 Lamaism (i)

 First account of almases (ii)

 Missing link (iii )
 Lost evidence (iv)
 Borrowed tales from Tibet? (v)
 Living in Mongolia (vi)
 Possible ancestors of humans (vii)
 Funding expeditions (viii)
 New discoveries support a theory (ix)
 Mysterious mountain men (x)

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph F

Almas: The Mongolian Man-Beast Reading Passage

A. Mongolia usually evokes images of nomadic herdsmen riding across vast grasslands,
but along the western border with Russia, the Altai Mountains stretch for over a
thousand kilometres, their permanently ice-capped peaks rising above 4000 mE=s
From these mountains have long come reports of a mysterious human-like creature
called an almas. Sightings have become increasingly rare over the past hundred years
but according to old accounts, almas are described as being similar in height to that of
modern Mongolians, hairy, having massive jaws, receding chins and prominent
eyebrow ridges. They are thought to be mainly nocturnal, are unaggressive and usually
avoid contact with humans.

B. The earliest description of an almas appears in the memoirs of a Bavarian noblema

Hans Schiltberger, who was taken prisoner by the Turks in the early 1400s SAT general
training in Bardoli and sent eastward to serve a Mongol prince. "In the mountains live
wild people who have nothing in common with other human beings. A pelit covers the
entire body of these creatures. Only the hands and face are free of hair" Giving his
seemingly incredible account some credibility is the fact that he also mentions the
Przewais horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), the last remaining wild species of horse which
was unknown in Europe until centuries later.

C. A few scientists such as Myra Shackley, however, have suggested that the almas is
(or at least was) a real creature, and that it could be a remnant population of hominids
either homo erectus or Neanderthals. Neanderthals - mankind's closest cousins - lived
in Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and are thought to have died out 25000-
30000 years ago. Over the decades there has been the occasional "find" (hair, skull
droppings) but tests have shown them to be either of human origin or from known
Animals.

D. Many accounts of almases seem to be tied up with Mongolia's pre-communist

Buddhism. In 1837 a pilgrim called Luvsandonoi (Mongolians typically use just a single
name) found the body of a dead male almas in the Gobi Desert. He reportedly gave the
skin, head, and limbs to the Galbyn Ulaan Sahius monastery. Lamas stuffed the skin.
The stuffed almas was said to be hairy but with some human-like features. There are
various other descriptions of monasteries with almas artefacts, even one with a
complete stuffed almas. Unfortunately, communist purges in the 1930s led to the
destruction of all but one of the country's more than 500 monasteries, and these
artefacts were destroyed or disappeared. An interesting re-occurring element of almas
stories is the use of bile (a digestive juice produced by the liver) from the gallbladder as
a medicine. It was highly prized and used by lama doctors to treat a variety of
disorders. Interestingly, bile from the gall bladder of black bears has long has long
been used in traditional Chinese medicine.

E. One possible explanation for the almas is that it is folklore imported alongside
Tibetan Buddhism from the Himalayas. From medieval times until the early twentieth
century, Buddhism dominated religious, cultural and educational lite in Mongolia.
There were important ties with Tibet, and it was not uncommon for the religious
leaders and devout followers to make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Lhasa where
they would have heard the tales of the yetis, and seen various supposed yeti artefacts
in monasteries. Currently, the weight of scientific opinion is that the Yeti is a mythical
creature born of a combination of bear sightings and folklore.

F. Two recent scientific bombshells give the remnant hominid theory a boost, First, the
discovery of a new human species Homo floresiensis (nicknamed the Hobbit) and the
startling fact that it occupied the Indonesian island of Flores until perhaps as recently
as 12,000 years ago. Even more relevant to the almas mystery is the 2008 discovery of
a female finger bone in a cave in the Siberian section of the Altai Mountains. An
international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany have worked on the mitochondrial DNA from the
finger bone. They announced in 2010 that it was from a previously unknown hominid
species that lived in the Altai Mountains about 35,000 years ago.

(Hope you have correctly matched the headings with correct paragraphs in this
given list of headings IELTS reading practice. )

Matching Headings Practice Exercise 2

Questions 1 - 6
The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs, A-F, from the list below.

Write the correct number, i-ix, as your answer to each question.

List of Headings

 i Bills of exchange precede paper money

 ii The English Civil War
 iii Advent of the Gold standard
 iv The Knights Templar
 v Recurrence of paper currency
  vi Goldsmiths in the role of bankers
 vii Scarcity of copper coins
 viii Virginian money
 ix ‘Intangible’ money

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph F

Money Reading Passage

A. In China, the issue of paper money became common from about 960 but there had
been occasional issues long before that. A motive for one such early issue, in the reign
of Emperor Hien Tsung 806-821, was a shortage of copper for making coins. A drain of
currency from China, partly to buy off potential invaders from the north greater
reliance on paper money with the result that by 1020 the quantity issued was
excessive, causing inflation. In subsequent centuries there were several episodes of
hyperinflation, and after about 1455, after well over 500 years of using paper money,
China abandoned it.

