Succeed in IELTS Volume 9

Reading Practice Test 2

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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage
One.

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WEATHERING IN THE DESERT
A

In the deserts, as elsewhere, rocks at the earth's surface are changed by weathering, which
may be de ned as the disintegration of rocks where they lie. Weathering processes are either
chemical, when alteration of some of the constituent particles is involved; or mechanical, when
there is merely the physical breaking apart and fragmentation of rocks. Which process will
dominate depends primarily on the mineralogy and texture of the rock and the local climate, but
several individual processes usually work together to the common end of rock disintegration.

The great daily changes in temperature of deserts have long been supposed to be responsible
for the disintegration of rocks, either by the differential heating of the various rock-forming
minerals or by differential heating between the outer and inner parts of rock masses. However,
both eld observations and laboratory experiments have led to a reassessment of the
importance of ’ exposure to the sun's rays in desert weathering. Almost half a century
ago Barton remarked that the buried parts of some of the ancient monuments in Egypt were
more weathered than were those parts fully exposed to the sun's rays, and attributed this to
the effects of water absorption below the ground surface. Laboratory experiments have shown
that rocks subjected to many cycles of large temperature oscillations (larger than those
experienced in nature) display no evidence of ssuring or fragmentation, as a result. However,
when marked uctuations of temperature occur in moist conditions small rock
fragments quickly form.

The expansive action of crystallising salts is often alleged to exert suf cient force to
disintegrate rocks. Few would dispute that this mechanism is capable of disrupting ssile or
well-cleaved rocks or rocks already weakened by other weathering agencies; wood
is splintered, terracotta tiles disintegrated and clays disturbed by the mechanism, but its
importance when acting upon fresh and cohesive crystalline rocks remains uncertain.

Weathering achieves more than the disintegration of rocks, though this is its most important
geomorphic effect. It causes speci c landforms to develop. Many boulders possess a
super cial hard layer of iron oxide and/or silica, substances which have migrated in solution
from the inside of the block towards the surface. Not only is the exterior thus case-hardened
but the depleted interior disintegrates easily. When weathering penetrates the shell the inside
is rapidly attacked and only the hard outer layer remains to give hollowed or 'tortoiseshell'
rocks.

E
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Another super cial layer, the precise nature of which is little understood, is the well-known
desert varnish or patina, a shiny coat on the surface of rocks and pebbles and characteristic of
arid environments. Some varnishes are colourless, others light brown, yet others so dark a
brown as to be virtually black. It's origin is unknown but is signi cant, for it has been
suggested that the varnish grows darker with the passage of time; obviously before such a
criterion could be used with con dence as a chronological tool its origin must be known with
precision. Its formation is so slow that in Egypt, for example, it has been estimated that a light
brown coating requires between 2,000 and 5,000 years to develop, a fully formed blackish
veneer between 20,000 and 50,000 years.

The development of relatively impermeable soil horizons that are subsequently exposed at the
surface because of erosion of once overlying, easily eroded materials, and which thus become
surface crusts, is widespread in arid regions, although it is also known outside the deserts, and
indeed many of the examples in arid lands probably originated in former periods of
humid climate. The crusts prevent the waters of occasional torrential downpours
from penetrating deeply into the soil, and thus they contribute to the rapid run-off associated
with desert storms. Also, after erosion has cut through the crust and exposed underlying soil
layers, the hard layer forms a resistant capping (duricrust) on plateaux and mesas, such as are
common in many parts of arid and semi-arid Australia.

Some duricrust layers have been used as time markers for landforms and geological formations.
The necessary conditions for this are that the crust forms fairly rapidly, and that it is suf ciently
distinct in appearance to preclude the possibility of confusion with other crusts formed at other
times. The Barrilaco calcrete of Mexico for instance is believed to date from about 7,000 B.C.
The main silcrete of the northern districts of South Australia is believed to date from the Lower
Miocene, the laterite of northern Australia to be of the Lower or Middle Miocene age.

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven sections, A-G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the appropriate letter, A-G, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

1 the idea that crystalline salts may not disintegrate solid rock as
easily as other substances

2 the fact that daily temperature changes cause rocks to weather

may not be as important as supposed

3 the regions where weathering creates a thick layer of earth that

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water cannot penetrate easily

4 the fact that weathering not only breaks down rocks, but also
shapes the landscape

5 the idea of using impenetrable layers of earth to measure

chronology

6 the two different kinds of weathering in rocks

7 the possibility of using the colour of the shiny surface on rocks to

measure chronology

Questions 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage
1?

