IELTS 8 0 reading test

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ LẠT
TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ VÀ ĐÀO TẠO NGUỒN NHÂN LỰC
ÔN TẬP KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC – BẬC 5/6 VÀ BẬC 4/6

Test Format
The IELTS Academic Reading test
is made up of three parts and a total
of

40

questions.

You

are

recommended to spend 20 minutes
on each part.
Each of the three sections contains
one long text with sets of two or
three different types of questions
attached to it.


There are 12 main types of questions:
1) Matching Headings

7) Summary Completion

2) Multiple Choice

8) Matching Sentence Endings

3) Short Answer

9) Sentence Completion

4) Name Matching

10) Matching Paragraph Information

5) True/False/Not Given

11) Table Completion

6) Yes/No/Not Given

12) Diagram Labeling

Matching Headings Questions
Key problems:
 There are more headings than paragraphs – this makes it harder to narrow down
the correct ones.
 Some headings will be very similar in meaning.
 It’s easy to confuse specific details in a paragraph with the main idea – they may
be different.
 Synonyms and paraphrasing will often be used.
 It’s easy to spend too much time on this type of question.
Read Headings First, Then Text
Follow these steps.

1) Read the headings
 First, read the full instructions, including the headings, then focus in on the
headings.
 Read each carefully and try to understand what it means. Remember, each will
summarise the main idea of the paragraph it matches.


 Also remember that there will be more headings than paragraphs so you won’t
need them all.
2) Underline key words
 If a heading contains names, numbers, dates or place names, underline these to
identify them as key words that should be easy to spot in the text. Or there may
be a key noun that stands out. It could be one that occurs in more than one
heading.
 Doing this will help you to match information in the text and headings as you
read each paragraph.

3) Read the first paragraph
 Your aim is to identify the main idea. Focus on the first one or two sentences and
the last sentence as these will probably introduce and summarise this main idea.
Skim read the rest of the text. You do not need to know the detail for this type of
question.
 Look out for any keywords you underlined in the heading. Be aware that
synonyms could be used instead.
 Note that occasionally a section will contain more than one paragraph. In this
case, you’ll need to find the main idea in each paragraph.
4) Choose the matching heading

=> You should focus on the first two sentences and the last one, then

skim read the rest of the paragraph.


Multiple Choice Questions

The aim of this type of question is to test if you can:
 Understand the main idea of each paragraph
 Scan for specific information
 Use detailed reading to differentiate between several possible answers
You will be asked to:
1) Read the first half of a sentence, a statement or a question about the text.
2) Choose the most appropriate sentence ending, response or answer from a choice of a
number of options (usually 4). Only one is correct although several could appear to be
the right one on first reading, so beware.

Short Answer Questions/ Summary Completion/ Sentence Completion
Key tips
1) Read the questions first, then the text.
2) The answers will be in order in the text. So, once you've found the answer to question
1, you’ll know that the answer to question 2 will come soon after, and so on.
3) Don’t go over the word limit stated for your answers, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.’
If you do, your answer will be marked ‘wrong’ even if the information you give is
correct.
4) Use only the actual words from the text for your answer. You may need to change the
tense of any verbs you use to ensure your answer is grammatically correct.
5) Most questions will contain synonyms or paraphrasing of the text, that is, the
meaning will be the same but the wording slightly different.

How to Borrow Books
Most libraries require you to register before you are allowed to borrow any of their
materials. This means you will probably be asked to fill out and sign a registration card.
When you do this, you are not only giving the library your name and address for their
files, you are also signing an agreement. The agreement says, basically, that you will
obey the rules of the library. A parent or guardian is sometimes also required to sign the
card. To be entitled to use your school library, you probably must only be enrolled in that
school. Once you are registered, you will be issued a library or borrower's card. On this
card will be your name and a number. Each time you check out, that is, officially borrow
something from the library, you will have to present this card to the librarian.
If your library is large enough, it may have film equipment that you may borrow.
To do so, however, the library usually requires a separate registration. You may also have
to take and pass a course the library gives on how to operate the different pieces of
equipment.
You usually check out and return borrowed materials at the same desk. The sign
on this desk may read Circulation Desk, Check Out Here, or perhaps Charge Desk. The
library staff member at this desk will take your card and stamp the book card with a date.
This is the date by which you are expected to return the material to the library, so others
can have the chance of borrowing it. Many libraries allow you to renew the book if it has
not been requested by others.
Some libraries charge a fine for each day a library book is overdue, kept out
beyond the date stamped on the book card. There are also often fines for books returned
damaged or written in. Should you lose a library book, you may be required to pay the
library the amount it was worth. Not paying fines could result in your losing all library
privileges.


