Thursday, January 5, 2017

IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test

IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test


Fathom – Word Of The Day For IELTS

Posted: 05 Jan 2017 01:35 AM PST

Fathom – Word Of The Day For IELTS Speaking And Writing

Fathom/ˈfæðəm/ (Verb)

Meaning: 

(Formal) to understand what something means or the reasons for something after thinking carefully about it

Synonyms: 

  • Grasp
  • Make sense of something
  • Understand
  • Conclude

Collocations:

ADVERBS:

Fathom how/ out/ why/ where etc

VERBS:

Try  to fathom

Examples:

  • It is difficult to fathom how these slings are knotted and connected
  • Fortunately, in trying to fathom out what happened next we have the advantage of the known laws of science.
  • He couldn’t fathom why she was so anxious that no one else should know of his interest in her.
  • She watched him for several moments, then looked about the large dining-room, trying to fathom the reason for his actions.
  • I still can’t fathom out what she meant.

Exercises:

Try to use the new word “Fathom” in your topic

Describe a disagreement you had with a friend

You should say:

Who you disagreed with
What the disagreement was
How it happened
And explain how this disagreement was resolved

Sample Answer:

When I was a teen of 17 years old, I used to make friends more due to my extrovert nature. But unfortunately, I also had the most misunderstanding with them. However, I have not lost any of my friends for the disagreements.

Once I bought few novels to read in my leisure hours during the summer vacation of the college. During the vacation, one evening two of my college friends reached my home. After having some chats, one of them started looking at my library that I have built since my childhood (I love reading books from my early age and has a huge collection of different types of books). He picked one of the books that I just have started reading since the morning that day.

It was Nam, my bosom friend at the college. I helped him greatly in mathematics and physics on the exam before the college closure on the summer. The disagreement began with him when he wanted to take the novel at his home for reading. The novel named – The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was his first choice.

I tried to make him realise that I had started reading the novel before they arrive at my home and has already read a substantial portion of the book. But he was determined to take the book. Thus the disagreement continued. Samuel, the other friend of us sat motionlessly and observed us exchanging words with each other.

The argument continued for about 15 minutes, and I tried him to persuade in taking some other books but he was determined. He did not change his mind and said that once he started reading the novel but could not finish the book for some reasons. Now he did not want to miss the chance to complete the book and tried me to fathom the reason for his actions.

I had completed reading the one fourth of the book and as a quick reader, I proposed him to take the book on the very next day. But he was unchanged in his attitude. He blackmailed me emotionally saying that if I do not allow him to take the book, then he should not consider me as his friend.

Finally, I had to give up on his stubbornness and let him take the book on one condition that he should return the book just after he finishes reading and also will not lend someone else (he had lost most of his books by lending others for his extraordinary generosity) as he did earlier with my books.

  • extrovert nature: the quality of being confident and enjoying spending time with other people
  • misunderstanding: ̣an argument or disagreement that is not very serious
  • bosom friend: a very close friend
  • motionlessly: not moving at all
  • Blackmail: making threats or making you feel guilty

 

2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Flowers & Sample Answers

Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:11 AM PST

FLOWERS

1. Do you love flowers? Why?

2. Which/What is your favorite flower?

3. Do you think flowers are important?

4. Are flowers important in your culture? (Give examples)

5. Do people in your country ever use flowers for special occasions?

6. What are the occasions when people give or receive flowers?

7. In your country, do people (ever) give flowers as a gift?

8. When was the last time you gave flowers to someone?


Sample Answers

Do you like flowers? (Why?)

Yes, I do like flowers. As an introvert, sometimes, I find myself feeling peaceful and relaxed while enjoying nice flowers in my garden. I have a habit of taking pictures of flowers after the rain. I feel most at peace spending chunks of good time on my own, in relative silence, contemplating the beauty of flowers with raindrops through my camera lens.

Vocabulary

Introvert (n) a shy, reticent person.

(a) chunk of (n) a significant amount of something

Good-time (n) (of a person) having the pursuit of pleasure as one’s chief aim

To contemplate (v)  to look thoughtfully for a long time at

2. Which/What is your favorite flower?

White roses are truly my favorite flower. They are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. However, their beauty has also made them a gesture of remembrance. Therefore, a bouquet of white rose is a perfect way to say "I'm thinking of you".

Vocabulary

Gesture (n) a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning

(a) Bouquet of (flowers) (phrase) an attractively arranged bunch of flowers, especially one presented as a gift or carried at a ceremony

3. Do you think flowers are important?

For an introvert like me, enjoying the harmonization of various types of flowers with different gorgeous colors in the garden or in florist shops could brighten up my days and lift my spirits.

Vocabulary

Harmonization (n) a good combination

Gorgeous (adj) beautiful, very attractive

Brighten up (phrasal verb) make something more pleasant and happy

Lift our spirits (expression) make us feel happier

4. Are flowers important in your culture? (Give examples)

Definitely. With beautiful meanings, some flowers are chosen to show people's key virtues. Lotus flowers, for example, have been regarded as the national flower. The lotus plants grow from the marsh but their leaves and flowers grow toward the direction of the sunlight, which symbolizes the purity and faithfulness of people's spirits.

Vocabulary

Virtue (n) good qualities or characteristics

To regard as (v) to consider or think of in a specified way

To symbolize (v) to be a symbol of

5. Do people in your country ever use flowers for special occasions?

Flowers are widely used in many occasions and festivals in our country to represent for a blessing, happiness and good luck. Most families have at least one kind of plants or flowers at home.

6. What are the occasions when people give or receive flowers?

A bunch of flowers is considered as a gift for a wide range of occasions for both people to send and receive flowers. For example, in a birthday party, Women's day, or Valentine's day, colorful flowers are arranged nicely in a small vase and given to each other.

Vocabulary

A bunch of flowers (phrase) a number of things, typically of the same kind, growing or fastened together.

7. In your country, do people (ever) give flowers as a gift?

Yes, they do. As mention above, flowers play an essential role in different occasions as a special gift for people to show love to one another. People, especially girls, are happy and pleased when they receive their favorite flowers from beloved ones on their birthday.

8. When was the last time you gave flowers to someone?

It was a couple of weeks ago when I bought a bouquet of flowers as a present for my mom. She was deliriously happy when receiving it and put in in the sitting room so that everyone in my family can admire its beauty too.  

2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Advertisements & Sample Answers

Posted: 05 Jan 2017 12:03 AM PST

ADVERTISEMENT

1. Are there many advertisements in your country?

2. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now?

3. What are the various places where we see advertisements?

4. How do you feel about advertisements?

Sample Answers

1.Are there many advertisements in your country?

Definitely, there are. They appear all over the place from the streets to social media with a high density. For example, there is a multitude of colorful flyers sticked on the street walls in Sydney.

Vocabulary

All over the place (expression) everywhere

Density (n) the quantity of people or things in a given area or space.

A multitude of (expression) a very large number of people or things

Flyers (n) a small handbill advertising an event or product.

2. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now?

I guess it's due to the benefits of the companies. First, advertisements are the easiest way to reach the customers to attract their attentions to a particular brand or product. From that attractive information, customers will be able to choose an appropriate one. Second, it also plays a crucial role in marketing strategy that the company apply to attract customers.

Vocabulary

To be able to do Sth (v) having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something.

To play a (an) crucial/essential/key/main role in (v): of great importance

Campaign (n) an organized course of action to achieve a goal

3. What are the various places where we see advertisements?

Advertising is here, there, and every where. It gets to people through different types of communication such as flyers and banners on the streets or printed ones on newspaper, magazines or electronic ones on social media. It could be written, verbal or a short movie.

Here, there, and every where (expression) everywhere

4. How do you feel about advertisements?

Sometimes, I find it a little bit annoyed and disappointing because the quality products are usually overrated. However, there are other beneficial advertisements in supermarkets which has informative contents for customers such as on which days there will be promotions or which new products will be launched.

Vocabulary

Informative (adj) to provide useful or interesting information

Promotions (n) activity that supports or encourages a cause, venture, or aim.

Launch (v) to introduce (a new product or publication) to the public for the first time.

Overrated (adj) to have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved

2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Noise & Sample Answers

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:40 PM PST

NOISE

1.Do you mind noises?

2.What types of noise do you come across in your daily life?

3.Are there any sounds that you like?

4.Where can you hear loud noise?

5. Do you think there’s too much noise in modern society?

6. Are cities becoming noisier?

Sample Answers

1.Do you mind noises?

It's really hard for me to say no. I mean, I really can't bear noisy people, noisy places or even noisy things. For me noise is the number-one distractor when it comes to studying or working. You know, they actually just go ahead and interrupt my flow of thoughts.

Can't bear Ving (expression) can't tolerate something

2. What types of noise you come across in your daily life?

Well, I have to say that I face up to a rich variety of noises on a daily basis. The first type of noise is from traffic, especially during the rush hours. The second is noise from factories, construction sites which never fail to distract me from working, thereby reducing my productivity.

Face up to (phrasal verb) to confront an unpleasant situation

Productivity (n) The quality of being productive

3. Are there any sounds that you like?

I think there is one sound that can always lull me to sleep, the rain sound. There are nights I was so stressed out that I can hardly sleep no matter how much I tried, and then I went online searching for some sound for deep sleep or relaxation, and rain sound is always one of the top choices. And since then rain sound has become my go-to on sleepless nights.

Vocabulary

To lull SO to sleep (v) to calm or send to sleep, typically with soothing sounds or movements

To be stressed out (adj) a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.

Top recommendations (n) to be highly recommended

Go-to (adj) ideal, first choice

4. Where can you hear loud noise?

From a number of sources. It can come from the crazy drivers down there on the streets. It can come from a building being built. It can come from a music festivals or a DJ party where the crowd totally go wild. It can even come from a crying baby or a fight nextdoor.

5. Do you think there’s too much noise in modern society?

Indeed. I do think the level of noise is increasing overtime mainly due to human activities. The situation gets even worse if you live in a big modern city at a young age. Your auditory must be trained so hard to tolerate such noise everyday. It is really alarming now to raise people's awareness towards this "invisible" killer.

Vocabulary

Auditory (n) relating to the sense of hearing

Tolerate (v) to accept or endure (someone or something unpleasant or disliked) with forbearance

6. Are cities becoming noisier?

Most cities in our country are suffering serious noise pollution due to rapidly increasing population and a massive amount of daily transportation. The consistently intense presence of noise does serious harm to the public health.

Vocabulary

To do (serious) harm to (v)  to damage the health of

IELTS Reading Practice Test 29 with Answers

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 11:11 PM PST

Section 1

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

Working in the movies

When people ask French translator Virginie Verdier what she does for a living, it must be tempting to say enigmatically: ‘Oh me? I’m in the movies’. It’s strictly true, but her starring role is behind the scenes. As translating goes, it doesn't get more entertaining or glamorous than subtitling films. If you’re very lucky, you get to work on the new blockbuster films before they’re in the cinema, and if you’re just plain lucky, you get to work on the blockbuster movies that are going to video or DVD.

The process starts when you get the original script and a tape. ‘We would start with translating and adapting the film script. The next step is what we call ‘timing’, which means synchronising the subtitles to the dialogue and pictures.’ This task requires discipline. You play the film, listen to the voice and the subtitles are up on your screen ready to be timed. You insert your subtitle when you hear the corresponding dialogue and delete .it when the dialogue finishes. The video tape carries a time code which runs in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. Think of it as a clock. The subtitling unit has an insert key to capture the time code where you want the subtitle to appear. When you press the delete key, it captures the time code where you want the subtitle to disappear. So each subtitle wouldSubtitling is an exacting part of the translation profession. Melanie Leyshon talks to Virginie Verdier of London translation company VSI about the glamour and the grind. Virginie is quick to point out that this is as exacting as any translating job. You work hard. It’s not all entertainment as you are doing the translating. You need all the skills of a good translator and those of a top-notch editor. You have to be precise and, of course, much more concise than in traditional translation work.

have an ‘in’ point and an ‘out’ point which represent the exact time when the subtitle comes in and goes out. This process is then followed by a manual review, subtitle by subtitle, and time- codes are adjusted to improve synchronisation and respect shot changes. This process involves playing the film literally frame by frame as it is essential the subtitles respect the visual rhythm of the film.’

Different subtitlers use different techniques. ‘I would go through the film and do the whole translation and then go right back from the beginning and start the timing process. But you could do it in different stages, translate let’s say 20 minutes of the film, then time this section and translate the next 20 minutes, and so on. It’s just a different method.’

For multi-lingual projects, the timing is done first to create what is called a ‘spotting list’, a subtitle template, which is in effect a list of English subtitles pre-timed and edited for translation purposes. This is then translated and the timing is adapted to the target language with the help of the translator for quality control.

‘Like any translation work, you can’t hurry subtitling,’ says Virginie. ‘If subtitles are translated and timed in a rush, the quality will be affected and it will show.’ Mistakes usually occur when the translator does not master the source language and misunderstands the original dialogue. ‘Our work also involves checking and reworking subtitles when the translation is not up to standard. However, the reason for redoing subtitles is not just because of poor quality translation. We may need to adapt subtitles to a new  version of the film: the time code may be different.  The film may have been edited or the subtitles may have been created for the cinema rather than video. If subtitles were done for cinema on 35mm, we would need to reformat the timing for video, as subtitles could be out of synch or too fast. If the translation is good, we would obviously respect the work of the original translator.'

On a more practical level, there are general subtitling rules  to follow, says Virginie. ‘Subtitles should appear at the bottom of the screen and usually in the centre.’ She say that different countries use different standards and rules. In Scandinavian countries and Holland, for example, subtitles are traditionally left justified. Characters usually appear in white with a thin black border for easy reading against a white or light background. We can also use different colours for each speaker when subtitling for the hearing impaired. Subtitles should have a maximum of two lines and the maximum number of characters on each line should be between 32 and 39. Our company standard is 37 (different companies and countries have different standards).’

