of the environment, past lessons have taught US
enough to know that every animal and plant is one important link in the integral chain of
nature. Some scientists now speculate that the Leatherback may play an important role
in the recovery of diminishing fish populations. Since the Leatherback consumes its
weight in jellyfish per day, it helps to keep Jellyfish populations in check. Jellyfish
consume large quantities of fish larvae. The rapid decline in Leatherback populations
over the last 50 years has been accompanied by a significant increase in jellyfish and a
marked decrease in fish in our oceans. Saving sea turtles is an International endeavor.

Question 1-6
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.

Write appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 1 -6 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.

List of Headings

i. Sea turtles are found in unusual locations

ii. Unique features of the Leatherbacks

iii. The Leatherback's contribution

iv. Methods used for routes tracking

v. Predict the migration routes

vi. Remains multiplicity within the species

vii. The progress of hatching

viii. The fate of the lost turles

ix. How trips suppose to look like?

x. Factors leading to population decline

1. Paragraph B

2. Paragraph C

3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E

5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G

Question 7 -13

Choose words from the passage to answer the questions 7-13.

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

7. How many Leatherback turtles are there in the world?

8. What is the most noticeable difference between other sea turtles and leatherbacks?

9. What candle therback turtles to die in Irish waters?

10. Where did the four turtles probably come from?

11. By which means can sea turtles retrace their migratory paths?

12. For what purpose are Green Sea turtles killed by people?
13. What kind of species will benefits from a decline in Leatherback populations?

READING PASSAGE 2

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

A. "YOUR BATTERY IS NOW FULLY CHARGED," ANNOUNCED THE LAPTOP

COMPUTER to its owner, Donald A. Norman, with enthusiasm-perhaps even a hint of
pride? in its synthetic voice. To be sure, distractions and multitasking are hardly new to
the human condition. "A complicated life, continually interrupted by competing requests
for attention, is as old as procreation," laughs Ted Selker of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Media L ab. But increasingly, it is not just our kids pulling us three ways at
once; it is also a relentless barrage of e-mail, alerts, alarms, calls, instant messages and
automated notifications, none of them coordinated and all of them oblivious to whether
we are busy-or even present. "It's ridiculous that my own computer can't figure out
whether I'm in front of it, but a public toilet can," exclaims Roel Vertegaal of Queen's
University in Ontario.
B. Humanity has connected itself through roughly three billion networked telephones,
computers, traffic lights- even refrigerators and picture frames- because these things
make life more convenient and keep US available to those we care about. So although
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

we could simply turn off the phones, close the e-mail program, and shut the office door
when it is time for a meeting or a stretch of concentrated work, we usually don't. We just
endure the consequences.

C. Numerous studies have shown that when people are unexpectedly interrupted, they
not only work less efficiently but also make more mistakes. "It seems to add
cumulatively to a feeling of frustration," Picard reports, and that stress response makes
it hard to regain focus. It isn't merely a matter of productivity and the pace of life. For
pilots, drivers, soldiers and doctors, errors of inattention can be downright dangerous. "If
we could just give our computers and phones some understanding of the limits of
human attention and memory, it would make them seem a lot more thoughtful and
courteous," says Eric Horvitz of Microsoft Research. Horvitz, Vertegaal, Selker and
Picard are among a small but growing number of researches trying to teach computers,
phones, care and other gadgets to behave less like egocentric oafs and more
likeconsiderate colleagues.
D. "Attentive" computing systems have begun appearing in newer Volvos and IBM has
introduced Websphere communications software with a basic busyness sense.
Microsoft has beat running extensive in-house tests of a much more sophisticated
system since 2003. Within a few years, companies may be able to offer every office
worker a software version of the personal receptionist that only comer-suite executives
enjoy today. But if such an offer should land in your inbox, be sure to read the print
before you sign. An attentive system, by definition, is one that f B always watching. That
considerate computer may come to know more about your work habits than you do.
E. Most people aren't as busy as they think they are, which is why we can usually
tolerate interruptions from our inconsiderate electronic paraphernalia. James Fogarty
and Scott E. Hudson of Carnegie Mellon University recently teamed up with Jennifer Lai
of IBM Research to study 10 managers, researchers and interns at work. They
videotaped the subjects and periodically had them rate then "interruptibility." The
amount of time the workers spent in leave-me-alone mode varied from person to person
and day to day, ranging from 10 to 51 percent. On average, the subjects wanted to work
without interruption about one third of the time. In studies of Microsoft employees,
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Horvitz has similarly found that they typically spend more than 65 percent of theft day in
a state of low attention.
F . Today's phones and computers, winch naively assume that die user is never too
busy to take a call, read an email, or click "OK" on an alert box, thus are probably
correct about two thirds of time. To be useful, then, considerate systems will have to be
more than 65 percent accurate in sensing when their users are near theft cognitive
limits.
G. Bestcom/Enhanced Telephony, a Microsoft prototype based on Horvitz's weak, digs
a little deeper into each user's computer to find clues about what they are up to.
Microsoft launched an internal beta test of the system in mid-2003. By last October,
Horvitz says, about 3,800 people were using the system to field their incoming phone
calls.
H. Horvitz himself is one of those testers, and while we talk in his office in Redmond,
Wash, Bestcom silently handles one call after another. First it checks whether the caller
is listed in his address book, the company directory, or its log of people he has called
recently. Triangulating these sources, it tries to deduce their relationship. Family
members, supervisors and people he called earlier today ring through Others see a
message on their computer that he is in a meeting and won't be available until 3 RM.
The system scans Horvitz's and the caller's calendar and offers to reschedule the call at
a time that is open for both Some callers choose that option; others leave voice mail. E­
mail messages get a similar screening. When Horvitz is out of the office, Bestcom
automatically offers to forward selected callers to his cellphone-unless his calendar
and other evidence suggest that he is in a meeting.
I. Most large companies already use computerized phone systems and standard
calendar and contact management software, so tapping into those "sensors" should be
straightforward. Not all employees will like the idea of having a microphone on all the
time in them office, however, nor will everyone want to expose them datebook to some
program they do not ultimately control. Moreover, some managers might be tempted to
equate a "state of low attention" with "goofing off' and punish those who seem
insufficiently busy.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 14-19

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In

boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true

FALSE if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage 2

14. According to Ted Selker, human productivity has been disturbed by office

competitors frequently.

15. If people are interrupted by calls or E-mails, they usually put up with it instead of

taking uncooperative action

16. Microsoft is now investigating a software which is compatible with ordinary office

units

17. People usually have misperception about whether they are busy or not.

18. Researches conducted showed concentration-time span in office takes up only

average a bit over than 65%.

19. Advanced phone and computer system will install a shortcut key for people receive

information immediately.

Question 20-26
Answer the questions in the diagram below.
Choose ONLY ONE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from like passage for each answer.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-32, which are

based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Irish ELK
Toothed cats, mastodons, giant sloths, woolly rhinos, and many other
big, shaggy mammals are widely thought to have died out around the
end of the last ice age, some 10, 500 years ago.

