6.

5 IELTS COURSE
READING – LESSON 1
Nội dung bài học

Dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN / YES - NO - NOT GIVEN 1

Chiến lược làm dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN 3

Ví dụ minh họa cách xử lý dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN 4

Dạng bài Multiple Choice 6

Chiến lược xử lý dạng bài Multiple Choice 7

Ví dụ minh họa cách xử lý dạng bài Multiple Choice 7

Luyện tập 11

Dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN / YES - NO - NOT GIVEN

Thông tin tổng quát

● TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN là một trong những dạng câu hỏi thường xuyên xuất hiện nhất của
bài thi
● Trong dạng bài này, thí sinh sẽ đọc một vài câu khẳng định liên quan đến nội dung bài đọc và
cần phải xác định rằng câu khẳng định đó thống nhất với thông tin bài đọc (TRUE), mâu thuẫn
với thông tin bài đọc (FALSE) hoặc chứa thông tin không được đề cập bởi bài đọc (NOT
GIVEN)
● Dạng câu hỏi TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN thường gây ra nhiều khó khăn do thí sinh chưa hiểu
rõ bản chất của ba lựa chọn True, False, Not Given, ngoài ra câu hỏi yêu cầu khả năng tư duy
mạch lạc và sử dụng tốt kỹ năng logic

Ví dụ về dạng câu hỏi TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
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 The cork oak has the thickest bark of any living tree.

2 Scientists have developed a synthetic cork with the same cellular structure as natural cork.

1
Kỹ năng cần thiết cho dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN / YES - NO - NOT GIVEN

Để có thể làm tốt dạng câu hỏi TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN , người đọc cần làm chủ được những kỹ
năng sau:

● Kỹ năng xác định từ khóa: các câu hỏi của dạng bài True False Not Given thường chứa những
từ khóa khó thay đổi như tên riêng, ngày tháng, địa danh cũng như những từ khóa dễ thay đổi
gồm động từ, tính từ và danh từ.
● Kỹ năng đọc lướt nhanh (Scanning): sau khi xác định những từ khóa khó thay đổi, người đọc
cần đọc lướt đoạn văn để xác định vị trí chứa thông tin liên quan tới câu hỏi. Cần lưu ý là
những tên riêng hoặc ngày tháng có thể xuất hiện nhiều hơn một lần, do đó người đọc cần
khoanh vùng đầy đủ tất cả những phần chứa các từ khóa quan trọng.
● Kỹ năng đọc hiểu bao quát (Skimming): đối với những câu hỏi TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN
không chứa những từ khóa khó thay đổi, người đọc cần phải đọc từng đoạn để khoanh vùng
thông tin liên quan tới câu hỏi.
● Kỹ năng đọc hiểu chi tiết (Comprehension): sau khi xác định được những câu văn chứa thông
tin liên quan tới câu hỏi, người đọc cần phải đọc kỹ để hiểu được thông tin được cho.
● Kỹ năng so sánh phân tích (Analytical Comparison): người đọc cần phân tích những điểm
giống và khác nhau giữa các thông tin trong câu hỏi và thông tin được cung cấp bởi đoạn văn
để từ đó đưa ra lựa chọn phù hợp.
● Thông tin cần lưu ý: các câu hỏi trong dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN thường xuất hiện
theo thứ tự, tức là thông tin tương ứng với câu hỏi số 1 sẽ đứng trước thông tin tương ứng với
câu hỏi số 2 trong bài đọc.

Dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN thường xuyên gây ra nhiều khó khăn thí sinh do câu hỏi yêu cầu
khả năng tư duy logic tốt và suy nghĩ rõ ràng. Mô hình logic đơn giản hóa có thể được áp dụng trong
việc giải các câu hỏi True False Not Given như sau:

Tiền đề lớn: một thông tin được mặc định là chính xác và không thể thay đổi. Có thể xem thông tin
trong bài đọc là một tiền đề lớn khi giải câu hỏi T/F/NG.

Tiền đề nhỏ: một giả thuyết được đưa ra và cần được chứng minh. Câu hỏi sẽ là tiền đề nhỏ của dạng
bài này.