Translators often have a favourite genre, whether it’s war films, musicals, comedies (one of the most difficult because of the subtleties and nuances of comedy in different countries), drama or corporate programmes. Each requires a certain tone and style. 'VSI employs American subtitlers, which is incredibly useful as many of the films we subtitle are American,’ says Virginie. ‘For an English person, it would not be so easy to understand the meaning behind typically American expressions, and vice-versa.’

Questions 1-5

Complete the flow chart below.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-5 cm your answer sheet.

THE SUBTITLING PROCESS

Stage 1: Translate and adapt the script

Stage 2:  1……………….………. -matching the subtitles to what said Involves recording time codes by using the 2…………………………………..and…………………………. keys.

Stage 3: 3……………………. – in order to make the 4…………..……………………………. better

Multi – lingual project

Stage 1: Produce something known as a 5………………………………………………………..and translate that

Questions 6-9

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

In boxes 6-9 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

6  For translators, all subtitling work on films is desirable.

7  Subtitling work involves a requirement that does not apply to other translation work.

8  Some subtitling techniques work better than others.

9  Few people are completely successful at subtitling comedies.

Questions 10-13

Complete the sentences below with words from Reading Passage I.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 10—13 on your answer sheet.

10  Poor subtitling can be a result of the subtitler not being excellent at…………………..…….

11  To create subtitles for a video version of a film, it may be necessary to………………….…..

12  Subtitles usually have a………………………………………. around them.

13  Speakers can be distinguished from each ocher for the benefit of…………………………………

 

Section 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14—26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 on pages 100 and ¡01.

 Complementary and alternative medicine

WHAT DO SCIENTISTS IN BRITAIN THINK ABOUT ALTERNATIVE’ THERAPIES? OR LA KENNEDY READS A SURPRISING SURVEY

Is complementary medicine hocus-pocus or does it warrant large-scale scientific investigation? should science range beyond conventional medicine and conduct research on alternative medicine and the supposed growing links between mind and body? This will be hotly debated at the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

One Briton in five uses complementary medicine, and according to the most recent Mintel survey, one in ten uses herbalism or homoeopathy. Around £130 million is spent on oils, potions and pills every year in Britain, and the complementary and alternative medicine industry is estimated to be worth £1.6 billion. With the help of Professor Edzard Ernst, Laing chair of complementary medicine at The Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, we asked scientists their views on complementary and alternative medicine. Seventy-five scientists, in fields ranging from molecular biology to neuroscience, replied.

Surprisingly, our sample of scientists was twice as likely as the public to use some form of complementary medicine, at around four in 10 compared with two in 10 of the general population. Three quarters of scientific users believed they were effective. Acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy were the most commonly used complementary treatments among scientists and more than 55 per cent believed these were more effective than a placebo and should be available to all on the National Health Service.

Scientists appear to place more trust in the more established areas of complementary and alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy, for which there are professional bodies and recognised training, than therapies such as aromatherapy and spiritual healing. ‘Osteopathy is now a registered profession requiring a certified four-year degree before you can advertise and practise,’ said one neuroscientist who used the therapy. Nearly two thirds of the scientists who replied to our survey believed that aromatherapy and homoeopathy were no better than placebos, with almost a half thinking the same of herbalism and spiritual thinking. Some of the comments we received were scathing, even though one in ten of our respondents had used homeopathy. ‘Aromatherapy and homoeopathy are scientifically nonsensical,’ said one molecular biologist from the University of Bristol. Dr Romke Bron, a molecular biologist at the Medical Research Council Centre at King’s College London, added: ‘Homoeopathy is a big scam and I am convinced that if someone sneaked into a homoeopathic pharmacy and swapped labels, nobody would notice anything.’

Two centuries after homeopathy was introduced, it still lacks a watertight demonstration that it works. Scientists are happy that the resulting solutions and sugar baffled by how they can do anything.

Both complementary and conventional medicine should be used in routine health care, according to followers of the 'intergrated health approach’, who want to treat an individual 'as a whole’. But the scientists who responded to our survey s expressed serious concerns about this approach, with more than half believing that integrated medicine was an attempt to bypass rigorous scientific testing. Dr Bron said: ‘There is an awful lot of bad science going on in alternative medicine and the general public has a hard time to distinguish between scientific myth and fact. It is absolutely paramount to maintain rigorous quality control in health care. Although the majority of alternative health workers mean well, there are just too many frauds out there preying on vulnerable people.’

One molecular biologist from the University of Warwick admitted that ‘by doing this poll I have realised how shamefully little I understand about alternative therapy. Not enough scientific research has been performed. There is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that at least some of the alternative therapies are effective for some people, suggesting this is an area ripe for research.’

When asked if complementary and alternative medicine should get more research funding, scientists believed the top three (acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy) should get money, as should herbalism. It seems that therapies based on physical manipulation or a known action – like the active ingredients in a herb on a receptor in the body – are the ones that the scientific community has faith in. Less than a quarter thought that therapies such as aromatherapy, homoeopathy and spiritual healing should get any funding.

Scientists believed that the ‘feelgood’ counselling effect of complementary medicine and the time taken to listen to patients’ problems was what worked, rather than any medicinal effect. In contrast, the average visit to the doctor lasts only eight minutes, says the British Medical Association. Dr Stephen Nurrish, a molecular biologist at University College London, said: ‘Much of the benefit people get from complementary medicine is the time to talk to someone and be listened to sympathetically, something that is now lacking from medicine in general.’

But an anonymous neuroscientist at King’s College London had a more withering view of this benefit: ‘On the validity of complementary and alternative medicines, no one would dispute that ‘feeling good’ is good for your health, but why discriminate between museum-trip therapy, patting-a-dog therapy and aromatherapy? Is it because only the latter has a cadre of professional ‘practitioners’?’

There are other hardline scientists who argue that there should be no such thing as complementary and alternative medicine. As Professor David Moore, director of the Medical Research Council’s Institute for Hearing Research, said: ‘Either a treatment works or it doesn’t. The only way to determine if it works is to test it against appropriate controls (that is, scientifically).’

Questions 14-19

Look at the following views (Questions 14—19) and the list of people below them.

Match each view with the person expressing it in the passage.

Write the correct letter A—E in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

14  Complementary medicine provides something that conventional medicine no longer does.

15  It is hard for people to know whether they are being told the truth or nor.

16  Certain kinds of complementary and alternative medicine are taken seriously because of the number of people making money from them.

17  Nothing can be considered a form of medicine unless it has been proved effective.

18  It seems likely that some forms of alternative medicine do work.

19  One particular kind of alternative medicine is a deliberate attempt to cheat the public.

 
 List of People

A Dr Romke Bron

B a molecular biologist from the University of Warwick

C Dr Stephen Nurrish

D a neuroscientist at King's College London E Professor David Moore

Questions 20-22

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-F from the box below.

Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet.

20  The British Association for the Advancement of Science will be discussing the issue of

21  A recent survey conducted by a certain organisation addressed the issue of

22  The survey in which the writer of the article was involved gave information on

 
A what makes people use complementary rather than conventional medicine.’

B how many scientists themselves use complementary and alternative medicine.

C whether alternative medicine should be investigated scientifically.

D research into the use of complementary and conventional medicine together.

E how many people use various kinds of complementary medicine.

F the extent to which attitudes to alternative medicine are changing

Questions 23—26

Classify the following information as being given about

A acupuncture
B aromatherapy
C herbalism
D homoeopathy

Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.
23  scientists believe that it is ineffective but harmless.

24  Scientists felt that it could he added to the group of therapies that deserved to be provided with resources for further investigation.

25  Scientists felt that it deserved to be taken seriously because of the organised way in which it has developed.

26  A number of scientists had used it, but harsh criticism was expressed about it


Section 3 
  

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27—40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 on the following pages.

Questions 27-32

Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs A-F.

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

Write the correct number i-x in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

 
  List of Headings
i  An easily understood system
ii Doubts dismissed
iii Not a totally unconventional view
iv Theories compared
v A momentous occasion
vi A controversial use of terminology
Vii Initial confusion
viii Previous beliefs replaced
ix More straightforward than expected
X An obvious thing to do

 

27 Paragraph A
28 Paragraph B
29 Paragraph C
30 Paragraph D
31 Paragraph E
32 Paragraph F

The cloud messenger

At six o'clock one evening in December 1802, in a dank and cavernous laboratory in London, an unknown young amateur meteorologist gave the lecture that teas to make him famous

A Luke Howard had been speaking for nearly an hour, during which time his audience had found itself in a state of gradually mounting excitement. By the time that he reached the concluding words of his address, the Plough Court laboratory was in an uproar. Everyone in the audience had recognized the importance of what they had just heard, and all were in a mood to have it confirmed aloud by their friends and neighbours in the room. Over the course of the past hour, they had been introduced not only to new explanations of the formation and lifespan of clouds, but also to a poetic new terminology: 'Cirrus', 'Stratus', 'Cumulus', 'Nimbus', and the other names, too, the names of intermediate compounds and modified forms, whose differences were based on altitude, air temperature and the shaping powers of upward radiation. There was much that needed to be taken on board.

B Clouds, as everyone in the room would already have known, were staging posts m the rise and fall of water as it made its way on endless compensating journeys between the earth and the fruitful sky. Yet the nature of the means of their exact construction remained a mystery to most observers who, on the whole, were still in thrall to the vesicular or 'bubble' theory that had dominated meteorological thinking for the better part of a century. The earlier speculations, in all their strangeness, had mostly been forgotten or were treated as historical curiosities to be glanced at, derided and then abandoned. Howard, however, was adamant that clouds were formed from actual solid drops of water and ice, condensed from their vaporous forms by the fall in temperature which they encountered as they ascended through the rapidly cooling lower atmosphere. Balloon pioneers during the 1780s had continued just how cold it could get up in the realm of the clouds: the temperature fell some 6.5″C for every thousand metres they ascended. By the rime the middle of a major cumulus cloud had been reached, the temperature would have dropped to below freezing, while the oxygen concentration of the air would be starting to thin quire dangerously. That was what the balloonists meant by 'dizzy heights'.

C Howard was not, of course, the first to insist that clouds were best understood as entities with physical properties of their own, obeying the same essential laws which governed the rest of the natural world (with one or two interesting anomalies: water, after all, is a very strange material). It had long been accepted by many of the more scientifically minded that clouds, despite their distance and their seeming intangibility, should be studied and apprehended like any other objects in creation.

D There was more, however, and better. Luke Howard also claimed that there was a fixed and constant number of basic cloud types, and this number was not (as the audience might have anticipated) in the hundreds or the thousands, like the teeming clouds themselves, with each as individual as a thumbprint. Had this been the case, it would render them both unclassifiable and unaccountable; just so many stains upon the sky. Howard's claim, on the contrary, was that there were just three basic families of cloud, into which every one of the thousands of ambiguous forms could be categorized with certainty. The clouds obeyed a system and, once recognized in outline, their basic forms would be 'as distinguishable from each other as a tree from a hill, or the latter from a lake', for each displayed the simplest possible visual characteristics.

E The names which Howard devised tor them were designed to convey a descriptive sense of each cloud type's outward characteristics (a practice derived from the usual procedures of natural history classification), and were taken from the Latin, for ease of adoption by the learned of different nations': Cirrus (from the Latin for fibre or hair), Cumulus (from the Latin for heap or pile) and Stratus (from the Latin for layer or sheet). Clouds were thus divided into tendrils, heaps and layers: the three formations at the heart of their design. Howard then went on to name four other cloud types, all of which were either modifications or aggregates of the three major families of formation. Clouds continually unite, pass into one another and disperse, but always in recognizable stages. The rain cloud Nimbus, for example (from the Latin for cloud), was, according to Howard, a rainy combination of all three types, although Nimbus was reclassified as nimbostratus by meteorologists in 1932, by which time the science of rain had developed beyond all recognition.

The modification of clouds was a major new idea, and what struck the audience most vividly about it was its elegant and powerful fittingness. All of what they had just heard seemed so clear and so self-evident. Some must have wondered how it was that no one – not even in antiquity – had named or graded the clouds before, or if they had, why their efforts had left no trace in the language. How could it he that the task had been waiting for Howard, who had succeeded in wringing a kind of exactitude from out of the vaporous clouds? Their forms, though shapeless and unresolved, had at last, it seemed, been securely grasped. Howard had given a set of names to a radical fluidity and impermanence that seemed every bit as magical, to that first audience, as the Eskimo's fabled vocabulary of snow.

 

Questions 33-36

Label the diagram below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 33—36 on your answer sheet.

33. Reaching situation known as the 33………………………. .

35. not much 35………………………. .

36. temperature down 36…………………….. per …………………….. .

 

ieltsmaterial.com - ielts reading practice 29
Questions 37-40

Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs labelled A-F

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

37  an example of a modification made to work done by Howard

38  a comparison between Howard's work and another classification system.

39  a reference to the fact that Howard presented a very large amount of information

40  an assumption that the audience asked themselves a question

 

ANSWER KEY FOR IELTS READING PRACTICE TEST

READING Passage 1

Questions 1-5

1  Answer: timing

Note 3sr paragraph, 2nd sentence: ‘Synchronising the subtitles to the dialogue and pictures’ means ‘matching the subtitles to what is said and seen’.

2  Answer: insert; delete

Note 3rd paragraph: ‘You insert… disappear.’ You press the insert key to record the time on the tape when you want the subtitle to appear on the screen, and the delete key to record the time on the tape when you want it to disappear from the screen.

