IELTS Reading Sample - Passage 1

In this first reading example you have:

Matching headings to paragraphs

True, False, or Not Given

Air Rage
(A) The first recorded case of an airline passenger turning seriously violent
during a flight, a phenomenon now widely known as air rage, happened in
1947 on a flight from Havana to Miami. A drunk man assaulted another
passenger and bit a flight attendant. However, the man escaped punishment
because it was not then clear under whose legal control a crime committed
on plane was, the country where the plane was registered or the country
where the crime was committed. In 1963, at the Tokyo convention, it was
decided that the laws of the country where the plane is registered take
precedence.

(B) The frequency of air rage has expanded out of proportion to the growth
of air travel. Until recently few statistic were gathered about air rage, but
those that have been indicate that passengers are increasingly likely to cause
trouble or engage in violent acts. For example, in 1998 there were 266 air
rage incidents out of approximately four million passengers, a 400%
increase from 1995. In the same period American Airlines showed a 200%
rise. Air travel is predicted to rise by 5% internationally by 2010 leading to
increased airport congestion. This, coupled with the flying publics increased
aggression, means that air rage may become a major issue in coming years.

(C) Aside from discomfort and disruption, air rage poses some very real
dangers to flying. The most extreme of these is when out of control
passengers enter the cockpit. This has actually happened on a number of
occasions, the worst of which have resulted in the death and injury of pilots
or the intruder taking control of the plane, almost resulting in crashes. In
addition, berserk passengers sometimes attempt to open the emergency
doors while in flight, putting the whole aircraft in danger. These are extreme
examples and cases of air rage more commonly result in physical assaults on
fellow passengers and crew such as throwing objects, punching, stabbing or
scalding with hot coffee.

(D) The causes of air rage are not known for certain, but it is generally
thought that factors include: passenger behavior and personality, the
physical environment and changes in society. A recent study has identified
the issues that start the incidents to be as follows.

Alcohol 25%
Seating 16%
Smoking 10%
Carry on luggage 9%
Flight attendants 8%
Food 5%

(E) One of the major causes seems to be the passengers behavior or their
personality. Fear of flying and the feeling of powerlessness associated with
flying can lead to irritable or aggressive passengers. Also, alcohol consumed
on a plane pressurized to 8000ft affects the drinker more quickly and the
effects are stronger. Many people do not take account of this and drinking
may increase any negative reaction to the flying environment they have,
which, combined with the lowering of their inhibitions, may cause air rage.
Smoking withdrawal, which some liken in severity to opiate withdrawal, is
another major cause of air rage incidents. Passengers caught smoking in the
toilets occasionally assault flight attendants and have been known to start
fires. When conflicts occur in these conditions, they can escalate into major
incidents if the passenger has a violent personality or a fear of flying and
because of the enclosed nature of a plane offers no option of retreat as would
be natural in a fight or flight reaction.

(F) Some people feel that the physical environment of a plane can lead to air
rage. Seats on most airlines have become smaller in recent years as airlines
try to increase profits. This leads to uncomfortable and irritated passengers.
Also, space for carry on luggage is often very small. Because up to 8% of
checked in luggage is lost, misdirected or stolen, passengers have been
trying to fit larger carry on items into these small storage areas and this can
lead to disputes that can escalate into air rage. Airlines could also be to
blame by raising passengers expectations too high with their marketing and
advertising. Many air rage incidents start when disappointed passengers
demand to be reseated. Finally, there is some evidence to show that low
oxygen levels can raise aggression level and make people feel more
desperate. Airlines have lowered oxygen levels to save money. Now the
level of oxygen in the air that the pilots breathe is ten times higher than in
cabin class.

(G) Another reason that has been suggested is that society is getting ruder
and less patient. The increased congestion at airports, longer queues and
 increased delays have only added to this. In addition, some air rage incidents
have been linked to the demanding nature of high achieving business people,
who do not like people telling them what to do and resent the power that the
cabin staff have over them. For them, a flight attendant is a waiter or
waitress who should do what the passenger wants.

