IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test |
- Animal Idioms for IELTS Speaking
- IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE TEST 41 & BAND 8.0 SAMPLE ANSWERS
- Ambivalent – Word of the day for IELTS
- IELTS Reading Practice Test 28 with Answers
- IELTS Writing Actual Test in Vietnam – December 2016 & Sample Essays
- How to express your mixed feelings in IELTS Writing & Speaking?
| Animal Idioms for IELTS Speaking Posted: 03 Jan 2017 08:17 AM PST Here are useful idioms and expression about Animals to help you answer IELTS questions in a natural way in the IELTS speaking test.
16. Have a cow : get extremely upset , angry, worried
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| IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE TEST 41 & BAND 8.0 SAMPLE ANSWERS Posted: 03 Jan 2017 04:58 AM PST Check out IELTS Speaking Recent Actual Test in Australia – December 2016 & Sample Answers to be well prepared for both IELTS Academic & General Training Test.FLOWERS
I love flowers so I often buy a (1) bouquet of roses at home. The (2) scent of roses make me feel so relaxed and happy
Normally I buy from the (1)street vendors as the flowers are convenient and cheap. I sometimes buy at florists because they have flowers which are (2) out of ordinary.
I think flowers can be given anytime no matter what kind of event it is. Different flower has different meaning so flowers complement the present and make it more special.
Well, flowers are everywhere. There are lots of flowers on the street or painted on the clothes. They (1) harmonize with the surroundings and make it more (2) stunning
I'd say yes. Flowers add (1) a splash of color so a room would be (2) gloomy and boring without them. Besides, they make people feel peaceful and happy with (3) riot of colors .
In my country, lotus is (1) national flower because it (2) symbolizes purity and optimism. It is the flower which grows in muddy water and bloom with (3) remarkable beauty SCIENCE
Yes, I do. I find them (1) intriguing as it reveals hidden secrets. I'm a (2) curious person so science enables me to explain everything in logical way
I’m interested in chemistry and biology, because I love to find out how our bodies work and get to know better the things that surround us daily. Those subjects (1) excite me in a way that nothing can make and (2) I'm still into it now.
I love working with something as(1) complex as the brain. We hardly know how it works at all but every day we find out a little bit more and we can use that information not only to help people who are sick but also in completely different areas of science like (2) artificial intelligence
At some schools,science is taught poorly which (1) kills the student's interest. Science is supposed to (2) figure out the answers for mistery things but the (3) lack of cutting-edge facilities in the lab makes it more difficult. Besides, lots of experiments need to be taken so it takes lots of time to find true result.
I'm an English teacher so it is irrelevant to science. My job is all about vocabulary and grammar and there is no experiment at all. But I think science is really intriguing and I sometimes watch some science programs on Discovery channel
Well, my city is a crowded place so there are lots of noises. They come from traffic, industrial areas and so on
If the sound is not too loud, I can still focus but I can't stand loud noise for a long time. It causes headache and tiredness
I do agree. The cities are developing significantly so more and more industrial zones will be built. Our lives will be noiser as a result
I like loud music, indeed. It blows my mind so I can relieve all of pressure and get back to work more effective
I'm really bothered by the noise of the drill. It seems never stops and makes me furious
It's the sound of the beach. It (1) brings the sense of tranquility and reminds me of old days. I had lots of (2) joyful moments with the beach with friends so that sound comforts me
IELTS Speaking Part 2Describe a situation that you got a little angry. You should say: where it happened when it happened who you were with and why you felt angry? I do not usually get angry and definitely not (1) short-tempered person who get angry easily for silly reasons. Yet there was a time when I was so angry with my friends that we didn't talk for some days. I have a friend coming from India and that was his first trip to Vietnam . I was so excited to meet him and I even asked my friend to join. We were both (2) eager to that day and set up so many plans. After having breakfast , I received a call from my friend that she'd be late for 10 minutes. I was a bit nervous that she would not (3)show up but I still (4) assured her that we could wait and I didn't want to rush her. My friend is the one who always comes late so I reminded her that the plan wouldn't work out without her. We waited for her for 40 minutes then she told me she couldn't make it. Moreover, the reason she gave was unacceptable. She told me that she had to stay at home for her upcoming exam. I was(5) furious and so embarrassed with my friend. He didn't say anything but I know he was unhappy. She made us wait for an hour and (6) made a bad impression for a new friend. I tried to (7)calm the water and changed the plan to (8) make up for my friend. That was the time when I was about to (9) lose my temper and I don't want to be in that situation again
IELTS Speaking Part 3
I think that it depends on gender. It is very obvious that men and women differ in the way they each (1) express their emotions. While women tend to (2) confide with their friends about everything, men are likely to (3) hide it away. For instance, women can cry over broken up for a long time and they still remember how does it feel later on. Men just go angry and bitter about the relationship for a while
It's hard to say as different people have different way to express their emotions. I guess the young tend to express emotions easier than the elderly. They aren't mature enough so they smile when they are happy and cry when they are (1) blue. They express (2) raw emotions even negative ones. On the other hand, adults or old people are less likely to share some emotions like depression or confusion. Maybe they don't want to make others worried so they (3) disguise their feelings
I think they are emotional independence. They aren't easily controlled by emotion no matter how negative it is . Some people are vulnerable so if they mask it, they'll be more optimistic and stronger. That's why they don't want their true emotions be seen by others and keep it private.
