IELTS test preparation online | IELTS General Reading Test 92

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-6.

Shoe World

A Outdoors
Summer or winter, our Outdoors ranges are the best choice to meet your child’s schooling requirements. Our shoes feature a comfortable inner sole and easy-tie laces. Only occasional cleaning needed. Shoes come in two sizes, $10 and $20 varieties available

B Cool-Clicks
Fashion shoes for children. Open back, great, relaxed summer shoe. Flat-soled, easy to put on and off. One size only, in black or brown – $35.

C The Pace-Setter
Popular thin-soled men’s sports shoe. Double leather surface for greater durability. Trendy and fashionable-half green, half blue with colourful red and yellow stripped laces – $50.

D Jeansia
Ladies footwear as per the design of a Paris-based boutique fashion house. Winner of 2009 Gloria Award. The shiny silver coating makes the Jeansia even more attractive. Adjustable heels in all sires – $75.

E Easy Wear
A favourite among working men and women. A light-weight, comfortable shoe for daily use. The Rexene surface adds to shoe durability. Variety of embossed icons printed on each pair, choose as per your design taste – $35.

F Formal
Men’s formal shoes. Won silver medal in recent EU Summer Fashion Show. Available in white and brown shades. 3-layer sole, all in beautiful leather. Purchase includes a free shoe brush – $85.

G Everyday
Cost-effective, everyday children’s shoe. Available in a variety of cute, vibrant hues. Animal cartoon prints-cows, donkeys, horses and elephants in greys and whites. Durable rubber sole. One extra pair of laces free – $15.

H Sunny
Unisex shoes made of pure Italian leather. Two different styles – Hawaii and Malaya. Comfortable walking shoes, great for around the home. Available in brown only, no cleaning needed. Waterproof and come in two styles – $35 and $45.

I Bosa Nova
Exceptional country style women’s footwear. The Bosa Nova is our only imported shoe. The curved sole actually massages your feet as you walk. Genuine leather upper. Purple-coloured elastic back, a variety of sizes – $95.

J Supreme
Elegant choice for ladies. Thin but durable leather processed using the latest micro-fibre technology. Will look new for years to come. 4 different colours in 2 sizes. Medium heel with see-through, flat sole. Stylish black laces $125

Customers may visit any of our stores and place a personal order. Depending upon stock availability, individual stores periodically offer discounts on particular models. Please note that apart from our discounted shoes, our usual 1-year guarantee applies to all advertised shoes.

Special Festival offer
$20 gift voucher with every purchase over $100. Valid until the first week of January.
Refund policy

There is no money back for goods purchased unless they have defects. Goods sold and unused may be exchanged for other goods of an equivalent price.

Questions 1-6
Look at the advertisements A-J and answer the below questions.

1. Which shoe can be lowered and raised?
2. Which TWO types of casual shoes are sold for children?
3. Which TWO types of shoes are suitable for both men and women?
4. Which shoe is shipped from another country?
5. Which TWO shoes come with additional items at no extra cost?
6. Which TWO types of shoes come in only two different colors?

Read the text below and answer questions 7-14.

CD Summaries

A The driest parts of Canada have a long history of aboriginal people. Among other findings, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of their creativity ancient painting, pottery and stone-made statues of imaginary characters. This CD contains high-resolution images of their creative expression. Some drawings have been reproduced. Extensive photographs and informative texts.

B This CD is a compilation of information regarding Canada’s human populations. In-depth information about population size, growth, density, and distribution are covered. Statistics and graphs presented which bring the information to life. Migration trends in Canada are also a focus. A publication for beginners and experts alike.

C A manual on Canada’s woods and jungles. Satellite images as well as illustrations. Full of useful data. The origins, development and future of landscape trends are discussed. Several case studies on the natural resources in jungles and the impact of industrialisation upon them.

D Contains a detailed list of Canada’s retailers from several industries – souvenirs, fashion, toys, electronics to name a few. A must-have for tourists. Addresses, phone numbers and opening hours are all provided. Relevant internet sites are also easy to access. A world of information is just a click away!

