PASSAGE 1: ATTITUDES TO LANGUAGE

QUESTIONS 1-8: DO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AGREE WITH THE CLAIMS OF THE WRITER IN READING PASSAGE 1 ?

1. THERE ARE UNDERSTANDABLE REASONS WHY ARGUMENTS OCCUR ABOUT LANGUAGE.

Keywords: understandable reasons, arguments, language
In the first paragraph, the writer argues that “It is not easy to be systematic and objective about language   study.   Popular   linguistic   debate   regularly   deteriorates   into   invective   and   polemic. Language belongs to  everyone, so  most people  feel  they have a right  to hold  an  opinion  about it. And when opinions differ, emotions can run high.” The writer lists some understandable reasons for why arguments occur about language.
–     understandable ~ not easy to be systematic and objective about language.
=>ANSWER: YES

2. PEOPLE FEEL MORE STRONGLY ABOUT LANGUAGE EDUCATION THAN ABOUT SMALL DIFFERENCE IN LANGUAGE USAGE.

Keywords: more strongly, language education, small difference
At  the  end  of  paragraph  1,  the  writer  indicates  that  “Arguments  can  start  as  easily  over  minor points of usage as over major policies of linguistic education.” This means that people feel strongly in both minor points of usage and major policies of linguistic education.
–     language (n)=linguistic (a)
–     small=minor
=>ANSWER: NO

3. OUR ASSESSMENT OF A PERSON’S INTELLIGENCE IS AFFECTED BY THE WAY HE OR SHE USES LANGUAGE.

Keywords: assessment, affected, uses language
In  paragraph  2,  the  writer  says  that  “linguistic  factors  influence  how  we  judge  personality, intelligence,  social  status,  educational  standards,  job  aptitude,  and  many  other  areas  of  identity  and social survival.”   Therefore, how a person uses language is one of the ways which affects the way we judge that person in terms of intelligence and other factors.
–     our assessment of a person‟s intelligence= how we judge intelligence
–     affect=influence
=>ANSWER: YES

4. PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR BOOKS COST A LOT OF MONEY TO BUY IN THE 18TH   CENTURY.

Keywords: grammar books, cost a lot, 18th   century
The 18th   century is mentioned in paragraphs 4 and 5.  However, in this passage, the writer does not mention  whether prescriptive grammar books  cost  a lot  of money to  buy in  the 18th    century.  So,  the
statement is NOT GIVEN.
=>ANSWER: NOT GIVEN

5. PRESCRIPTIVISM STILL EXISTS TODAY.

Keyword: Prescriptivism
In  paragraph  4,  the  writer  says  that  “All  the  main  languages  have  been  studied  prescriptively, especially in the 18    century approach to the writing of grammars and dictionaries…Some usages are “prescribed”, to be learnt and followed accurately; others are „proscribed‟, to be avoided. In this early period,  there  were  no  half-measures:  usage  was  either  right  or  wrong,  and  it  was  the  task  of  the grammarian not simply to record alternatives, but to pronounce judgment upon them.
Then,  in  paragraph  5,  the  writer  says  that  “These  attitudes  are  still  with  us…”  This  means  that prescriptivism still exists today
–     still exists=are still with us
=>ANSWER: YES

6. ACCORDING TO DESCRIPTIVISTS, IT IS POINTLESS TO TRY TO STOP LANGUAGE CHANGE.

Keywords: stop language change
In paragraph 5, the writer indicates that “This approach is summarised in the statement that it is the task of the grammarian to describe, not prescribe – to record the facts of linguistic diversity, and not to attempt the impossible tasks of evaluating language variation or halting language change.”
–     it is pointless to try = attempt the impossible tasks
–     stop=halt
=>ANSWER: YES