Complete the summary below by choosing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage How to Borrow Books for each answer.

Most libraries require you to register before you borrow any books. First of all, you will
need to fill out and sign 1. ___________________and while doing so, you are also
2.___________________ with the library. Later each time you check out, you will have
to present a library card to the librarian. In some libraries, you will be required to make
a separate registration if you want to borrow 3. ___________________ and at the same
time, you will have to take and 4. ___________________ on how to operate the
equipment.

When

you

borrow

library

books,

the

librarian

will

put

a

5.___________________ on the book card so that you know when to return them. If
you want to keep the books longer, you can 6. ___________________ it if nobody

requests them.


Name Matching Questions
Key tips
 The statements will not appear in the same order in the text as they are listed in
the instructions. Neither will the names appear in the same order that they are
listed.
 The statements will usually paraphrase information in the text.
 Some of the names might be shortened in the text to an initial and surname, or
just the first name or last name might be used. For example, ‘Gregor Borek’ may
be shortened to ‘G. Borek’, ‘Gregor’ or ‘Borek’.
 It can be helpful to have different coloured pens to underline the different names
in the text.
 Don’t spend too long on any one statement. If you get stuck, move on to the next
one. Come back to it when you’ve eliminated other statements and there are
thus fewer to choose from.
 In some test papers, there will be more statements than there are names and
you will be told in the instructions that you can use a letter (i.e. a name) more
than once. This is the case in the following instructions from a real test paper.


Matching Sentence Endings
Key tips
1) The answers appear in the same order in the text as the order of the list of
incomplete sentences.
2) Use a process of elimination to select the correct answers.
3) Don’t read the text until you’ve studied the incomplete sentences and the sentence
endings.
4) You don’t need to read the whole text in detail, just the relevant sentences.

5) All the sentence endings will appear in the text but not all will match one of the
incomplete sentences.
6) Synonyms and paraphrasing will be used. You are matching meaning, not the exact
words.
7) The grammatical structure of the two halves of the sentence must match. If they
don’t, you have the wrong match.



Matching Paragraph Information
Key tips
1) The answers will not come in the same order in the text as the order of the list of statements.
2) Some paragraphs may not contain an answer.
3) A paragraph could contain more than one answer.
4) Expect lots of synonyms. Be particularly aware of information that can be represented in
words and figures. For example,
½ – a half
15º – fifteen degrees
69% – sixty-nine per cent
5) Usually, you’ll find the matching information in a phrase or whole sentence, not in an
individual word.
Simplicity reigns at London's biggest design festival.
(A) With upwards of 300 product launches, installations and exhibitions, London's annual nine-day
design festival is a showcase of head-spinning choice. In many ways that's the beauty of the
extravaganza, everyone has a different experience and takes something unique away from it. There
were however some intriguing themes and trends in this year's edition that spoke to larger social or
cultural preoccupations.
(B) One was the launch of two consumer electronics products designed to simplify and beautify our
technology-addled lives. Both chose the new London Design Festival venue of Somerset House to
show their wares. The first was a mobile phone launched by Swiss company Punkt and designed by

Jasper Morrison that allows users to make calls and texts only (well, it has an alarm clock and an
address book too). Punkt founder Petter Neby doesn't believe it will replace your smart phone but
suggests users fit it with the same SIM card as your main phone and use it in the evenings,
weekends and on holiday.
(C) The other electronics launch came from the unlikely French sibling duo of the Bouroullec
brothers. Though tech companies like Samsung are usually prescriptive about their products the
Bouroullecs (who admitted they found most TVs sad and ugly) seem to have been given free rein.
Their new television for the mega Korean brand looks more like an item of furniture than an ultralarge and ultra-slim piece of tech. More importantly, it comes with simplified on-screen interaction
and a 'curtain mode' that turns your screen into a shimmering pattern during ads or half-time. Again,
their focus was on dialing down digital insanity.
(D) Customizable online furniture was also very much in vogue at this year's festival. But rest
assured, weird and unreliable software or off-the-wall designs sent to a 3D printer somewhere and
arriving months later, seem to be a thing of the past. Customization may finally have come of age.
Two examples were Scandi-brand Hem that combined good design by the likes of Luca Nichetto,
Form Us With Love and Sylvain Willenz with affordable price points. The fact that the brand opened
a pop-up store in Covent Garden during the festival is a recognition of the importance of both
physical and online spaces that work seamlessly together.


