LISTENING TEST 9

This is the first section of IELTS Listening

test #9. The Listening module consists of 9
sections and takes 40 minutes. Listen to the
audio and answer the questions. As you finish,
press 'check' and proceed to the next section.

SECTION 1. QUESTIONS 1-10

Complete the form below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO

WORDS for each answer.

This is the second section of IELTS Listening test. Listen

to the audio and complete all the questions. After you
finish, press 'check' and move on to the next section.  

Questions 11-15

Lable the map below.

Writethe correct letter, A-E, next to

questions 11-15.

 
 SECTION 3. QUESTIONS 21-30
 
Questions 21-23
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
21. The proposal will

1.  be reviewed by two examiners.

2.  be added to the final grade.
3.  be returned with feedback.

Questions 16-20  
What is the improvement of each main point 22. The proposal will consist mostly of
of interest in the area?
1.  topics.
Choose FIVE answers from the box and write 2.  methods.
the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 16- 3.  results.
20.
 
22. For the practice paper, the tutor has
directed the students to make sure to

1.  pay attention to time limits.

2.  write at least 6,000 words.
3.  keep on topic.

 
Questions 24-30
Complete the sentences below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A
NUMBER for each answer.

This is the last section of IELTS Listening

practice test #9. Listen to the audio and
answer the questions. After you finish, click
'check' and 'get result!' to see your score for
the whole test.
SECTION 4. QUESTIONS 31-40
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for
each answer.

LISTENONG TEST 8
This is section 1 of IELTS Listening
practice test #8. The Listening test consists of
4 sections and lasts 40 minutes. After you
finish the first section, click 'check' and move
on to the next section.
 SECTION 1. QUESTIONS 1-10
A Japanese girl and a housing officer are
talking about her homestay family.
QUESTIONS 1-5g
The housing officer takes some details from
the girl. Complete the following form
with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Question 6
Mark TWO letter that represent the correct
answer.
6. Whick kind of family does the girls prefer?
 A A big family with many young children
 В A family without smoker or drinkers
 С A family without any pets
 D A family with many animals or pets
Question 7-10
Fill in the blanks with NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS for each answer.
Listen to the audio and answer the questions.  
After you finish, click 'check' and move on to
the next section.

SECTION 2. QUESTIONS 11-20

You will hear a talk by a tour guide about

travel to Enzia.

Complete the notes by filling in the blanks

with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
AND/OR NUMBER for each answer.
Listen to the audio and answer the questions.
After you finish, click 'check' and move on to
the next section.

Questions 25-27

Fill in the blanks with ONE WORD

SECTION 3. QUESTIONS 21-30 AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
You will hear a discussion about shopping
habits.

Questions 21-24

Complete the sentences below. Write NO

MORE THAN THREE WORDS
AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
  

Questions 31-40

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

Questions 28-30
31. What does the lecturer provide for those
Mark THREE letter that represent the correct who are interested in doing extra reading?
answer.
A. Personal consultation sessions.
Most of the people being interviewed think B.  Extra materials, such as a booklist.
that _________ is/are most difficult to buy. C.  Mid-term examination.
D.  Free glasses.
 A Books
 
 В Study materials
32. In the past, time management meant you
 С Foods needed to
 D Trousers A.  reduce your stress.
B.  plan for every hour of the week.
 E Shoes C.  own a good watch.
D.  set goals and try to achieve these
 F Sportswear goals.

33. Today, wise time management means you

need to

A.  set goals and work in a systematic

This is the last section of IELTS Listening
practice test #8. Listen to the audio and answer the
questions. After you finish, click 'check' and 'get
result!' to see your score for the whole Listening
test.
way.
B.  work faster.
C.  set an overview of your assignment.
D.  make a list, plan for everything and try
to stick to this plan.
 