I've never thought about this question before.. I guess they can recognize by (1) facial expressions or(2) body language, tone of voice. The kids will know how to (3) identify emotions when they learn how to (4) read those expressions  | |||||||
| Ambivalent – Word of the day for IELTS Posted: 03 Jan 2017 12:15 AM PST Ambivalent – Word of the day for IELTS Speaking & WritingAmbivalent /æmˈbɪvələnt/ adjective[more ambivalent; most ambivalent] Meaning: If you have mixed feeling about something and feel unsure of it, you can declare yourself ambivalent Collocations: VERBS be, feel, sound | remain ADV. deeply, highly, very The party’s position on nuclear weapons is deeply. | fairly, rather, somewhat PREP. about He feels rather ambivalent about his role as teacher. Example:
Word Family — ambivalence /æmˈbɪvələns/ noun [noncount]
— ambivalently adverb
Exercise: Talk about a time when you had to make a difficult choice. You should say:
and explain if there were any consequences? Try to use Ambivalent in your answers and some words and phrases about Mixed Feelings to boost your IELTS Speaking score.
One of the hardest choices I have ever made was which university I would attend to pursue my dream and further explore the world. That was when I was eighteen. Now years later, even though I haven't figured out what I should do with my life and keep tip toeing on my way to discover my inner self, I still believe my decision was right. When you were eighteen and living in an Asian country, going to university was all you know. When your parents were looking forward to seeing you being a college students and your classmates up to their neck with homework and extra classes, things might get stressed and you felt like you were carrying a giant candy bag big enough to trick or treat all the kids in your neighborhood until the next Halloween. That was how stressful it was. However, once you successfully passed the university entrance exams, the real deal began. I was lucky enough to get accepted by both schools that I had applied for, one in economics, the other in pedagogy. It was such a dilemma since I enjoyed studying how the world economy operated as well as looked forward to the day when I could share my knowledge and inspire my students to become anything they wanted to be. At that time, I felt really ambivalent. I felt like my future was hanging by a thread at that moment and in serious need of others' help. Thankfully, my family and friends were always there for me when I needed them most. After sharing my concerns, with their in-depth analysis and personal sharing, we came to a conclusion that economics would be a more appropriate choice. And that was what I did. Until now, I have never regretted it since going to ABC school has changed me, in a positive way and afforded me many opportunities to learn and grow. After graduation, in spite of working full-time in financial industry, I still pursue my teaching hobby with some classes during weekend, which is the best of both worlds to me. Inner self (noun) a person’s true or internal mind, soul, or nature Up to one's neck (idiom) deeply involved or occupied fully Dilemma (noun) a situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or unsatisfactory. Trick or treat (phrase) a Halloween custom for children in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house asking for treats such as candy Hang by a thread (idiom) to be in danger of having something unlucky or bad happen In-depth (adj) detailed and thorough  | |||||||
| IELTS Reading Practice Test 28 with Answers Posted: 02 Jan 2017 11:10 PM PST Section 1Emigration to the US American history has been largely the story of migrations. That of the hundred years or so between the Battle of Waterloo and the outbreak of the First World War must certainly be reckoned the largest peaceful migration in recorded history; probably the largest of any kind, ever. It is reckoned that some thirty-five million persons entered the United States during that period, not to mention the large numbers who were also moving to Argentina and Australia. Historians may come to discern that in the twentieth and later centuries this movement was dwarfed when Africa, Asia and South America began to send out their peoples; but if so, they will be observing a pattern, of a whole continent in motion, that was first laid down in nineteenth-century Europe. Only the French seemed to be substantially immune to the virus. Otherwise, all caught it, and all travelled. English, Irish, Welsh, Scots, Germans, Scandinavians, Spaniards, Italians, Poles, Greeks, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarians, Czechs, Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Russians, Basques. There were general and particular causes. As regards the general causes, the rise in population meant that more and more people were trying to earn their living on the same amount of land; inevitably, some were squeezed off it. The increasing cost of the huge armies and navies, with their need for up-to-date equipment, that every great European power maintained, implied heavier and heavier taxes which many found difficult or impossible to pay, and mass conscription, which quite as many naturally wanted to avoid. The opening up of new, superbly productive lands in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, coupled with the availability of steamers and steam trains to distribute their produce, meant that European peasants could not compete effectively in the world market: they would always be undersold, especially as the arrival of free trade was casting down the old mercantilist barriers everywhere. Steam was important in other ways too. It became a comparatively easy matter to cross land and sea, and to get news from distant parts. The invention of the electric telegraph also speeded up the diffusion of news, especially after a cable was successfully laid across the Atlantic in 1866. New printing and papermaking machines and a rapidly spreading literacy made large-circulation newspapers possible for the first time. In short, horizons widened, even for the stay-at-home. Most important of all, the dislocations in society brought about by the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the various wars and tumults of nineteenth-century Europe shattered the old ways. New states came into being, old ones disappeared, frontiers were recast, the laws of land- tenure were radically altered, internal customs barriers and feudal dues both disappeared, payment in money