Answer Keys
1. FALSE. Note that it is ‘The private car’ with the definite article, meaning that they talk about the general idea of private car ownership. As for the idea itself, the opposite is stated in paragraph 1: the abundance of cars makes neighbourhoods too dangerous for kids to be left without adults looking after them. Therefore, they don’t get a chance to learn and explore the world on their own.
2. TRUE.
3. NOT GIVEN. Walking and cycling are mentioned in the context of being fun activities. In other words, children have fun walking and cycling, but nothing is said about whether they learn something in the process.
4. FALSE. In paragraph 1, it is said that children ‘have lost’ their freedom to explore because they are supervised by their parents and driven around in cars. In other words, they neither walk nor cycle to school.
5. FALSE. First sentence of paragraph 3 mentions the opposite: parents have significant time and money expenditures associated with driving their kids to places.
6. B. Paragraph 4, second sentence—no paraphrasing is used here, so the answer is easy to find.
7. F. Paragraph 4. Again, because children are not given enough opportunities to walk, they are less likely to meet their friends.
8. G. Paragraph 5, sentence 2. People use cars to drive their children to school, which means more cars on the road and makes road trips riskier. As roads become increasingly dangerous because of more traffic, people choose to drive kids everywhere, creating a vicious circle.
9. G. See the same answer: one thing contributes to the other, and vice versa.
10. VII. The phrase is found in paragraph 6.
11. III. Paragraph 7, sentence 1. To have the right of way and to give way are opposite ideas. ‘German’ is capitalised so it’s easy to find the relevant part of the text.
12. VI. Social interaction is mentioned as one of the purposes for which streets should be used (Paragraph 7).
13. IX. Here we are basically given the definition of “traffic calming”, which is also given in parentheses in the middle of paragraph 7.
14. II. Last paragraph of the extract proposes that children will not be the only ones who stand to benefit from changing (modifying) them.
15. G – Figuring the sea level changes. The paragraph mentions the earlier simplistic model of calculating the rise in sea level. Later, it includes a description of the new, more advanced approach. Heading ‘C – How ocean waters move’ is incorrect, as they talk about rise rather than movement.
16. H – Estimated figures. The paragraph is dedicated to estimates—approximate numbers for variables such as the change in sea level brought about by an increase in ambient temperatures as well as polar ice melting.
17. I – The diffusion model. The paragraph clearly focuses on the diffusive qualities of temperature – how it mostly only affects the surface-level water. Heading ‘F – Diffusion versus advection’ is not good, as no mention of advection is made, nor is there any comparison between the two methods.
18. E – The advection principle. Despite the idea of water movement being mentioned several times, ‘C – How ocean waters move’ is not optimal here as the main idea is explaining what convection is and how it is more complex than the previously mentioned method. ‘F – Diffusion versus advection’ is not good because diffusion is briefly mentioned here to illustrate the difference between advection and diffusion. ‘Versus’ means ‘against, opposed to. Obviously, no opposition is mentioned, only comparison.
19. A – The gyre principle. Gyres are introduced by explaining what they are, what they do, and the impact they have on heat distribution.
20. C – How ocean waters move. Finally, we get a paragraph that is fully dedicated to the complex path that water in the world’s oceans travels around the planet. No principles or methods are mentioned here, such as diffusion or advection, so it should make the heading choice easier.
21. C. The first paragraph suggests the possibility that the changes in ocean temperature could be cyclical in nature—a cycle we have not yet seen completely because the data gathering hasn’t been done for long enough. Answer D is incorrect, as the figure of 100 years is given to say how long the monitoring has been going on and that this period is too short to draw conclusions from.
22. D. The ending of paragraph 2 suggests that the ocean level rise might be less than previously thought. Answers A and B are wrong as the text discusses the complexity of water temperature transfer and the general movement of water. There is nothing about how complex the ocean itself is.