In boxes 8-13 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

8 Desert rocks can become weathered when there is a chemical

reaction within the rock.

9 The parts of Egyptian monuments exposed to sunlight were

found to be affected by the weather more than those below the ground.

10
Granite which has been subjected to huge temperature swings
tends not to exhibit any signs of disintegration as a result.

11
It is estimated that dark patina originated between 2,000 and
5,000 years ago.

12
Because of surface crusts, water from torrential rains cannot
be fully absorbed into the ground and as a result causes run offs in arid regions.

13
Duricrust layering is no longer used as an indicator of time
because of the confusion with similar crusts.

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Reading Passage 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage
Two.

FASHION AND SOCIETY: A HISTORICAL

PERSPECTIVE
In all societies the body is 'dressed', and everywhere dress and adornment play symbolic and
aesthetic roles. The colour of clothing often has special meaning: a white wedding dress
symbolising purity; or black clothing indicating remembrance for a dead relative. Uniforms
symbolise association with a particular profession. For many centuries purple, the colour
representing royalty, was to be worn by no one else. And of course, dress has always been
used to emphasise the wearer's beauty, although beauty has taken many different forms in
different societies. In the 16th century in Europe, for example, Flemish painters celebrated
women with bony shoulders, protruding stomachs and long faces, while women shaved or
plucked their hairlines to obtain the fashionable egg-domed forehead. These traits are
considered ugly by today's fashion.

The earliest forms of 'clothing' seem to have been adornments such as body painting,
ornaments, scari cations (scarring), tattooing, masks and often constricting neck and waist
bands. Many of these deformed, reformed or otherwise modi ed the body. The bodies of men
and of children, not just those of women, were altered: there seems to be a widespread human
desire to transcend the body's limitations, to make it what it is, by nature, not.

Dress in general seems then to ful l a number of social functions. This is true of modern as of
ancient dress. What is added to dress as we ourselves know it in the west is fashion, of which
the key feature is rapid and continual changing of styles. The growth of the European city in the
14th century saw the birth of fashion. Previously, loose robes had been worn by both sexes,
and styles were simple and unchanging. Dress distinguished rich from poor, rulers from
ruled, only in that working people wore more wool and no silk, rougher materials and less
ornamentation than their masters.

However, by the 14th century, with the expansion in trade, the growth of city life, and the
increasing sophistication of the royal and aristocratic courts, rapidly changing styles appeared
in western Europe. These were associated with developments in tailored and tted clothing;
once clothing became fitted, it was possible to change the styling of garments almost endlessly.

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By the 15th and 16th centuries it began to seem shameful to wear outdated clothing. So those
who could afford to do so began discarding unfashionable clothing simply because it was not in
style. Cloth, which was enormously expensive, was literally, and symbolised, wealth
in medieval society.

In modern western societies there is no form of clothing which has not felt the impact of
fashion: fashion sets the terms of all dress behaviour. Even uniforms have been designed by
some of the top fashion houses; even the dress code in the workplace has shifted from formal,
business attire to the more relaxed, smart casual look; even the less af uent enjoy haute
couture - they wear cheaper versions of the top designs and top labels.

Even the unfashionable wear clothes that represent a reaction against what is in fashion. To be
unfashionable is not to ignore fashion; it is rather to protest against the social values of
the fashionable. Last century the hippies of the 1960s created a unique appearance out of an
assortment of secondhand clothes, craft work and army surplus, as a protest against the
wastefulness of the consumer society. They rejected the way mass production
ignored individuality, and also the wastefulness of luxury.

Looked at in historical perspective, the styles of fashion display a mad relativism. At one time
the rich wear cloth of gold embroidered with pearls, at another beige cashmere and grey
suiting. In one epoch men parade in elaborately curled hair, high heels and rouge, at another to
do so is to court outcast status and physical abuse. It is in some sense inherently ironic that a
new fashion starts from rejection of the old and often an eager embracing of what
was previously considered ugly. A case in point is the outlandish, fashion statement made by
the non-conforming, rebellious youth of today who have tattoos, metal studs and body
piercings. They de ed mainstream fashion only to see their de ance become the fashion of the
day in the broader community. Moreover, having once de ned style in centuries past, these
adornments have now come full circle.