Kết luận: là kết quả suy luận từ tiền đề lớn và tiền đề nhỏ.

Ví dụ:

Tiền đề lớn Hoa Kỳ là quốc gia hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự.

Tiền đề nhỏ Không có một quốc gia nào vượt qua Hoa Kỳ về mặt quân sự.

Kết luận Không có một quốc gia nào vượt qua Hoa Kỳ về mặt quân sự vì Hoa Kỳ là quốc
gia hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự. Tiền đề lớn đồng thuận với tiền
đề nhỏ, đáp án được chọn là TRUE.

2
 Tiền đề lớn Hoa Kỳ là quốc gia hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự.

Tiền đề nhỏ Nền quân sự của Đức vượt mặt Hoa Kỳ.

Kết luận Việc nền quân sự của Đức vượt mặt Hoa Kỳ là phi lý nếu Hoa Kỳ là quốc gia
hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự.Tiền đề lớn mâu thuẫn với tiền đề nhỏ,
đáp án được chọn là FALSE.

Tiền đề lớn Hoa Kỳ là quốc gia hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự.

Tiền đề nhỏ Nền kinh tế của Hoa Kỳ phát triển nhanh hơn nhiều quốc gia khác trên thế giới.

Kết luận Việc “nền kinh tế của Hoa Kỳ phát triển nhanh hơn nhiều quốc gia khác trên thế
giới” không thể được chứng minh hay bác bỏ bởi . sự thật “Hoa Kỳ là quốc gia
hùng mạnh nhất thế giới về mặt quân sự”.Tiền đề lớn và tiền đề nhỏ không tạo
ra được kết luận, đáp án được chọn là NOT GIVEN.

Những câu hỏi và thông tin của bài đọc IELTS thường phức tạp và chứa nhiều dữ kiện hơn những ví dụ
nêu trên, tuy nhiên quy tắc chung này vẫn có thể được áp dụng.

Thực hành: Xem thêm ở phần Luyện tập

Chiến lược làm dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN

Bước 1: Xác định từ khóa:

Đọc câu hỏi và xác định các từ khóa, phân loại theo các loại:

● Loại 1: Từ khóa khó thay thế (tên riêng, số, thuật ngữ)
● Loại 2: Từ khóa dễ thay thế (các danh từ có thể được diễn đạt bằng cách khác)
● Loại 3: Từ khóa chìm (các động từ, tính từ có thể được diễn đạt bằng cách khác)

Bước 2: Xác định vùng thông tin chứa đáp án

● Ưu tiên tìm từ khóa theo thứ tự: Loại 1 🡺 Loại 2 🡺 Loại 3

● Sử dụng kỹ thuật Scanning hiệu quả để định vị đoạn thông tin chứa các từ khóa hoặc những
từ có nghĩa tương tự từ khóa

Lưu ý:

● Các câu hỏi trong dạng bài được sắp xếp theo thứ tự: thông tin câu 1 rồi đến 2 đến 3.

3
 ● Luôn scan theo 2 câu hỏi một lần. Nếu có câu là Not Given và thông tin không xuất hiện trong
bài, vẫn còn từ khoá của câu tiếp theo để khoanh vùng đáp án.

Bước 3: Áp dụng kỹ năng đọc hiểu chi tiết (comprehension) để nắm vững thông tin đoạn cần đọc.

Bước 4: Đối chiếu thông tin giữa câu hỏi và bài đọc

Đối chiếu thông tin trong câu hỏi và trong đoạn thông tin đã được định vị ở bước 2:

● Nếu thông tin trong câu hỏi trùng khớp với thông tin trong bài đọc 🡺 điền TRUE/YES
● Nếu thông tin trong câu hỏi trái ngược với thông tin trong bài đọc, có thể phản bác được bằng
thông tin trong bài đọc 🡺 điền FALSE/NO
● Nếu thông tin trong câu hỏi không được đề cập trong bài đọc, hoặc không thể phản bác được
bằng thông tin trong bài đọc 🡺 điền NOT GIVEN

Ví dụ minh họa cách xử lý dạng bài TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN

● Bài đọc:

However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens.
Massive floods, long droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying
millions of tons of valuable crops.