34. In this college, students are assigned
____________ at the end of each semester.

A.  team projects.
B.  final term examinations.
  C.  essays.
D.  time management courses.
SECTION 4. QUESTIONS 31-40

35. One sign he lecturer mentions that
students feel under pressure is
A.  library books go missing.
B.  students get angry for no reason.
C.  lower class attendance rates.
D.  trouble at the library.
36. What kind of suggestion does the lecturer
give to the students?
A.  Making a very detailed plan of their
daily activities.
B.  Not being so stressed just because
there is an assignment.
C.  A regular one-hour session in their
personal timetables.
D.  Wearing comfortable shoes.
37. According to the lecturer, there are three
kinds of planners. They are:
A.  one weekly planner, one daily planner
and one hour planner.
B.  one yearly planner, one weekly
planner and one daily planner.
C.  one term planner, one monthly planner
and one weekly planner.
D.  one term planner, one weekly and one
daily planner.
38. If you want to set an overview of your
time, you should need at least
A.  one week.
B.  half a week.
C.  one month.
D.  one term.
39. The daily planner of time is mainly
concerned with
A.  the detailed planning.
B.  how to plan all available time.
C.  TV schedules.
D.  an overview of everything you need to
do for several days.
40. According to the lecturer, wise time
management may have the following benefit:
A.  having more time to spend on
relaxation and other activities.
B.  improving your performance in the
final term assignment.
C.  helping you write better essays.
D.  improving your memory.
READING practice # 10
This is IELTS Academic Reading practice test
#10. On this page you can find Reading passage
1 - complete it, click "check" and proceed to the
next section. After you complete all 3 sections,
you will get your IELTS-scaled score and see
your mistakes.
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.
Phi Phi Island Resort
The “Phi Phi Island Resort” is located in Phi
Phi Leh island in Thailand, between the
large island of Phuket and the west Strait of
Malacca coast of the mainland. Phi Phi
consists of six small islands 46km south of
Phuket. Fine sandy beaches give way to
soaring limestone cliffs to form spectacular
scenery. Add crystal clear water, a
refreshing lack of roads, plus a laid-back
lifestyle, and it's easy to see why Phi Phi is
one of southern Thailand's most popular
destinations.
The islands are administratively part of
Krabi province. Ko Phi Phi is the largest
island of the group, and is the most
populated island of the group, although the
beaches of the second largest island, Ko
Phi Phi Leh are visited by many people as
well. The rest of the islands in the group,
including Bida Nok, Bida Noi, and Bamboo
Island are not much more than large
limestone rocks jutting out of the sea. The
Islands are reachable by speedboats or
Long-tail boats most often from Krabi Town
or from various piers in Phuket Province.
The islands came to worldwide prominence
when Ko Phi Phi was used as a location for
the 2000 British-American film The Beach.
This attracted criticism, with claims that the
film company had damaged the island's
environment, since the producers bulldozed
beach areas and planted palm trees to
make it resemble description in the book,
an accusation the film's makers contest. An
increase in tourism was attributed to the
film's release, which resulted in increases
in waste on the Islands, and more
developments in and around the Phi Phi
Don Village.
Unlike its larger brother Ko Phi Phi, Phi Phi
Leh is a virgin island - it is almost
untouched by human civilization.
Surrounded by sheer limestone walls
dotted with caves and passages the
island's shallow blue-green lagoons and
coral gardens are a snorkeler’s paradise.
The island also has two magnificent
beaches, Loh Samah and Maya Bay.
The climate on Phi Phi Leh island is
influenced by tropical monsoon winds.
There are two seasons: the rainy season
from May till December and the hot season
from January till April. Average temperature
ranges between 17–37 degrees Celsius.
Average rainfall per year is about 2,231
millimetres, wettest in July and driest in
February.
The “Phi Phi Island Resort” is an eco-
friendly hotel that aims at providing
excellent service without hurting the local
environment. This dreamy lodging in
Thailand is as environmentally friendly as it
gets. The building itself is built with natural
materials, such as local stone and wood.
Moreover, all utilities (such as cutlery,
hygiene items, towels, kitchen utensils) are
made of bio-degradable materials.
The pool is created in the local stone
quarry, so that the harmony of local
landscape was not infringed. Since the
water in the pool is replete with natural
salts and minerals, there is no need in
further disinfection with chlorinated
compounds and the pool is absolutely
chemical-free.
The hotel provides soaps, gels and creams,
which are all natural and organic. Waste is
recycled to the garden via a bio-cycle
septic system, and “Phi Phi Island Resort”
uses hydro-electricity from a Pelton wheel
and solar power.
The restaurant values locally sourced
products. That’s why only locally grown
vegetables and fruits along with natural sea
products are served. The resort ensures
that fishing and croppage don’t contravene
the local equilibrium of the island.
Diving and snorkeling at Phi Phi Leh Island
are excellent. Many dive companies offer
all-inclusive trips only in this location. And
other little secluded islands are accessible
from “Phi Phi Island Resort” by long-tail
boats. Visitors can take advantage of the
free bike rentals, free shuttle service in an
electric vehicle and even green spa, with all
organic products.
On the other hand, this beautiful resort
combines the seclusion much sought after
in Thailand with refinement of a 4.5 star
resort. Privacy is certain on 70 tranquil
acres of swaying coconut palms, fragrant
gardens, and a half-mile of sparkling shore
overlooking the crystal Andaman Sea.
Spacious and secluded bungalows conform
comfortably to the natural surroundings,
welcoming stunning coastal vistas and cool
sea breezes. Stylish furnishings, gracious
hospitality and a private 800 metres stretch
of pristine white sand beach lapped by the
turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea
create an idyllic setting for a green and
calm holiday.
Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the
information in the IELTS reading text?
In boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the
information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the
information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. Phi Phi is located 46km south of Phuket.         READING PASSAGE 2
TRUE                     FALSE                     NOT
GIVEN                 
2. Ko Phi Phi is the largest, though not the most
populated island of the group.                    
TRUE                     FALSE                     NOT
GIVEN                 
3. Islands gained their popularity after Ko Phi Phi
was used for a famous film.                      TRUE 
FALSE                     NOT GIVEN                 
4. The increase in tourism had a negative effect
on the Ko Phi Phi island.                      TRUE       
FALSE                     NOT GIVEN                 
5. Unlike its larger brother Phi Phi Leh, Ko Phi
Phi is a virgin island.                      TRUE             
FALSE                     NOT GIVEN                 
6. There are two seasons on the Phi Phi Leh
island: rainy and hot.                      TRUE             
FALSE                     NOT GIVEN                 
7. July is the hottest month on the Phi Phi Leh.  
TRUE                     FALSE                     NOT
GIVEN                 
8. The “Phi Phi Island Resort” is very
environmentally friendly.                      TRUE       
FALSE                     NOT GIVEN                 
Questions 9-13
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your
answer sheet.
You should spend about 20 minutes soft here as it is in the Bahamas, so if
on Questions 14-25, which are based on dolphins want to probe for these fish, they
Reading Passage 2 below. risk injuring their rostra.