Gro : real ielts exams- cung ca hp ilJ luyjn thi IELTS g&:
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Extinct: the Giant Deer

A. The Irish elk is also known as the giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus). Analysis of
ancient bones and teeth by scientists based in Britain and Russia show the huge
herbivore survived until about 5,000 B.C.-more than three millennia later than
previously believed. The research team says this suggests additional factors, besides
climate change, probably hastened the giant deer's eventual extinction. The factors
could include hunting or habitat destruction by humans.
B. The Irish elk, so-called because its well-preserved remains are often found in lake
sediments under peat bogs in Ireland, first appeared about 400,000 years ago in
Europe and central Asia. Through a combination of radiocarbon dating of skeletal
remains and the mapping of locations where the remains were unearthed, the team
shows the Irish elk was widespread across Europe before the last "big freeze." The
deer's range later contracted to the Ural Mountains, in modern-day Russia, which
separate Europe from Asia.
C. The giant deer made its last stand in western Siberia, some 3,000 years after the ice
sheets receded, said the study's co-author, Adrian Lister, professor of palaeobiology at
University College London, England. "The eastern foothills of the Urals became very
densely forested about 8,000 years ago, which could have pushed them on to the
plain," he said. He added that pollen analysis indicates the region then became very dry
in response to further climactic change, leading to the loss of important food plants. "In
combination with human pressures, this could have finally snuffed them out," Lister said.
D. Hunting by humans has often been put forward as a contributory cause of extinctions
of the Pleistocene mega fauna. The team, though, said their new date for the Irish elk's
extinction hints at an additional human-made problem-habitat destruction. Lister said,
'We haven't got just hunting 7,000 years ago-this was also about the time the first
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Neolithic people settled in the region. They were farmers who would have cleared the
land." The presence of humans may help explain why the Irish elk was unable to tough
out the latest of many climatic fluctuations-periods it had survived in the past.
E. Meanwhile, Lister cast doubt on another possible explanation for the deer's demise­
the male's huge antlers. Some scientists have suggested this exaggerated feature-the
result of females preferring stags with the largest antlers, possibly because they
advertised a male's fitness -contributed to the mammal's downfall. They say such
antlers would have been a serious inconvenience in the dense forests that spread
northward after the last ice age. But, Lister said, "That's a hard argument to make,
because the deer previously survived perfectly well through wooded interglacials
[warmer periods between ice ages]." Some research has suggested that a lack of
sufficient high-quality forage caused the extinction of the elk. High amounts of calcium
and phosphate compounds are required to form antlers, and therefore large quantities
of these minerals are required for the massive structures of the Irish Elk. The males
(and male deer in general) met this requirement partly from their bones, replenishing
them from food plants after the antlers were grown or reclaiming the nutrients from
discarded antlers (as has been observed in extant deer). Thus, in the antler growth
phase. Giant Deer were suffering from a condition similar to osteoporosis. When the
climate changed at the end of the last glacial period, the vegetation in the animal's
habitat also changed towards species that presumably could not deliver sufficient
amounts of the required minerals, at least in the western part of its range.

Extinct: the Giant Deer

F. The extinction of megafauna around the world was almost completed by the end of
the last ice age. It is believed that megafauna initially came into existence in response
to glacial conditions and became extinct with the onset of warmer climates. Tropical and
subtropical areas have experienced less radical climatic change. The most dramatic of
these changes was the transformation of a vast area of north Africa into the world's
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

largest desert. Significantly, Africa escaped major faunal extinction as did tropical and
sub-tropical Asia. The human exodus from Africa and our entrance into the Americas
and Australia were also accompanied by climate change. Australia's climate changed
from cold-dry to warm-dry. As a result, surface water became scarce. Most inland lakes
became completely dry or dry in the warmer seasons. Most large, predominantly
browsing animals lost their habitat and retreated to a narrow band in eastern Australia,
where there was permanent water and better vegetation. Some animals may have
survived until about 7000 years ago. If people have been in Australia for up to 60 000
years, then megafauna must have co-existed with humans for at least 30 000 years.
Regularly hunted modem kangaroos survived not only 10 000 years of Aboriginal
hunting, but also an onslaught of commercial shooters.
G. The group of scientists led by A.J. Stuart focused on northern Eurasia, which he was
taking as Europe, plus Siberia, essentially, where they 've got the best data that animals
became extinct in Europe during the Late Pleistocene. Some cold-adapted animals, go
through into the last part of the cold stage, and then become extinct up there. So you've
actually got two phases of extinction. Now, neither of these coincide - these are
Neanderthals here being replaced by modem humans. There's no obvious coincidence
between the arrival of humans or climatic change alone and these extinctions. There's a
climatic change here, so there's a double effect here. Again, as animals come through
to the last part of the cold stage, here there's a fundamental change in the climate,
reorganization of vegetation, and the combination of the climatic change and the
presence of humans - of advanced Paleolithic humans - causes this wave of
extinction. There's a profound difference between the North American data and that of
Europe, which summarize that the extinctions in northern Eurasia, in Europe, are
moderate and staggered, and in North America severe and sudden. And these things
relate to the differences in the timing of human arrival. The extinctions follow from
human predation, but only at times of fundamental changes in the environment.

Questions 28-32

Summary
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more

than three words from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.

IT is commonly believed that large woodly mammals became extinct about 28 ...... at

the end of last ice age. Having been preserved well in Europe and central Asia, the

remains of the Irish elk was initially found approximately 29......... Around 30 ........they

were driven to live in the plain after being restricted to the Ural Mountains. Hunting was

considered as one of the important factors of Irish elk's extinction. However, another

major problem could be habitat destruction that happened due to settlement of Neolithic

people arond until 31 ............ the Irisk elk was able to withstand climatic fluctuation.

Some scientists think that the huge antles may also have possibly contributed to the

Irish elk's extinction, but this explanation was highly controversial as they lived

pleasantly during the 32 ......

Questions 33-35

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for

each answer.

33. What man- made issue bisides hunting suggest that the advent of human resulted

in the extinction of Irish elk?

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

34. What kind of physical characteristics eventually contributed to the extinction of Irish

elk?

35. What kind of nutrient substance needed in maintaining the huge size of Irish elk?

Questions 36-39

Matching choose the letter A-D and fill in box 36-39

A. Eurasia

B. Australia

C. Asia

D. Africa

36. the continents where humans imposed little impact on large mammals extinction

37. the continents where the climatic change was mild and fauna remains

38. the continents where both humans and climatic change are the causes

39. the continents where the climatic change along caused a massive extinction

40. Which statement is true according the St uart team's finding?

A. Neanderthals rather than modem humans caused the extinction in Europe

B. Paleolithic humans in Europe along kill the big animals such as Giant deer

C. climatic change was not solely responsible for the mega fauna extinction in Europe

D. moderate and staggered extinction was mainly the result of fundamental climatic

change
người thầy tên Huy TESTS IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

A Brief History of Tea

The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, the
Emperor Shen Nung was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. His far­
sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a
hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and
the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water
for the court to drink. Dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water, and as
the leaves infused the water turned brown. As a scientist, the Emperor was intrigued by
the new liquid, drank some, and found it very ref reshing. And so, according to legend,
tea was created.

Tea consumption spread throughout Chinese culture, reaching into every aspect of the
society: The first definitive book was written on tea - a book clearly reflecting Zen
Buddhist philosophy - 1,200 years ago, The first tea seeds were brought to Japan by a
returning Buddhist priest, who had seen the value of tea in enhancing meditation in
China. As a result, he is known as the 'Father of Tea' in Japan. Because of this early
association, tea in Japan has always been linked with Zen Buddhism. Tea received the
Japanese Emperots support almost instantly and spread rapidly from the royal court
and monasteries to other sections of society.

Tea was elevated to an art form in the Japanese tea ceremony, in which supreme
importance is given to making tea in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most
charming manner possible. Such a purity of expression prompted the creation of a
particular form of architecture for tea house: duplicating the simplicity of a forest
cottage. The cultural/artistic hostesses of Japan, the geishas, began to specialize in the
presentation of the tea ceremony. However, as more and more people became involved
in the excitement surrounding tea, the purity of the original concept was lost, and for a
period the tea ceremony became corrupted, boisterous and highly embellished. Efforts
were then made to return to the earlier simplicity, with the result that, in the 15th and
16th centuries, tea was viewed as the ultimate gif t. Even warlords paused f or tea before
battles.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

While tea was at this high level of development in parts of Asia, information concerning
the then unknown beverage began to filter back to Europe. Earlier traders had
mentioned it, btit were unclear as to whether tea should be eaten or drunk. The first
European to personally encounter tea and write about it was Portuguese - Portugal, with
her technologically advanced navy, had been successful in gaining the first right of trade
with China.

Tea finally arrived in Europe in the 16tr' century, brought to Holland by the country's
navy, and becoming very fashionable in the Dutch capital, the Hague. This was due in
part to tea being very expensive (over $100 per pound), which immediately made it the
domain of the wealthy. Slowly, as the amount of tea imported increased, the price fell,
and by 1675 it was available in common food shops throughout Holland.