replaced payment in kind, new industries stimulated new wants and destroyed the self-sufficiency of peasant households and the saleability of peasant products. The basic structure of rural Europe was transformed. Bad times pushed, good times pulled American factories were usually clamouring for workers): small wonder that the peoples moved. Particular reasons were just as important as these general ones. For example: between 1845 and 1 848 -eland suffered the terrible potato famine. A million people died of starvation or disease, a million more emigrated (1846-51). Matters were not much better when the Great Famine was over: it was followed by lesser ones, and the basic weaknesses of the Irish economy made the outlook hopeless anyway. Mass emigration was a natural resort, at first to America, then, in the twentieth century, increasingly, to England and Scotland. Emigration was encouraged, in me Irish case as in many others, by letters sent home and by remittances of money. The first adventurers thus helped to pay the expenses of their successors. Political reasons could sometimes drive Europeans across the Atlantic too. In 1848 some thousands of Germans fled the failure of the liberal revolution of mat year (but many thousands emigrated for purely economic reasons). If such external stimuli faltered, American enterprise was more than willing to fill the gap. The high cost of labour had been a constant in American history since the first settlements; now, as the Industrial Revolution made itself felt, the need for workers was greater than ever. The supply of Americans was too small to meet the demand: while times were good on the family farm, as they were on the whole until the 1880s, or while there was new land to be taken up in the West, the drift out of agriculture (which was becoming a permanent feature of America, as of all industrialized, society) would not be large enough to fill the factories. So employers looked for the hands they needed in Europe, whether skilled, like Cornish miners, or unskilled, like Irish navvies. Then, the transcontinental railroads badly needed settlers on their Western land grants, as well as labourers: they could not make regular profits until the lands their tracks crossed were regularly producing crops that needed carrying to market. Soon every port in Europe knew the activities of American shipping lines and their agents, competing with each other to offer advantageous terms to possible emigrants. They stuck up posters, they advertised in the press, they patiently asnwered inquiries, and they shepherded their clients from their native villages, by train, to the dockside, and then made sure they were safely stowed in the steerage. Question 1 Choose the correct fetter A, B, C or D Write it in box 1 on your answer sheer. 1 Which of the following Joes the writer state in the first paragraph? A The extent of emigration in the nineteenth century is unlikely to be repeated. B Doubts may he cast on how much emigration there really was in the nineteenth century. C It is possible that emigration from Europe may be exceeded by emigration from outside Europr D Emigration can prove to he a better experience tor some nationalities than for others. Questions 2-9 Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 1. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each Write answer, your answers in boxes 2-9 on your answer sheet. GENERAL CAUSES OF EMIGRATION TO THE US Population increases made it impossible for some to live from agriculture. In Europe, countries kept 2………………………… that were both big, and this resulted in increases in 3……………………………… and in 4……………………………….. , which a lot of people wanted to escape. It became impossible for 5………………………………….. in Europe to earn a living because of developments in other countries and the introduction of 6…………………………………… People knew more about the world beyond their own countries because there was greater 7……………………. 8…………………………….. had been formed because of major historical events. The creation of 9……………………………………………………………. caused changes in demand. Questions 10-13 Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-H from the box below. Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet. 10 The end of the potato famine in Ireland 11 People who had emigrated front Ireland 12 Movement off the land in the US 13 The arrival of railroad companies in the West of the US
Section 2You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14—26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. How bugs hitch-hike Mankind’s search for alien life could be jeopardised by ultra-resilient bacteria from Earth. David Derbyshire reports. What was the most important discovery of the Apollo programme? Some have argued that it was the rocks that explained how the Moon was formed. Others believe it was the technological spin-offs. But according to Captain Peter Conrad, who led the 1969 Apollo 12 mission, it was life. On the apparently dead lunar surface, a colony of bacteria was thriving. The organisms were not native to the Moon, but were visitors from Earth who had hitch-hiked a ride on board one of Nasa's five Surveyor probes from the 1960s. To the astonishment of biologists, between 50 and 100 Streptococcus bacteria survived the journey across space, at an average temperature 20 degrees above absolute zero with no source of energy or water, and stayed alive on the Moon in a camera for three years. Captain Conrad, who returned the bacteria to Earth, was later to confess:'I always thought the most significant thing we ever found on the whole Moon was the little bacteria that came back and lived'. The ability of life to survive, adapt and evolve never fails to astonish. Over the past three decades, bacteria and archaea have been found in some of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Known as extremophfles, chese organisms have coped with life in a vacuum, pressure as high as 70 tons per square inch, depths of four miles beneath the surface and scorching waters around deep-sea volcanic vents. They have also survived 25 million years inside a bee preserved in resin. Their resilience has renewed enthusiasm for the search for alien life – a quest that many had assumed had been banished to fantasy fiction. Mars and the moons Titan, Europa and Callisto are once again plausible candidates for extraterrestrials. As interest in alien life has grown, so have concerns that mankind could spread its own microscopic bugs, contaminating the places we want to explore. In 