(E) Another online configurable brand to make its debut after years in development was Warsawbased Tylko. Like Hem, Tylko has spent time and money on very powerful and easy-to-use software,
but with only three designs - a table, a shelf and salt and pepper mills - it has a way to go. Its
augmented reality app is simple to use however and its table has been developed with a nanocoating option that really does appear to keep pesky stains at bay. Craft and 'making' in all its forms
was once again a big hit and nowhere more so than at TENT, the East London design event that
gets better every year.
(F) A definite highlight was the massive space taken over by the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland
and filled with weavers and potters doing their thing and showing their wares. Irish Design had
another delectable stand over at the Rochelle School in East London too. The Souvenir Project was
a series of nine non-cliché 'souvenirs' made in Ireland and included a rainbow plate by Nicholas
Mosse Pottery that featured rows of animals, flowers and watering cans and commemorated the
legalization of same-sex marriage in Ireland in May 2015.

(G) If there was one material that could be said to define the festival it might just be Jesmonite, the
wonder man-made building composite. Lighter and more sustainable than concrete, its dramatic
capabilities were brought to life by London-based design studio PINCH and their tour-de-force
limited edition Nim table and Swedish artist Hilda Hellström's giant colorful volcano made for the
restaurant in London's Ace Hotel. A show called Matter of Stuff near Covent Garden was in on the
jesmonite act too, but even more intriguingly was presenting vases made out of Propolis, a resinous
material collected by bees and used to seal gaps in hives that, according to their designer Marlene
Huissoud, behaves like glass.
(H) Finally, this was the year that Chinese Design finally displayed a well-edited and inspired
showcase of products. Despite the mouthful of a title, Icon Presents: Hi Design Shanghai stand at
100% Design was a meaningful selection of designers exploring materials and ideas. Young design
duo Yuue's offerings were the most representative of a new conceptual approach to design that
seems to be emerging. Their lamps were functional but also thought-provoking and humorous. What
more could one want from the stuff that surrounds us?

Questions 1-8
The text has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H
1. Examples of customization

………..

2. Unusual keepsakes

………..

3. A new approach

………..

4. A simple cell phone

………..

5. Unbelievable material

………..

6. A strange TV

………..

7. Number of products shown on the festival

………..

8. Three designs of software

………..


Diagram Labeling Questions


William Kamkwamba

In 2002, William Kamkwamba had to drop out of school, as his father, a maize and
tobacco farmer, could no longer afford his school fees. But despite this setback, William
was determined to get his education. He began visiting a local library that had just
opened in his old primary school, where he discovered a tattered science book. With

only a rudimentary grasp of English, he taught himself basic physics - mainly by
studying photos and diagrams. Another book he found there featured windmills on the
cover and inspired him to try and build his own.
He started by constructing a small model. Then, with the help of a cousin and friend, he
spent many weeks searching scrap yards and found old tractor fans, shock absorbers,
plastic pipe and bicycle parts, which he used to build the real thing.
For windmill blades, William cut some bath pipe in two lengthwise, then heated the
pieces over hot coals to press the curled edges flat. To bore holes into the blades, he
stuck a nail through half a corncob, heated the metal red and twisted it through the
blades. It took three hours to repeatedly heat the nail and bore the holes. He attached
the blades to a tractor fan using proper nuts and bolts and then to the back axle of a
bicycle. Electricity was generated through the bicycle dynamo. When the wind blew the
blades, the bike chain spun the bike wheel, which charged the dynamo and sent a
current through wire to his house.
What he had built was a crude machine that produced 12 volts and powered four lights.
When it was all done, the windmill's wingspan measured more than eight feet and sat
on top of a rickety tower 15 feet tall that swayed violently in strong gales. He eventually
replaced the tower with a sturdier one that stands 39 feet, and built a second machine
that watered a family garden.
The windmill brought William Kamkwamba instant local fame, but despite his
accomplishment, he was still unable to return to school. However, news of his magetsi a


mphepo - electric wind - spread beyond Malawi, and eventually things began to change.
An education official, who had heard news of the windmill, came to visit his village and
was amazed to learn that William had been out of school for five years. He arranged for
him to attend secondary school at the government's expense and brought journalists to
the farm to see the windmill. Then a story published in the Malawi Daily Mail caught the
attention of bloggers, which in turn caught the attention of organisers for the Technology
Entertainment and Design conference.