3  Answer: (a) manual review

Note 3rd paragraph: ‘This process is then …’. After setting the places where each subtitle appears and disappears, you then check each one by pressing the necessary keys.

4  Answer: synchronisation

Note 3rd paragraph: This process is then …’. While checking all the subtitles, some may be ‘adjusted’ (changed a bit) to ‘improve synchronisation’ – to make sure that the subtitles match the dialogue and the pictures better.

5  Answer: spotting list

Note 5th paragraph: This is all the subtitles in English, all timed to fit in at the correct places in the film; these subtitles are then translated info the required language by a translator, who does not have to fit them into the correct places because this has already been done.

Questions 6-9

6  Answer: TRUE

Note 1st paragraph: ‘As translating goes … DVD’. The writer says that if you work as a translator, there is nothing more ‘entertaining or glamorous’ than subtitling films. The best work is on new blockbuster films before they come out, but you are also lucky if you work on films being translated for video or DVD. All translators therefore want to do any work that involves subtitling films.

7  Answer: TRUE

Note 3rd paragraph: ‘You have to be more concise’, you have to say things in fewer words than in traditional translation work.

8  Answer: FALSE

Note 4th paragraph: Two different methods are described. The second is said to be ‘just a different method’, which means that it is neither better nor worse than the first. It is simply a different approach. The two methods are therefore equally effective.

9  Answer: NOT GIVEN

Note Last paragraph: Comedies are said to be particularly difficult to translate and provide subtitles for, but we are not told whether or not only a few people manage to do it successfully.

► Questions 10—13

10  Answer: the source language

Note 6th paragraph: ‘Mistakes usually occur… If the translator ‘does not master’ (is not excellent at) the source language, they will make mistakes when subtitling.

11 Answer: reformat the timing

Note 6th paragraph: ‘If subtitles were done … ‘. The timing of the subtitles has to be changed when a video version of the film is made because the subtitles for the film version may not match those required for the video version for technical reasons.

12  Answer: thin black border

Note 7th paragraph: ‘Characters usually appear… A border is something that surrounds something. Most subtitles have white letters with a thin black border round them, we are told.

13  Answer: the hearing impaired

Note 7th paragraph: We can also use … The words spoken by different characters can be put into different colours for each character, so that people who are deaf or cannot hear well will know which character Is speaking while they are reading the subtitles.

READING Passage 2

Question 14-19

14  Answer: C

Note 10th paragraph: Dr Nurrish says that complementary medicine gives people the chance to ‘talk to someone and be listened to sympathetically’, and that this opportunity is ‘lacking’ (Is not available) in medicine In general.

15  Answer: A

Note 7th paragraph: Dr Bron says that in the field of alternative medicine, ‘the general public has a hard time to distinguish between scientific myth and fact’. Some things they are told are not true, but they may not know that.

16  Answer: D

Note 11th paragraph: The neuroscientist has a ‘withering’

(very critical) opinion of alternative medicine. He says that the only difference between aromatherapy (‘the latter’) and the other kinds of therapy he mentions is that aromatherapy has a ‘cadre of professional practitioners’ – there are a number of people who earn a living from aromatherapy – whereas this is not the case with the other kinds of therapy. He suggests that the other kinds of therapy are not taken seriously and that aromatherapy should not be taken seriously either.

17  Answer: E

Note Last paragraph: Professor Moore says ‘there should be no such thing as complementary or alternative medicine’ – it should not exist. He thinks that every form of treatment that has been scientifically proved to work should be considered medicine and that any form of treatment that has not been scientifically tested cannot be considered medicine of any kind.

18  Answer: B

Note 8th paragraph: The molecular biologist says that there is enough ‘anecdotal evidence'(evidence from what people have said about their own experiences) that some alternative therapies ‘are effective'(do work) and that therefore research should be done into them.

19  Answer: A

Note 5th paragraph: Dr Bron says that homoeopathy is a ‘scam’ (a clever and illegal way of cheating people out of money), and that claims made about the content of homoeopathic treatments cannot be trusted.

Questions 20-22

20  Answer: C

Note 1st paragraph: ‘This’ at the beginning of the last sentence refers to the question of whether complementary or alternative medicine can be considered to ‘warrant’ (deserve) ‘scientific investigation’ and whether scientists should ‘conduct research’ into it.

21  Answer: E

Note 2nd paragraph: The Mintel survey found that one in five British people (20%) used complementary medicine, so, clearly, the number of people using it was one of the subjects of that survey.

22  Answer: B

Note 3rd paragraph: The writer says that ‘our sample’ – the scientists asked in the survey the writer was involved in – used complementary medicine more than the general public. It therefore tried to find out how many scientists used it.

Questions 23-26

Task location: Spread throughout the text

23  Answer: D

Note 6th paragraph: Scientists felt that homoeopathy has not been definitely proved to work and are ‘baffled by how’ – they cannot understand how – it could be effective, but they think it has ‘no side effects’ – no unpleasant and unintended results.

24  Answer: C

Note 9th paragraph: The scientists felt that acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy should all receive money for research, ‘as should herbalism’ – and herbalism should receive money for research too.

25  Answer: A

Note 4th paragraph: Acupuncture is said to be one of the ‘more established areas’ that scientists ‘place more trust in’ because they have ‘professional bodies’ (organisations to run them) and ‘recognised training’.

26   Answer: D

Note 5th paragraph: ‘Some of the comments … scathing’. The writer says that 10% of the scientists they asked in their survey had used homoeopathy, but that comments made about it were ‘scathing’ (extremely critical).

READING Passage 3

► Questions 27—32

27  Answer: v

Note A ‘momentous occasion’ is an important event that has important results. The paragraph describes the event – Luke Howard’s talk at the laboratory – and its effect on the audience, who realised that what they were hearing was of great importance.

28  Answer: viii

Note The paragraph refers to theories about cloud formation that people were still ‘in thrall to’ (still strongly believed in), such as the vesicular or bubble theory. Howard’s ideas showed these theories to be incorrect. In addition, the popular theories at the time had replaced the ‘earlier speculations’ – theories that had appeared before them but were now forgotten or considered strange.

29  Answer: iii

Note It is stated in the paragraph that Howard’s theory that clouds should be regarded as having things in common with the rest of the natural world was not a new one, and that ‘many of the more scientifically minded’ people held the same view.

30  Answer: ix

Note We are told that people may have thought that classifying clouds would involve hundreds or thousands of different types of cloud, but that Howard showed that there were ‘just three basic families of cloud’. Therefore, he showed that classifying clouds was a less complex matter than people might have expected.

31  Answer: i

Note At the beginning of the paragraph, we are told that Howard’s system for classifying clouds involved giving them names that were connected with what they looked like and using Latin names because people of many nationalities would understand them. The rest of the paragraph gives examples of his names.

32  Answer: x

Note We are told that Howard’s system was ‘clear and self-evident’ to the audience and that, because it was so clearly the right way to describe clouds, they wondered why nobody had done it before.