2003, Nasa ended the Galileo probe's mission by smashing it into Jupiter. The fear was that it could be carrying bacteria that might contaminate Europa's oceans. The team behind Beagle 2 — the British probe that went to search for life on Mars in 2003 – was forced to take contamination particularly seriously. If Beagle carried to Mars life or dead spores picked up during the manufacture of the spacecraft, its science would be jeopardised. Prof Colin Pillinger, the Open University scientist who headed the Beagle project, said: 'What we've learnt since the Apollo missions and the Viking Mars missions of the 1970s is that bugs are far more tenacious than we ever imagined. They seem to be very tolerant of high temperatures, they lie dormant at low temperatures for long periods, they are immune to salt, acid and alkali, they seem to survive on substrate chat are not what people expect. Excremophiles are extremely adapted to hanging on to life.' Beagle had to be assembled in a 'clear? room’ – and one was specially put together in a converted BBC outside broadcast van garage in Milton Keynes. It had enough room to include an enormous set of fans that circulated and filtered the air 500 times an hour. Only a handful of trained researchers were allowed inside. '1 wasn't allowed in,' says Prof Pillinger. ‘There was special training for people going in there and special conditions. There was a ban on beards and a limit of four people at any one time. The team kept samples of everything that could have contaminated the craft and monitored every stage of assembly.’ To reduce the workload, the idea was to build as much as possible before sterilising it and banishing it to the difficult vorking conditions inside the clean room. The easy stuff was -heated to 115C for 52 hours, more than enough to kill off Dugs. Electronic equipment can’t cope with those sorts of temperatures, so the team used a hydrogen peroxide plasma, created in a microwave, to kill off bugs at low temperatures. Parachutes and gas bags were zapped with gamma radiation. It wasn't just facial hair that was banned. 'You've heard of the paperless office,' says Prof Pillinger. 'We had the paperless assembly line. The guys normally go in armed with loads of papers and diagrams, but we didn’t allow any of that. They were given information through a glass wall, over mikes and monitors. And sometimes on a piece of paper stuck to the glass with sticky tape.' Beagle's heat shield doubled as its biological shield. So once the instruments were encased and sealed, the craft could be brought back into the real world. The shield heated up to 1,700 degrees on its descent through the Martian atmosphere, so bugs on the casing were not a worry. Mars Express – the craft carrying Beagle – did not need sterilising. Its trajectory was designed so that if something went wrong, the craft would not simply crash into the planet. Its course could be corrected en route. Eventually, space scientists hope to return samples of Mars to Earth. While the risks of alien bacteria proving hazardous on Earth may be remote, the rocks will still need to be quarantined. Moon rocks from Apollo were analysed in vacuum glove boxes for the first two missions. Later, researchers stored rocks in nitrogen. Prof Pillinger believed the first Mars rocks should be sterilised before they are studied on Earth. 'For security purposes it would be the most sensible thing to do. You don’t have to sterilise it all, you can contain some of it and then sterilise the sample you want to look at, but it would lower the risk and make it easier to analyse.' Questions 14-20 Look at the statements (Questions 14—20) arid the list of spacecraft below. Match each statement with the spacecraft it applies to. Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet. 14 provided transport from Earth tor bacteria 15 led to realisation of how tenacious bacteria are 16 was created so that there could be no bacteria on the outer structure 17 was capable of changing direction in the event of a problem 18 brought material which was kept in more than one kind of container 19 required action because of the possibility of the introduction of harmful bacteria 20 resulted in disagreement as to the relative value of what was found List of Spacecraft
Questions 21-26 Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 21 —26 on your answer sheet. THE ASSEMBLY OF BEAGLE 2
Section 3You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are hosed on Reading Passage 3 below. Finding out about the world from television news
What Lewis also does is offer an interesting contrast, in this respect, between the high-status phenomenon of television news and the low-status genre of soap opera. The latter, he observes, offers the most highly developed use of effective narrative codes. To that extern soap opera, with its multiple narratives, could be seen, in formal terms, as the most effective type of television for the cultivation of viewer interest, and certainly as a far more effective form than that of television news for this purpose. Clearly, some of Lewis's speculation here is problematic. There are counterexamples of his arguments (e.g. instances of programmes such as sports news which share the problematic formal features he points to but which are nonetheless popular – at least among certain Lewis argues not only that soap opera is more narratively interesting than television news, in formal terms, but. moreover, that the world of television fiction in general is much closer to most people's lives than that presented in the news. This, he claims, is because the world of television fiction often feels to people like their own lives. They can, for example, readily identify with the moral issues and personal dilemmas faced by the characters in a favourite soap opera. Conversely, the world of television news is much more remote in all senses; it is a socially distant world populated by another race of special or ‘elite’ persons, the world of them not 'tis\ This is also why ‘most people feel more able to evaluate TV fiction than TV news … because it seems closer to their own lives and to the world they live in … [whereas] the world of television news might almost be beamed in fromm another planet (Lewis 1991). It is as if the distant world of 'the news' is so disconnected from popular experience that it is beyond critical judgement for many viewers. Hence, however alienated they feel from it, they nonetheless lack any alternative perspective on the events it