(H) The strongest calls for action to control air rage have come from pilots
and aircrew. The International Transport Workers Federation argues that
there are too many loopholes that let people escape punishment and that the
penalties are too light. They want to notify all passengers of the penalties for
air rage before taking off, rather than after the passenger begins to cause
serious problems, when it may be too late. The Civil Aviation Organisation
has been organizing international cooperation and penalties have increased
in recent years. The most severe punishment so far has been a 51 month jail
sentence, a fine to pay for the jet fuel used and 200 hours community service
for a man who attempted to enter the cockpit and to open the emergency
door of a domestic US flight.

(I) Various other measures are being used to control air rage. Air crew are
getting training on how to calm passengers and how to predict where
incidents might result in air rage and take action to prevent this. Other
measures include, strengthening doors to stop people entering the cockpit,
training crew in the use of plastic restraints to tie down unruly passengers
and having pilots divert their planes if passengers cause problems. Banning
passengers who are guilty of air rage from flying has also been tried to a
lesser extent

IELTS Reading Sample: Questions 1 8

The IELTS reading sample passage has nine paragraphs A I.

From the list below choose the most suitable headings for B I.
Write the appropriate number (i xiv) beside in boxes 1 8 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you do not have to use them all.

List of headings

i. The travelers character.

ii. Disproportionate growth.

 iii. Pilots and aircrew.

iv. Additional action.

v. Smaller seats.

vi. Uncomfortable aeroplanes

vii. Origins.

viii. A major threat.

ix. Demands for change.

x. Business people.

xi. The roots of the problem.

xii. The pace of life.

xiii. Links to the surroundings.

xiv. Personal experience.

Example:

Paragraph A Answer: vii

1. Paragraph B

2. Paragraph C

3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E

5. Paragraph F

6. Paragraph G

7. Paragraph H

8. Paragraph I
IELTS Reading Sample: Questions 9 14

Do the following statements agree with the information in the IELTS reading sample text? Mark
them as follows.

T______if the statement agrees with the information in the text.

F______if the statement does not agree with the information in the text.
NG_____if there is no information on this in the text.

9. In the first case of air rage, the man was not punished because the plane was not
registered.

10. The statistics on air rage were collected by private monitoring groups.

11. The second most common catalyst for incidents is problems with seating.

12. The environment in a plane makes disagreements more likely to become serious
problems.

13. Airlines have been encouraging passengers to bring more items onboard as carry-on
luggage.

14. It has been impossible to ban passengers with histories of air-rage.

IELTS Reading Sample Answers:

1. Paragraph B______ii

2. Paragraph C______viii

3. Paragraph D______xiii

4. Paragraph E______xi

5. Paragraph F______vi

6. Paragraph G______i

7. Paragraph H______ix
8. Paragraph I______iv

9. In the first case of air rage, the man was not punished because the plane was not
registered.F

10. The statistics on air rage were collected by private monitoring groups. NG

11. The second most common catalyst for incidents is problems with seating. T

12. The environment in a plane makes disagreements more likely to become serious
problems.T

13. Airlines have been encouraging passengers to bring more items onboard as carry-on
luggage.NG

14. It has been impossible to ban passengers with histories of air-rage.F

 Wind Power
The power of the wind has been used for centuries to directly drive various
machines to perform such tasks as grinding wheat or pumping water.
Recently, however, the wind has joined other natural forces such as water
and steam as a viable method of generating electricity.

Traditional means of electricity generation using coal or oil-fueled plants

have two major drawbacks; they pollute the environment and the fuels they
use are inefficient and non-renewable. In response to growing environmental
awareness there have been calls for a greener alternative. Nuclear power,
while more efficient and less polluting, is seen by many people as
unacceptable, because of the danger of accidents such as those that
happened at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. Wind power, however, is
clean, renewable and, with modern advances, surprisingly efficient.