The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For instance,
crops would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially controlled, optimum
growing conditions. There would be no weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests.
All the food could be grown organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers.

● Câu hỏi:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage.

In boxes 1-3 in your answer sheet, write.

TRUE If the statement agrees with the information

FALSE If the statement contradicts with the information

NOT GIVEN If there is no information on this

1. Fertilisers will be needed for certain crops in vertical farms.

4
Các bước làm bài:

● Bước 1: Xác định từ khóa:

● Bước 2: Xác định vùng thông tin chứa đáp án bằng cách scan từ khóa và skim nội dung bài
đọc

Áp dụng kỹ năng đọc hiểu chi tiết (comprehension), người đọc rút lại thông tin của bài đọc như sau:

The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system … All the food
could be grown organically: những người ủng hộ nông nghiệp theo chiều dọc khẳng định hệ thống
này có nhiều lợi ích … thức ăn có thể được trồng một cách tự nhiên, sạch sẽ.

Eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers: loại bỏ nhu cầu sử dụng thuốc trừ sâu,
thuốc diệt cỏ và phân bón hóa học.

● Bước 3: Áp dụng kỹ năng so sánh phân tích, tương tự sẽ có những điểm giống và khác nhau
sau đây của câu hỏi và bài đọc:

5
 Điểm giống Điểm khác

Câu hỏi và bài đọc đều nhắc đến crops, vertical Câu hỏi nhắc đến certain crops, bài đọc nhắc
farming. đến all food

Câu hỏi khẳng định

Áp dụng kỹ thuật lập luận logic, ta hình thành được sơ đồ tư duy sau:

Tiền đề lớn All the food could be grown organically, eliminating the need for herbicides,
pesticides and fertilisers.

Tiền đề nhỏ Fertilisers will be needed for certain crops in vertical farms.

Kết luận Tiền đề nhỏ bị bác bỏ bởi tiền đề lớn, đáp án được chọn là FALSE.

Dạng bài Multiple Choice

Thông tin tổng quan

Dạng bài Multiple Choice yêu cầu thí sinh chọn một trong bốn lựa chọn để thỏa mãn một câu hỏi cho
sẵn.

Thường xuất hiện trong bài đọc cuối của phần thi IELTS Reading.

Ví dụ về dạng câu hỏi Multiple Choice:

According to the writer, the ‘displacement effect’ on the visitor is caused by

A the variety of works on display and the way they are arranged.

B the impossibility of viewing particular works of art over a long period.

C the similar nature of the paintings and the lack of great works.

D the inappropriate nature of the individual works selected for exhibition.

Kỹ năng cần thiết để làm tốt dạng bài Multiple Choice

Kỹ năng xác định từ khóa: các câu hỏi của dạng bài Multiple Choice thường chứa những từ khóa khó
thay đổi như tên riêng, ngày tháng, địa danh cũng như những từ khóa dễ thay đổi gồm động từ, tính từ
và danh từ. Đặc biệt, các tính từ và trạng từ thường đóng vai trò quan trọng trong việc giải quyết câu
hỏi.

Kỹ năng đọc lướt nhanh (Scanning): sau khi xác định những từ khóa khó thay đổi, người đọc cần đọc
lướt đoạn văn để xác định ví trí chứa thông tin liên quan tới câu hỏi. Một số câu hỏi sẽ chỉ rõ vị trí của
đoạn văn cần đọc.

6
Kỹ năng đọc hiểu chi tiết (Comprehension): sau khi xác định được những câu văn chứa thông tin liên
quan tới câu hỏi, người đọc cần phải đọc kỹ để hiểu được thông tin được cho. Thông thường những
bài đọc Passage 3 mang tính hàn lâm hoặc văn phong tự do, do đó việc hiểu hoàn toàn một bài đọc là
không cần thiết.

