Ielts Reading Test 15 December 2018 United States

Read the following passage about how parents speak to infants.

'Parentese'

Parentese, the exaggerated, drawn-out class of speech that people use to communicate with babies, apparently is universal and plays a vital role in helping infants to analyse and blot the phonetic elements of their parents' language. An international study shows that infants are so good at analysing this speech that past the age of 20 weeks they are beginning to produce the three vowel sounds common to all human languages — "ee," "ah" and "uu."

"Parentese has a melody to it. And inside this tune is a tutorial for the baby that contains uncommonly well-formed versions of the building blocks of language," explains Patricia Kuhl, a Academy of Washington neuroscientist.

The new written report examined differences in how American, Russian and Swedish mothers speak to their infants and to other adults. The study shows that parentese is characterised by over-articulation that exaggerates the sounds contained in words. Mothers in the study were, in effect, sounding out "super-vowels" to assistance their infants learn the phonetic elements of linguistic communication.

"In normal, everyday voice communication adults by and large race along at a very fast pace," Kuhl says. "But we know it is easier to understand a speaker when they stretch out sounds. That'due south why we tend to speak more than slowly and carefully to increase understanding when we teach in the classroom or talk to strangers. We likewise do this unconsciously with babies, giving them an improved verbal signal they can capitalise on by slowing downward and over articulating."

(Source: www.washington.edu)

Do the statements below agree with the author's claims?
Write yep, no or not given.

1. 'Parentese' is not common to all cultures.
2. Parents tend to lengthen and over-emphasise certain sounds when speaking to infants.
3. Adults are aware that they need to use parentese when speaking to babies.

Language learners often think they know something (e.g. a give-and-take, phrase, grammar rule) because they sympathize information technology or because they accept studied it before. However, there is a huge difference betwixt agreement something and actually knowing it.

'Actually knowing' means existence able to employ the discussion, phrase or grammar rule.

For example, you might understand the vocabulary in this lesson. Just does that hateful that you know information technology? Could you utilize those words and phrases in unlike contexts in your own essays or spoken answers?

'Repertoire' is an interesting word. It is used past musicians to hateful 'all of the songs or pieces of music that they can play or that they perform'.

Instead of learning linking words or worrying near grammatical structures, it might exist ameliorate to recall nigh your 'IELTS repertoire'. For instance: What topics can you write or speak near with confidence? What ring 7 words and phrases are you confident about using?

A large repertoire of ideas, opinions, words and phrases for a wide range of topics is the sign of someone who will probably get a high IELTS score.

These are common questions at the beginning of the speaking test:

1. Practice you work or are yous a student?
2. Practice you like your task / class? Why / why non?

Instance answers:

1. Before I came to England I was working as an accountant, only at the moment I'g studying English because I hope to exercise a Master's hither.
2. Yep, I really like my chore because information technology's interesting and I piece of work with a great team of people. OR: Yep, I savour studying English, but my real aim is to exercise a Master's and then find a chore in an international company.

Annotation:
Don't ask the examiner: "Practise you mean in my country or here in England?" - information technology doesn't matter. Don't worry if you accept a job and study at the same fourth dimension - yous can mention both.

Many students make a big mistake when describing numbers. For case, look at the graph below.

Now expect at these 4 sentences:

1. In 1985, Canada was about 19 million tonnes.
2. Australia was lower, at 15 million tonnes of wheat exports.
3. In 1988, Canada increased past about 5 million tonnes of wheat exports.
4. Australia exported nigh eleven 1000000 tonnes of wheat in 1990.

Just one of these sentences is written correctly. Can you lot say which i is correct, and explain the big error in the other 3?

I was going to make a lesson today, only I've decided to just relax and enjoy my family's Christmas celebrations instead. Merry Christmas!

I'll exist back to work on Th 27th.

Here'southward a tabular array showing the primal vocabulary from the final few reading lessons hither on the web log.

Yesterday I brash you not to "waffle" in the speaking and writing tests. Every bit one of my loftier school teachers used to tell united states, the opposite of waffling is to be "concise and succinct". Look these two words upwardly if you're not sure what they hateful.

Hopefully you lot noticed what was incorrect with the beginning of the educatee's answer in yesterday's lesson: the first two sentences were unnecessary and irrelevant. Let'due south accept another look:

Question:
Depict an interesting house or apartment.

Start iii sentences of the reply:
Well, living in an apartment is an overgrowing trend not only in my country only all over the world. We take our own flat which is really crawly. By the way, I would like to talk about a new apartment/apartment that I have recently visited.