In the 1970s Britain was in the forefront of research into wind power. The
interest in wind diminished in the 1980s due to cheap North Sea oil, a strong
pro-nuclear lobby and pricing structures that made it uneconomical to set up
wind farms. Britain, the windiest country in Europe, had to wait until 1991
for its first wind farm. Located at Delabole in Cornwall, the farm was
originally the idea of locals who opposed the construction of a nuclear
power plant nearby and decided to set up a private company to generate
power for the area using the wind. They had to fight opposition from local
government and other local residents, who thought the turbines would be
noisy and might interfere with television signals, but eventually, after
showing local officials working wind farms in Denmark, they won and now
there are 10 huge white wind turbines on the Delabole hills.

It is in Germany and Denmark that the greatest advances in wind power

have come. Germany alone produces half of the wind generated electricity
in Europe. Every year Germany adds 400 Megawatts (Mw) of capacity. In
2000 alone capacity expanded by 1669 Mw. Denmark now produces 30% of
its electricity from wind power and this is predicted to rise to 50% by 2010.
Both countries have encouraged this growth by fixed feed tariffs which
guarantee a good price for private wind power operators.

The UK is catching up and the government has set a target 10% of all
electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010, half of this to be from
wind power. The 900 wind turbines in operation generate 400Mw of
electricity and to meet the target roughly 400Mw will need to be added each
year. With the advances in technology this is technically possible. Each
turbine can now produce 400 Kilowatts (KW) compared to only 70 KW at
the start of the 1980s. It will, however, need help from the government. This
 is being done by offering financial support and giving private power
companies targets to meet.

Because many people feel wind farms spoil the view and, also, because the
wind is stronger at sea, many wind farms are now being built offshore. They
are usually built a few kilometres off the coast in shallow water. The
construction and maintenance costs are higher, but electricity output is
higher. The first in Britain was built in 2000 at Blyth, north of Newcastle,
and was the largest in the world until May 2001, when a 20 turbine farm was
opened at Middelgruden off Copenhagen. There are plans to construct up to
18 more in the UK by 2010. Together they will produce 800 Mw of
electricity annually.

The use of wind power is far less advanced in the USA. Only .5% of
Americas power comes from the wind, although it is estimated that this
could be increased to as high as 12% with no changes to the power grid.
However, there is an increased interest in wind power. There are plans to
build a huge offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod on the North East
seaboard. The farm will take up over 25 square miles, have 170 turbines and
produce 420Mw at a cost of $600m. If constructed, it will be the worlds
second biggest wind farm, after the 520Mw farm planned in Ireland.

IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 1 2

Choose the best answer to the questions below.

1. People do not like coal and oil powered power production because

A. it damages the environment.

B. it is wasteful..

C. eventually it will run out.

D. all of the above.

2. Wind power

A. has only been used recently.

B. promotes environmental awareness.

C. cleans the environment.

 D. is not wasteful.

IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 3 7

Complete the following summary of the third paragraph from the IELTS sample reading using
ONE OR TWO WORDS from the reading texts.

British Wind Power.

While there was a great deal of interest in wind power in the 1970s, it (3) _______________ in
the 1980s. This was mainly due to intense support for (4) _______________ power and little
help in making wind power affordable. So, even though Britain has some of the best winds in
Europe, the first wind farm was only built in 1991. The farm at Delabole came out of opposition
by (5) _______________ to a nuclear power plant. Initially, they were opposed by local officials
due to fears about noise and possible obstruction to (6) ________________ . This opposition was
eventually overcome only after they were shown successful examples from (7)
_______________.

IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 8 13

Match the country or countries below to the statements taken from the IELTS sample reading.