Sử dụng Phương pháp loại trừ đối với dạng bài Multiple Choice

Với bốn lựa chọn được đề bài cung cấp, việc tìm ra một đáp án chính xác hoàn toàn không đơn giản
với người đọc ở mức trung bình. Tuy nhiên, phương pháp loại trừ có thể được áp dụng để giới hạn số
lượng lựa chọn khả thi.

Chiến lược xử lý dạng bài Multiple Choice

● Bước 1: Xác định từ khóa

Bước quan trọng đầu tiên trong dạng bài Multiple Choice là đọc kỹ các câu hỏi và xác định
những từ khóa quan trọng giúp người đọc khoanh vùng thông tin và hiểu yêu cầu của đề bài.

● Bước 2: Xác định vị trí thông tin trong bài đọc

Lưu ý:

o Sử dụng từ khóa trong câu hỏi để Scan tìm thông tin trong bài đọc
o Hạn chế sử dụng từ khóa trong các lựa chọn để Scan vì chỉ có một lựa chọn mang
thông tin chính xác

● Bước 3: Đối chiếu thông tin

Dựa vào yêu cầu của câu hỏi, thí sinh đối chiếu thông tin trong đoạn văn và chọn ra đáp án
phù hợp.

Ví dụ minh họa cách xử lý dạng bài Multiple Choice

Bài đọc:

In addition, a major collection like that of London’s National Gallery is housed in numerous rooms,
each with dozens of works, any one of which is likely to be worth more than all the average visitor
possesses. In a society that judges the personal status of the individual so much by their material
worth, it is therefore difficult not to be impressed by one’s own relative ‘worthlessness’ in such an
environment.

7
Câu hỏi:

The writer mentions London’s National Gallery to illustrate

A the undesirable cost to a nation of maintaining a huge collection of art.

B the conflict that may arise in society between financial and artistic values.

C the negative effect a museum can have on visitors’ opinions of themselves.

D the need to put individual well-being above large-scale artistic schemes.

Các bước làm bài

● Bước 1: Xác định từ khóa trong câu hỏi và các lựa chọn

● Bước 2: Xác định vị trí thông tin trong bài đọc

● Bước 3: Đối chiếu thông tin giữa bài đọc và câu hỏi

Câu hỏi và lựa chọn Thông tin trong đoạn văn

The writer mentions London’s National Gallery
to illustrate:
A the undesirable cost to a nation of
maintaining a huge collection of art.
Trong lựa chọn A, thông tin undesirable cost và
maintaining không được nhắc tới trực tiếp trong
đoạn văn.
In addition, a major collection like that of
London’s National Gallery is housed in numerous
rooms, each with dozens of works, any one of
which is likely to be worth more than all the
average visitor possesses. In a society that
judges the personal status of the individual so
much by their material worth, it is therefore
difficult not to be impressed by one’s own
relative ‘worthlessness’ in such an environment.

8
 Câu hỏi và lựa chọn Thông tin trong đoạn văn

B the conflict that may arise in society

between financial and artistic values.

Trong lựa chọn B, thông tin conflict, arise,

society và artistic value không được nhắc tới
trực tiếp trong đoạn văn.

C the negative effect a museum can have on

visitors’ opinions of themselves.

Trong lựa chọn C, thông tin visitor’s opinions of

themselves được nhắc tới trong đoạn văn
(one’s own relative ‘worthlessness’). Thông tin
negative effect không được nhắc đến trực tiếp
trong đoạn văn.

D the need to put individual well-being above

large-scale artistic schemes.

Trong lựa chọn D, thông tin need, put individual

well-being above không được nhắc tới trực tiếp
trong đoạn văn.

Thực hành: Chọn đáp án đúng với những câu hỏi trắc nghiệm sau đây

Câu hỏi và lựa chọn Thông tin trong đoạn văn

The writer says that today, viewers may be

unwilling to criticise an artwork because
A they lack the knowledge needed to support
an opinion.
B they fear it may have financial implications.
C they have no real concept of the work’s value.
D they feel their personal reaction is of no
significance.
Furthermore, consideration of the ‘value’ of the
original work in its treasure house setting
impresses upon the viewer that, since these
works were originally produced, they have been
assigned a huge monetary value by some
person or institution more powerful than
themselves. Evidently, nothing the viewer thinks
about the work is going to alter that value, and
so today’s viewer is deterred from trying to
extend that spontaneous, immediate,
self-reliant kind of reading which would
originally have met the work.