E If you are a person who thinks that crossing hilly areas on two wheels is the ultimate in excitement then this CD is for you! Contains detailed routes through the slopes of Canada Full of relevant and useful tips, including how to handle varying weather conditions. Additional information on camping and crisis management also included.

F Full of authentic Canadian recipes. Lunch, dinner, snacks, ice-creams, desserts and lots more. Select, specialty dishes with some drink preparation tips also included. Some video footage from Canada’s top cook shows. Possible purchase locations for some of the rare cooking Ingredients, especially spices and natural herbs, are provided

G Graphics illustrators have worked with entomologists to give us an idea how these small creatures reproduce and have survived for thousands of years. Their contribution to soil protection is discussed. Pest control and its pros and cons are drawn from articles published by the National University of Canada.

H Focuses on outdoor safety including infections and self-medications, safety equipment, food, living arrangements and other wildlife skills. Weather changes and ways to cope with them are discussed in detail.

A photo gallery featuring a selection of picturesque, natural Canadian scenery is included free with every CD.

Questions 7-14
The text has 8 paragraphs A-H. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

i Canada’s forests
ii Mountain biking: routes in Canada
iii Canada shopping guide
iv Foods: prepared a Canadian dish
v Insects of Canada: visualisation and illustration
vi Private property: Canada buying guide
vii Canadian demography
viii 4-wheel driving: Canada’s challenge
ix Canadian desert art
x Survival in Canada’s art
xi Canadian wildlife cycles
xii Food for thought: philosophy and Canadian society

7. Paragraph A
8. Paragraph B
9. Paragraph C
10. Paragraph D
11. Paragraph E
12. Paragraph F
13. Paragraph G
14. Paragraph H

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-20.

Mountain biking, Canada is calling!

At Zenith Biking we have been exceeding mountain bikers’ expectations since our founding in 1988 in Ottawa, Canada. Over the years we have expanded our operations to cover other Canadian cities including Montreal and Toronto, Currently, with a base of over 100 experienced staff, we are your first choice for mountain biking!

For the past five years our international network, comprising offices in four continents, has been organising Canadian mountain biking adventures for bikers around the world. Annually, an average of 3000 clients enjoy an unforgettable biking experience throughout Canada. Should you be interested in extending your adventure to other countries, our extensive Inter-country Zenith Network can organise additional connections for you. Obtaining a visa for entry into some countries can be a time-consuming and frustrating process however at Zenith, our experienced team will assist you in obtaining your visa least amount of time.

At Zenith we have our own accommodation facilities for bikers, in Ottawa and Toronto. Accommodation fees are reasonable and depend on the size and the location of the room chosen. The most economical option is our 8-bed dorms.

Summer Experience 2012:
Fees for this adventure include:
• Return air ticket from London to Toronto (excluding onward travel in Canada)
• Biker’s kit (consisting of apparel, headgear and energy food)
• Direct transfer to Meet & Greet camp from airport
• Bikers workshop for beginners to advanced by our experience staff
• Extensive directory of Canadian Hills and Mountains
• Zenith biking 24-hour help and support phone service
• 24-hour emergency medical assistance

Eligibility:
Participants must:
• Be at least 18 years old
• Be in excellent physical condition
• Have at least a basic level of mountain biking competence
• Be excited about the experience of a lifetime

Join the Zenith Bikers Forum (ZBF)
Once you book with us for any biking experience, you will automatically become a member of the Zenith Bikers’ Forum (ZBF). Based on the many requests we received from our clients we formally launched the ZBF 3 years ago. On the ZBF you can ask and have answered any biking-related questions you may have. Our website also has a chat room. You are encouraged to submit your ideas, questions and suggestions and they will be quickly answered by past clients and staff.

Questions 15-20
Complete the notes below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER from the text.

Zenith Biking began in 1988 in the city of Ottawa and provides biking adventures in several (15)…………….

Experienced Zenith staff provide assistance for bikers worldwide via an (16)……………….Not all of Zenith’s 3000 annual clients mountain bike in Canada – the Inter-country Zenith Network can organise connections to (17)……………

In Ottawa and Toronto, Zenith Accommodation is available and room rates are based on (18)…………..The Summer Experience 2012 offers several exciting options including air ticket, transport and 24-hour emergency service.