As the consumption of tea increased dramatically in Dutch society, doctors and

university authorities in Holland argued as to its benefits or drawbacks. The public
largely ignored the scholarly debate and continued to enjoy their new b everage, through
the controversy lasted from 1635 to roughly 1657. Throughout this period, France and
Holland led Europe in the use of tea.

As the craze for all things oriental swept through Europe, tea became part of the way of
life. Adding milk to the drink was first mentioned in 1680. Around that time, Dutch inns
provided the first restaurant service of tea. Innkeepers would furnish guests with a
portable tea set complete with a heating unit. The Dutchman would then prepare tea for
himself and his friends outside in the inn garden. Tea remained popular in France for
only about fifty years, being replaced by a preference for wine, chocolate, and exotic
coffees. Tea was introduced into England in 1660 b y King Charles II and his Portuguese
queen, who were both confirmed tea drinkers. Tea mania swept across England as it
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

had earlier spread throughout France and Holland. By 1708 tea importation had risen to
thirteen times the 1699 level. Tea was drunk by all levels of society.

The Russian interest in tea began as early as 1618, when the Chinese embassy in
Moscow presented several chests of tea to the Emperor, Czar Alexis. Later in the
century, a trade treaty between Russia and China allowed caravans to cross back and
forth freely between the two countries. Still, the journey was not easy. The average
caravan consisted of 200 to 300 camels, and the 18,000-kilometre trip took over 16
months to complete. Eventually, however, tea became - as it still is - one of the most
popular drinks in the country.

Question 1- 8

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes [Link] your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Not enough tea to meet demand
ii. Religious objections
iii. in - and sometimes out of- fashion
iv. A connection between tea and religion
v. A luxury item
vi. News of tea reaches another continent
vii. Is tea a good or bad thing?
viii. A chance discovery
ix. Tea-making as a ritual
x. Difficulties in importing tea
[Link] A
[Link] B
[Link] C
[Link] C
[Link] E
[Link] F
[Link] G
[Link] H
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Question 9 - 13

Look at the following statements (Question 9-13) and the list ofcountries below.

Match each statement with the correct country, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 9-13 On your answer sheet.

List of Countries

A China

[Link]

C Portugal

D Holland

E France

F England

G Russia

9. Claims that tea might be harmful failed to affect it popularity.

10. Tea lost favour to other drinks.

11. Special buildings were constructed in which to drink tea.

12. Animals were involved in importing tea.

13. A ruler's specialist knowledge led to an interest in tea.

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

New filter promises clean water for millions

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

A. An ingenious invention is set to bring clean water to the third world, and while the
science may be cutting edge, the materials are extremely down to ea rth. A handful of
clay yesterday's coffee grounds and some cow manure are the ingredients that could
bring clean, safe drinking wa ter to much of the third world.

B. The simple new technology, developed by ANU ma teria ls scientist Mr. Tony Flynn,
allows water filters to be made from commonly available materials and fired on the
ground using cow manure a s the source of heat, without the need for a kiln. The filters
have been tested and shown to remove common pa thogens (disease-producing
orga nisms) including E-coli. Unlike other water filtering devices, the filters are simple
and inexpensive to make. 'They are very simple to explain and demonstrate and ca n be
made by anyone, anywhere," says Mr. Flynn. "They don't require any western
technology. All you need is terracotta cla y, a compliant cow and a match."

C. The production of the filters is extremely simple. Take a handful of dry, crushed clay,
mix it with a handful of organic ma teria l, such as used tea lea ves, coffee grounds or
rice hulls, add enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture and form a cylindrical
pot that has one end closed, then dry it in the sun. According to Mr. Flynn, used coffee
grounds have given the best results to da te. Next, surround the pots with straw; put
them in a mound of cow ma nure, light the straw and then top up the burning manure as
required. In less than 60 minutes the filters a re finished. The wa lls of the finished pot
should be about a s thick a s a n a dult's index. The properties of cow manure are vita l as
the fuel can reach a tempera ture of 700 degrees in half a n hour and will be up to 950
degrees after another 20 to 30 minutes. The manure ma kes a good fuel because it is
very high in organic ma teria l that bums readily a nd quickly; the manure has to be dry
and is best used exactly a s found in the field, there is no need to brea k it up or process
it a ny further.

D. "A potter's din is an expensive item and can could take up to four or five hours to get
upto 800 degrees. It needs expensive or scarce fuel, such as gas or wood to heat it and
experience to run it. With no technology, no insula tion a nd nothing other than a pile of
cow manure a nd a ma tch, none of these restrictions apply," Mr. Flynn says.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

E. It is also helpful tha t, like terracotta clay and organic material, cow dung is freely
available across the developing world. "A cow is a natural fuel factory. My
understanding is that cow dung as a fuel would be pretty much the same wherever you
would find it." Just as using manure as a fuel for domestic uses is not a new idea , the
porosity of cla y is something tha t potters ha ve known about for years, and something
that as a former ceramics lecturer in the ANU School of Art, Mr. Flynn is well aware of.
The difference is that rather than viewing the porous nature of the material as a problem
- after all not many people want a pot that won't hold water - his filters capitalize on
this property.

F. Other commercial cera mic filters do exist, but, even if available, with prices starting at
US$5 each, they are often outside the budgets of most people in the developing world.
The filtration process is simple, but effective. The basic principle is that there are
passages through the filter that are wide enough for water droplets to pass through, but
too narrow for pathogens. Tests with the deadly E-coli bacterium have seen the filters
remove 96.4 to 99.8 per cent of the pathogen - well within safe levels. Using only one
filter it takes two hours to filter a litre of water. The use of organic ma teria l, which burns
away after firing, helps produce the structure in which pathogens will become tra pped. It
overcomes the potential problems of finer clays that may not let water through and also
means that cracks are soon halted. And like clay and cow dung, it is universally
available.

G. The invention was born out of a World Vision project involving the Manatuto
community in East Timer The charity wanted to help set up a small industry
manufacturing water filters, but initial research found the local cla y to be too fine - a
problem solved by the addition of organic material. While the AF problems of producing
a working ceramic filter in East Timar were overcome, the solution was kiln-based and
particular to tha t community's materials a nd couldn't be applied elsewhere. Manure
firing, with no requirement for a kiln, has made this zero technology approach available
anywhere it is needed. With all the components being widely a va ila ble, Mr. Flynn says
there is no reason the technology couldn't be a pplied throughout the developing world,
and with no plans to patent his idea, there will be no legal obstacles to it being adopted
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

in any community that needs it. "Everyone has a right to clean water, these filters have
the potential to enable anyone in the world to drink water safely," says Mr. Flynn.

Questions 14-19

Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS/ AND A
NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

Step-by-step guide to making Flynn's water filters

Making the mixture for the filter from organic material (e.g. tea, coffee, rice), 14 ....... and
15..... .

Shape into pots and place them in a fire made from 16 ........ and 17 ........ .

Fuel the fire to reach a maximum heat of 18 ..................... .

Remove the filters from the fire

Bake the filters in the fire for a maximum period of 19 ................ .

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 20-23

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 20-23 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

20 The clay in the Manatuto project was initially unsuitable for the project's purpose.

21 Coffee grounds produce filters that are twice as efficient as those using other organic

materials.

22 It takes half an hour for a cow-manure fire to reach 950 degree.

23 E-coli is the most difficult bacterium to remove from water by filtration.

Questions 24-26

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24 The Manatuto project aimed to set up a

A charitable trust.

B filtration experiment.

C water filter factory.

D community kiln.

25 To be effective, the Flynn filters must

A remove ail dangerous pathogens.

B be a particular thickness.
C filter water as quickly as possible.
D be made from 100 per cent clay.