Câu hỏi và lựa chọn Thông tin trong đoạn văn

9
 According to the writer, the ‘displacement
effect’ on the visitor is caused by
A the variety of works on display and the way
they are arranged.
B the impossibility of viewing particular works
of art over a long period.
C the similar nature of the paintings and the
lack of great works.
D the inappropriate nature of the individual
works selected for exhibition.
Câu hỏi và lựa chọn
The writer says that unlike other forms of art, a
painting does not
A involve direct contact with an audience.
B require a specific location for a performance.
C need the involvement of other professionals.
D have a specific beginning or end.
10
The visitor may then be struck by the
strangeness of seeing such diverse paintings,
drawings and sculptures brought together in an
environment for which they were not originally
created. This ‘displacement effect’ is further
heightened by the sheer volume of exhibits. In
the case of a major collection, there are
probably more works on display than we could
realistically view in weeks or even months.
Thông tin trong đoạn văn
This is particularly distressing because time
seems to be a vital factor in the appreciation of
all art forms. A fundamental difference between
paintings and other art forms is that there is no
prescribed time over which a painting is viewed.
By contrast, the audience enjoys an opera or a
play over a specific time, which is the duration
of the performance. Similarly novels and poems
are read in a prescribed temporal sequence,
whereas a picture has no clear place at which to
start viewing, or at which to finish. Thus
artworks themselves encourage us to view
them superficially, without appreciating the
richness of detail and labour that is involved.
Luyện tập
Luyện tập 1:

What is exploration?

We are all explores. Our desire to discover, and then share that new-found knowledge, is part of what
makes us human – indeed, this has played an important part in our success as a species. Long before
the first caveman slumped down beside the fire and grunted news that there were plenty of
wildebeest over yonder, our ancestors had learnt the value of sending out scouts to investigate the
unknown. This questing nature of ours undoubtedly helped our species spread around the globe, just
as it nowadays no doubt helps the last nomadic Penan maintain their existence in the depleted
forests of Borneo, and a visitor negotiate the subways of New York.
Over the years, we’ve come to think of explorers as a peculiar breed – different from the rest of us,
different from those of us who are merely ‘well travelled’, even; and perhaps there is a type of person
more suited to seeking out the new, a type of caveman more inclined to risk venturing out. That,
however, doesn’t take away from the fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even today; and that
in all sorts of professions – whether artist, marine biologist or astronomer – borders of the unknown
are being tested each day.
Thomas Hardy set some of his novels in Egdon Heath, a fictional area of uncultivated land, and used
the landscape to suggest the desires and fears of his characters. He is delving into matters we all
recognise because they are common to humanity. This is surely an act of exploration, and into a world
as remote as the author chooses. Explorer and travel writer Peter Fleming talks of the moment when
the explorer returns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones. The traveller ‘who has for
weeks or months seen himself only as a puny and irrelevant alien crawling laboriously over a country
in which he has no roots and no background, suddenly encounters his other self, a relatively solid
figure, with a place in the minds of certain people’.
In this book about the exploration of the earth’s surface, I have confined myself to those whose travels
were real and who also aimed at more than personal discovery. But that still left me with another
problem: the word ‘explorer’ has become associated with a past era. We think back to a golden age, as
if exploration peaked somehow in the 19th century – as if the process of discovery is now on the
decline, though the truth is that we have named only one and a half million of this planet’s species,
and there may be more than 10 million – and that’s not including bacteria. We have studied only 5 per
cent of the species we know. We have scarcely mapped the ocean floors, and know even less about
ourselves; we fully understand the workings of only 10 per cent of our brains.
Here is how some of today’s ‘explorers’ define the word. Ran Fiennes, dubbed the ‘greatest living
explorer’, said, ‘An explorer is someone who has done something that no human has done before –
and also done something scientifically useful.’ Chris Bonington, a leading mountaineer, felt exploration
was to be found in the act of physically touching the unknown: ‘You have to have gone somewhere
new.’ Then Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a campaigner on behalf of remote so-called ‘tribal’ peoples, said, ‘A
traveller simply records information about some far-off world, and reports back; but an explorer