BR______ Britain
G______ Germany
D______ Denmark
US______ The United States
IRE______ Ireland
N______ None of the countries

8. Plans to produce 5% of its power using wind power.

9. Produces 50% of its power from wind.

10. Produces very little of its power using wind.

11. Will have the worlds largest wind farm.

12. Has ambitious plans in developing its wind power capacity.

13. Was the leader in the early development of wind power.

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IELTS Sample Reading Answers:

1. D

2. D

3. diminished

4. nuclear

5. locals

6. television signals

7. Danish Farm / Denmark

8. BR

9. N

10. US

11. IRE

12. D

13. B

IELTS Reading Example 3

This IELTS reading example focuses on the following IELTS reading question types:

Multiple Choice

Sentence Completion

Cause and Effect table completion

 The Container Trade

The shipping container is one of the mainstays of international trade. The

globalised modern economy depends on the rapid and efficient movement of
goods that containerisation allows. In many ways it was the advent of the
container that allowed this globalised economy to develop.

Invented during World War two as an efficient method of moving equipment

to the front lines, there are now at any one time up to 15 million containers
being used to transport goods on land and sea or waiting to be filled at
factories and ports. They are vital in the supply chain and have allowed the
added efficiency of just in time inventory management, where companies
no longer keep large warehouses of stock or parts, but rely on the ability to
quickly order what they want from their suppliers. It is estimated that since
the 1980s the ratio of inventory to GDP in American business has fallen from
25% to 15%. Altogether total business inventory in the US is estimated at $1.5
trillion, without just in time management methods this might be as much as
$2.5 trillion. This means that companies rely more and more on the prompt
delivery of parts from their suppliers to fulfill orders. This is particularly true
of industries such as computer manufacture, which no longer make all the
parts of the products that bear their names, but instead out source, often to
suppliers half way around the world. American computer manufacturers are,
for example, increasingly dependent on Asian microchip manufacturers in
countries such as Taiwan and Thailand. An example of the kind of problems
any disruption to the supply chain causes came after the September 11 attacks
in the US. When the Canadian border was shut for just two days causing
chaos in the Detroit car industry, which relies on a regular flow of parts from
Canada.

There are three main flows of sea borne cargo: trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic
and Europe-Far East. The trans-Pacific route is by far the largest flow. At 11
million TEU ( twenty foot equivalent units the standard measures of
container volume, even though most containers are now 40 foot, 13 metres,
long) a year. It is almost twice the volume of Europe-Far East trade and three
times the size of trans-Atlantic traffic. During the 1990s, during Americas
boom years, the trade grew enormously and this led to more and larger ships
being built. The container fleet grew by 12% in 2001. Until then, a container
ship commonly carried 600 TEU, during the 1990s ships were being build that
could carry up to 8000 TEU. However after the 1990s there was a dramatic
fall off in trade. Trans-Pacific trade, for example, fell to 50% of its 1990s
high.

This down turn is being handled by the shipping alliances which manage the
global trade. These large organizations are responsible for maintaining the
fleets and seeing that the flow of goods is uninterrupted. This is a job that
governments feel that the regular and reliable flow of trade is so important
that in many cases the shipping alliances are exempt from anti-trust and
monopoly laws. Their response has been to cut services, rest some of the older
ships and share the burden amongst themselves.

At first, containers reduced theft as it was more difficult for casual thieves to
get into the containers. However, criminal gangs soon saw the potential for
taking whole containers. This became a profitable crime as the average value
of a container grew to $500,000 by the 1980s. Criminals also benefited from
the convenience of containers when using them to transport drugs, illegal
immigrants or other illegal goods. Measures to combat this, including stronger
locks and preference schemes for shippers who have anti-theft programmes,
have had some success, but crime is a constant menace to the container trade.