26 Flynn does not intend to patent his filter because he

A wants it be freely available.
B has produced a very simple design.
C cannot make a profit in poor countries.
D has already given the idea to a charity.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

The Cause of Linguistic Change

A The changes that have caused the most disagreement are those in
pronunciation. We have various sources of evidence for the pronunciations of
earlier times, such as the spellings, the treatment of words borrowed from other
languages or borrowed by them, the descriptions of contemporary grammarians
and spelling-reformers, and the modern pronunciations in all the languages and
dialects concerned From the middle of the sixteenth century, there are i n
England writers who attempt to describe the position of the speech-organs for
the production of English phonemes, and who invent what are in effect systems
of phonetic symbols. These various kinds of evi dence, combined with a
knowledge of the mechanisms of speech-production, can often give us a very
good idea of the pronunciation of an earlier age, though absolute certainty is
never possible.

B When we study the pronunciation of a language over any period of a few

generations or more, we find there are always large-scale regularities in the
changes: for example, over a certain period of time, just about all the long [a:]
vowels in a language may change into long [e:] vowels, or all the [b] consonants
in a certain position (for example at the end of a word) may change into [p]
consonants. Such regular changes are often called sound laws. There are no
universal sound laws (even though sound laws often reflect universal tendencies),
but simply particular sound laws for one given language (or dialect) at one given
period .
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

C It is also possible th at fash ion plays a part in the process of ch ange. It certainly plays
a part in the spread of change: one person imitates anoth er, and people with the most
prestige are most likely to be imitated, so that a ch ange that takes place in one social
group may be imitated (more or less accurately) by speakers in another group. When a
social group goes up or down in the world, its pronunciation of Russian, which had
formerly been considered desirable, became, on the contrary, an undesirable kind of
accent to h ave, so th at people tried to disguise it. Some of the changes in accepted
English pronunciation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have been shown to
consist in the replacement of one style of pronunciation by another style already
existing, and it is likely that such substitutions were a result of the great social changes
of th e period: the increased power and wealth of th e middle classes, and their steady
infiltration upwards into the ranks of the landed gentry, probably carried elements of
middle-class pronunciation into upper-class speech.

D A less specific variant of the argument is that the imitation of children is imperfect:
they copy their parents' speech , but never reproduce it exactly. This is true, but it is also
true th at such deviations from adult speech are usually corrected in later childhood.
Perhaps it is more significant that even adults show a certain amount of random
variation in their pronunciation of a given ph oneme, even if the phonetic context is kept
unch anged. This, h owever, cannot explain changes in pronunciation unless it can be
shown that there is some systematic trend in the failures of imitation: if they are merely
random deviations they will cancel one another out and there will be no net change in
the language.

E One such force which is often invoked is th e principle of ease, or minimization of

effort. The change from fussy to fuzzy would be an example of assimilation, which is a
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

very common kind of change. Assimilation is the changing of a sound under the
influence of a neighbouring one. For example, the word scant was once skamt, but the
/m/ has been changed to /n/ under the influence of the following !ti. Greater efficiency
has hereby been achieved, because /n/ and It! are articulated in the same place (with
the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge), whereas /ml is articulated elsewhere (with
the two lips). So the place of articulation of the nasal consonant has been changed to
conform with that of the following plosive. A more recent example of the same kind of
thing is the common pronunciation of football as football.

F Assimilation is not the only way in which we change our pronunciation in order to
increase efficiency. It is very common for consonants to be lost at the end of a word: in
Middle English, word-final [-n] was often lost in unstressed syllables, so that baken 'to
bake' changed from ['ba:kan] to ['ba:k3], and later to [ba:k]. Consonant-clusters are
often simplified. At one time there was a [t] in words like castle and Christmas, and an
initial [kl in words like knight and know. Sometimes a whole syllable is dropped out
when two successive syllables begin with the same consonant (haplology): a recent
example is temporary, which in Britain is often pronounced as if it were tempory.

Questions 27-30

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

The pronunciation of living language undergo changes throughout thousands of years.

Large scale regular Changes are usually called 27............... . There are three reasons
for these changes. Firstly, the influence of one language on another; when one person
imitates another pronunciation(the most prestige's), the imitation always partly involving
factor of 28 ................ Secondly, the imitation of children from adults language
sometimes are 29 ............... , and may also contribute to this change if there are
insignificant deviations though later they may be corrected Finally, for those random
variations in pronunciation, the deeper evidence lies in the 30 ............... or minimization
of effort.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 31-37

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 243?
In boxes 31-37 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

31. It is impossible for modern people to find pronunciation of words in an earlier age
32. The great change of language in Russian history is related to the rising status and
fortune of middle classes.
33. All the children learn speeches from adults white they assume that certain language
is difficult to imitate exactly.
34. Pronunciation with causal inaccuracy will not exert big influence on language
changes.
35. The word scant can be pronounced more easily than skamt
36. The [g] in gnat not being pronounced will not be spelt out in the future.
37. The sound of 'temporary' cannot wholly present its spelling.

Questions 38-40

Look at the following sentences and the list of statements below. Match each statement
with the correct sentence, A-D.
Write the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

A. Since the speakers can pronounce it with less effort

B. Assimilation of a sound under the influence of a neighbouring one
C. It is a trend for changes in pronunciation in a large scale in a given period
D. Because the speaker can pronounce [n] and [t] both in the same time

38. As a consequence, 'b' will be pronounced as

39. The pronunciation of [mt] changed to [nt]
40. The omit of 'f in the sound of Christmas
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

TEST9

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

The Tuatara of New Zealand

Tuatara are lizard-like reptiles, found only in New Zealand. They are representative
of ancient life forms
Tuatara are the only living representatives of an ancient lineage of reptiles called
Sphenodontia, which is over 250 million years old. Because tuatara still look like
fossils of reptiles that lived during the age of dinosaurs, they are often called living
fossils. Now just two species of tuatara survive, and only in New Zealand. One is
the Brothers Island tuatara which, until recent re-introductions to sanctuaries (safe
places for wildlife), only survived on North Brother Island. The other species is the
common tuatara, which survives on many other offshore islands. Although the
tuatara species appear similar, they have genetic differences. Tuatara bones have
been found in many parts of New Zealand. Where dated, they are usually a few
hundred to 5,000 years old. It is not known whether these bones are from the two
living species or other species that are now extinct.
Many anatomical features distinguish tuatara from other living reptiles - for
example, they have a defining pattern of openings in the skull and a unique type of
haemoglobin in the blood, and males have no external reproductive organ. Adults
are between 30 and 75 centimetres long, and weigh between 250 and 1.200 grams.
Males are larger than females, and have more developed spines in the crest along
the neck, back and tail.
The male tuatara courts the female by approaching her wit h a proud walk. Tuatara
mate in late summer, and the female usually lays 6-10 eggs the following spring, in
a shallow nest at ground level. She may guard the nest for a few nights, then return
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

to her burrow underground. The eggs incubate for about a year, so hatchlings
emerge about the time that eggs are being laid the following season. Evidence
indicates the gender of tuatara hatchlings is determined by both genetic and
environmental factors. It is said that it is more likely for warmer eggs to produce
male tuatara, and cooler eggs to produce females. The hatchlings receive no
parental care and need to find their own food.
Tuatara live for a relatively long time, reaching reproductive maturity at about 15
years, and may breed for many decades. Their maximum lifespan is not known for
certain, but many tuatara have reached 80 years still looking vigorous and healthy.
Tuatara live in underground burrows and are more active at night, but will come

out during the day to bask in the sun. Both sexes are territorial, and males
aggressively defend their territory by posing and fighting if necessary. Teeth are
their main weapons, and a bite can cause serious injury. Tuatara are carnivorous,
eating invertebrates, lizards and the baby seabirds with which they often share
burrows.
Tuatara were once widespread and abundant on the New Zealand mainland, but
when Polynesian settlers arrived in New Zealand, in about 1250-1300 AD, they
brought with them Pacific rats which killed tuatara. By the time of European
settlement, in the 1840s, tuatara were almost extinct on the New Zealand mainland.
Some islands provided temporary havens, but soon these too began to be invaded
by rats and other mammalian predators.
Gradually tuatara became restricted to 32 nearshore islands. Many of these islands
were tiny, some as small as only one hectare. A few, such as the Poor Knights