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changes the world.’ Wilfred Thesiger, who crossed Arabia’s Empty Quarter in 1946, and belongs to an
era of unmechanised travel now lost to the rest of us, told me, ‘If I’d gone across by camel when I
could have gone by car, it would have been a stunt.’ To him, exploration meant bringing back
information from a remote place regardless of any great self-discovery.
Each definition is slightly different – and tends to reflect the field of endeavour of each pioneer. It was
the same whoever I asked: the prominent historian would say exploration was a thing of the past, the
cutting-edge scientist would say it was of the present. And so on. They each set their own particular
criteria; the common factor in their approach being that they all had, unlike many of us who simply
enjoy travel or discovering new things, both a very definite objective from the outset and also a desire
to record their findings.
I’d best declare my own bias. As a writer, I’m interested in the exploration of ideas. I’ve done a great
many expeditions and each one was unique. I’ve lived for months alone with isolated groups of people
all around the world, even two ‘uncontacted tribes’. But none of these things is of the slightest interest
to anyone unless, through my books, I’ve found a new slant, explored a new idea. Why? Because the
world has moved on. The time has long passed for the great continental voyages – another walk to
the poles, another crossing of the Empty Quarter. We know how the land surface of our planet lies;
exploration of it is now down to the details – the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing behaviour of
buffalo. Aside from the deep sea and deep underground, it’s the era of specialists. However, this is to
disregard the role the human mind has in conveying remote places; and this is what interests me: how
a fresh interpretation, even of a well-travelled route, can give its readers new insights.
(Cambridge IELTS Practice Test 15)

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1 The writer refers to visitors to New York to illustrate the point that

A exploration is an intrinsic element of being human.

B most people are enthusiastic about exploring.
C exploration can lead to surprising results.
D most people find exploration daunting.

2 According to the second paragraph, what is the writer’s view of explorers?

A Their discoveries have brought both benefits and disadvantages.

B Their main value is in teaching others.
C They act on an urge that is common to everyone.
D They tend to be more attracted to certain professions than to others.

3 The writer refers to a description of Egdon Heath to suggest that

A Hardy was writing about his own experience of exploration.

B Hardy was mistaken about the nature of exploration.
C Hardy’s aim was to investigate people’s emotional states.
D Hardy’s aim was to show the attraction of isolation.

4 In the fourth paragraph, the writer refers to ‘a golden age’ to suggest that

A the amount of useful information produced by exploration has decreased.

B fewer people are interested in exploring than in the 19th century.
C recent developments have made exploration less exciting.
D we are wrong to think that exploration is no longer necessary.

5 In the sixth paragraph, when discussing the definition of exploration, the writer argues that

A people tend to relate exploration to their own professional interests.

B certain people are likely to misunderstand the nature of exploration.
C the generally accepted definition has changed over time.
D historians and scientists have more valid definitions than the general public.

6 In the last paragraph, the writer explains that he is interested in

A how someone’s personality is reflected in their choice of places to visit.

B the human ability to cast new light on places that may be familiar.
C how travel writing has evolved to meet changing demands.
D the feelings that writers develop about the places that they explore.

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Luyện tập 2:

Environmental practices of big businesses

The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that for many of us
offend our sense of justice. Depending on the circumstances, a business may maximize the amount
of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the environment and hurting people. That
is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas, and for international
logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land in places with corrupt officials
and unsophisticated landowners. When government regulation is effective, and when the public is
environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the
reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and if the public doesn’t care.
It is easy for the rest of us to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But blaming
alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities but
profit-making companies, and that publicly owned companies with shareholders are under obligation
to those shareholders to maximize profits, provided that they do so by legal means. US laws make a
company’s directors legally liable for something termed ‘breach of fiduciary responsibility’ if they
knowingly manage a company in a way that reduces profits. The car manufacturer Henry Ford was in
fact successfully sued by shareholders in 1919 for raising the minimum wage of his workers to $5 per
day: the courts declared that, while Ford’s humanitarian sentiments about his employees were nice,
his business existed to make profits for its stockholders.
Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the
condition that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long run, it is the
public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies
unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.
The public can do that by suing businesses for harming them, as happened after the Exxon Valdez
disaster, in which over 40,000m3 of oil were spilled off the coast of Alaska. The public may also make
their opinion felt by preferring to buy sustainably harvested products; by making employees of
companies with poor track records feel ashamed of their company and complain to their own
management; by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good
environmental track record; and by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and
regulations requiring good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can expert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore public or
government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the spread of a
disease known as BSE, which was transmitted to humans through infected meat, the US government’s
Food and Drug Administration introduced rules demanding that the meat industry abandon practices
associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But for five years the meat packers refused to
follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a major fast-food
company then made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the
meat industry complied within weeks. The public’s task is therefore to identify which links in the

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supply chain are sensitive to public pressure: for instance, fast-food chains or jewelry stores, but not
meat packers or gold miners.
Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for business
practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must accept the
necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs, if any, of sound environmental
practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with
moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we have to recognize that,
throughout human history, in all politically complex human societies, government regulation has
arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral principles need to be made explicit, they
also needed to be enforced.
To me, the conclusion that the public has the ultimate responsibility for the behavior of even the
biggest businesses is empowering and hopeful, rather than disappointing. My conclusion is not a
moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy or a bad guy. In the past,
businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior, to reward
businesses for behavior that the public wanted, and to make things difficult for businesses practicing
behaviors that the public didn’t want. I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public
attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.

(Cambridge IELTS Practice Test 15)

Questions 1-5

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below.

Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

Big businesses

Many big businesses today are prepared to harm people and the environment in order to make money,
and they appear to have no 1………………. . Lack of 2……………….. by governments and lack of public
3………………. can lead to environmental problems such as 4……………….. or the destruction of 5……………….

A funding B trees C rare species

D moral standards E control F involvement
G flooding H overfishing I worker support

Question 6-8

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.
6 The main idea of the third paragraph is that environmental damage

A requires political action if it is to be stopped.

B is the result of ignorance on the part of the public.

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 C could be prevented by the action of ordinary people.
D can only be stopped by educating business leaders.

7 In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes ways in which the public can

A reduce their own individual impact on the environment.

B learn more about the impact of business of the environment.
C raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters.
D influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments.

8 What pressure was exerted by big business in the case of the disease BSE?

A Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains.

B A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law.
C Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses.
D A fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce legislation.

Questions 9-13

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

9 The public should be prepared to fund good environmental practices.

10 There is a contrast between the moral principles of different businesses.
11 It is important to make a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
12 The public have successfully influenced businesses in the past.
13 In the future, businesses will show more concern for the environment.

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Luyện tập 3:

Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence

A
Artificial intelligence (AI) can already predict the future. Police forces are using it to map when and
where crime is likely to occur. Doctors can use it to predict when a patient is most likely to have a
heart attack or stroke. Researchers are even trying to give AI imagination so it can plan for
unexpected consequences.
Many decisions in our lives require a good forecast, and AI is almost always better at forecasting than
we are. Yet for all these technological advances, we still seem to deeply lack confidence in AI
predictions. Recent cases show that people don’t like relying on AI and prefer to trust human experts,
even if these experts are wrong.
If we want AI to really benefit people, we need to find a way to get people to trust it. To do that, we
need to understand why people are so reluctant to trust AI in the first place.
B
Take the case of Watson for Oncology, one of technology giant IBM’s supercomputer programs. Their
attempt to promote this program to cancer doctors was a PR disaster. The AI promised to deliver
top-quality recommendations on the treatment of 12 cancers that accounted for 80% of the world’s
cases. But when doctors first interacted with Watson, they found themselves in a rather difficult
situation. On the one hand, if Watson provided guidance about a treatment that coincided with their
own opinions, physicians did not see much point in Watson’s recommendations. The supercomputer
was simply telling them what they already knew, and these recommendations did not change the
actual treatment.
On the other hand, if Watson generated a recommendation that contradicted the experts’ opinion,
doctors would typically conclude that Watson wasn’t competent. And the machine wouldn’t be able to
explain why its treatment was plausible because its machine-learning algorithms were simply too
complex to be fully understood by humans. Consequently, this has caused even more suspicion and
disbelief, leading many doctors to ignore the seemingly outlandish AI recommendations and stick to
their own expertise.
C
This is just one example of people’s lack of confidence in AI and their reluctance to accept what AI
has to offer. Trust in other people is often based on our understanding of how others think and having
experience of their reliability. This helps create a psychological feeling of safety. AI, on the other hand,
is still fairly new and unfamiliar to most people. Even if it can be technically explained (and that’s not
always the case), AI’s decision-making process is usually too difficult for most people to comprehend.
And interacting with something we don’t understand can cause anxiety and give us a sense that we’re
losing control.
Many people are also simply not familiar with many instances of AI actually working, because it often
happens in the background. Instead, they are acutely aware of instances where AI goes wrong.