(C) Not every dolphin in Shark Bay hunts

Sponging dolphins with sponges. "It's primarily done by
females," says Janet Mann, a behavioral
  (A) In 1984, researchers spotted
ecologist. She believes the female dolphins
dolphins doing something unusual in Shark
invented the method because of the
Bay, Western Australia. When the animals
"selective pressures they face while raising
got hungry, they ripped a marine basket
a calf as long as they do," about 4 to 5
sponge from the sea floor and fitted it over
years. "These clever dolphins have figured
their beaks like a person would fit a glove
out a way to target fish that other dolphins
over a hand. The scientists suspected that
cannot," she says, adding that even the
as the dolphins foraged for fish, the
local fishermen do not catch, or even know
sponges protected their beaks, or rostra,
about, this particular species. Mann's
from the rocks and broken chunks of coral
previous research has shown that dolphin
that litter the sea floor, making this behavior
mothers pass the sponging method to their
the first example of tool use in this species.
daughters and some of their sons, rare
evidence of a cultural tradition in an animal
other than humans. The team has
(B) The researchers surmised that a long
documented three generations of sponging
time ago one ingenious Shark Bay dolphin
dolphins.
figured out that by prodding the sediments
with a sponge attached to her beak, she
could stir up these swim bladder-less fish
(D) The foraging technique came to light a
without being hurt. Eventually, such
few decades ago - very recently in
technique became popular among other
evolutionary terms - when a local fisherman
dolphins. But why do dolphins go to all of
spotted what looked like a strange tumour
this trouble when they could simply snag a
on a dolphin’s nose. Researchers
fish from the open sea? The answer is that
eventually worked out that the ‘tumour’ was
the bottom-dwelling fish are a lot more
a conically shaped sponge and it became
nutritious. Some species also don't have
apparent that the dolphins would spend
swim bladders, gas chambers that help
considerable time searching for one the
other fish control their buoyancy as they
right shape to fit their nose. The sponge is
travel up and down the water column. In
used to scatter the sand gently on the sea
the Bahamas, where dolphins are also
floor and disturb buried fish. When a fish is
known to forage for bottom-dwelling fish,
spotted, the dolphin drops the sponge and
dolphins hunt partly by echolocating these
gives chase. "It has been thought that
bladders, which give off a strong acoustic
behaviours which are exclusively learnt
signal. That helps the cetaceans find prey
from one parent are not very stable. With
even when it's buried in sea sand. But
our model we could now show that
bottom-dwelling fish, such as barred
sponging can be a stable behaviour," said
sandperch, which are favored by some
Dr Anna Kopps, a biologist at the University
Shark Bay dolphins, don't have swim
of New South Wales.
bladders and so are harder to find with
echolocation. The sea floor is not nearly as