Questions 33-36

33  Answer: dizzy heights

Note Paragraph B, last sentence. This is what the situation shown in the diagram was called by balloonists, we are told.

34  Answer: major cumulus cloud

Note The situation described is when a balloon has gone up so high in the sky that it ¡s now in the middle of this type of cloud.

35  Answer: oxygen

Note At this point, the ‘oxygen concentration’ in the air begins to ‘thin quite dangerously’ – there begins to be so little oxygen that breathing becomes difficult.

36  Answer: 6.5°C; thousand/1000 metres

Note As the balloon goes up into the air, the air temperature goes down at the rate described.

Questions 37-40

37  Answer: E

Note Paragraph E, last sentence: The cloud type that Howard called Nimbus was later given a different name – nimbostratus – by meteorologists.

38  Answer: F

Note Paragraph F, last sentence: Howard’s system for naming clouds is said to have been similar in a way to the system of words used by Eskimos for different types of snow.

39  Answer: A

Note The paragraph lists all the kinds of information that Howard gave. In the last sentence, we are told that there was ‘much that needed to be taken on board’, which means that there was a lot of information for the audience to understand and think about.

40  Answer: F

Note ‘Some must have wondered…'. The writer is saying that he is certain that people in the audience asked themselves why nobody had come up with a system for naming and grading clouds before Howard.

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Questions & Answers – Topic: Handwriting

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:47 PM PST

Read all IELTS Part 3 Topics & Questions below and practice with your IELTS speaking partner

IELTS QUESTIONS ABOUT HANDWRITING

  1. Is handwriting still important?

I personally believe that handwriting is crucial for some reasons. It's a basic tool in many subjects such as doing homeworks, tests or taking notes. So poor handwriting skills or illegible writing can create trouble for students when they study. Handwriting is able to help students  memorize everything  better than typing. Besides, handwriting is in extricably linked to reading skills .It  promotes a child's visual memory, especially ones having difficulty reading. Mastering handwriting helps children recognize different letters quickly and help them to become good readers

  1. What are the disadvantages of handwriting?

I see that the first and foremost disadvantage of handwriting is hard work and time-consuming. When we write very long text, we'll feel pain of fingers and it takes longer time to finish than typing. Besides, We can save all kinds of documents on computers as they have huge storage and extremely safe with password . The last thing is that handwriting is linked to learning to spell but spell check is a function that all computers have so handwriting doesn't help with this

  1. Is it possible to improve school student’s handwriting once they have established a style?

Well, I do agree with that. In the short term it will almost certainly lead to a reduction in the student’s writing speed. They should take continuously  practice of the new writing style and will become faster and automatic..

  1. Is being left-handed the cause of the problem?

In my opinion, that's not a problem. The majority of left-handers write as well as their right-handed peers. Many reseaches also show that lefties have the upper hand in creativity, imagination as their thinking is different from righties. So that's the reason why there are more and more left- handed people.

  1. Are handwriting problems more common in boys?

Yes, I believe so. While girls are careful in everything, boys seem to be more careless. Therefore,girls seem to master good handwriting earlier than boys but boys can catch up if they are given appropriate help.

  1. What is the future of handwriting?

Well, I think that the future of handwriting  varies from place to place. At big cities , advanced technologies like laptop or smart phone allow people to quickly take note and save documents safely. So  people would no longer write longhand notes and penmanship is likely to be lost. On the other hand, handwriting would still enjoy popularity as it helps poor people to write and learn how to spell. Besides, as the saying goes The pen is mightier than the keyboard so I think handwriting'd still be used in the future

  1. Do you think that handwriting express personality?

Yes, I do. I suppose that each person has their own writing style so the way they write also express who they are. For instance, If someone writes quickly they are impatient and dislike delays or time wasters but slower writers are calm and persevere.  So having good handwriting is really important to impress others and people should train writing carefully.

 

IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topics & Questions (January – April 2017) & Sample Answers (Updating)

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 09:06 PM PST

To be well-prepared for IELTS exam (both IELTS Academic & IELTS General Training Module), you can read Sample Answers for IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topics & Questions (January – April 2017) & Sample Answers and practice at home with your IELTS study partners. To get the full version (with full 3 Parts), please check out IELTS Speaking Actual Tests & Suggested Answers.

IELTS Speaking Actual Tests & Suggested Answers (February – April 2017) (Ebook) will be  available for sales at the end of January. Stay tuned!

TOPIC 1: CHOCOLATE

1. Do you like sweets or chocolate?

2. What’s your favorite flavor?

3. How often do you eat chocolate?

4. When was the first time you ate chocolate?

5. Is chocolate popular in your country?

6. Why do people like chocolate?

7. Do you think people use chocolate differently now than in the past?

8. Is chocolate good for our health?

9. Have you ever given chocolate as a present to someone? Why?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Chocolate & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 2:  WALKING

1. Do you like to walk?

2. Do you like to walk on your own or with others?

3. Would you say that your city is a good place for walking?

4. Do people in your country walk a lot?

5. Do you think walking is important?

6. Do you think walking in the countryside is better than walking in the city?

7. What could be done to improve the experience of walking in cities?

8. What could be done to improve the experience of walking in cities?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Walking & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 3: CELEBRITIES

1.Who is your favorite celebrity in your country?

2.How do celebrities influence their fans in your country?

3. Do you like any foreign celebrities?

4.Would you like to be a celebrity? Why?

5.Do you think we should protect famous people’s privacy?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Celebrities & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 4: PUBLIC TRANSPORT

1. What form of transport do you prefer to use? Why?

2. How often do you take buses?

3. Can you compare the advantages of planes and trains?

4.How much time do you spend travelling on a normal day?

5. Would you ride bikes to work in the future?

6.What will become the most popular means of transport in your country?

7. Do you prefer public transport or private transport ?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Public Transport & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 5: BAGS

Do you like bags?

What types of bags do you like?

Do you usually carry a bag (when you go out)?

Do you have different bags for different occasions (or, different purposes)?

What do you put in these bags?

What sorts of bags do women like to buy?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Bags & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 6: HATS 

Do you like to wear hats or caps?

What kind of hats do you have?

Where do you like to buy hats?

Is wearing hats popular in your country?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Hats & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 7: ART

1. Do you like art?

2. Do you think art classes are necessary? (Why?)

3. How do you think art classes affect children's development?

4. What kind of paintings do people like?

5. What benefits can you get from painting as a hobby?

6. How often do you visit art galleries?

7. What kinds of things do you like to draw?

8. Is it easy to learn how to draw?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Art & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 8: HOUSE

Do you live in a house or an apartment?

Which rooms do you like most in your house? Why?

Is there anything about your house that you would like to change?

Tell me something else about your house.

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: House & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 9: NOISE

1.Do you mind noises?

2.What types of noise do you come across in your daily life?

3.Are there any sounds that you like?

4.Where can you hear loud noise?

5. Do you think there’s too much noise in modern society?

6. Are cities becoming noisier?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Noise & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 10: HOLIDAYS

What do you do in your holidays?