portrays. One consequence of this, Lewis argues, is that precisely, because of this distance, people who feel this kind of alienation from the 'world news' nonetheless use frameworks to understand news iterms which come from within the news themselves. This, he argues, is because in the absence of any other source of information or perspective they are forced back on using the media's own framework. Many viewers are simply unable to place the media's portrayal of events in any other critical framework (where would they get it from?). To this extent, Lewis argues. Gerbner and his colleagues (see Gerbner et al. 1986; Signorielli and Morgan 1990) may perhaps be right in thinking that the dominant perspectives and 'associative logics' offered by the media may often simply be soaked up by audiences by sheer dint of their repetition. This is not to suggest that such viewers necessarily believe, or explicitly accept, these perspectives, but simply to note that they have no other place to start from, however cynical they may be, at a general level, about not believing what you see on television', and they may thus tend, in the end. to fall back on 'what it said on TV'. In one sense, this
Questions 27—34 Complete the summary below using words from the box. Write your answers in boxes 27-34 on your answer sheet. The structure of television news. Justin Lewis says that television news does not have the 27 …………………..feature that other types of programme have. As a result, many viewers do not find it interesting and may find it 28………………………………… This is because the 29 ……………………….information comes first and after that 30 ………………………………… matters are covered, in television news, there is no 31 ………………………….. progress towards a conclusion and nothing 32 ………………………………… to find out about. in fact, he believes that television news is an example of how the 33 ……………………… process in the field of television could result in something that is 34 ……………. to what constitutes an interesting programme.
Questions 35—40 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3.; In boxes 35—40 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 35 Lewis concentrates more on the structure of programmes than on what is actually in them. 36 Lewis regrets viewers’ preference for soap operas over television news. 37 Lewis suggests that viewers sometimes find that television news contradicts their knowledge of the world. 38 Lewis believes that viewers have an inconsistent attitude towards the reliability of television news. 39 Parkin states that many working class people see themselves as exceptions to general beliefs. 40 The writer of the text believes that viewers should have a less passive attitude towards what they are told by the media. ANSWER KEY FOR IELTS READING PRACTICE TESTREADING Passage 1 Question 1
1 Answer: C Note The answer is located in the sentence beginning ‘Historians may come to discern …The writer is saying that emigration from Africa, Asia and South America in the 20″ and later centuries may be seen to be far greater than emigration from Europe to the US in the period in the past he is describing (the 19th century). Option A is incorrect because he is saying that emigration may be greater in later periods. Option B is incorrect because he does not say that he doubts the figure of 35 million. Option D is incorrect because, although he mentions that the French differed from other nationalities because they didn’t emigrate as much as the others, he doesn’t talk about what happened to different nationalities after they emigrated in the 1st paragraph. Questions 2-9
2 Answer: armies; navies Note The writer says that every great European power ‘maintained’ (kept) ‘huge armies and navies’, and that these became more expensive because of the ‘increasing cost’ that resulted from the need to have ‘up-to-date equipment’. 3 Answer: taxes Note Big armies and navies ‘implied’ (meant, resulted in) bigger and bigger (‘heavier’) taxes to finance them and many people couldn’t pay. 4 Answer: mass conscription Note Big armies and navies required lots of people to be forced by law to join them, and many people didn’t want to do that. 5 Answer: peasants Note Agricultural developments in other countries and improvements in the transport of agricultural goods meant that it became too expensive to pay peasants in Europe for agricultural work. Peasants could not ‘compete effectively in the world market’ (they were too expensive to employ in comparison with workers from other countries). 6 Answer: free trade Note Restrictions on trade were removed and free trade was introduced instead. In this context ‘arrival’ means ‘Introduction’ or ‘establishment’. 7 Answer: literacy Note One reason why newspapers became much more widely read was that a lot more people could read. Literacy was ‘rapidly spreading’ – there was a much greater amount of it and it was quickly becoming more widespread. 8 Answer: New states Note A number of major events in Europe resulted in the formation of new states and the disappearance of old ones. In this context, ‘came into being’ means ‘had been formed’. 9 Answer: new industries Note There were many changes connected with trade and one was that new industries created (‘stimulated’) ‘new wants’ – people began to want the new goods produced by the new industries. ► Questions 10-13 10 Answer: E Note 3rd paragraph: The writer says that after the Great Famine, the situation was ‘not much better’ because other famines followed and the Irish economy was weak. These problems clearly affected the people living in Ireland. 11 Answer: C Note 3rd paragraph: The writer says that people who had emigrated sent letters and money back to people in Ireland, and that these things ‘encouraged’ the people receiving them to emigrate, too. 12 Answer: G Note 4th paragraph: the writer says that there was a ‘drift’ (movement) of American people away from agriculture at the time, but that it was not big enough to supply enough American workers for factories. Because ‘times were good on the family farm’, the ‘supply of Americans’ moving off the land and going to work in factories was ‘too small to meet the demand’, and so employers needed to employ immigrants. 13 Answer: B Note 4th paragraph: the writer says that the ‘transcontinental’ railroad companies ‘badly needed settlers’ on their land because they couldn’t make profits if people were not producing crops on the land near the railroads which would then be transported on the railroads. The ‘settlers’ were therefore agricultural workers.