Increasingly, the huge number of containers and their self-contained and

enclosed nature has been raising worries about their possible use by terrorists.
In fact, possible terrorists have already been found hiding in containers. This
is particularly worrying considering that only 2% of containers are inspected.
Containers are also extremely difficult to track and monitor. This is because
they pass through so many countries and jurisdictions and because they can
travel on both land and sea. Each transaction involving a container can
involve as many as 25 different parties and generate between 30 and 40
documents. For a ship carrying 600 TEU this would result in approximately
4000 documents. The sheer scale of the information involved makes tracking
containers a daunting task. Screening them to determine the contents is
another solution that would take a great deal of effort because of the large
numbers of containers. Additionally, it might cause delays in delivery that
would disrupt international trade and industry out of proportion to the good
the searches do.

For the foreseeable future, there would seem to be no alternative to containers

and their use is bound to grow. They are one of the cornerstones of global
trade, but many yet cause problems their inventors never envisaged.

840wds

IELTS Reading Example: Questions 1 6

Choose the best TWO alternatives to complete the sentences.

Questions 1 and 2

Circle TWO letters A E.

The invention of containers

A resulted from the efficient movement of goods.

B led to more global trade.
C was initially for military purposes.
D came just in time for many managers.
E relied on the ability to receive orders quickly.

Questions 3 and 4

Circle TWO letters A E.

Containers are important because they

A prevent the need for companies to hold large amounts of stock.

B increase the amount of business inventory.
C make trade between countries on different sides of the world easier.
D regularly supply manufactures in Canada.
E reduce the amount of out sourcing needed by companies.

Questions 5 and 6

Circle TWO letters A E.

The Trans-Pacific trade route

A has more than double the amount of trade than that of the Europe-Far East trade route.
B had its container fleet increase by 12%.
C sparked the boom years of the 1990s.
D transports 11 million containers a year.
E has witnessed a substantial decrease in container trade.

IELTS Reading Example: Questions 7 10

Complete the table below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

 CAUSE EFFECT

shipping alliances(7) old ships

a sharp fall in container trade

originally difficult to get into containers

(8)

vast numbers of containers and they are Might cause (9)

relatively secure

Containers must pass through many countries Containers are (10)

and involve a vast amount of paperwork.

IELTS Reading Example: Questions 11 12

Complete the sentences below using words taken from the reading passage.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS fore each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 11 12 on your answer sheet.

11. It is not economically viable to conduct searches on a large amount of containers as it

would.

12. The inventors must never have imagined that containers would ..
 _________________________________________________

IELTS Reading Example - ANSWERS

1. B - led to more global trade.

The globalised modern economy depends on the rapid and efficient movement of goods that
containerisation allows. In many ways it was the advent of the container that allowed this
globalised economy to develop.

2. C - was initially for military purposes.

Invented during World War two as an efficient method of moving equipment to the front lines

"front lines" = a military line formed by the most advanced tactical combat units

3. A - prevent the need for companies to hold large amounts of stock.

companies no longer keep large warehouses of stock or parts

4. E - make trade between countries on different sides of the world easier.

This means that companies rely more and more on the prompt delivery of parts from their
suppliers to fulfill orders. This is particularly true of industries such as computer manufacture,
which no longer make all the parts of the products that bear their names, but instead out
source, often to suppliers half way around the world.

5. B - had its container fleet increase by 12%.

The container fleet grew by 12% in 2001.

6. E - has witnessed a substantial decrease in container trade.

However after the 1990s there was a dramatic fall off in trade. Trans-Pacific trade, for example,
fell to 50% of its 1990s high.

7. rest some

Their response has been to cut services, rest some of the older ships and share the burden
amongst themselves.

8. reduced theft
At first, containers reduced theft as it was more difficult for casual thieves to get into the
containers.

9. use by terrorists

Increasingly, the huge number of containers and their self-contained and

enclosed nature has been raising worries about their possible use by terrorists.

10. difficult to track

Containers are also extremely difficult to track and monitor. This is because they pass through
so many countries and jurisdictions and because they can travel on both land and sea.

11. disrupt international trade

Additionally, it might cause delays in delivery that would disrupt international trade and
industry out of proportion to the good the searches do.

12. cause problems

They are one of the cornerstones of global trade, but many yet cause problems their inventors
never envisaged.