common tuatara lives on islands off the north-eastern coast of New Zealand, and
on some islands in Cook Strait. The Brothers Island tuatara survived only on the
of the Brothers Island tuatara have been created on Titi Island in the Marlborough
Sounds, and on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour.
Tuatara can live in remarkably dense populations. Most tuatara islands have 50-
100 tuatara per square hectare - so an island of only 10 hectares may have a
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

population of hundreds. Larger islands with many seabirds and invertebrates,

which tuatara eat, may have greater densities. The largest population is on
Stephens Island, where there are estimated to be as many as 2,500 per hectare in
some places, and a total of at least 30,000. The total number of tuatara on all the
islands is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000.
Legal protection. was granted to tuatara and the islands they occupied in 1895, but
the reptiles continued to decline. Since then, active conservation management has
reversed the decline, and new populations have become established on predator­
free islands. In the mid-1980s the New Zealand Wildlife Service and its successor,
the Department of Conservation, developed ways to eradicate rats from islands.
Rats have now gone from almost all of the tuatara islands, making them safe for
many threatened native species. In addition, the collection by conservationists of
eggs for incubation in captivity, breeding in captivity, and moving tuatara to rat­
Islands off the Northland coast, or Stephens Island in Cook Strait, were never
invaded by rats, and had few of the other mammals that threaten native animals. The
tiny, 4 hectare North Brother Island, in Cook Strait. However, two new populations
free islands, have increased the number of islands that are inhabited by tuatara to
37. Many new tuatara populations are planned for islands and mainland reserves
that have been freed of predators.
Questions 1 - 6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 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
1. The two living species of tuatara look alike
2. Many of the tuatara bones that have been found are millions of years old.
3. The tails of male tuatara are a different colour from the tails of female tuatara.
4. The female tuatara lays eggs in a burrow.
5. There are higher numbers of female hatchlings than males.
6. Once they have hatched, young tuatara have to look after themselves.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 7 - 13
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A
NUMBER from the passage for each answer
Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

The tuatara
Lifespan
- maximum lifespan unknown
- many live to at least ?........... years old
Behaviour
- attack other creatures with their 8........
- eat young 9 ........... that live in the same burrows, invertebrates and reptiles
Population
- abundant until rats were introduced by 10........... people
- by the 1840s, hardly any tuatara found on the 11...
- islands off the north-eastern coast and in Cook Strait now home to the
12...........tuatara
- Brothers Island tuatara found on North Brother Island
- density of tuatara on Stephens Island is up to 13........... tuatara for every hectare
Protection of the species
- tuatara population dropped until rats eradicated from islands
- eggs were gathered by the Department of Conservation

READING PASSAGE 2

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

THE TASMANIAN TIGER

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, was a carnivorous mars upial (a meat- eating
mammal which carries its young in a pouch). It was given the name "tiger"
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

because it had striped fur, and because it was ferocious. Between 24 million and 15
million years ago, many types of thylacine roamed across Australia, their powerful
jaws playing a role in maintaining a balance in the ecosystems of their day. Some
species were for sized, while others were barely the size of kittens.
But when a period of climate change cooled Australia about 12 million years ago,
the numbers of these ancient thylacines began to decline. By about 3 million years
ago, only one species was left. About 4,000 years ago, these vanished completely
Australia, was then the last remaining place where thylacines existed. They ruled
the animal life of that island unchallenged until Europeans with sheep, dogs, and a
great indifferent to native flora and fauna, seem to have brought about their
extinction. In 1936, the last captive Tasmanian bush, but no definitive evidence has
been found. Despite this, there are many who keep searching.
In 1981 Dutch - born zoologist Hans Naarding was in Tasmania conducting a
survey of Latham's snipe , a species of endangered bird . One night he saw an
animal in the light from the searchlight mounted on his vehicle . He described as
about the size of a large dog , but with slightly sloping hindquarters and a fairly
thick tail continuing straight on from its backbone . He said that it had 12 distinct
stripes on its back , running down to the point where the tail began . He reported
the sighting to the Director of Tasmania's National Parks . When the news broke ,
said Naarding . ' I was besieged by television crews , including four or five from
Japan , and others from the United Kingdom , Germany , New Zealand and South
America . Government and private search parties combed the region , but no
further sightings were made . The tiger , as always , had escaped to its lair - a place
that many insist exists only in the imagination . Others disagree . There have been
more than 4,000 claimed sightings of the animal since supposedly died out , and
the average number of claims reported to the authorities each year is now 150. So
is it out there ? Even experts differ in opinion.
Randolph Rose , Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Tasmania ,
says that he dreamed of seeing a thylacine , but is now convinced that his dream
will go unfulfilled . The consensus among conservationists is that any animal with
from the Australian mainland, so that Tasmania, a large island to the south of
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

a population base of less than 1,000 headed for extinction within 60 years . Sixty
years ago , ' he says , " there was only one thylacine that we know of , and that was
in Hobart Zoo . Take it from me , the tiger is gone . ' But Dr David Pemberton ,
curator of zoology at the Tasmanian Museum states that , despite scientific
thinking that a relatively large number of animals required to sustain a population
the Florida panther is down to a dozen or so animals , and , while it does have
some inbreeding problems , is still ticking along . 'After all , animals can be
notoriously elusive . The strange fish known as coelacanth , with its ' proto legs ' ,
was thought to have died out with the dinosaurs 700 million years ago until a
specimen was dragged to the surface in a shark net off the coast of SouthAfrica in
1938.

Wildlife biologist Nick Mooney has the unenviable task of investigating all so­
called sightings of the tiger. It was Mooney who was first consulted in late
February 2005 about the authenticity of new digital photographic images of a
thylacine allegedly taken by a tourist. On the face value, Mooney says, this
particular account of a sighting and the photographs submitted as proof amount to
one of the most convincing cases for the species survival that he has seen. Many
other sightings have been hoaxes , and many sincere seekers are victims of
obsession . It is a blind optimism that something is , rather than a something isn't ,
" Mooney says . " If something crosses the road , it's not a case of " I wonder what
that was ? " Rather , it is a case of " That's a thylacine ! "
However , Mooney treats sightings on face value . ' I never try to embarrass people
, ' he says .... but the fact that I don't pack the car immediately after they telephone
can taken as ridicule . Obsessive characters get angry that someone in my position
is not out there when they think the thylacine is there .
Hans Naarding , whose sighting of a striped animal two decades ago was the
highlight of a lifetime of animal spotting, remains puzzled by the time and money
people waste on tiger searches. He says resources would be better applied to saying
another endangered animal , the Tasmanian devil , and helping declining migratory
bird populations . Could the thylacine still be out there ? ' Sure , ' Naarding says ' I
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

know the vast south - west wilderness of Tasmania well . They could survive ...
( But) if this is the case , it will not be long before they do disappear completely .'
Naarding believes that any discovery of surviving thylacines would be rather
pointless ' .' How do you bring a species back from extinction? He asks "what
could you do with it? If there are thylacines out there, they are better off right
where they are.'

Question 14-18
Complete the summary below
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 14-18 your answer sheet.
The thylacine was a dog - like animal which had a 14....... ..coat and was
carnivorous. It was originally spread widely throughout the mainland of 15 .......,
but started to disappear from that area around 16.......ago because of climate
change.
In the end , thylacines were found only on the island of 17 ........... until the arrival
of 18........ with their farming practices brought about a drastic reduction in
thylacine numbers . The last one is thought to have died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.
Question 19-24
Match each statement with the correct person , A , B , C or D. Write the correct
letter , A , B , C or D. in boxes 19-24 on your answer sheet
NB You may use any letter more than once .
19 There is no longer any hope of finding a surviving Tasmanian tiger .
20 It would be preferable not to disturb any surviving Tasmanian tigers .
21 Many who claim to have seen Tasmanian tigers are not objective witnesses.
22 Expert estimates of numbers needed to ensure species survival may be
inaccurate.
23 There is a great deal of international interest in Tasmanian tiger stories
24 Some fresh evidence provided by a visitor to Tasmania seems credible .
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

List of People
A Hans Naarding
B Randolph Rose
C David Pemberton
D Nick Mooney

Question 25 and 26

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

25 Hans Naarding's sighting of a Tasamanian tiger resulted in

A the capture of the tiger

B an extensive follow up

C many other sightings.