(E) By modelling the emergence of
"sponger" dolphins in a computer
simulation, the team of researchers could
see different scenarios in which the skill
could have spread among the dolphin
population over the years. They then
compared the results of these simulations
with field data on the genetic relationship
between the spongers, to estimate the role
of mothers teaching their offspring in
transmitting the skill. They found that if the
likelihood of a sponger's offspring learning
the ability was less than certain, the
dolphins that did pick up the technique
needed to gain a survival advantage from
the skill, in order for the ability to pass on to
the next generation. The model also
allowed them to attempt to calculate the
date that the behaviour was likely to have
originated."The results suggested that
sponging was innovated at least 120 to 180
years ago - it is only a best estimate," said
Dr Kopps. Scientists discovered that
although dolphins tried to teach the hunting
technique to all their young, it was mainly
female offspring that grasped the concept.
Why male offspring rarely acquire the same
skill remains unclear, though the team put
forward one possible explanation: male
bottlenose dolphins tend to form close
bonds with other males, and such alliances
aren't suited to seabed foraging, since it is
a time-consuming, solitary activity.
(F) The US scientists say discovering a
new tool is a direct sign of intelligence.
“There’s a strong link between animals with
larger brains and tool users. Bottlenose
dolphins have a brain second in size only to
humans.” said Janet Mann, a marine
biologist who led the research. “Dolphins
are already good at catching fish so they
don’t need tools, but they’ve discovered
this sponge makes their job easier.
Working out how to use tools in a creative
way like that is a hallmark of intelligence.”
Mann admits we still do not understand
dolphins well. “It’s hard to get inside their
heads because their brains are constructed
differently and it’s very hard to analyse their
languageTranslate, but they do seem very
intelligent,” she said.
(G) Dolphins are also often seen engaging
in playful behaviour and creating tools to
use for entertainment. They have been
observed to blow bubbles which they form
into rings to play with. After creating the
bubble ring, a dolphin will use its nose and
body to maintain the shape of the bubble
and keep it from floating to the surface. The
study provides a "better understanding of
the why and how of sponging" by the Shark
Bay dolphins, says Louis Herman, a
cognitive psychologist. The work "adds to
previously documented" examples of
"innovation by this highly intelligent
species." Patterson's and Mann's results
also "reinforce a pattern" often seen in
other tool-using animals, says Simon
Reader, a behavioral biologist. "Tool use
appears to be almost a last option, taken
when other options fail or are unavailable,"
he says, noting that woodpecker finches in
the Galápagos Islands "turn to tool use only
in arid areas," wielding cactus spines to
extract grubs from tree branches. Using
tools takes time and energy, Reader says,
and animals tend to rely on them only when
there's a guaranteed payoff, such as
turning up a fatty fish that most other
dolphins (and fishermen) know nothing
about.
 
Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following
information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-20 on
your answer sheet.
Questions 21-25
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 21-25 on your
answer sheet.
21. Dolphins use sponges for hunting fish
because:
A.  they like it.
B.  it helps them get fish from the bottom of
the ocean.
C.  it makes hunting easier.
D.  it helps them to get more fish during the
hunt.
22. All the following statements about dolphins
are true, EXCEPT:
A.  Females discovered the method of
hunting with sponges.
B.  The sponging method is passed by
female dolphins to their daughters.
C.  Male dolphins never use the sponging
technique.
D.  Three generations of sponging dolphins
have been documented.
23. Biologist Dr. Anna says that
A.  sponging is very dangerous for dolphins.
B.  dolphins do not inherit sponging method
from their parents.
C.  she has benn studying dolphins for a few
decades now.
D.  sponging can be a stable behaviour.
24. With the computer simulation that modeled
sponging, researchers
A.  managed to find out approximately when
sponging was originated.
B.  were able to predict the behaviour of
dolphins.
C.  found out the true reason of sponging.
 D.  discovered a new way treating dolphins
25. Accroding to Janet Mann
A.  bottlenose dolphins have brain as big as
humans have.
B.  we can understand dolphins well now.
C.  dolphins are very intellegent.
D.  all of the above.
E. You're on the page with the final
section of Online IELTS Reading test
#10. Complete this section and you will
see your result for the full IELTS Reading
test.
F. READING PASSAGE 3
G. You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 26-40, which are based on
Reading Passage 3 below.
H. Toddlers Bond With Robot
I. (A) Will the robot revolution begin in
nursery school? Researchers
introduced a state-of-the-art social
robot into a classroom of 18- to 24-
month-olds for five months as a way
of studying human-robot interactions.