The real answer begins in the third sentence with the words "I would like to talk almost" . This is where I would begin. Everything before that is just background waffle*. Examiners don't similar this waffle; you'll impress them more if you get straight to the point and reply directly.

waffle = lengthy but vague or petty talk or writing (i.e. useless extra words that you don't need)

Last Friday I asked you to look at this task:

Describe an interesting house or apartment that y'all have visited.

Earlier I show yous how I would answer, I take to say something about one educatee's response. This is how the educatee began answering the job:

Well, living in an apartment is an overgrowing tendency not but in my country only all over the earth. We have our own apartment which is really crawly. By the way, I would similar to talk nearly a new apartment/flat that I have recently visited.

Can you see what is wrong with the style this answer begins?

Several people accept asked me to explain how the past perfect tense tin can be used in writing job 1. The case below might help.

Look at the following description:

In 2002, the cost of an boilerplate house in the Uk was £130,000. Past 2007, the boilerplate firm price had risen to nearly £190,000.

Notice the verbs used with "in" and "past":

• I used "in" with the past unproblematic "was" to talk about what happened in one twelvemonth just (2002).
• I used "by" with the past perfect "had risen" to talk well-nigh an increase that happened in the years before 2007 (from 2002 to 2007).

Try writing your own sentences with "in" and "past" to practise describing numbers with the by unproblematic and by perfect.

Here are iii questions that students take sent to me recently. Let me know, in the comments surface area, which question y'all think we should piece of work on next.

Give-and-take question
Some people say that it is possible for a state to be both economically successful and accept a clean environment. Others disagree. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Opinion question
Pop hobbies and interests change over time and are more than a reflection of trends and fashions than an indication of what individuals really desire to do in their spare fourth dimension. To what extent do you concur or disagree?

2-part question
Gild seems to pay less attention to women'due south sports than to men's sports. Why do you lot think this is the case? Is it a positive or negative tendency?

For the questions beneath, I'm attaching the transcript instead of the sound recording. I think this blazon of multiple option practice is quite hard, so run into what you think!

What do the students make up one's mind about each topic for the presentation?

A) They will definitely include this topic.
B) They might include this topic.
C) They volition not include this topic.

Choose A, B or C for the following questions.

ane. Geographical Location
2. Economy
three. Overview of Education Arrangement
4. Role of English Linguistic communication

Click here to see the script of the recording

What practise you call back the answers are? Do yous find this type of question difficult?

Read the following passage about cerebral behavioural therapy:

A) Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach: a talking therapy. CBT aims to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviours and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure in the present.

B) The particular therapeutic techniques vary, simply commonly may include keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviours; questioning and testing cognitions, assumptions, evaluations and behavior that might exist unhelpful and unrealistic; gradually facing activities which may take been avoided; and trying out new ways of behaving and reacting. Relaxation, mindfulness and distraction techniques are also normally included.

C) Going through cognitive behavioural therapy is not an overnight process for clients; a typical course consists of 12-sixteen hour-long sessions. Even after clients have learned to recognise when and where their mental processes become amiss, it can in some cases take considerable time or attempt to replace a dysfunctional procedure or habit with a more reasonable and adaptive 1. CBT is problem-focused and structured towards the client. It requires honesty and openness between the client and therapist, every bit a therapist develops strategies for managing bug and guiding the customer to a better life.

Choose the best headings for paragraphs A, B and C from this list:

1. A slow procedure
2. A new type of therapeutic approach
3. The benefits and drawbacks of CBT
4. A goal-oriented therapeutic approach
5. CBT therapists are e'er honest with their clients
6. The range of CBT interventions

Instead of worrying about finding a good IELTS teacher, only look for a good English teacher.

If yous practice with the official Cambridge books and follow the advice on this blog, you don't actually demand any more than IELTS assist.

Many IELTS students would benefit more from taking 'normal' English lessons, rather than attention a 'tips and techniques' grade.

If yous are taking IELTS preparation lessons with a instructor, here's a tip:

Brand sure that your instructor is helping you to improve your English, rather than only giving y'all exam tips and techniques. If you don't seem to exist improving your overall knowledge of the English linguistic communication, you might demand to consider changing your instructor.

Remember: exam tips and techniques are useful and of import, just the surest mode to meliorate your IELTS score is by improving your English .

Effort preparing ideas or a full respond for this topic:

Depict an interesting house or apartment that you have visited.
You should say

- where the house or flat was
- who lived there
- what it looked like on the outside and/or inside
- and explain why you found this business firm or flat interesting.

Let's look at some sample sentences that describe the highlighted data on the table below.

ane) A unproblematic description of i number:

In 2006, 17% of mobile phone owners played games on their phones.

2) Comparing three numbers in the same sentence:

In 2010, 73% of mobile phone owners used their phones to search the Cyberspace, while 41% of users played games and only 26% of people played music on their phones.