7. DESCRIPTIVISM ONLY APPEARED AFTER THE 18TH   CENTURY.

Keyword: Descriptivism
In paragraph 5, the writer says that “This approach is summarised in the statement that it is the task of  the  grammarian  to  describe,  not  prescribe  –  to  record  the  facts  of  linguistic  diversity,  and  not  to attempt  the  impossible  tasks  of  evaluating  language  variation  or  halting  language  change.  In  the second  half  of  the  18th   century,  we  already  find  advocates  of  this  view,  such  as  Joseph  Priestley, whose Rudiments of English Grammar (1761) insists that „the custom of speaking is the original and only just standard of any language”
=>ANSWER: NO

8. BOTH DESCRIPTIVISTS AND PRESCRIPTIVISTS HAVE BEEN MISREPRESENTED.

Keywords: misrepresented
In the last paragraph, the writer argues that “In our own time, the opposition between descriptivists and prescriptivists has often become extreme, with both sides painting unreal pictures of the other.”
–     misrepresented= painting unreal pictures of the other
=>ANSWER: YES

QUESTIONS 9-12: COMPLETE THE SUMMARY USING THE LIST OF WORDS, A-I, BELOW.

9-12. THE LANGUAGE DEBATE

According to 9….., there is only one correct form of language. Linguists who take this approach to language place great importance on grammatical 10…..Conversely, the view of 11…., such as Joseph Priestly, is that grammar should be based on 12…..

9. ACCORDING TO….., THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT FORM OF LANGUAGE.

Keywords: one correct form of language
In paragraph 3, “prescriptivism is the view that one variety of language has an inherently higher value than others, and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community.”
=>ANSWER: H (prescriptivists)

10. LINGUISTS WHO TAKE THIS APPROACH TO LANGUAGE PLACE GREAT IMPORTANCE ON GRAMMATICAL…..

Keywords: great importance in grammatical
In paragraph 4, the writer says that “All the main languages have been studied prescriptively, especially   in   the   18th century   approach   to   the   writings   of   grammars   and   dictionaries….The authoritarian nature of the approach is best characterised by its reliance on „rules‟ of grammar.”
=>ANSWER: F (rules)

11-12.  CONVERSELY,  THE  VIEW  OF  11….,  SUCH  AS  JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY,  IS  THAT  GRAMMAR  SHOULD  BE  BASED  ON 12…..

Keywords: view of, grammar, based on
In  paragraph  5,  the  writer  says  that  “Nevertheless,  there  is  an  alternative  point  of  view  that  is concernedless  with  standards  than  the  facts  of  linguistic  usage.  This  approach  is  summarised  in  the statement  that  it  is  the  task  of  the  grammarian  to  describe,  not  prescribe  –  to  record  the  facts  of linguistic diversity, and not to attempt the impossible tasks of evaluating language variation or halting language change. In the second half of the 18th century, we already find advocates of this view, such as  Joseph  Priestley,  whose  Rudiments  of  English  Grammar  (1761)  insists  that  „the  custom  of speaking is the original and only just standard of any language.”
–     conversely=nevertheless
–     popular speech= the custom of speaking
=>ANSWER:      11. A (descriptivists)
12. C (popular speech)

QUESTIONS 13: CHOOSE THE CORRECT LETTER, A, B, C OR D.

13. WHAT IS THE WRITER’S PURPOSE IN READING PASSAGE 1?

A. to argue in favour of a particular approach to writing dictionaries and grammar books
B. to present a historical account of differing views of language.
C. to describe the differences between spoken and written language.
D. to show how a certain view of language has been discredited

In   this   passage,   the   writer   provides   some   views   of   language.   The   very   first   one   is prescriptivism  which  is  the  view  that  one  variety  of  language  has  an  inherently  higher  value  than others, and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. Next is descriptivism which is summarised in the statement that it is the task of the grammarian to describe, not prescribe – to  record  the  facts  of  linguistic  diversity,  and  not  to  attempt  the  impossible  tasks  of  evaluating language variation or halting language change. So, the writer‟s purpose in this passage is to present a historical account of differing views of language.
=>ANSWER: B

CAMBRIDGE IELTS 9 – TEST 3 – PASSAGE 1 KEYWORDS TABLE

PASSAGE 2: TIDAL POWER

QUESTIONS 14-17: READING PASSAGE 2 HAS SIX PARAGRAPHS, A-F. WHICH PARAGRAPH CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION?

14. THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST TEST SITE

Keywords: first test site
In paragraph C, the writer says that “The first station is expected to be installed off Lynmouth in Devon  shortly  to  test  the  technology  in  a  venture  jointly  funded  by  the  department  of  Trade  and Industry and the European Union.”
–     site=station
=>ANSWER: C

15. THE WAY OF BRINGING THE POWER PRODUCED ON ONE SITE BACK INTO BRITAIN.

Keywords: bringing power, back, Britain
In paragraph E, the writer argues that “Dr Bahaj has done most work on the Alderney site, where there  are  powerful  currents.  The  single  undersea  turbine  farm  would  produce  far  more  power  than needed for the Channel Islands and most would be fed into the French Grid and be re-imported into Britain via the cable under the Channel.”
–     bring back=re-import
=>ANSWER: E

16. A REFERENCE TO A PREVIOUS ATTEMPT BY BRITAIN TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY

Keywords: attempt, Britain, an alternative source of energy
In   paragraph   A,   the   writer   indicates   that   “Unlike   wind   power,   which   Britain   originally developed  and  then  abandoned  for  20  years  allowing  the  Dutch  to  make  it  a  major  industry, undersea turbines could become a big export earner to island nations such as Japan and New Zealand”. So, the British made an earlier attempt to use wind power as an alternative source of energy, and then abandoned this attempt for 20 years.
=>ANSWER: A

17. MENTION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF APPLYING TECHNOLOGY FROM ANOTHER INDUSTRY.

Keywords: applying technology, another industry.
In  paragraph  C,  the  writer  argues  that  “The  technology  for  dealing  with  the  hostile  saline environment under the sea has been developed in the North Sea oil industry….”
=>ANSWER: C

18-22. WHICH FIVE OF THE FOLLOWING CLAIMS ABOUT TIDAL POWER ARE MADE BY THE WRITER?

In paragraph A, the writer says that “…unlike wind, the tides are predictable and the power input is  constant.[Option  A]  This  technology  raises  the  prospect  of  Britain  becoming  self-sufficient  in renewable  energy  and  drastically  reducing  its  carbon  dioxide  emissions[Option  D].  If  tides,  wind and wave power are all developed, Britain would be able to close gas, coal and nuclear power plants [Option E] and export renewable power to other parts of Europe.”[Option F] This means that tidal power is a more reliable source of energy than wind power (Option A) and it would cut down on air pollution  [Option  D].  Besides,  tidal  power  could  contribute  to  the  closure  of  many  existing  power stations in Britain[Option E]  and could be a means of increasing national income because “undersea turbines could become a big export earner” (Option F).
–     reliable=predictable
–     cut down on=reduce
–     plants=stations
–     a means of increasing national income=export earner
Options B, C, G, H, I are either not mentioned or false.
At the end of paragraph C, the writer indicates that “The best sites are between islands or around heavily  indented  coasts  where  there  are  strong  tidal  currents.”  This  means  that  tidal  power  is  best produced  in  the  vicinity  of  coastlines  with  particular  features  –  they  are  heavily  indented  and  have strong tidal currents (Option J)
=>ANSWER: A-D-E-F-J

QUESTIONS 23-26: LABEL THE DIAGRAM BELOW.