D the death of the tiger

26 The example of the coelacanth is used to show that

A new animal species are still evolving

B animals can possess surprising physical characteristics

C species of sea animals can be saved from extinction

D opinions regarding extinction of animal species can be mistaken

người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

READING PASSAGE Questions 28 - 40

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 - 40 which are based on

Reading Passage below.

The Cane Toad in Australia

Paragraph A
The cane toad was introduced into Australia in 1935 to control sugar cane pests in Queensland.
One hundred and one cane toads arrived at Edmonton in June in 1935. Breeding occurred
almost immediately. The cane toad is tough and adaptable, as well as being poisonous
throughout its life cycle, and has few predators in Australia.

Paragraph B
Cane toads are large heavily-built amphibians with dry, warty skin. They have a bony head and
over their eyes are bony ridges that meet above the nose. They sit upright and move in short
rapid hops. Their hind feet have leathery webbing between the toes and their front feet are
unwebbed. Adult cane toads have large swellings - the parotoid glands - on each shoulder
behind the eardrum. Cane toads may be grey, yellowish, olive-brown or reddish-brown, and
their bellies are pale with dark mottling. Average-sized adults are ten to fifteen centimetres long.
The largest female measured in Queensland was twenty-four centimetres long and weighed
one point three kilograms. Male cane toads are smaller and wartier than females. During the
breeding season males develop dark lumps (nuptial pads) on their first two fingers; these help
them cling to a female while mating. Their mating call is a long loud purring trill. Cane toad
spawn is exclusive in Australia. It is laid in long strings of transparent jelly enclosing double
rows of black eggs. The spawn tangles in dense dark masses around water plants, and hangs
in ropy strands if picked up.

Paragraph C
The natural range of cane toads extends from the southern United States to tropical South
Amenca. In 2002, cane toads occurred throughout the eastern and norther half of Queensland
and have extended their range to the river catchments surrounding Kakadu National Park in the
Northern Territory. In New South Wales, they occur as far south as Yamba and Port Macquarie.

Paragraph D
Cane toads tolerate a broad range of environmental and climatic conditions and appear to be
able to adjust and survive in almost any environment system, including sea water for short
periods of time. This to a large extent explains their success in their spreading in Australia.
Cane loads are found in environments ranging from sand dunes and coastal heath to the
margins of rainiorest and mangroves. They are most abundant in open clearings in urban
areas, and in grassiand and woodland.

Paragraph E
Cane toads eat almost anything they can swallow, including pet food, carrion and household :
scraps, but most of their food consists of living insects. Beetles, honey bees, ants, winged
termites, crickets and bugs are eaten in abundance. Marine snails, smaller toads and native
 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

frogs, small snakes, and small mammals are occasionally eaten by cane toads. The
tadpoles of cane toads eat algae and other aquatic plants which they rasp off with five
rows of tiny peg-like teeth. They also filter organic matter from the [Link] tadpoles
sometimes eat cane toad
eggs.

Paragraph F
Cane toads were introduced to Australia to eat French's Cane Beetle and the Greyback
Cane Beetle. The whitegrub' larvae of these beetles eat the roots of sugar cane and kill
or stunt the plants. The Australian Bureau of Sugar Experimental Stations imported
about a hundred toads from Hawail to the Meringa Experimental Station near Cairns.
The toads bred quickly and more than three thousand were released in the sugar cane
plantations of north Queensland in July
1935. At that time, some naturalists and scientists warned of the dangers of liberating
cane toads in Australia. Their protests resulted in a brief moratorium on the release of
toads, but releases resumed in 1936. The protestors were right. Firstly, cane toads
compete for the resources of native animals, like food, which affects native populations.
Secondly, cane toads don't have as many established predators as native animals and
so their population grows quickly. Finally. some native animals who would normally feed
on frogs try to eat toads and get poisoned.

Paragraph G
All stages of the cane toad's life-cycle are poisonous. No humans have died in Australia
from cane toad poison, but overseas, people have died after eating toads and even soup
made from boiled toad eggs. Cane toads are also poisonous to pets. In Hawaii, up to fifty
dogs a year have died after having cane toads in their mouths. Signs of dogs being
poisoned through ingestion include profuse salivation, twitching, vomiting, shallow
breathing, and collapse of the hind limbs.
Death may occur by cardiac arrest within fifteen minutes. A cane toad responds to threat
by turning side-on so its parotoid glands are directed towards the attacker. The poison
usually oozes out of the glands, but toads can squirt a fine spray for a short distance if
they want. The poison is absorbed through mucous membranes such as eyes, mouth
and nose, and in humans may cause intense pain, temporary blindness and
inflammation.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 28 - 33
The reading passage The Cane Toad in Australia 7 has paragraphs (A- G).

From the list of headings below (i - x) choose the most suitable headings for
paragraphs B - G.

Write the appropriate number (I - x) in boxes 28 - 33 on your answer sheet

NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.

Example Answer

Paragraph A V

I Diet

II Habitat

iii Pollubon Effects

IV Danger

V Amval In Australia

vi Food for Snakes

vii ldent1flcat1on

Viii CapbVlly

IX Distribution

X Environmental Impacts

28 Fla�[Link] B

29 Paragraph C

30 Paragraph D

31 Paragl"8ph E

32 Paragraph F

33 Parag,aph G
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 34 - 37
Reading Passage 3, The Cane Toad in Australia, has 7 paragraphs (A - G). Which
paragraphs offer inform ation on the following ideas? Wnte the appropriate letters
(A - G) in boxes 34 - 37 on your answer sheet.

34 Male cane toads grow protuberances dunng mating penods.

35 The cane toad's unique way of laymg eggs in Australta.

36 Opposition to the introduction of cane toads 1n Australia

37 The danger of eating cane toad eggs

Questions 38 - 40

Complete each of the following statements (Questions 38 - 40) with words taken
from the box below.

Wnte your answers in boxes 38 - 40 on your answer sheet.

38 When suspended, the eggs of the cane toad resemble ____

39 Cane toads were lnltOduced into Australia ,n order to stop beetle young
eabng sugarcane ____

40 Ttie text says that dogs affected by cane toad poisoning may have problems
With ____

flowers heanng hair

leaves roots smelltng tadpoles

stalks rope seeds sleeping

 người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

TEST10
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on
Reading Passage below.

The pesticide-free village

Gerry Marten and Dona Glee Williams report on reliance on the Indian village of Punukula, so
nearly destroyed by reliance on pesticides.
Around 20 years ago, a handful of families migrated from the Guntur district of Andhra
Pradesh, south-east India, into Punukula, a community of around 900 people farming plots of
between two and ten acres. The outsiders from Guntur brought cotton culture with them, and
this attracted resident farmers by promising to bring in more hard cash than the mixed crops
they were already growing to eat and sell, such as millet, mung beans, chilli and rice. But
growing cotton meant using pesticides and fertilisers - until then a mystery to the mostly
illiterate farmers of the community.