The children not only came to accept
the robot, but treated it as they would
a human buddy - hugging it and
helping it - a new study says. "The
results imply that current robot
technology is surprisingly close to
achieving autonomous bonding and
socialization with human toddlers,"
said Fumihide Tanaka, a researcher
at the University of California, San
Diego
J.
(B) The development of robots that
interact socially with people has been
difficult to achieve, experts say,
partly because such interactions are
hard to study. "To my knowledge,
this is the first long-term study of this
sort," said Ronald Arkin, a roboticist
at the Georgia Institute of
Technology, who was not involved
with the study. "It is groundbreaking
and helps to forward human-robot
interaction studies significantly," he
said.
K.
(C) The most successful robots so far
have been storytellers, but they have
only been able to hold human
interest for a limited time. For the
new study, researchers introduced a
toddler-size humanoid robot into a
classroom at a UCSD childhood
education center. Initially the
researchers wanted to use a 22-inch-
tall model, but later they decided to
use another robot of the QRIO
series, the 23-inch-tall (58-
centimeter-tall) machine was
originally developed by Sony.
Children of toddler age were chosen
because they have no preconceived
notions of robots, said Tanaka, the
lead researcher, who also works for
Sony. The researchers sent
instructions about every two minutes
to the robot to do things like giggle,
dance, sit down, or walk in a certain
direction. The 45 sessions were
videotaped, and interactions between
toddlers and the robot were later
analyzed.
L.
(D) The results showed that the
quality of those interactions improved
steadily over 27 sessions. The tots
began to increasingly interact with
the robot and treat it more like a peer
than an object during the first 11
sessions. The level of social activity
increased dramatically when
 researchers added a new behavior to
QRIO's repertoire: If a child touched
the humanoid on its head, it would
make a giggling noise. The
interactions deteriorated quickly over
the next 15 sessions, when the robot
was reprogrammed to behave in a
more limited, predictable manner.
Finally, the human-robot relations
improved in the last three sessions,
after the robot had been
reprogrammed to display its full
range of behaviors. "Initially the
children treated the robot very
differently than the way they treated
each other," Tanaka said. "But by the
end they treated the robot as a peer
rather than a toy."
M.
(E) Early in the study some children
cried when QRIO fell. But a month
into the study, the toddlers helped
QRIO stand up by pushing its back
or pulling its hands. “The most
important aspect of interaction was
touch”, Tanaka said. “At first the
toddlers would touch the robot on its
face, but later on they would touch
only on its hands and arms, like they
would with other humans”. Another
robotlike toy named Robby, which
resembled QRIO but did not move,
was used as a control toy in the
study. While hugging of QRIO
increased, hugging of Robby
decreased throughout the study.
Furthermore, when QRIO laid down
on the floor as its batteries ran down,
a toddler would put a blanket over his
silver-colored "friend" and say "night-
night."
N.
(F) "Our work suggests that touch
integrated on the time-scale of a few
minutes is a surprisingly effective
index of social connectedness,"
Tanaka says. "Something akin to this
index may be used by the human
brain to evaluate its own sense of
social well-being." He adds that
social robots like QRIO could greatly
enrich classrooms and assist
teachers in early learning programs.
Hiroshi Ishiguro - robotics expert at
Osaka University in Japan - says, "I
think this study has clearly reported
the possibilities of small, almost
autonomous humanoid robots for
toddlers. Nowadays robots can
perform a variety of functions that
were thought to be incident to people
only - in short time we’ll have
electronic baby-sitters and peer-
robots in every kindergarten," said
Ishiguro, who was not involved with
the study but has collaborated with
its authors on other projects.
O.
(G) Now this study has taken a new
direction - the researchers are now
developing autonomous robots for
the toddler classroom. "I cannot
avoid underlining how great potential
it could have in educational settings
assisting teachers and enriching the
classroom environment," Tanaka
said. However, some scientists don’t
share his opinion.
P.
(H) Arkin, the Georgia Tech
roboticist, said he was not surprised
by the affection showed by the
toddlers toward the robot. "Humans
have a tremendous propensity to
bond with artifacts with any or all
sort, whether it be a car, a doll, or a
robot," he said. But he also cautioned
that researchers don't yet understand
the consequences of increased
human-robot interaction. "Just
studying how robots and humans
work together can give us insight into
 whether this is a good thing or a bad
thing for society," Akrin said. "What
are the consequences of introducing
a robot artifact into a cadre of
children? How will that enhance, or
potentially interfere with, their social
development? It might make life
easier for the teacher, but we really
don't understand the long-term
impact of having a robot as a
childhood friend, do we?"