23. WHOLE TOWER CAN BE RAISED FOR…..AND THE EXTRACTION OF SEAWEED FROM THE BLADES.

Keywords: tower, raised, seaweed
At the end of paragraph D, the writer argues that “The towers will stick out of the water and be lit, to  warn  shipping,  and  also  be  designed  to  be  lifted  out  of  the  water  for  maintenance  and  to  clean seaweed from the blades.”
–     be raised=be lifted
–     the extraction of seaweed ~ to clean seaweed from the blades
=>ANSWER: maintenance

24. SEA LIFE NOT IN DANGER DUE TO THE FACT THAT BLADES ARE COMPARATIVELY…

Keywords: sea life, not danger, blades, comparatively
In paragraph D, the writer indicates that “Fish and other creatures are thought unlikely to be at risk from the relatively slow-turning blades.”
–     sea life ~ fish and other creatures
–     comparatively=relatively
=>ANSWER: slow-turning

25-26. AIR BUBBLES RESULT FROM THE 25…BEHIND BLADES. THIS IS KNOWN AS 26…

Keywords: air bubbles, known as
In  the  last  paragraph,  the  writer  says  that  “One  technical  difficulty  is  cavitation,  where  low pressure behind a turning blade causes air bubbles.”
=>ANSWER:      25. low pressure
26. cavitation

CAMBRIDGE IELTS 9 – TEST 3 – PASSAGE 2 KEYWORDS TABLE

PASSAGE 3: INFORMATION THEORY- THE BIG DATA

27-32. WHICH PARAGRAPH CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION?

27. AN EXPLANATION OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION.

Keywords: factors, transmission of information
In paragraph D, the writer indicates that “Noise usually means unwanted sounds which interfere with  genuine  information.  Information  theory  generalises  this  idea  via  theorems  that  capture  the effects of noise with mathematical precision. In particular, Shannon showed that noise sets a limit on the rate at which information can pass along communication channels  while remaining error-free…”
–     transmission=pass along communication channels
=>ANSWER: D

28. AN EXAMPLE OF HOW UNNECESSARY INFORMATION CAN BE OMITTED.

Keywords: unnecessary information, omitted
In paragraph F, the writer says that “Shannon also laid the foundations of more efficient ways of storing information, by stripping out superfluous (redundant) bits from data which contributed little real information. As mobile phone text messages like „I CN C U‟ show, it is often possible to leave out a lot of data without losing much meaning.”
–     unnecessary=superfluous=redundant
–     information=data
–     omit=strip out=leave out
=>ANSWER: F

29. A REFERENCE TO SHANNON‟S ATTITUDE TO FAME

Keywords: attitude to fame
In paragraph B, the writer argues that “While at Bell Laboratories, Shannon developed information theory, but shunned the resulting acclaim.”
=>ANSWER: B

30. DETAILS OF A MACHINE CAPABLE OF INTERPRETING INCOMPLETE INFORMATION.

Keywords: machine, interpreting
In paragraph E, the writer says that “Other codes have become part of everyday life  – such as the Universal  Product  Code,  or  bar  code,  which  uses  a  simple  error-detecting  system  that  ensures supermarket check-out lasers can read the price even on, say, a crumpled bag of crisps.”
=>ANSWER: E

31. A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF AN INCIDENT INVOLVING INFORMATION THEORY.

Keywords: incident, information theory
In the first  paragraph, “In April  2002  an  event took  place  which demonstrated one of  the many applications  of  information  theory.  The  space probe,  Voyager  I,  launched  in  1977,  had  sent  back spectacular  images  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  and  then  soared  out  of  the  Solar  system  on  a  one-way
mission to the stars.”
–     incident=event

=>ANSWER: A

32. A REFERENCE TO WHAT SHANNON INITIALLY INTENDED TO ACHIEVE IN HIS RESEARCH.

Keywords: initially intended to achieve
In paragraph C, the writer indicates that  “He set  out with an apparently simple aim: to pin down the precise meaning of the concept of ‘information’
–     initially intended to = set out with
–     achieve=aim
=>ANSWER: C

33-37. THE VOYAGER I SPACE PROBE

33-34. THE PROBE TRANSMITTED PICTURES OF BOTH 33…..AND….., THEN LEFT THE 34…..