READING Passage 2 Questions 14-20
14 Answer: B Note 2nd paragraph: The ‘colony of bacteria’ found on the Moon had arrived on board the Surveyor probes. 15 Answer: A Note 1st and 2nd paragraph: It was amazing that the Streptococcus bacteria had survived after their journey to the moon and because of the environment on the Moon. They arrived in the Surveyor probes, but they were discovered by the Apollo craft that Captain Conrad took to the Moon. 16 Answer: D Note 8th paragraph: Beagle’s heat shield was also its ‘biological shield’. It was intended that it became so hot that no bacteria could survive on it. Therefore, bacteria on the ‘casing’ (outer structure) were not a problem. 17 Answer: E Note 8th paragraph: Mars Express was designed so that its ‘trajectory’ (the direction of its flight) could be changed during its journey ('corrected en route’) if something went wrong. 18 Answer: A Note Last paragraph: At first, moon rocks found on Apollo missions were brought back in vacuum glove boxes, and in later missions they were kept in nitrogen. 19 Answer: C Note 4th paragraph: The Galileo probe was destroyed because there was a fear that it might have bacteria on it that would be harmful to Europa, which was its destination. This action was carried out by ‘smashing it’ into Jupiter (causing it to crash into Jupiter and be broken into small pieces). 20 Answer: A Note 1st paragraph: The writer says that some people believe that Apollo’s most important discovery was rocks, but others think its most important discovery related to ‘technological spin-offs’ – advances in technology that resulted from what was discovered. Questions 21-26
21 Answer: clean room Note 6th paragraph: This was built in a building that used to be a garage where vehicles used by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) for broadcasting from outside studios were stored. 22 Answer: glass wall Note 7th paragraph: The people assembling Beagle were given information from outside the part where it was being assembled through the wall by use of microphones (mikes) and monitors (screens), or pieces of paper stuck onto the wall, and the people giving the information did not go in and out of the part where it was being assembled. 23 Answer: electronic equipment Note 7th paragraph: Bacteria on electronic equipment were killed at low temperatures by something created in a microwave because the high temperatures used on other things would have damaged the electronic equipment (it ‘can’t cope with those sorts of temperatures’). 24 Answer: gamma radiation Note 7th paragraph: Bacteria on parachutes and gas bags were destroyed by gamma radiation. They were ‘zapped with’ (treated with great force, hit hard by) gamma radiation. 25 Answer: beards/facial hair Note 6th and 7th paragraph: Beards and facial hair in general were not allowed (there was ‘a ban on’ beards and facial hair was ‘banned’), presumably because they could carry bacteria. This applied to the people going into the part where Beagle was actually being assembled. 26 Answer: fans Note 6th paragraph: In the part where Beagle was assembled, ‘an enormous set of’ (a very large number of, a lot of) fans ‘circulated and filtered’ the air (distributed it round the room and kept it pure). READING Passage 5 ► Questions 27-34
27 Answer: story-telling Note This has the same meaning as ‘narrative’ in the text. 28 Answer: confusing Note People ‘cannot understand’ television news, which means they find it confusing. 29 Answer: crucial Note The text states that ‘the main point (the headline) comes right at the beginning’. This means that the most important (crucial) information comes first. 30 Answer: secondary Note The text states that ‘less and less important things’ come next. ‘Secondary’ means ‘of less importance’. 31 Answer: step-by-step Note The text refers to fiction having something that is gradually solved’. This means that it is solved in stages, not all at once; 'step-by-step progress’ is progress involving various stages towards a final result. 32 Answer: mysterious Note The text says that ‘there is no enigma’ in television news. An enigma is something that people do not understand or find strange but are fascinated by or very interested in; ‘mysterious’ means strange and interesting. 33 Answer: creative Note The text refers to people trying to ‘design’ a television programme, which means have the ideas for and create one. The ‘creative’ process therefore refers to designing a programme. 34 Answer: contrary Note The text is saying that if people actually tried to create a programme that had all the features a programme should not have, they would design the television news; in other words, television news has all the features a programme should not have. It Is therefore completely different from what an interesting programme is like. ‘Contrary to’ means ‘completely different from’ or ‘opposite to’. ► Question 35-40 35 Answer: TRUE Note 2″‘- paragraph: The writer of the text says that there are problems with Lewis's theories; there are ‘counter-examples of his arguments’ (examples which suggest that his theories are not correct), and he concentrates too much on the ‘formal features’ of programmes rather than on the important matter of their content. 36 Answer: NOT GIVEN Note 3rd paragraph: Lewis says that people prefer soap operas to television news because their own lives have more in common with what happens in soap operas than with what they see on television news. They can ‘identify with’ people in soap operas, but television news presents them with a world that is ‘remote’ and 'distant1 and they feel ‘disconnected’ from what happens in it. However, we are not told that he thinks it is a pity that this is the case; we are not told whether or not he gives a view on whether this is a good or bad thing. 