Q.  

R. Questions 26-32

S. Reading Passage 3 has eight

paragraphs, A-H.

T. Which paragraph contains the following

information? Questions 38-40

U. Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 26- Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
32 on your answer sheet. You may use
any letter more than once. Write the correct letter in boxes 38-40 on your
answer sheet.

38. For the study, researchers introduced a

toddler-size humanoid robot that was
A.  58-inch-tall
B.  22-inch-tall
C.  23-inch-tall
D.  45-inch-tall

39. The researchers sent instructions to the

robot to perform different actions EXCEPT
A.  laugh
B.  dance
C.  sit down
D.  crawl

40. The toddlers began to increasingly

interact with the robot during
 A.  the first 11 sessions
B.  the next 15 sessions
C.  the first 27 sessions
D.  the last 15 sessions
READING PRACTOCE TEST # 9
This is IELTS Academic Reading practice test
#9. It contains 3 sections. Now you're on the
page with section 1. Read the text, answer all the
questions and click "check" to see your mistakes.
After that, you can proceed to the next section.
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.
We French do love to demonstrate
(A) Josiane Bertrand has a small family
business - a neighbourhood charcuterie
selling sausage, poached pigs' trotters,
pate and jellied pig snouts. Her ham, she
says, is the best in Paris and her queue of
customers is long. Despite the ceaseless
rain outside - among all its other woes,
France is now flooding - it's a convivial
crowd waiting to be served, and the
animated conversation is all about strikes.
(B) If the opinion pages of Le Monde are to
be believed, the charcuterie queue is a
pretty accurate reflection of the mood of the
country. Split, roughly half and half,
between those for the Work Bill and those
against. Philippe's 28. He's landed what
most French would regard as a dream job.
He's a fonctionnaire working in local
government. A fonctionnaire is an
employee of the French state in almost any
form of public administration and service.
It's a job for life - with solid pay and
conditions, fixed working hours, a good
pension, generous holidays. So, what many
young French people aspire to is not to
change the world - explore, create, set-up
alone - but, with self-employment difficult
and taxes punitive, they dream of becoming
steadily employed bureaucrats.
(C) Philippe knows he's lucky. And he's
against any change. "I'm happy," he says.
"I know exactly where I am and where I'll
be in 40 years' time, with a good pension."
Eleonore, who has four children, two of
them dancing around the shop as they wait,
is in her early 40s. As a secondary school
teacher she has also got a job for life and
generous state benefits. But, unlike
Philippe, she's all for change. "It can't go on
like this. For every person like me, there
are 20 or more with no hope at all," she
says.
(D) A quarter of all French people under 25,
many of them well-qualified, have no work.
A large number of those are from immigrant
families, making their chances of
employment even slimmer. These are the
kind of people who voted Francois
Hollande into the presidency in 2012, with
his pledge to end the country's employment
troubles.
(E) Now he's made a new promise, putting
his own political career on the line - he's not
running for re-election next spring unless
he cuts unemployment. A bold move for a
president with an approval rating of only
14% in a country riven by industrial
disputes. Along with his prime minister,
Manuel Valls, and Pierre Gattaz - known as
the "boss of bosses", president of Medef,
the largest federation of employers in
France - Hollande stands against the
combined power of the country's two
biggest unions.
(F) The proposed Work Bill runs to over
500 pages. It aims to simplify and liberalise
the French Work Code which, at 3,689
pages, is a vast labyrinth beset with perils
for employers. The unions won't even
consider negotiations until the bill is
removed from parliament. The president
and his allies refuse to change a word of it.
"It's a good law, good for France," says
Hollande. The result? Total stalemate. An
ongoing siege. Just after one o'clock on the
glassed-in terrace of a popular restaurant
on the Boulevard Montparnasse, and
everything begins to go quiet. The traffic
disappears from the street. Cordons of riot
police move in, three columns deep,
flanked by armoured vans. There's a whirr
of helicopters overhead.
round end?" And self-deprecating
comments such as, "We French do love to
demonstrate…"
(H) Then it all subsides, passes on, the
noise, the marchers, the red balloons and
pounding music, leaving a trailing wake of
litter. Frederique unlocks the doors. The
conversation leaves the political, returns to
the personal. Similar reforms have already
been implemented in Italy and Spain.
Germany did so long ago - its
unemployment, at 5%, is less than half that
of France, which according to some
commentators here now stands alone as
the last bastion of 20th Century-style
socialism in Europe.
Questions 1-8
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Which paragraph contains what information?
Choose the headings and write the correct
letter, A-H, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

(G) In the distance, a gathering roar and

blare - the protesters. The noise becomes
deafening. The riot police take up positions.
Frederique, the waiter, temporarily locks
the doors - and those having lunch find
themselves exhibits in a kind of
transparent, gastronomic showcase along
with various grilled fish, bottles of wine and
assorted desserts. Looking in from the
outside, hundreds of protesters passing
down the boulevard, some marching,
others ambling, a few dancing to music
booming from the accompanying floats.
Looking out from the inside, the lunchers.
The lunchers comment on the
demonstrators, the demonstrators wave
cheerily at the lunchers. There's general
resigned, amused talk amid the eating -
"Here we go again," and "Where will this
Questions 9-13

Do the following statements agree with the

information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the

information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the

information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9. Most french would say that Philippe has a very

good job.            TRUE           FALSE           NOT
GIVEN         

10. Eleonore and Philippe have same views on

the situation.            TRUE           FALSE         
NOT GIVEN         

11. 25% of all people in France have no job.       

TRUE           FALSE           NOT GIVEN         

12. Francois Hollande might not run for re-

election next year.            TRUE           FALSE   
NOT GIVEN         

13. The French Work Code is concidered

simplier than the proposed Work Bill.          
TRUE           FALSE           NOT GIVEN         