B. With the revival of banking in western Europe, stimulated by the Crusades, written
instructions in the form of bills of exchange came to be used as a means of transferring
large sums of money, and the Knights Templar and Hospitallers functioned as bankers.
It is possible that the Arabs may have used bills of exchange at a much earlier date,
perhaps as early as the eighth century. The use of paper as currency came much later.

C. During the English Civil War, 1642-1651, goldsmiths' safes were secure places for the
deposit of jewels, bullion and coins. Instructions to goldsmiths to pay money to
another customer subsequently developed into the cheque. Similarly, goldsmiths’
receipts were used not only for withdrawing deposits but also as evidence of ability to
pay and by about 1660 these had developed into banknotes.
D. In England's American colonies a chronic shortage of official coins led to various
substitutes being used as money, including, in Virginia, tobacco, leading to the
development of paper money by a different route. Tobacco leaves have drawback as
currency, and consequently, certificates attesting to the quality and quantity of tobacco
deposited in public warehouses came to be used as money and in 1727 were made
legal tender.

E. Although paper money obviously had no intrinsic value, its acceptability originally
depended on its being backed by some commodity, normally precious metals. During
the Napoleonic Wars convertibility of Bank of England notes was suspended and there
was some inflation which, although quite mild compared to that which had occurred in
other wars, was worrying to contemporary observers who were used to stable prices
and, in accordance with the recommendations of an official enquiry, Britain adopted
the gold standard for the pound in 1816.

F. The break with precious metals helped to make money a more elusive entity.
Another trend in the same direction was the growing interest in forms of electronic
money from the 1990s onwards. In some ways, e-money is a logical evolution from the
wire transfers that came about with the widespread adoption of the telegraph in the
19th century, but such transfers had relatively little impact on the everyday shopper.

Matching Headings Practice Exercise 3

Questions 1-6
The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-ix, as your answer to each question

List of Headings

 i Difference in social status discourages helpful behaviour

 ii A gruesome act
  iii An impact of presence of others
 iv Becoming emotionless is a convenience
 v An inhuman response
 vi Beautiful and affluent are valued more
 vii Shouldering off accountability
 viii One inaction leads to another
 ix Hesitating to help

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph F

Are We Becoming More Indifferent? Reading Passage

A. A noticeably shameful attribute of society in recent times is the Bystander effect,
where the general public blatantly ignores a person who may be a victim of a road
accident or in some kind of need. Bystanders do not only remain indifferent to the
condition of the victim, but in a grotesque example of apathy, they also go to the extent
of capturing the event in a video to share on social media or even click a selfie with the
victim in the background.

B. Why are people so unemotional? Simply put, this happens when a person feels
discouraged to get involved in an emergency, especially in the presence of others. It is
called the Bystander Effect. The concept of the Bystander Effect was popularized by
social psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latane after the murder of Kitty Genovese in
New York City in 1964. Bystanders outside Genovese’s apartment watched while she
was stabbed to death, neither trying to stop the crime nor calling the police for
assistance. According to Darley and Latane, there is a perceived diffusion of
accountability and social influence that leads to the Bystander effect. Onlookers, they
believe, are more likely to help if there are fewer witnesses present.
C. Another example of increasing apathy is the video of an unkempt man in a dirty
coat walking with the aid of crutches and struggling. Ignored by onlookers as he tried to
get up, he was eventually brought back to his feet by a homeless man. Helping the
downtrodden is perceived as damaging to our social standing in society. Conclusions
drawn by a research published by the International Ombudsman Association, an
individual's hesitation in coming to the aid of the less fortunate is the fear of social
consequences or the stigma of being associated with a person in distress.

D. The larger question about the culture of indifference has a lot to do with the
bystander behaviour, says Wesley Perkins, a sociology professor at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. The Bystander phenomenon is generated by the
perception that other people are not doing anything about it. Therefore I shouldn't
either. However, when these events come to the knowledge of the public, 'people think
everybody is mean and cruel-hearted and doesn't care" Perkins says. 'But much of the
Bystander phenomenon happens because people are looking on and thinking, if they
don't see someone else coming to the person's aid, then the person must not be in
trouble. Also, people are more likely to do the right thing when they notice the same
behaviour being elicited by other individuals. It is only the real heroes who step out of a
group to help.

E. Transferring responsibility is the most common response. Paul Rogat Loeb, lecturer
on ethics and the author of Soul of a Citizen', speaks about his conversation with the
factory workers who processed plutonium for nuclear weapons. Loeb asked, 'Do you
think it is a good thing?' Promptly denying their responsibility, the factory workers
disassociated themselves from the potentially horrific consequences of their actions.
The prevalent attitude is that someone else will do what is needed. 'We hope people do
the right thing. We hope someone takes care of the poor, says Loeb.

F. According to legendary Greek philosopher Aristotle, man is an inherently social

animal. It would not be possible for us to survive without one another, not only
because of the lack of sustenance but because we would probably go insane living
alone. But looking at the society we live in today, it appears that humans have become
apathetic not only towards the community and the environment but also towards
fellow human beings. The Bystander effect is evident even on the internet, where users
watch others get bullied or threatened. Unless the feelings of irrelevance that breed
this apathy are addressed, people are going to find comfort in being apathetic as a tool
of self-preservation.