Local agro-chemical dealers obligingly filled the need for information and
supplies. These'middlemen' sold commercial seeds, fertilisers and insecticides on credit, and
guaranteed purchase of the crop. They offered technical advice provided by the companies that
supplied their products. The farmers depend on the dealers. If they wanted to grow cotton - and
they did - it seemed they had no choice.
A quick 'high' of booming yields and incomes hooked growers during the early years of cotton in
the region. Outlay on insecticides was fairly low because cotton pests hadn't moved in yet. Many
farmers were so impressed with the chemicals that they started using them on their other crops
as well. The immediate payoffs from chemically-dependent cotton agriculture both ensured and
obscured the fact that the black dirt fields had gone into a freefall of environmental degradation,
dragged down by a chain of cause and effect.
Soon cotton-eaters, such as bollworms and aphids, plagued the fields. Repeated spraying killed
off the most susceptible pests and left the strongest to reproduce and pass on their resistance to
generations of ever-hardier offspring. As the bugs grew tougher and more abundant, farmers
applied a greater variety and quantity of poisons, something mixing 'cocktails' of as many as ten
insecticides. At the same time, cotton was gobbling up the nutrients in the soil, leaving the
growers no option but to invest in chemical fertilisers.
By the người
timethầysome
tên Huy farmers tried to break free of their chemical dependence, insecticides
IELTS EASY8

had already decimated the birds, wasps, beetles, and other predators that had once
provided natural control of crop pests. Without their balancing presence, pests ran riot if
insecticide was cut back. As outlays for fertilisers and insecticides escalated, the cost of
producing cotton mounted. Eventually the expense of chemical inputs outgrew the cash
value of the crop, and farmers fell further and further into debt and poverty.
Their vicious cycle was only broken by the willingness of a prominent village elder to
experiment with something different. He had been among the first villagers to grow
cotton, and he would be the first to try it without chemicals, as set out by a programme
in Non-Pesticide Management (NPM). This had been devised for Punukala with the help
of a Non-Government Organisation called SECURE that had become aware of the
hardships caused by the pesticide trap.
It involved turning to neem, a fast-growing, broad-leaved evergreen tree related to
mahogany. Neem protects itself against insects by producing a multitude of natural
pesticides that have evolved specifically to defeat plant-eating insects. Thus they are
generally harmless to human and other animals, including birds and insects that eat
pests.

The plant is native to India and Burma, where it has been used for centuries to control
pests and to promote health. To protect cotton, neem seeds are simply ground into a
powder, soaked overnight in water, and sprayed onto the crop at least every 10 days.
Neem cake applied to the soil kills insect pests and doubles as an organic fertiliser high
in nitrogen. As neem grows locally and is easy to process, it is much less expensive than
the chemical insecticides sold for profit by the dealers and their corporate suppliers.

Quick, short-term gains had once pushed Punukula into chemical-dependent agriculture.
Now they found that similar immediate rewards were helping to speed change in the
other direction: the harvest of the next 20 NPM farmers was as good as the harvest of
farmers using insecticides, and they came out ahead because they weren't buying
insecticides, instead of investing cash (in short supply) in chemicals, they invested time
and labour in NPM practices.

By the end of 2000, all the farmers in Punukula village were using NPM rather than
chemicals for cotton, and they began to use it on other crops as well. The was using it.
The status and economic opportunities of women improved - neem change gathered
momentum as NPM became even more effective once everyone became a source of
income for some of them, as they gathered seeds from the surrounding area to sell for
NPM in other villages. The improve situation meant that families could afford to put more
land under cultivation.

In 2004, the panchayat (village government) formally declared Punukula to be a

pesticide-free village. And they have big plans for the future, such as water purification.
The village now serves as a model for disseminating NPM to other communities, with
around 2000 farmers visiting each year.

What began as a few farmers desperate to find a way to farm without poisons has
become a movement with the potential to pull an entire region back from ecological
disaster.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

In 2004, the panchayat (village government) formally declared Punukula to be a

pesticide-free village. And they have big plans for the future, such as water purification.
The village now serves as a model for disseminating NPM to other communities, with
around 2000 farmers visiting each year.
What began as a few farmers desperate to find a way to farm without poisons has
become a movement with the potential to pull an entire region back from ecological
disaster.

Questions 1-4
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
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

1 Cotton growing was expected to raise more money than other crop.
2 Some of the local agro-chemical dealers had been farmers in the past.
3 Initially the farmers' cotton yields were low.
4 At first, the farmers failed to notice the negative effects on their fields of pesticide use.

Questions 5-10
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer. Write your answers in boxes 5 - 10 on your answer sheet.
Non-Pesticide-Management Programme

• Developed with the aid of SECURE

• Based on use of an 5 ------ called neem
• Neem contains many 6 that target plant-eating predators
Neem
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

• Used as a pesticide
• 7 ______formed by grinding seeds
• left 8 ------to soak in water
• Sprayed regularly
• Used as a pesticide and as a fertilizer
• added in 9 ______form to soil
• contains a lot of 10 ------

Questions 11-13
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the
passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 11 - 13 on your answer
sheet.
11. In which year did farmers finally stop using chemicals on cotton crops in
Punukula?
[Link] did the women of Punukula collect to make money?
[Link] project do the authorities in Punukula hope to set up in the future?

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

Skyscraper Farming
With a global food crisis predicted, a group of scientists is advocating an innovative
alternative to conventional farming that could radically transform the way that food is
produced .
A Today's environment scientists are in no doubt that the world's resources of fertile sol
are rapidly deteriorating, and that new land for agriculture is becoming ever more sparse
Intensive farming urbanisation, desertification and sea-level rises are all putting growing
pressure on the planers agricultural land and therefore on food supplies. Currently 24 per
cent of the worlds 11.5 billion hectares of cultivated land has already undergone human-
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

induced soil degradation particularly through erosion. according to a recent study by the
UK Government Office for Science.

8. The global population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050 - up a third from
today's level and studies suggest that food production will have to go up by 70 per cent if
we are to feed all of those new mouths This means that scientists will have to develop
new ways of growing crops if we are to avoid a humanitarian crisis. Indeed, UN Food and
Agriculture Organization figures suggest that the number of undernourished people is
already growing. And with escalating climate change. crop yields in many areas have
been projected to decline

C With this in mind, some scientists and agricultural experts are advocating an innovative
alternative to traditional farming whereby skyscrapers packed with shelf-based systems
for growing vegetables on each storey -known as 'vertical farms' - could hold the key to
revolutionising agriculture. Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier claims
that vertical farming could boost crop yields many times over. A single 20-storey vertical
farm could theoretically feed 50 000 people. according to Despommier. And if the theory
translates Into realty as proposed. 160 skyscraper-sized vertical farms could feed the
entire population of New York City, while 180 would be needed to feed London, 289 to
feed Cairo and 302 to feed Kolkata a.

D It's a compelling vision, and one that has already been put into practice in Asia. Albeit
on a smaller scale But there are problems. such as initial investment and operating costs
that are too great' says a spokesman for Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries Nevertheless Tokyo-based mushroom producer Hokuto Corporation is a model
example of how a vertical farm can be profitable. With 28 vertical mushroom farms
operating across the country, it produces some 68,000 tonnes of mushrooms annually.
Vertical mushroom tams have more advantages than ground-level farms,' says Hokuto's
Ted Yamanoko. Yamanoko goes on to highlight the relative cost-effectiveness of his
organisation's farming practices together with reduced emissions of greenhouse gases
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

E And the impact of vertical farms could extend beyond feeding established urban
populations. Despommier sees them as being capable of helping centres of displaced
persons - such as refugee camps - in much the same way that Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital (MASH) units are deployed in emergency situations. "Developing an emergency­
response system for crop production inside specially constructed modular and highly
transportable greenhouses would allow for humanitarian interventions, at least tor refuges
that are forced out of their countries by political tumor, he says. If you have three or four
storeys of food already growing some place, they could become mobile units that could
be picked up by helicopters and dropped into the middle of a crisis zone. The food would
be ready to pick and eat. It could be designed to supply people with all the nutrition they
need to make it through the crisis."

F But it isn't only about increasing food production. Despommier is concerned about the
harm which farming has done to the world's landscape over a relatively short time span,
particularly the elimination of hardwood forests. Farming is only 12,000 years old, 'he
points allow us for the first time to feed everyone on earth and still return land to its original
ecological function.' Natalie Jeremijenko, associate professor at New York University,
agrees. The challenge that we have now is how we can design urban agriculture systems
that not only reduce food miles, but also improve the world's ecosystems,' she says. By

significantly reducing the amount of land required for food production, vertical farms could
help to enrich biodiversity. And according to Jeremijenko, this can, in tum, help to improve
the productivity of conventional farms, as the health of agricultural land is often tied to the
health of the surrounding ecosystems. Furthermore. vertical farming could dramatically
cut the utilisation of fossil fuels. And also reduce geopolitical tensions in countries where
poor farming conditions cause conflict and malnutrition.

Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs. A-F
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Write the correct number, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i Potential production capabilities of vertical farms
ii Opposition to new ideas about food production
iii A successful application of vertical farming technology
iv The potential to provide urgent relief
v The original inspiration for vertical farming
vi Various environmental benefits of vertical farming
Vii An increasing problem for farmers worldwide
Vii A return to traditional farming methods
ix A rising demand for food

14 Paragraph A
1 5 Paragraph B
1 6 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
1 8 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F

Questions 20- 22
Complete the sentences below
Choose NO MORE THAN TWo WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet.
20 A UK Government study found that..... is a significant factor contributing to worldwide
levels of soil degradation
21 Disadvantages of vertical taming projects include the expense of setting them up, as
well
as their high ........ .
22 ......... could potentially be used to take vertical farming facilities to areas where there
is a critical food shortage
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

Questions 23-26
Look at the following statements (Questions 23-26) and the list of people below Match
each statement with the correct person, A.B or C

Write the correct letter A, B or c, in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet

NB You may use any letter more than once

23 Vertical farming can have financial benefits
24 Traditional farming has had a negative effect on the natural world
25 Vertical farming could dramatically increase world food production.
26 Traditional farms may benefit from wider use of vertical farming

List of people
A Dickson Despommier
B. Ted Yamanoko
C. Natalie Jeremijenko

Marketing And Mind Control

How marketing and advertising appeal to the associative nature of the brain
While there had been a long tradition of giving rings as a commitment to marry, the
custom of giving diamond engagement rings was in large part manufactured by one of
the most effective marketing campaigns in history . In the early 1900s, diamond sales
were declining, posing a serious problem for the company that essentially had control
over the diamond market. In 1938, this company hired an advertising agency. Which
proposed reshaping social attitudes toward diamonds? As well as magazines showing
film stars draped in diamonds, the agency arranged for movies to incorporate diamond
engagement rings into their plots. The campaign culminated with the slogan:' A
diamond is forever. At the time, the approach was unique. Rather than pushing a brand,
the objective was to promote diamonds as the symbol of everlasting love. This was
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

achieved by exploiting the associative nature of the brain: associating neurons!

Activated by the concept of' love' with neurons that encoded the concept of "diamonds.
By 1941, diamond sales had increased by 55 %.
Advertising comes in many forms, from blatant neon signs to subtly embedded
products in movies. In each case, the goal is to mould our habits, desires and opinions.
Our visual system is targeted by an avalanche of information on the internet, street
posters, and billboards and in movie theatres. Our auditory system submits to catchy
radio jingles and telemarketers. More surreptitiously, our olfactory system is targeted by
variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes aimed at enticing us to linger in a retail outlet.
It is difficult to measure how effective these campaigns are, but as in the' A diamond
is forever' campaign, they can be so successful that they change the fabric of our
culture. In the case of bottled water, we are swayed by advertising into paying for
something that we can obtain for free. Most people cannot distinguish bottled from tap
water, much less between brands of bottled water, which is why you rarely hear of a
bottled water company proposing a blind taste test.
So why is marketing such an effective mind - control technique? It is interesting to
consider whether other animals exhibit anything analogous to humans ' susceptibility to
advertising. If we provide a lab rat with two types of cereal, it will consume
approximately the same amount of each. However, if we put that rat with another rat
that spent its day eating just one type, when faced with a choice, our rat will now show a
preference for the same type as the other rat was eating. Psychologists call this'
socially transmitted food preference '.

What many regard as the first documented examples of cultural learning in primates
started with a clever monkey that lived in a colony of Japanese monkeys on the island
of Koshima. She began taking her dirt - covered sweet potatoes to the river to wash
them before eating them. Upon seeing this, a few 11 other open - minded monkeys
picked up on the idea. Potato washing then spread from monkey to monkey and, over
the course of a few years, most monkeys were eating clean potatoes. Humans are
clearly not the only animals to engage in imitation and social learning.
Learning by observation can be an extraordinarily valuable brain feature, this is how
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

we learn to communicate and perform motor skills as well as deal with many everyday
problems. For example, a newcomer struggling to purchase tickets and navigate the
subway system in a foreign city may step back to learn from the people nearby.
Humans and other primates exhibit multiple forms of imitative learning and this is called
cultural transmission.
A component of advertising relies on the marketer's ability to tap into the brain's
propensity for imitation. Anybody who has watched TV knows advertisements are
disproportionately populated with attractive, successful looking individuals. If we are
going to imitate someone, we are more inclined to imitate those who appear to be
popular and appealing.
Although not all researchers are convinced by the findings, a number of studies
indicate that some animals also imitate dominant members of their group. Primatologist
Frans de Waal provides anecdotal evidence of preferential imitation among
chimpanzees. He noted that in one particular group the dominant male was hurt and
was limping as a result. Soon unlikely if a non-dominant male had been injured.

Imitation is undoubtedly an invaluable ability, but often our propensity to imitate

generalises indiscriminately, leading to poor decisions. When athlete Dick Fosbury
revolutionised the high jump by jumping over the bar backward in 1968, imitators
obviously copied his jumping style, not his brand of sports shoes. However, today,
sports people appear in advertisements asking us to buy the laptops or sports drinks
that they promote. Rationally, we know these people's success did not depend on these
products, so it seems our propensity to purchase products relates more to neural
programs that evolved to encourage imitation of those further up the social ladder.
Today , companies engage in stealth marketing campaigns in which people are paid
to frequent bars or websites to covertly promote certain products , Companies also
perform studies in which they track the eye movements of people viewing displays , and
carefully craft names , packages and jingles associated with their products. While we
may like to believe that manipulation on a grand scale would not be possible, that's not
to say that advertising is innately harmful. To the contrary, the marketing of products or
ideas is essential to human culture. The point is that we should ensure our choices
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

reflect our actual goals and desires, and we must distinguish between the dissemination
of information which is for our own good, and our manipulation for the benefit of
companies

Questions 27 - 31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
27. According to the writer, which marketing technique attempts to make consumers
stay in a shop for longer?

in a shop for longer?

A. playing appealing music
B. emitting pleasant scents
C. displaying attractive posters
D. making in - store announcements

28. The writer mentions bottled water in order to show that

A. consumers buy it because of the fact that it is marketed.

B. people purchase it despite the fact that it has no taste.
C. marketers need not do taste tests when a campaign is effective.
D. tests prove that people cannot differentiate it from tap water.

29. According to the writer, socially transmitted food preference occurs when

A. only dominant members of an animal group influence what others eat.

B. the same types of animals naturally prefer the same types of food.
C. animals are influenced by what any other animals of the same species eat.
D. a food type is more desirable because an animal views that food as scarce.

30. According to the writer, how is learning by observation and imitation a useful feature
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

of the brain?
A. it helps people overcome challenges.
B. positive models can influence social behaviour.
C. it can give an advantage when communicating with others.
D. cultural norms and relationships can be understood more easily

31. According to the writer, how does television advertising exploit the human tendency
to imitate others ?
A. It shows buying behaviour that marketers want to encourage in viewers.
B. It features people who have a desirable image.
C. It shows older people whom teenagers admire.
D. It features successful people endorsing products responsible for their
success.

Questions 32-36
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage ?
In boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet , write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
32. The diamond campaign worked by making a connection in people's minds between
diamonds and luxury
33. People are more aware of visual marketing than auditory marketing.
34. The campaign advertising diamonds had a positive influence on society.
35. There is still some uncertainty about whether animals copy the behaviour of the
most powerful animals among them.
36. Consumers make a logical connection between celebrities ' achievements and the
products they promote.

Questions 37 - 40.
người thầy tên Huy IELTS EASY8

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

Write the correct letter, A - G , in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet .
37. The behaviour of the monkeys on the island of Koshima showed that
38. Primatologist Frans de Waal found that
39. Dick Fosbury is mentioned in order to show that
40. A feature of some modern marketing campaigns is that

A. people imitated behaviour that was linked with success .

B. younger animals of a certain species are more likely to imitate each other .
C. an animal would imitate another that had higher status .
D. imitation of popular sportspeople has occurred for many decades .
E. products are marketed to potential consumers who are unaware that marketing is
occurring .
F. animals can develop new habits by observation.
G. incentives are provided for consumers who behave in a certain way.