Keywords: pictures, left
In paragraph A, the writer says that “The space probe, Voyager I, launched in 1977, had sent back spectacular  images  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  and then  soared  out  of  the Solar  System  on  a  one-way mission to the stars.”
–     transmitted=sent back
–     pictures=images
–     left=soared out of
=>ANSWER: 33. Jupiter-Saturn             34. Solar System

35. SCIENTISTS FEARED THAT BOTH THE 35…..AND…..WERE ABOUT TO STOP WORKING.

Keywords: stop working
In  paragraph  A,  the  writer  argues  that  “Sensors  and  circuits  were  on  the  brink  of  failing  and NASA experts realised that they had to do something or lose contact with their probe forever.”
–     were about to=were on the brink of
–     stop working=failing
=>ANSWER: sensors – circuits

36. THE ONLY HOPE WAS TO TELL THE PROBE TO REPLACE THEM WITH 36…..-BUT DISTANCE MADE COMMUNICATION WITH THE PROBE DIFFICULT.

Keywords: the probe, replace
Also, in the first paragraph, the writer says that “The solution was to get a message to Voyager I to instruct it to use spares to change the failing parts.”
–     tell=instruct
–     replace=change the failing parts
=>ANSWER: spares

37. A…..WAS USED TO TRANSMIT THE MESSAGE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

Keywords: transmit, speed of light
At the end of paragraph A, the writer argues that “By means of a radio dish belonging to NASA’s Deep  Space  Network,  the  message  was  sent  out  into  the  depths  of  space.  Even  traveling  at  the speed of light, it took over 11 hours to reach its target, far beyond the speed of Pluto.”
–     transmit=sent out
=>ANSWER: radio dish

QUESTIONS 38-40: DO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AGREE WITH THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN READING PASSAGE 3

38.  THE  CONCEPT  OF  DESCRIBING  SOMETHING  AS  TRUE  OR  FALSE  WAS  THE  STARTING  POINT  FOR  SHANNON  IN  HIS ATTEMPT TO SEND MESSAGES OVER DISTANCE.

Keywords: describing, starting point, true or false
In paragraph C, the writer says that “He set out with an apparently simple aim: to pin down the precise  meaning  of  the  concept  of  „information‟.  The  most  basic  form  of  information,  Shannon argued, is whether something is true or false – which can be captured in the binary unit, or „bit‟, of the form 1 or 0.”
–     starting point=he set out with
=>ANSWER: TRUE

39. THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION THAT CAN BE SENT IN A GIVEN TIME PERIOD IS DETERMINED WITH REFERENCE TO THE SIGNAL STRENGTH AND NOISE LEVEL.

Keywords: the amount of information, sent, the signal strength and noise level
In  paragraph  D,  “Shannon  showed  that  noise  sets  a  limit  on  the  rate  at  which  information  can pass along communication channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the relative strengths  of  the  signal  and  noise  traveling  down  the  communication  channel,  on  its  capacity  (its “bandwidth”).”  This is true, because the rate tells us how much information passes in a period of time.
=>ANSWER: TRUE

40.  PRODUCTS  HAVE  NOW  BEEN  DEVELOPED  WHICH  CAN  CONVEY  MORE  INFORMATION  THAN  SHANNON  HAD ANTICIPATED AS POSSIBLE.

Keywords: convey more information, Shannon anticipated.
At  the  end  of  paragraph  E,  the  writer  says  that  “As  recently  as  1993,  engineers  made  a  major breakthrough by discovering so-called turbo codes – which come very close to Shannon‟s ultimate limit for the maximum rate that data can be transmitted reliably, and now play a key role in the mobile video phone revolution.”   So, the products are „turbo codes‟.   These do NOT exceed the limit that  Shannon  suggested  for  the  rate  of  reliable  transmission  of  data,  although  they almost  reach  this limit.
=>ANSWER: FALSE