14. The unemployment rate in Spain is less than

in Italy.            TRUE           FALSE           NOT
GIVEN         

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 15-27, which are based on
Reading Passage 2 below.
How I was floored by a tick
When Allan Little began to feel ill, he knew
almost immediately what it was - Lyme
Disease. But getting a medical diagnosis,
and treatment, took a lot longer. I'd been
going for years to the same little town in
New England and Lyme Disease is
everywhere there. You can't walk more
than a few hundred metres in the
countryside without coming across a public
health notice warning you not to get bitten
by a deer tick.
So the intense headache, the aching limbs,
the burning joints, the ferocious fever and
night sweats that hit me in a matter of
hours, a few days after I'd got back to
London, were all consistent with what I'd
read about the condition. I went to a
London GP, who wasn't convinced. She
took a blood sample and advised me to go
home, rest, and take paracetamol. The next
day, the blood test came back. It was
negative for Lyme. My condition grew
worse. I could hardly stand up. I called
another doctor, who came to my house. He
was also sceptical. He took another blood
test. This too came back negative. But he
gave me a prescription for powerful
painkillers which made me feel well enough
to get on a train to Edinburgh, my home
town.
Within three hours of arriving at Waverley
Station I was an in-patient in the Infectious
Diseases Department of the city's Western
General Hospital: diagnosis, Acute Lyme
Disease. By now I had found the tick bite
and the distinctive livid red rash, about six
inches in diameter. (To be fair to those
London GPs, I hadn't noticed it when I'd
consulted them.)
"It's attacked your liver," the Edinburgh
Consultant said. "You have three distinct
kinds of liver inflammation". I made a lame
sick-bed joke: "You're sure that's not like
Lager-and-Lime Disease then?" She
laughed politely and reassured me that that
would look quite different. Why then had
both blood tests come back negative? Dr
Roger Evans of Raigmore Hospital in
Inverness is one of the UK's leading Lyme
Disease researchers. "In early Lyme
Disease," he told me, "the test is not
reliable because no antibodies have been
produced. In the first few weeks of
infection, you could test negative, but still
have Lyme Disease."
This is a problem for GPs, especially in
urban centres where Lyme Disease is
unfamiliar. Lyme is not a viral infection. It's
bacterial. GPs will not prescribe antibiotics
if they think you're showing symptoms of a
viral infection - and it does look and feel like
a bad case of flu, or chronic fatigue
syndrome, neither of which can, or should,
be treated with antibiotics. "In the early
weeks of infection, when the blood test is
not reliable," says Evans, "the GP needs to
assess the patient clinically, looking for
other symptoms that identify Lyme
Disease." In other words, symptoms that
distinguish it from flu.
If you have been bitten:
 Remove the tick as soon as possible
- the safest way is to use a pair of
fine-tipped tweezers, or a tick
removal tool
 Grasp the tick as close to the skin as
possible, pull upwards slowly and
 firmly, as mouthparts left in the skin
can cause a local infection
 Once removed, apply antiseptic to
the bite area, or wash with soap and
water and keep an eye on it for
several weeks for any changes
 Contact your GP if you begin to feel
unwell and remember to tell them
you were bitten by a tick or have
recently spent time outdoors
Catching it early is vital. Angela Howard fell
ill with Lyme Disease in the 1990s. She had
never heard of it. Her doctor, she says, told
her to go home and see whether her
symptoms persisted. It was only when a
visiting American friend saw the distinctive
rash - concentric red rings around the place
where the tick bite had occurred that she
realised she might have Lyme Disease.
She says her doctor was still reluctant to
diagnose Lyme. "Doctors say you can only
get this abroad - that it comes from
overseas. But I hadn't been abroad. I'd
been picnicking in Wiltshire." She was not
treated early and her symptoms have
persisted for years.
There is an accumulation of anecdotal
evidence that Lyme Disease often goes
undiagnosed. One problem is that no-one
knows how prevalent it now is. It is not a
notifiable disease in the National Health
Service - doctors are not required to inform
a central database when they diagnose it.
So there is no reliable evidence of how
widespread it is, or where in the country
you are most likely to get it. Roger Evans at
Raigmore Hospital wants to remedy that.
"We're using Scotland as a pilot study," he
said. "We're trying to create maps of areas
where there's a risk of tick exposure. We're
using satellite data from the European
Space Agency to create an app that will
give information, but which will also be
interactive, so that users can put in
information about where they've been bitten
and whether the Lyme Disease rash has
appeared." Why has Lyme, which 30 years
ago seemed largely limited to a small area
of New England - Lyme is the town in
Connecticut where it was first identified -
now so prevalent across the continental
USA and in Europe? One theory is climate
change: that small gradations in climate
can create new habitats for micro-
organisms, or keep them alive and active
for longer.
I was struck, at the time of my own
treatment, that awareness was far greater
in Scotland than in England and Wales.
And awareness of the condition is vital to
catching it early. For when you catch it
early, treatment is easy and in most cases
successful. It floors you though. It took me
four or five months to get my strength and
stamina back. It is a debilitating and
dangerous illness and there is no doubt
that it is getting more common. You can get
it in the Scottish Highlands, in Devon and
Cornwall, in Richmond Park in London and
probably in your own back garden -
anywhere where there are small furry
animals on whose skins a deer tick can
live. If you get it, you can get treatment. But
take it from me: it really helps if you know
what it is you've got.
Questions 15-22
Do the following statements agree with the
information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 15-22 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

15. Alan had no doubt about his illness from the

beginning.                TRUE               FALSE          
NOT GIVEN          

16. Both blood tests were negative for Lyme

Disease.                TRUE               FALSE          
NOT GIVEN          

17. Alan didn't become a Waverley Station

patient for more than 3 hours.                TRUE    
FALSE               NOT GIVEN          

18. Blood tests were inaccurate because they

were taken unprofessionaly.                TRUE       
FALSE               NOT GIVEN          

19. Lyme Disease is very unfamiliar in the UK.     

TRUE               FALSE               NOT GIVEN     

20. When bitten, you should remove the tick,

preferably with a tool.                TRUE             
FALSE               NOT GIVEN             
This is the final section of IELTS Reading test
21. After you remove the tick and apply #9. After its completion, you will see your IELTS
antiseptic, you should take paracetamol.              Reading score for this test.
TRUE                 FALSE                 NOT GIVEN 
READING PASSAGE 3
22. It is advise to contact a doctor, if you feel ill
after removing the tick. You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 28-40, which are based on
Questions 23-27 Reading Passage 3 below.