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Embarrassing AI failures receive a disproportionate amount of media attention, emphasising the
message that we cannot rely on technology. Machine learning is not foolproof, in part because the
humans who design it aren’t.
D
Feelings about AI run deep. In a recent experiment, people from a range of backgrounds were given
various sci-fi films about AI to watch and then asked questions about automation in everyday life. It
was found that, regardless of whether the film they watched depicted AI in a positive or negative light,
simply watching a cinematic vision of our technological future polarised the participants’ attitudes.
Optimists became more extreme in their enthusiasm for AI and sceptics became even more guarded.
This suggests people use relevant evidence about AI in a biased manner to support their existing
attitudes, a deep-rooted human tendency known as “confirmation bias”. As AI is represented more
and more in media and entertainment, it could lead to a society split between those who benefit from
AI and those who reject it. More pertinently, refusing to accept the advantages offered by AI could
place a large group of people at a serious disadvantage.
E
Fortunately, we already have some ideas about how to improve trust in AI. Simply having previous
experience with AI can significantly improve people’s opinions about the technology, as was found in
the study mentioned above. Evidence also suggests the more you use other technologies such as the
internet, the more you trust them.
Another solution may be to reveal more about the algorithms which AI uses and the purposes they
serve. Several high-profile social media companies and online marketplaces already release
transparency reports about government requests and surveillance disclosures. A similar practice for
AI could help people have a better understanding of the way algorithmic decisions are made.
F
Research suggests that allowing people some control over AI decision-making could also improve
trust and enable AI to learn from human experience. For example, one study showed that when people
were allowed the freedom to slightly modify an algorithm, they felt more satisfied with its decisions,
more likely to believe it was superior and more likely to use it in the future.
We don’t need to understand the intricate inner workings of AI systems, but if people are given a
degree of responsibility for how they are implemented, they will be more willing to accept AI into their
lives.
(Cambridge IELTS Practice Test 16)

Question 1-3

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.

1 What is the writer doing in Section A?

A providing a solution to a concern

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 B justifying an opinion about an issue
C highlighting the existence of a problem
D explaining the reasons for a phenomenon

2 According to Section C, why might some people be reluctant to accept AI?

A They are afraid it will replace humans in decision-making jobs.

B Its complexity makes them feel that they are at a disadvantage.
C They would rather wait for the technology to be tested over a period of time.
D Misunderstandings about how it works make it seem more challenging than it is.

3 What does the writer say about the media in Section C of the text?

A It leads the public to be mistrustful of AI.

B It devotes an excessive amount of attention to AI.
C Its reports of incidents involving AI are often inaccurate.
D It gives the impression that AI failures are due to designer error.

Questions 4-8

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

4 Subjective depictions of AI in sci-fi films make people change their opinions about automation.
5 Portrayals of AI in media and entertainment are likely to become more positive.
6 Rejection of the possibilities of AI may have a negative effect on many people’s lives.
7 Familiarity with AI has very little impact on people’s attitudes to the technology.
8 AI applications which users are able to modify are more likely to gain consumer approval.

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