37 Answer: FALSE Note 3rd and last paragraph: According to Lewis, the television news could come ‘from another planet’ as far as many viewers are concerned. It shows them a ‘distant world’ that is ‘disconnected from’ their own experience of life. They feel ‘alienated’ from it but have no ‘alternative perspective’ to use in order to evaluate what they see. This means that they have no personal knowledge or experience that is useful to them when watching the news. The problem is not that the news differs completely from (contradicts) what they have experienced, it is that It has no relationship with what they know or have experienced. 38 Answer: TRUE Note Last paragraph: 'This is not to suggest…'.Lewis says that people talk about ‘not believing what you see on television’ and have a generally ‘cynical’ attitude to it, but that they also ‘fall back on what it said on TV’ (use or rely on because they have nothing else to use or rely on). In other words, they have an inconsistent attitude (one that changes at different times) – they say they don’t believe what they see on television news, but in fact they do believe it because they have no knowledge or experience that would enable them to know it is wrong. 39 Answer: TRUE Note Last paragraph: ‘Parkin had argued Parkin says that working-class people ‘accept propositions from the dominant ideology at an abstract level’ (in theory, they accept the beliefs that are most commonly held in their culture), but in practice, they find ways in which these beliefs do not have to apply to them in their own lives (in the ‘particular circumstances of their own situation’). They therefore regard themselves as exceptions to these general rules. 40 Answer: NOT GIVEN Note Last paragraph: In the last sentence, the writer says that people tend to disbelieve the media in general, but that on every individual matter that arises they are ‘pushed back into reliance on’ (forced to rely on) what the media are saying, because they have no way of proving that it is untrue. He is therefore saying that they are forced to be passive consumers of the media, but he does not say that they are wrong in this or that there is anything they can do about it.  | |||||||
| IELTS Writing Actual Test in Vietnam – December 2016 & Sample Essays Posted: 02 Jan 2017 08:52 PM PST IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic:Some scientists believe that studying the behaviour of 3-year-old children can predict their criminality. To what extent do you think a crime is a product of human nature or is it possible to stop children from growing up to be criminals. Sample EssayThere is a multitude of people who subscribe to the notion that by observing the behaviours of young children, we can predict their likelihood of becoming criminals in the future. However, it is believed that other external factors can also heavily influence children's development and their mannerisms in adulthood. Through various researches, scientists found that delinquents, in fact, share some personal traits in their childhood that can help foretell their criminality. Generally, these individuals were more aggressive and impulsive then their peers when they were kids. For this reasons, it is understandable why some people contend that learning about how one behaves as a child can help foresee their chance of committing crimes as an adult. Nevertheless, compared to other extrinsic elements, such as upbringing and schooling, genetic characteristics appear to be less influential on children's behaviours. It is no surprise that children who are raised in a healthy and educational environment often grow to be ethical citizens. On the contrary, most convicts have some extent of tragedy in their childhoods, such as parental divorce and family breakdown. Without their parents' guidance and sufficient attention, kids lack the ability to judge right and wrong, a skill that is vital in a moral society. For that reason, it is necessary that adults need to monitor and control youngsters' behaviours and undertake/take/implement any corrective measure when it is needed. In the light of the aforementioned discussion, there is no point arguing whether there is a nexus between one's genes and their behavioral patterns. However, it is strongly supported that when children receive good care and ethical education, it is unlikely that they will take any unlawful action in the future. Sample Essay:Today, the rising crime rate raises citizen’s concern and scientists begin to explore the reasons of criminal acts. The opinion that children in the age of three have the characteristic of becoming a criminal in the future has been put forward by some scientists. From my own perspective, criminal behavior is a product of nurture rather than nature. Parents and the media should be responsible for the crime. Parental upbringing background is one of essential parts for the breed of crime. Some parents take extremely method to combat problems no matter what problem it is. Young as the child is, their parents tend to scorn them loudly or beat them strictly if they make little mistakes, such as go back home lately, which hurts the vulnerable heart and mind of their child. As far as child’s concerned, they don’t have the capability to distinguish right from wrong, easily following the violent behavior their parents did. Apparently, the parental environment will lay groundwork for the behavioral tendency of a child in