3) Describing a change in numbers:

Between 2008 and 2010, the proportion of mobile phone owners who recorded videos on their phones rose by 26%, from 9% to 35%.

Tip:
These 3 types of sentence are and so important. If you want to practise well in IELTS writing task 1, you should practise them a lot!

Here's a list of the good words, collocations and phrases from the essay that I shared in last Midweek's lesson. Perhaps you could try using some of this vocabulary in your own sentences.

• the future impact of
• the ii opposing points of view
• I am both fascinated and apprehensive about...
• bring some obvious benefits
• high levels of accuracy
• calculations using large amounts of data
• carry out surgical procedures
• with greater precision
• reducing the likelihood of
• human errors
• steadily improve our quality of life
• I share the concerns of people who...
  
• in the brusk / medium / long term
• a rise in unemployment
• in diverse industries
• are replaced by software programs
• self-driving vehicles
• cause redundancies
• get deskilled
• lose their sense of purpose
• a longer term fear
• without human oversight
• without regard for
• our well-being
• the potential risks
• should non exist ignored

A skillful fashion to improve your 'ear' is to requite yourself quick transcription tasks.

transcription (noun) = a written version of an audio recording
transcribe (verb) = create a written version due east.g. of an sound recording

Try transcribing the offset minute of the recording in last Tuesday's lesson.

Tip: The real learning happens when y'all find a difficult function. Perhaps the speaker suddenly goes too quickly, or seems to join a group of words together. You might demand to listen several times; you might fifty-fifty need assist to hear what the speaker is saying. This is the kind of hard work that yous should be looking for!

If you lot believe that y'all can't read fast enough, you've got the wrong idea about how to improve your reading score.

The key to IELTS reading is to learn to read ameliorate , non faster.

Reading better means that yous empathize what you are reading, and that you find direct away when you accomplish the part of the passage that contains the respond. If you read as well apace, you lot'll probably miss the respond and waste fourth dimension going back to look for information technology.

Note: If you actually are a very slow reader (when reading English), this is probably considering your overall level of English is low. In other words, you're at beginner to intermediate level at the moment, and you lot accept to think about every word every bit you lot read. This is a normal stage in language learning, and you shouldn't rush to read more speedily.

Yesterday I suggested that it is possible to deviate from the topic a little in the speaking examination, as long every bit y'all practise this skilfully (read yesterday'southward lesson to see what I mean).

But tin you do the same thing in the writing exam? No. You should never deviate from the topic in either of the writing tasks. You'll get a lower score if you do.

A student asked me the post-obit question:

In speaking part 2, do nosotros have to answer the question exactly as it is, or can we change the topic a piffling? For instance, the task is "describe a gift that you made for someone", but I have never made a gift. Can I talk near the time I made a altogether block with my roommate to celebrate her birthday?

Here's my answer:

I think your birthday block answer would be fine, because you made it and information technology's nigh similar a souvenir. Just brand certain that you explicate the state of affairs at the beginning of your reply. For instance, you could innovate your answer similar this: "I can't remember ever making a gift myself, but I did recently brand a birthday cake for my roommate, so I'll describe this."

Endeavor to stay as close to the question every bit possible, and innovate your answer very clearly if information technology deviates a little flake from the stated task. You lot must show the examiner that you lot empathise the chore, and that y'all are non simply making a mistake.

Of course, the other alternative is to invent something. Information technology'south ok to make something up - the examiner won't know!

Final Friday I asked you to try answering these 2 questions:

1. Do you recollect that it'south important for people to celebrate their achievements?
2. Why do yous think some people adopt not to tell others about their achievements?

1) I'll respond using an "idea, explain, example" structure:

Aye, I definitely think people should celebrate whenever they are successful in some area of life. I call up the celebration is of import because it marks the stop of a period of effort, then information technology'southward a chance to enjoy the moment, to take stock of what you have accomplished, and to share the achievement with others. This is why, for example, universities take graduation ceremonies, which encourage students to celebrate together and to take pride in what they take done.

two) I'll answer using a "firstly, secondly, finally" structure:

I imagine that people take unlike reasons for keeping their achievements to themselves. One reason could be that some people don't like to bear witness off or draw attention to themselves. Other people possibly don't value their own accomplishments because they are constantly aiming at even bigger goals. Finally, I suppose that many of us are and so busy that nosotros don't stop to savor the moment; perchance nosotros need to wearisome down and enjoy our successes.

Let'due south try another practise to practise writing sentences. Can you describe the figures that I've highlighted on the table beneath?

Note: I'm asking you to write 3 easy sentences. Please don't endeavour to show off; only describe the data as clearly as you can.