The Zenith Bikers’ Forum began (19)……………….and helps paying customers by answering all biking-related questions. Customers can also find answers to their questions in the (20)……………

Read the text below and answer questions 21-27.

Classified Ads – A useful job seeking resource

In their search for employment, increasing numbers of job seekers are once again turning to the help-wanted classified ads in their local newspapers. For some time this popular resource slumped as the heavily trafficked internet job sites became widely regarded as offering greater numbers of employment opportunities. In many cases, this is a valid assumption. A local newspaper focuses on positions vacant in a specific town or region, whereas the online job site will typically contain advertisements for the whole country and possibly even overseas.

If you are seeking work in your neighborhood, and do not wish to drive a long distance or move, the local, classified ads in your newspaper may be a viable option. Recent canvassing has revealed that some local and regional employers don’t always post their position vacant ads on the major websites. Many prefer to advertise closer to home and to hire locally in order to avoid having to pay relocation costs.

Often it is not necessary to purchase the newspapers, as these publications are widely available in libraries, coffee shops and even some waiting rooms. In addition, online newspaper editions, which contain the help-wanted ads, are now widely available and have contributed to the popularity of this form of advertising. These ads are usually searchable by date, category, keyword and location, making them competitive with the larger career and employment agencies found on the Internet.

Whether you apply for a job through a large, on-line employment agency or via a classified ad in a newspaper the same strategy is valid. First of all, read the ad carefully and do your best to answer the following questions:
• Am I the type of person the employer is looking for – do I have the essential skills and experience?
• With whom would I be working – a group of people, one person or would I work independently?
• What other talents and experience can include in my application?
• What opportunities and experiences might be available in this position that would be advantageous to my career?
• Do I have the skills to negotiate the challenges and problems of the position? (For example: working with much older employees or a woman working in an office full of men.)

Importantly, try to find a way to stand out from the other applicants. Remember, whether you are responding to a positions vacant advertisement from an internet agency or a newspaper, your goal is to secure the interview before you stand a chance of being hired for the job.

Questions 21 – 27
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the text
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information in the text
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the text.

21. Classified ads have become more popular due to increases in unemployment.
22. On-line job sites list more vacancies than job sites in newspapers.
23. Internet job sites are recommended for local employment positions,
24. To avoid paying for moving expenses, employers advertise locally.
25. Compared with jobs online, jobs in newspapers require a slightly different approach.
26. An application should mention additional relevant work experience.
27. When answering a positions vacant ad, the first aim is to be hired.

Section 3

Passage 3

Issued by the Bank of New South Wales in 1816, Police Fund Notes were one of the first official notes in Australia and were well circulated throughout the 19th century. Their use continued up until 1910, round which time the Federal Government became responsible for issuing monitoring and controlling all currencies that were used throughout the country. Once the Australian Notes Act was passed in 1910, it took three years for the Federal Government to issue the first series of Australian notes. The Government followed the British Imperial system where twelve pence made a shiling and twenty shilings made a pound. The same Act also stopped different states and their banks from issuing and circulating their own notes. The status of ‘State notes’ as legal tender ceased from that time resulting in the Commonwealth Treasury having full responsibility and control over issuing notes. In 1920 however, control was transferred to a Board of Directors directly appointed by the Commonwealth Government.

By the end of 1924, a number of changes took place regarding the control of note-issuing, the most significant being the replacement of the Commonwealth Government Board of Directors by the Commonwealth Bank Board of Directors. Gradually, the Commonwealth Bank became the sole authority to issue Australian notes. This authority was formalised in 1945 by the Commonwealth Bank Act. In 1960, control was passed to another authority, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which took over the responsibility of central banking and the issuing of notes. In 1966 the RBA converted its currency from the Imperial system to decimal currency and named its standard currency the dollar

In the 1970’s Australia experienced rapid growth in its economy and population. This growth meant that more currency would need to be printed so the RBA began the construction of a new note printing complex in Melbourne. In 1981, the first batch of notes was printed in the new complex by the printing branch of the RBA which, in 1910, was officially named Note Printing Australie. In addition to larger scale note printing, the RBA also concentrated on developing technologically advanced and complex note printing mechanisms to guard against counterfeiting. As a result of joint efforts by the RBA and the Commonwealth Scientific and industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), revolutionary polymer notes were invented.