Despite its apparent irrationality, fashion cements social solidarity and imposes group norms. It
forces us to recognise that the human body is not only a biological entity, but an organism in
culture. To dress the way that others do is to signal that we share many of their morals and
values. Conversely, deviations in dress are usually considered shocking and disturbing. In
western countries a man wearing a pink suit to a job interview would not be considered for
a position at a bank. He would not be taken seriously. Likewise, even in these 'liberated' times,
a man in a skirt in many western cultures causes considerable anxiety, hostility or laughter.

However, while fashion in every age is normative, there is still room for clothing to express
individual taste. In any period, within the range of stylish clothing, there is some choice of
colour, fabric and style. This was even more true last century, because in the 20th century,
fashion, without losing its obsession with the new and the different, was mass produced.
Originally, fashion was largely for the rich, but since the industrial period the mass production
of fashionably styled clothes has made possible the use of fashion as a means of self-
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enhancement and self-expression for the majority.

Questions 14-19
Complete the table below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

Period Clothing Behaviour Types of Clothing

earliest times wearing 14 body painting, tattooing, masks

pre- 15 simple, unchanging styles 16

14th century 17 18

15th-16th centuries 19 use of doth

Questions 20-23
Complete each sentence with the appropriate ending, A-J, below.

Write the appropriate letter, A-J, in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.

20
The styling of apparel

21
Wearing outdated clothing

22
The impact of fashion

23
Mass production of fashionable clothing

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 A allowed the less affluent to buy styled clothes.

B was fell by top designers seeing fake, less expensive designer clothing on the market.

C was made possible with the development of tailored and fitted clothing.

D gave the individual a means of self-expression.

E caused anxiety and hostility in western cultures.

F was made possible with the increase in sophistication of the royal courts.

G was seen as something shameful in earlier times.

H had little effect on nonconforming youth.

I distinguished the rich from the poor in earlier times.

J was felt in the workforce with the change to informal wear.

Questions 24-26
Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write
your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

A kind of adornment worn by defiant young people these days besides body
piercings and metal studs

24

What was a symbol of wealth in medieval times?

25

Name ONE group of people who protested against the social values of the
fashionable.

26

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Reading Passage 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage
Three.

MASS PRODUCTION
Car manufacturer Henry Ford s 1908 Model T automobile was his twentieth design over a
ve-year period that began with the production of the original Model A in 1903. With his
Model T, Ford nally achieved two objectives. He had a car that was designed for manufacture,
and one that was easily operated and maintained by the owner. These two achievements laid
the groundwork for the revolutionary change in direction for the entire motor vehicle industry.

The key to mass production wasn’t the moving, or continuous, assembly line. Rather, it was the
complete and consistent interchangeability of parts and the simplicity of attaching them to each
other. These were the manufacturing innovations that made the assembly line possible.
To achieve interchangeability, Ford insisted that the same gauging system be used for every
part all the way through the entire manufacturing process. Previously, each part had been
made to a slightly different gauge, so skilled tters had to le each part individually to t onto
the other parts of the car. Ford's insistence on working to gauge throughout was driven by his
realisation of the payoff he would get in the form of savings on assembly costs. Ford also
bene ted from recent advances in machine tools able to work on pre-hardened metals. The
warping or distortion that occurred as machined parts were being hardened had been the bane
of previous attempts to standardise parts. Once the warping problem was solved, Ford was
able to develop innovative designs that reduced the number of parts needed and made these
parts easy to attach. For example, Ford's four-cylinder engine block consisted of a single,
complex casting. Competitors cast each cylinder separately and bolted the four together. Taken
together, interchangeability, simplicity, and ease of attachment gave Ford tremendous
advantages over his competition.

Ford's first efforts to assemble his cars, beginning in 1903, involved setting up assembly stands
on which a whole car was built, often by one tter. In 1908, on the eve of the introduction of
the Model T, a Ford assembler's average task cycle, that is the amount of time he
worked before repeating the same operations, totalled 514 minutes, or 8.56 hours. Each
worker would assemble a large part of a car before moving on to the next. For example, a
worker might put all the mechanical parts, such as wheels, springs, motor, transmission and
generator, on the chassis (body), a set of activities that took a whole day to complete. The

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assembler/fitters performed the same set of activities over and over at their stationary assembly
stands. They had to get the necessary parts, le them down so they would t (Ford hadn't yet
achieved perfect interchangeability of parts), then bolt them in place.