1. For the get-go sentence, y'all're just describing one number.
2. The second sentence will compare iii numbers in ane year.
3. The 3rd sentence should depict a change.

Here's my full essay for the question below.

Some people believe that developments in the field of artificial intelligence will accept a positive impact on our lives in the near future. Others, by contrast, are worried that we are not prepared for a world in which computers are more intelligent than humans. Discuss both of these views and give your ain stance.

People seem to be either excited or worried about the future impact of bogus intelligence. Personally I can understand the 2 opposing points of view; I am both fascinated past developments in artificial intelligence and apprehensive nearly its possible negative effects.

On the one mitt, the increasing intelligence of applied science should bring some obvious benefits. Machines are clearly able to do many jobs better than humans can, especially in areas that require loftier levels of accuracy or calculations using big amounts of data. For example, robots are being developed that can carry out surgical procedures with greater precision than a human dr., and we already take cars that employ sensors and cameras to drive themselves. Such technologies can improve safe by reducing the likelihood of human being errors. Information technology is easy to imagine how these developments, and many others, will steadily improve our quality of life.

On the other mitt, I share the concerns of people who believe that artificial intelligence may damage usa if we are non careful. In the short term, it is likely that we will see a ascension in unemployment as workers in various industries are replaced by machines or software programs. For example, self-driving vehicles are expected to crusade redundancies in driving jobs, such as lorry drivers, taxi drivers and double-decker drivers. In the medium term, if intelligent technologies gradually accept jobs away from humans, nosotros may find that people get deskilled and lose their sense of purpose in life. A longer term fear is that computers get so intelligent that they begin to make decisions without human oversight and without regard for our well-being.

In conclusion, while intelligent machines will no dubiety improve our lives in many ways, the potential risks of such technologies should not be ignored.

(295 words, band ix)

Listen to the post-obit communication about PhD applications (you'll hear several speakers), and make full the gaps in the summary below.

Click here to listen

mm
Ii types of PhD:

1. Develop a _____ _____ and look for a _____ .
2. Apply for a projection that you have seen _____ .

Finding an academic to supervise your research proposal:

- Do a _____ _____ on the proposed topic.
- Or visit the university _____ and look at the research interests of staff members.

mm
(Source: University of Bath)

Read the following clarification of a book called 'What are Universities for?'.

Across the globe, universities are more numerous than they accept ever been, yet at the same time there is unprecedented confusion about their purpose and scepticism virtually their value. What Are Universities For? offers a spirited and compelling argument for completely rethinking the way we come across our universities, and why we demand them.

Stefan Collini challenges the common claim that universities demand to bear witness that they aid to brand money in club to justify getting more money. Instead, he argues that nosotros must reflect on the different types of institution and the distinctive roles they play. In particular we must recognise that attempting to extend homo understanding, which is at the heart of disciplined intellectual enquiry, can never exist wholly harnessed to firsthand social purposes - peculiarly in the case of the humanities, which both concenter and puzzle many people and are therefore the most difficult subjects to justify.

At a time when the hereafter of higher education lies in the residue, What Are Universities For? offers all of usa a better, deeper and more than enlightened understanding of why universities affair, to anybody.

Which argument all-time summarises the book'south bulletin?

A) We do not necessarily demand universities nowadays
B) Universities should be harnessed for social purposes
C) Universities must justify the coin they are given
D) We demand to change our agreement of the role of universities

If y'all click here and here you tin read almost the reckoner-delivered version of the IELTS examination. I haven't tried it myself, and it is not nevertheless bachelor here in the UK.

If y'all take taken the computer-delivered test, or if you lot are considering taking it, let the states know past sharing your thoughts in the comments beneath this lesson. Cheers!

A student asked me about this page on Wikipedia, which gives three examples of the words "they" and "their" being used to refer to singular nouns:

• Somebody left their umbrella hither. Would they please collect it?
• The patient should exist told how much they will be required to pay.
• A journalist should non be forced to reveal their sources.

They and their are used instead of he or she and his or her .

This is very common in English, and information technology is unlikely that someone would say: "Somebody left his or her umbrella. Would he or she delight collect it?"

But can we utilise "they" with a singular in the IELTS test?

The uncomplicated answer is aye, but my ain preference is a little more than complicated. When speaking, I naturally apply "they" with singular nouns from time to time. Simply I tend to avoid doing this in written essays, as I prefer to stick to the normal grammatical conventions. For example, I used "he or she" in the sentence below, which comes from this essay.

Firstly, it is hard for a person to be happy if he or she does non have a safe identify to alive and enough food to consume.

harristheablen1986.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2018/12/index.html

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