Do you think holidays are becoming more and more important?

What kind of places do you want to travel to?

Do you prefer travelling alone or in a group?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Holidays & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 11: FLOWERS

1. Do you love flowers? Why?

2. Which/What is your favorite flower?

3. Do you think flowers are important?

4. Are flowers important in your culture? (Give examples)

5. Do people in your country ever use flowers for special occasions?

6. What are the occasions when people give or receive flowers?

7. In your country, do people (ever) give flowers as a gift?

8. When was the last time you gave flowers to someone?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Flowers & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 12: PHOTOGRAPHY

Do you like to take photographs? (Why?)

Do you prefer to take photos alone or with other people? (Why?)

How long have you liked taking photographs?

How (why) did you become interested in photograph?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Photography & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 13: JOB

What do you do?

Why do you choose this job?

What are the advantages of having your own business rather than working for someone else?

What do you see yourself doing in the next 10 years?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Job & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 14: HOMETOWN

Has your hometown changed much since you were a child?

How could your hometown be improved?

Are there any changes you would like to make in your hometown?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Hometown & Sample Answers

 

TOPIC 15:  ADVERTISEMENT

1. Are there many advertisements in your country?

2. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now?

3. What are the various places where we see advertisements?

4. How do you feel about advertisements?

Sample Answers: 2017 IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Advertisements & Sample Answers

 

Topic 16: Food/Cooking

Is food important to you? (Why?)
What kinds of food do you particularly like?
Is there any food you don't like? (Why?)
What kinds of food are most popular in your country ?
Do you like cooking? (Why?/Why not?)
Who usually does the cooking in your home?

 

Topic 17: Names

Does your name have any particular meaning?
What’s the origin of your name? (or your surname)
Do you like your name?
What do your friends call you?
Did your family have a certain (nick) name that they called you when you were a child?
What names are popular to give to babies in your country?


Topic 18: Leisure Time

When do you have free time?
Do you think it’s important to have leisure time?
Do your friends ever come to your home in their free time?
Compare the way people in your country relax today and the way they used to relax years ago.

 

Topic 19: Sport/Exercise

What sports do you like? (Why?)
What sports are most popular in your country?
Are boys and girls good at the same sports?
What sports do children prefer?
Do you like to do daily exercise? (Why?/Why not?)
What are the advantages of doing regular exercise?
Where do people in your country usually exercise?

 

Topic 20: Swimming

Do you like swimming?
How often do you swim?
Where do you swim in your city?
Is it difficult to learn how to swim?

 

Topic 21: Weather

What’s the weather like today?
What’s the weather (usually) like in your hometown?
What’s your favourite weather? (Why?)
Do you like snow? (Why?)
Do you watch the weather forecasts?
Does the weather ever affect what you do?

Topic 22: Rain

Does it rain much in your country? (Where? When?)
Is there any part of your country where it doesn’t rain much? (Where?)
When (in what month/season) does it rain most in your hometown?
Can you remember any time when it rained particularly heavily in your hometown? (When?)
Does rain ever affect transportation in your hometown? (How?)

 

Topic 23: Television and Radio

What kind of entertainment do you prefer, TV or radio? (Why?)
How are radio programs and television programs different?
What programs do you like to watch/listen to?
When do you watch TV/listen to the radio?
Has television/radio changed much in recent years ?
How do you think TV/radio broadcasts in your country could be improved?

 

Topic 24: Indoor Games

Do you play any indoor games?
Do you prefer to play indoor games or outdoor games?
What indoor games did you play when you were a child?
Is there any particular indoor game that you liked (when you were a child)?
What sorts of indoor games do children play now?

 

Topic 25: History

Do you like (to learn about) history?
What historical event do you find most interesting?
Do you think history is important?
Do you like to watch programs on TV about history?
How (or. from where) do you get information about history?

 

Topic 26: Going Out

Do you like going out with your friends?
Do you often go out with friends?
What do you do when you go out?
Where do you go when you go out?
Do you prefer to go out with a large group of friends or just a few friends?

 

Topic 27: Patience

What do you think “patience” is?
Do you think patience is important?
Do you think being patient is an important part of being polite?
Would you say you are a patient person?
Have you ever lost your patience?
What do you become impatient about?

 

Topic 28: Plans and Goals

When do you plan to start that?
How do you intend to achieve that?
When you go abroad, do you plan to live in the countryside or a big city? (Why?)

 

Topic 29: Shopping

Are there many shops near your home? (What kind?)
Do you like shopping? (Why? Why not?)
Who usually does the shopping in your home?
How often do you buy something in a shop?

 

Topic 30: Birds

How do you feel about birds? (Why do you feel that way?)
How do people in your country feel about birds?
Are there many birds near your home?
Have you seen many different kinds of birds?

 

IELTS Writing Actual Test in Australia (December 2016) & Sample Answers

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 08:52 PM PST

Academic IELTS Writing Task 1:

The bar chart shows active participation rates in top ten sports in 1998 and 2005 

ieltsmaterial.com - ielts writing task 1

Band 8.0+Sample:

The given bar chart illustrates the percentage of Canadians actively participating in the ten most popular sports in 1998 and 2005. It is obvious that Golf and Ice hockey were the most common sports in Canada, and the participation rates of most sports declined during the period shown.

As can be seen from the graph, in 1998, Golf was the sport that had the highest participation rate with about 22%, followed by Ice hockey with approximately 18%. However, in 2005, these figures fell to just over 20% and about 17.5%, respectively. In 1998, the percentage of Canadians taking part in Baseball was 17%, which is the third biggest, but this rate dropped significantly by some 10% in 2005.

In addition, in 2005, the proportion of people frequently joining in Tennis, Cycling, Downhill/alpine skiing, Volleyball, Basketball was around 8%, and there were slight decreases of 1 to 2 % in the participation rates of these sports in 2005. Similarly, the figure for swimming also went down from 13% to just over 10%. Finally, soccer was the only sport that witnessed a slight increase from about 9% to 10%.

 

IELTS Writing Task 2:

International travel has many advantages to both travellers and the country that they visited. Do Advantages outweigh the disadvantages? 

Band 8.0 Sample Essay:

Travelling abroad certainly exerts several positive influences on tourists as well as the host country. Although there are still drawbacks of international travel, I think its values are more significant.

On the one hand, the downsides of welcoming foreign visitors are varied. Regarding tourists themselves, travel expenses in famous tourist destinations, Venice for example, are expensive, and there are many complicated and tedious prerequisite procedures such as visa application or plane ticket reservation. As for the countries that play host to international tourists, the rise in costs of living may lay much pressure on local people and be a detriment to domestic travel. This is because the growth in the number of tourists from abroad would encourage costs of hotel rooms and other services to increase. People in the neighborhood and domestic visitors would suffer in comparison.