23. B, C, E (either order). B – melting ice – second part of paragraph 3; C – increased air temperature – first part of paragraph 3; E – last sentence of paragraph 3 mentions groundwater storage; this is paraphrased as water table in the task. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_table for an explanation.
24. NOT GIVEN. The very first paragraph openly states that we can’t say for sure what causes the surface to warm up.
25. TRUE. Heat and’salinity”, or salt levels, are mentioned to be affected by convection in paragraph 5.
26. FALSE. The opposite is correct: sentence 2 in paragraph 6 states that gyres have a higher heat storage capacity than the atmosphere.
27. TRUE. The middle of paragraph 7 confirms that water density plays a crucial role in the subduction process.
28. FALSE. The answer changes from one to another in the last paragraph, but the last sentence states that the ‘evening out’ of sea level might not occur.
29-32. (in any order) B, E, F, G. This entire task is an exercise in synonyms and paraphrasing (words from the task given in brackets). B – re-emergence of paper packaging (paper bags); E – use of photocopiers (duplicating machines); F – facsimile machines (fax machines, although not many people say facsimile nowadays); G – direct mail advertising (leaflets).
33. cleaner industrial production. In the paragraph 2 ‘environmentally conscious society’ ismentioned—inn otherwords,s people who are aware of the damage to nature we cause and want to change that.
34. economic prosperity. Paragraph 3: The harm done to nature was seen as an inevitable consequence of economic prosperity (prosperity means doing well financially).
35. environmental effects. Paragraph 4: The means of production were modernised to decrease the toll on the environment.
36. D. Before you answer this series of questions, pay attention to the fact that the steps have to come in the same order they happen in the production order. The description of the production process is in paragraph 6. First of all, answer B is incorrect; the fibres are bound by lignin naturally, which is why the original colour is brown. Lignin is now added artificially. Answer D is correct: even though there is no mention of woodchips being put in the pile, it is implied: “wood chips are fed from a pile…”.
37. G. “the chips are cooked in a solution called white liquor” – note that before they can be cooked, they should be put there.
38. A. See previous answer.
39. H. The pulp is washed from the excessive white liquor that turns dark in the process.
40. F. The most difficult part here that is immediately connected to the previous answer: ‘washed and separated from the spent cooking liquor that has turned dark’ – note that first it is washed and then removed from the black liquor.
Vocabulary
The vocabulary below is meant to help you with the more difficult words. If the word isn’t on the list then you are either supposed to know it or it is too specific to be worth learning and you don’t have to know it to answer the question. Symbols in brackets mean part of speech (see bottom of the list). Sentences in italics give examples of usage for some more complex words and phrases.
And remember — you are not given a vocabulary list (or a dictionary) at your real exam.
Section 1
Assume (v) – to believe in something without evidence, proof, or knowledge. We assumed that David wasn’t home since he wouldn’t pick up his phone.
Erode (v) – used figuratively here, it means to make something less powerful or effective in a slow way, to take something away. The politician’s power was slowly eroded by the opposing party and their attempts to sabotage his election campaign.
Genuine (adj) – real, not artificial or fake. Her shining eyes showed genuine interest in the subject, so I carried on with my lecture.
Pedestrian (n) – a person who walks as a way of moving, as opposed to cycling, driving, or taking the bus. Pedestrians in this part of city feel oppressed because the sidewalk is very narrow.
Exacerbate (v) – to make something bad even worse; the opposite is ‘alleviate’. Her poor academic performance at college was exacerbated by her part-time job at the restaurant.
Assault (n) – a physical attack. To prevent assaults on unsuspecting citizens, surveillance cameras and better lighting were installed in this part of the city.
Molestation (n) – similar to assault but with a sexual context.
Congestion (n) – a traffic-related difficulty caused by too many cars and resulting jams. The mayor’s initiative to reduce congestion in the city centre by introducing paid parking was met with a protest from local motorists.
Implication (n) – a result of something that is not clearly visible or evident at once.