The rst step Ford took to make this process more ef cient was to deliver the parts to each
workstation. Now the assemblers could

remain at the same spot all day. Later in 1908, when Ford nally achieved perfect part
interchangeability, he decided that the assembler would perform only a single task and move
from vehicle to vehicle around the assembly hall. By August of 1913, just before the moving
assembly line was introduced, the task cycle for the average Ford assembler had been reduced
from 514 to 2.3 minutes. Naturally, this reduction spurred a remarkable increase in productivity,
partly because complete familiarity with a single task meant the worker could perform it faster,
but also because all ling and adjusting of parts had by now been eliminated. Workers simply
popped on parts that fitted every time.

Ford soon recognised the problem with moving the worker from assembly stand to assembly
stand: walking, even if only for a yard or two, took time, and jam-ups frequently resulted as
faster workers overtook the slower workers in front of them. Ford's stroke of genius in the
spring of 1913, at his new Highland Park plant in Detroit, was the introduction of the moving
assembly line, which brought the car past the stationary worker. This innovation cut cycle time
from 2.3 minutes to 1.19 minutes; the difference lay in the time saved in the worker's standing
still rather than walking and in the faster work pace which the moving line could enforce. The
moving assembly sped up production so dramatically that the savings Ford could realise
from reducing the inventory of parts waiting to be assembled far exceeded this trivial outlay.

Even more striking, Ford's discovery simultaneously reduced the amount of human effort
needed to assemble an automobile. What’s more, the more vehicles Ford produced, the more
the cost per vehicle fell. Even when it was introduced in 1908, Ford's Model T, with its fully
interchangeable parts, cost less than its rivals. By the time Ford reached peak production
volume of 2 million identical vehicles a year in the early 1920s, he had cut the real cost to the
consumer by an additional two-thirds.

To appeal to his target market of average consumers, Ford had also designed unprecedented
ease of operation and maintainability into his car. He assumed that his buyer would be a farmer
with a modest tool kit and the kinds of mechanical skills needed for xing farm machinery. So
the Model T's owner's manual explained in 64 pages how the owner could use simple tools to
solve any of the 140 problems likely to occur with the car.

Ford's competitors were as amazed by this designed-in repairability as by the moving assembly
line. This combination of competitive advantages catapulted Ford to the head of the world's
motor industry and virtually eliminated craft-production companies unable to match its
manufacturing economies.

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Questions 27-32
Complete the flow chart below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write
your answers in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY

• Manufacturing innovations gave Ford a huge advantage over the 27

ASSEMBLING THE CAR

• Assembly stands set up

• 28 Performed repeatedly.

MAKING THE PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT

• Parts delivered to 29

• Fitter remained stationary all day.

ACHIEVING PERFECT 30

• Fittercarried out a single task only.

• Assembler moved around the hall from car to car.

• Reduction in the 31 increased productivity.

INTRODUCING THE MOVING ASSEMBLY LINE

• Vehicle moved from one workstation to the next

• Increase in 32 implemented because of the stationary assembler.

Questions 33-37
According to the passage, classify the following characteristics of mass production
as relating to

A an advantage

B a disadvantage

C neither an advantage nor a disadvantage

Write the correct letter, A, B or C, in boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet.

33
shaping each part to fit individually with all other parts

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34
having a single, complex casting for the four-cylinder engine
block

35
designing 20 Ford automobiles within a five-year period

36
hardening of machined parts for standardisation

37
using identical gauges for each part throughout the production

Questions 38-40
Choose the appropriate letter, A, B, C or D,

Write the appropriate letter in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

38 Which graph best describes the change in task time resulting from workers
performing a single task only?

A Graph A

B Graph B

C Graph C
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 D Graph D

39 Which graph best describes the cost of building a moving assembly line in
comparison to the money saved?

A Graph A

B Graph B

C Graph C

D Graph D

40 Which graph best describes the relationship between the number of vehicles
produced and the cost of the vehicles?

A Graph A

B Graph B

C Graph C

D Graph D

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 Solution:

27 competition 28 (Set of) activities

29 (each) workstation 30 PART INTERCHANGEABILITY

31 task cycle 32 work pace

33 B 34 A

35 C 36 B

37 A 38 C

39 A 40 C

1 C 2 B

3 F 4 D

5 G 6 A

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 7 E 8 TRUE

9 FALSE 10 NOT GIVEN

11 FALSE 12 TRUE

13 NOT GIVEN 14 adornments

15 14th century 16 loose robes

17 rapidly changing styles 18 tailored and fitted/tailored, fitted

clothing

19 discarding unfashionable clothing 20 C

21 G 22 J

23 D 24 tattoos

25 cloth 26 hippies

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