On the other hand, I suppose the benefits of international travel would eclipse those analyzed disadvantages. First, travelers can have numbers of fascinating experiences of exotic cuisine and culture, and they get to see places they have not seen before. A typical example of this is when tourists from other countries come to Vietnam, they would have the opportunity to use chopsticks, enjoy traditional meals and go sightseeing in the countryside. Second, the increased number of foreign people coming to visit another country would evidently enhance tourism industries, contributing greatly to the wealth of that country. If tourists enjoy their trips, they will recommend the destination to their friends or perhaps they will come back in the future.

In conclusion, it appears to me that the merits of international tourism are more notable than its drawbacks.

 

Formal Prepositions to score Band 7.0 or Higher in IELTS (Part 2)

Posted: 04 Jan 2017 07:49 PM PST

 

Let’s gear yourself up for the IELTS Writing & Speaking with "academic" prepositions that are not so frequently used but suitable for academic writing and speaking. Learning these words and expressions will help you boost your IELTS score as well as contributing to your academic pursuit.

 

Amid

  1. in the middle of or during something, especially something that causes excitement or fear

Example:     He finished his speech amid tremendous applause.

  1. Surrounded by something

Example:        The hotel was in a beautiful position amid lemon groves.

Apropos/Apropos of

Regarding, concerning or related to somebody/something

Example:              Apropos our date for lunch, I cannot go.

Astride

With one leg on each side of something, situated on both sides of something; lying across or over; spanning

Example:  Rights groups urged the Indonesian government to block a proposed law banning women from sitting astride motorcycles in deeply Islamic Aceh province, where the position is deemed “improper”.

Athwart

  1. Across, from one side to the other
    Example:    They put a table athwart the doorway.
  1. Not agreeing with, opposite to
    Example:      His statement ran athwart what was previously said.

Atop

On top of, at the top of
Example:        Fruit and vegetable prices rose 1.3 per cent atop a 2 per cent gain last month.

Barring

Except for, unless there is/are

Example:        Barring accidents, we should arrive on time.

Beneath

  1. In or to a lower position than somebody/something; under somebody/something
    Example:         They found the body buried beneath a pile of leaves.
  2. Not good enough for somebody
    Example:        He considers such jobs beneath him.

Beside

  1. Next to or at the side of somebody/something
    Example:       He sat beside her all night.
  2. Compared with somebody/something
    Example:        My painting looks childish beside yours.

Besides

In addition to somebody/something; apart from somebody/something

Example:        Besides working as a doctor, he also writes novels in his spare time.

Beyond

  1. On or to the further side of something
    Example:        The road continues beyond the village up into the hills.
  1. Later than a particular time
    Example:        I know what I'll be doing for the next three weeks but I haven't thought beyond that.
  1. More than something
    Example:        Our success was far beyond what we thought possible.
  1. Used to say that something is not possible
    Example:     The situation is beyond our control.

  2. Too far or too advanced for somebody/something
    Example:        The exercise was beyond the abilities of most of the class.

Circa

(used with dates) about, in approximately

Example:       She was born circa 1920.

Concerning

About something, involving somebody/something

Example:        All cases concerning children are dealt with in a special children's court.

SynonymsApropos, Regarding, Respecting, With respect to, As for, As regards, In respect of, With regard to, In regard to

Considering

Used to show that you are thinking about a particular fact, and are influenced by it, when you make a statement about something

Example:        Considering he has only just started, he knows quite a lot about it.

Despite/In spite of

Used to show that something happened or is true although something else might have happened to prevent it

Example:        Despite applying for hundreds of jobs, he is still out of work.

Except/Except for/Apart from/Aside from

Used before mentioning the only thing or person about which a statement is not true

Example:       We work every day except Sunday.

Excluding

Not including

Example:        Lunch cost 10 dollars per person, excluding drinks.

Failing

Used to introduce a suggestion that could be considered if the one just mentioned is not possible

Example:        Ask a friend to recommend a doctor or, failing that, ask for a list in your local library.

Following

After or as a result of a particular event

Example:        He took charge of the family business following his father's death.

Given

When you consider something

Example:        Given his age (Considering how old he is), he is remarkably active.

Including

Having something as part of a group or set

Example:        Six people were killed in the riot, including a policeman.

Notwithstanding

Without being affected by something; despite something

Example:        Notwithstanding some financial problems, the club has had a successful year.

Onto

  1. Used with verbs to express movement on or to a particular place or position
    Example:       She stepped down from the train onto the platform.
  2. Used to show that something faces in a particular direction
    Example:       The window looked out onto the terrace.

Opposite

  1. On the other side of a particular area from somebody/something, and usually facing them

Example:        The bank is opposite the supermarket.

  1. Acting in a film or plays as the partner of somebody Example:             She starred opposite Tom Hanks.

Past

  1. Later than something

Example:        It was past midnight when we got home.

  1. On or to the other side of somebody/something
    Example:       He hurried past them without stopping.
  2. Above or further than a particular point or stage
    Example:       Unemployment is now past the 3 million mark.

Per

Used to express the cost or amount of something for each

Example:        This country has a higher crime rate per 100,000 of the population than most other European countries.

Qua

As something, in the role of something

Example:        The soldier acted qua soldier, not as a human being.

Regarding

Concerning/about somebody/something

Example:        She has said nothing regarding your request.

Respecting/With respect to

Concerning

Example:        information respecting the child's whereabouts

Sans (writing)

Without

Example:        There were no potatoes so we had fish and chips sans the chips.

Save/Save for

Except something

Example:        They knew nothing about her save her name.

Throughout

  1. In or into every part of something

Example:        They export their products to markets throughout the world.

  1. During the whole period of time of something

Example:        The museum is open daily throughout the year.

Towards

  1. In the direction of somebody/something

Example:        They were heading towards the German border.

  1. Getting closer to achieve something

Example:        This is a first step towards political union.

  1. Close or closer to a point in time

Example:        towards the end of April

  1. In relation to somebody/something

Example:        He was tender and warm towards her.

  1. With the aim of obtaining something, or helping somebody to obtain something

Example:              The money will go towards a new school.

Underneath

  1. Under or below something else, especially when it is hidden or covered by the thing on top

Example:        The coin rolled underneath the piano.

  1. Used to talk about somebody's real feelings or character, as opposed to the way they seem to be

Example:        Underneath her cool exterior she was really very frightened.

Upon

Formal use of "on"

Example:        The decision was based upon two considerations.

Versus

Used to compare two different things

Example:  It was the promise of better job opportunities versus the inconvenience of moving away and leaving her friends.

Via

  1. Through a place

Example:        We flew home via Dubai.

  1. By means of a particular person, system…

Example:        The news programme came to us via satellite.

 

Within

  1. Before a particular period of time has passed; during a particular period of time
    Example:             Two elections were held within the space of a year.
  1. Not further than a particular distance from something
             Example:        a house within a mile of the station
  1. Inside the range or limits of something
    Example:        The question is not within the scope of this talk.
  1. Inside somebody/something
    Example:        There is discontent within the farming industry.

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