Strive (v) – if you strive to do something, you do your best to achieve it. I strive hard to make sure my children have better childhood than I did.
Precinct (n) – (here) a part of a town or a city.
Sustainable (adj) – possible to keep in the current state. Used positively. A sustainable environmental programme is what’s on everybody’s mind nowadays.
Section 2
Extent (n) – degree, scale, or size of something. The extent of damage caused by the fire is currently unknown, as the firemen still haven’t finished extinguishing it.
Stationary (adj) – not moving or changing. Stationary computers are rapidly replaced by mobile devices of all kinds nowadays.
Diffuse (v) – to spread over some area.
Subtle (adj) – not easily seen; difficult to notice. The joke was too subtle for the general audience, so almost nobody in the room laughed except for a few giggling people.
Facet (n) – an aspect. Sociology has many facets that people often fail to notice or acknowledge.
Bring about (phr v) – to make something happen; to be a reason for something. The war brought about severe economic conditions and even famine in some regions.
Conventional (adj) – traditional. The conventional approach to education, which involves a teacher and dozens of students, is being questioned today with many suggested alternatives.
Vast (adj) – huge in size or number. The list of books we had to read by the end of summer was vast and consisted of almost two dozen titles.
Salinity (adj) – the quality of containing salt. The Dead Sea has the highest salinity numbers on earth.
Poleward (adv) – in the direction of the pole (like South or North Pole). Generally, -ward as a suffix works to show what direction something moves in.
Beneath (adj) – under something, usually covered by it.
Convergence (n) – unification, becoming the same or similar. We hope to achieve greater convergence and understanding between the two people.
Presume (v) – to guess without knowing for sure. He did come to the meeting, I presume?
Persist (v) – to continue to exist over a long period of time. I persisted with my attempts to get her attention, and eventually I succeeded.
Section 3
A small preface for this section. Like it is the case with some text in Section 3 of IELTS Reading, this one has a description of a technologically complex process. Naturally, a description like that involves lots of highly technical words, which you usually neither need to know to understand the text nor want to remember because they are almost never used outside of that specific process. Therefore, I have omitted some words because they are non-essential to the general understanding of the text and the questions in this part.
Herald (v) – to announce or reveal something that is going to happen in the future. The global switch from computers to phones heralded the imminent demise of desktop computing.
Abating (n) – decrease, lowering.
Underpinned (adj) – to help make something stronger or more successful. Malcolm’s well-connected parents underpinned his enviable career progression.
Irreversible (adj) – something that cannot be undone or made go to the way it was before. Irreversible changes in the body are caused by substance abuse.
Antiquated (adj) – old-fashioned in a bad way. Used negatively. This guy has this car with an antiquated engine that spills oil everywhere and smells like a gas station.
Graphic (adj) – detailed and evocative (making you have a clear visual image of something in your mind). This author is well-known for his graphic descriptions of fight scenes.
Effluent (n) – liquid waste produced by factories.
Prosperity (n) – the state of being successful at something, especially in a financial sense.
Spur (v) – encourage, give momentum to something. The development of affordable personal computers spurred enthusiasm among tech-oriented professions.
Impetus (n) – very similar to the previous word, but as a noun. Impetus is something that gives strength or momentum to something.
Haunt (v) – to follow or to remind, used about something unpleasant. The memory of my first lame attempts at dating still haunts me to this day.
Legislation (n) – laws and regulations. Business legislation in this country is particularly complex, so I would suggest hiring a lawyer to take care of that.
Sturdy (adj) – strong and durable, usually without little regard for appearance. This car is nice and sturdy; it will last you a lifetime if you take proper care of it.
Tissue (n) – (here) a single-use piece of paper used for wiping.
Wood chips – small fragments of wood that are usually a by-product of cutting or sawing a piece of wood in half.
Furnace (n) – an enclosed space or room, the purpose of which is to maintain a very high temperature to burn or melt something.
Bleach (v) – to use chemicals to make something white or much lighter than it is.
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