Complete the sentences below. Structure and function of cell

membranes
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer. (A) Human body is made up of millions of
cells - little building blocks of life. Each cell
Write your answers in boxes 23-27 on your
answer sheet. contains many functional subunits
(organelles) that enable its proper
functioning and is protected from the
external environment by a cell membrane.
While structure and function of organelles
are extensively covered in various biology
courses, the importance of study of cell
membranes is often underrated. This article
is dedicated to provide a short introduction
into the basic functions and anatomy of a
cell membrane.
 
(B) Cell membranes protect and organize
cells. Most importantly they serve as
barriers, discriminating the cell’s interior
from the outer milieu. Because cells always
exist in aqueous environment their
membranes should be structured in such
way so they do not solve in water. This
function is ideally carried by special
chemical molecules - phospholipids. These
molecules are constructed from two parts:
tails made up of 2 molecules of fat that
‘avoid’ water and heads that have an
affinity for water. For this specific behaviour
the phospholipid’s tails are called
hydrophobic (‘hydro’ means water and
‘phobia’ means fear) and heads are called
hydrophilic (‘philos’ means love). When
phospholipids are added to water, they self-
assemble into double-layered structures,
shielding their hydrophobic portions from
water and exposing their hydrophilic
portions to the environment. This
phospholipid bilayer may resemble a
sandwich, where phospholipid heads are
bread rolls and tails are the sandwich filling.
 
(C) In addition to lipids, membranes are
loaded with proteins. They usually go
through the lipid bilayer and are exposed to
both aqueous environment and cell's
interior. In fact, proteins account for roughly
half the mass of most cellular membranes.
They make the membrane semi-
permeable, which means that some
molecules can diffuse across the lipid
bilayer but others cannot. Small
hydrophobic molecules and gases like
oxygen and carbon dioxide cross
membranes rapidly. Small molecules, such
as water and ethanol, can also pass
through membranes, but they do so more
slowly. On the other hand, cell membranes
restrict diffusion of highly charged
molecules, such as ions, and large
molecules, such as sugars and amino
acids. The passage of these molecules
relies on specific transport proteins
embedded in the membrane.
 
(D) Membrane transport proteins are
specific and selective for the molecules
they move, and they often use energy to
enhance passage. Also, these proteins
transport some nutrients against the
concentration gradient, which requires
additional energy. The ability to maintain
concentration gradients and sometimes
move materials against them is vital to cell
health and maintenance. Thanks to
membrane barriers and transport proteins,
the cell can accumulate nutrients in higher
concentrations than exist in the
environment and, conversely, dispose of
waste products.
 
(E) Other membrane-embedded proteins
have communication-related jobs. Large
molecules from the extracellular
environment, such as hormones or immune
mediators, bind to the receptor proteins on
the cell membrane. Such binding causes a
conformational change in the protein that
transmits a signal to intracellular
messenger molecules. Like transport
proteins, receptor proteins are specific and
selective for the molecules they bind.
 
(F) Another important type of membrane’s
components are cholesterol molecules,
which account for about 20 percent of the
lipids in animal cell plasma membranes.
However, cholesterol is not present in
bacterial membranes or mitochondrial
membranes. The cholesterol molecules are
embedded in place of phospholipid
molecules and help to regulate the stiffness
of membranes. To function properly, the
cell membrane should be in fluid state.
Cholesterol reduces membrane fluidity at
moderate temperatures by reducing the
moving of phospholipids. But at low
temperatures, it hinders solidification by
disrupting the regular packing of
phospholipids.

Questions 28-30

Label the diagram below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the
passage for each answer. Do not write the
articles.

Which elements of cell membrane correspond to

the numbers in the diagram?

Questions 36–40

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONLY ONE WORD from the passage for

each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 36–40 on your
answer sheet.

Questions 31-35

Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following

information?

Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 31–35 on

your answer sheet.
 do they take? Do you agree that the problems outweigh
the benefits of mobile phones?

SPEAKING PRACTOCE # 10

WRITING TASK 1 # 1 LINE GRAPH

WRITIN TASK 1 # 1 BAR CHART

WRITING ADNVANCE ESAY # 99

In many countries, the proportion of older people is

steadily increasing. Does this trend have more positive
or negative effects on the society?

WRITING ADVANCE ESAY # 98

There are social, medical and technical problems

associated with the use of mobile phones. What forms
SPEAKING PRACTOCE SECOND PART Sample # 1

SPEAKING PRACTICE SECOND PART SAMPLE # 2