the future. Additionally, the media is the second to be blamed for criminal acts. Journalists are inclined to report something new to attract the reader’s attention, regardless of violence. Teenagers who are exposed in the media coverage which is full of bloody death incidents easily go astray because of imitation of the violent behavior. Also, individuals are curious about the new things and commit crimes unconsciously as their curiosities may easily be taken advantage of. In order to prevent the crime, parents, the media and the government should joint efforts together. Parents should afford a good environment for the growth of youngster. Proper guidance should be provided through daily activities. Further, Media press should pay more attention to the quality of their report and avoid excessive report the bloody news. When it comes to the government, the authority should advocate a harmony society with sharing and understanding among the citizens. To conclude, the willingness of parents, the media and the government to address the crime problem will put it on the right track in finding solutions. I am sure that the increasing crime rate could be curbed through people’s efforts. Sample Essay:Some scientists are of the opinion that hereditary characteristics are responsible for the person's temperament and hence future career. I disagree with this notion. I believe that genes do play a role but the primary determinant is nurture – education and bringing up. It is definitely possible to mould a child into any direction by proper bringing-up. If we adopt the mindset that if parents are criminals so will the children be then we are limiting or even damaging the individual's basic right to achieve his very best. Children can rise above the gene pool and rise to great heights. Even if a child is born to criminal parents but brought up away from that environment and provided quality education, he will not be a criminal. The debate on nature versus nurture has been raging for ages and no clear cut answer has come forward. A child prodigy can be born to ordinary parents and many intelligent parents can have ordinary children. A talented person can go unnoticed in the absence of right environment and upbringing and an ordinary person can reach great heights with proper training. So, interplay between hereditary and environmental factors must be there. It has been seen that children born to intelligent parents also are intelligent and successful. But it is also possible that such parents provide an environment which nurtures the development of their children. When we see some programmes such as 'India's Got Talent' and 'Little Champs', we notice some extremely gifted children who are born with talent and also some who have achieved great heights with great perseverance and proper coaching. To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that both nature and nurture play a part in determining the character of a person. It can also be concluded that both are inextricably linked with each other. But nurture weighs over nature and it is definitely possible to prevent children from growing up to be criminals.  | |||||||
| How to express your mixed feelings in IELTS Writing & Speaking? Posted: 02 Jan 2017 08:31 PM PST Some of us feel it easy to express how we feel or the way we think. However, every now and then we are absolutely unsure of our feelings and opinions. This post looks at the words and phrases that we use to express the fact we are uncertain, either about the way we feel or the way we think, in order that we can make use of them in IELTS Speaking and Writing to boost your IELTS score to band 7.0+1.Mixed Feelings/EmotionsWhen somebody feels both pleased and not pleased about something at the same time, we can say that they have mixed feelings about it. Example: I have mixed feelings about studying abroad – in some ways nervous, but also quite excited. 2. Ambivalent/Have Ambivalent feelings towards somethingIf you have two opposing feelings at the same time and feel uncertain about what you think, you have ambivalent feelings towards it. Example:
3. Conflicted An even stronger and slightly formal phrase to show that you are uncertain and have mixed feelings about something. Example: I still feel conflicted about my decision to moving to New Zealand, pleased that I made it but also regretful. 4. Blow hot and cold This is a great idiom to show that you are confused about how you really feel, sometimes you like someone/something, sometimes not Example: I’m blowing hot and cold about travelling alone to Australia. 5. Make of someone/something We can use this phrasal verb to express that we don't properly understand someone or something. In other words, when you can’t make of someone/something, you find it hard to have an impression/opinion/understanding about someone/something. Example: I don’t really make of her, my new colleague, although we have been working in a team for a couple of weeks. 6. Make somebody out Make somebody out has the same meaning as make of someone. It means that you can’t understand someone properly. Example: I can’t completely make him out even though we have gone through a lot of obstacles together. 7. Torn When somebody can’t reach a decision about something and this makes them feel confused and unhappy, we can say that they are torn. Example:
8. (UK) In two minds/ (US) of two minds If you are in/of two minds about doing something, you cannot decide whether to do it Example: I’m in two minds about whether to support the new policy of smoking ban in public places.
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