Featuring exclusively a pictorial theme of settlement incorporating elements of Aboriginal culture, commemorative $10 polymer notes were introduced in 1988 as part of Australia’s bicentennial celebrations

The basic idea of developing polymer notes originated from an experiment where the RBA attempted to insert an Optically variable Device (OVD) in the notes so that counterfeiters could not copy them. Over the years, a process has evolved in the production of polymer note printing which involves several steps. Initially, blank sheets are made out of a special kind of surface material called Bioxically Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) – a non-fibrous and non-porous polymer used as an alternative to paper in note printing that has a distinctive feel when touched. Usually, a technique called Opocifying is then used to apply ink to each side of the sheet through a die-cut that has a sealed space in it for the OVD – no ink is placed in this area, it remains transparent. The sheet is then ready for Intaglio Printing, a kind of printing which sets the ink in an embossed form raising the printed elements – text, image, lines and other complicated shapes. The process then prints a see through registration device by matching the images on both sides, dot by dot. If the images on both sides do not align perfectly then the see-through device will not show any printing on it once the note is held up to a light source. As a special security feature, Shadow Image Creation technique is then used by applying Optically variable Ink (OVI) which allows the print on the reverse side to be also seen. All the notes then undergo a safety and functionality test where they are placed in front of a light source to check manually whether or not the reverse side can be seen. If the notes pass the test, it is assumed that the process has been successful.

The process then moves to Micro Printing, which is the printing of text so small that it can only be read with a magnifying glass. The second last phase of the process is Florescence Printing where some texts are printed in such a way that is only visible when viewed under ultraviolet (UV) light. The authenticity of a polymer note can be quickly established by holding it up to a UV light source – if some texts glow under the UV light then the note is authentic. The last phase of the process is called varnishing, which is the over-coating of notes with a chemical that consists of drying oil, resin and thinner. This final phase makes the surfaces of the notes glossy and more durable.

Despite significant developments of technology and control some people argue that the life of polymer notes as currency in Australia will come to an end due to the widespread usage of electronic fund transfer cards. Whether this will come to pass remains to be seen. One thing, however, seems certain innovation of currency notes in Australia will continue into the foreseeable future Computer-based systems used to perform financial transactions electronically without physically exchanging notes or coins.

Questions 28-34
Complete the flow chart below with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text.

• Polymer notes production process instead of (28)………………..a plastic polymer called BOPP is produced
• (29)……………..is applied to the BOPP
• A special area of the (30)………………is left clear for (31)…………….
• (32)………………raises the printed element on the BOPP
• Images on both sides are matched
• Security and functionality are assessed by putting notes next to a (33)…………….
• (34)………………..makes the polymer note shiny and longer-lasting

Questions 35-39
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

35. Police Fund Notes were the first and only notes used in Australia
36. The first notes issued by the Bank of New South Wales followed the British Imperial System
37. The first series of Australian notes were released in 1910.
38. The construction of the note printing complex in Melbourne was due to economic progress in Australia
39. Illustrations on the first Australian polymer note featured Australia’s bicentenary.

Question 40
Choose the correct option, A-E.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for this reading passage?
A Early Australian money
B The economy of Australia
C New polymer notes for Australia
D Changes in Australian money
E The future of Australian money

Show answers

1. D
2. B, G
3. E, H
4. I
5. F, G
6. B, F
7. ix
8. vii
9. i
10. iii
11. ii
12. iv
13. v
14. x
15. Canadian cities
16. International network
17. Other countries
18. Size and location
19. 3 years ago
20. Chat room
21. NG
22. True
23. False
24. True
25. False
26. True
27. False
28. Paper
29. Ink
30. Sheet/ BOPP
31. OVD
32. Intaglio printing
33. Light source
34. Varnishing
35. False
36. NG
37. False
38. True
39. False
40. D