In 2007, William spoke at the TED Global conference in Tanzania and got a standing
ovation. Businessmen stepped forward with offers to fund his education and projects,
and with money donated by them, he was able to put his cousin and several friends
back into school and pay for some medical needs of his family. With the donation, he
also drilled a borehole for a well and water pump in his village and installed drip
irrigation in his father's fields.
The water pump has allowed his family to expand its crops. They have abandoned
tobacco and now grow maize, beans, soybeans, potatoes and peanuts. The windmills
have also brought big lifestyle and health changes to the other villagers. 'The village has
changed a lot,' William says. 'Now, the time that they would have spent going to fetch
water, they are using for doing other things. And also the water they are drinking is
clean water, so there is less disease.' The villagers have also stopped using kerosene
and can use the money previously spent on fuel to buy other things.
William Kamkwamba's example has inspired other children in the village to pursue
science. William says they now see that if they put their mind to something, they can
achieve it. 'It has changed the way people think,' he says.

Questions 1-5



Complete the flow chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.


Building the Windmill
William learned some (1) ..............................................from a
library book.

First, he built a (2) .......................................... of the windmill.

Then he collected materials
from (3).............................................................. with a relative.

He made the windmill blades from pieces
of (4) .............................................................

He fixed the blades to a (5) .................................... and then to
part of a bicycle.

He raised the blades on a tower.


Questions 6-10
 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
 In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet write
TRUE
FALSE
NOT GIVEN

if the statement agrees with the information
if the statement contradicts the information
if there is no information on this

6. William used the electricity he created for village transport. …………………………
7. At first, William's achievement was ignored by local people. …………………………
8. Journalists from other countries visited William's farm. …………………………
9.

William

used

money

he

received

to

improve

water

supplies

in

his

village. …………………
10.

The

health

of

the

villagers

has

improved

since

the

windmill

was

built. ……………………

Questions 11-13
 Answer the questions below.
 Use NO MORE THAN ONE WORD and/or a NUMBER from the passage for
each answer.
11. How tall was the final tower that William built? …………………………
12.

What

did

the

villagers

use

for

fuel

before

the

windmill

was

built? …………………………
13.

What

school

subject

village? …………………………

has

become

more

popular

in

William's


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

The nature of Yawning
A. While fatigue, drowsiness or boredom easily bring on yawns, scientists are discovering there is
more to yawning than most people think. Not much is known about why we yawn or if it serves any
useful function. People have already learned that yawning can be infectious. “Contagious yawning”
is the increase in likelihood that you will yawn after watching or hearing someone else yawn, but
not much is known about the under-lying causes, and very little research has been done on the
subject. However, scientists at the University of Albany, as well as the University of Leeds and the
University of London have done some exploration.
B. It is commonly believed that people yawn as a result of being sleepy or tired because they need
oxygen. However, the latest research shows that a yawn can help cool the brain and help it work
more effectively, which is quite different from the popular belief that yawning promotes sleep and is
a sign of tiredness. Dr. Andrew Gallup and his colleagues at the University of Albany in New York
State said their experiments on 44 students showed that raising or lowering oxygen and carbon
dioxide levels in the blood did not produce that reaction. In the study participants were shown

videos of people laughing and yawning, and researchers counted how many times the volunteers
responded to the “contagious yawns”. The researchers found that those who breathed through the
nose rather than the mouth were less likely to yawn when watching a video of other people yawning.
The same effect was found among those who held a cool pack to their forehead, whereas those who
held a warm pack yawned while watching the video. Since yawning occurs when brain temperature
rises, sending cool blood to the brain serves to maintain the best levels of mental efficiency.
C. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans
do, but they yawn spontaneously. Only humans and chimpanzees, our closest relatives in the animal
kingdom, have shown definite contagious yawning. Though much of yawning is due to
suggestibility, sometimes people do not need to actually see a person yawn to involuntarily yawn
themselves: hearing someone yawning or even reading about yawning can cause the same reaction.
D. However, contagious yawning goes beyond mere suggestibility. Recent studies show that
contagious yawning is also related to our predisposition toward empathy— the ability to understand
and connect with others’ emotional states. So empathy is important, sure, but how could it possibly


be related to contagious yawning? Leave it up to psychologists at Leeds University in England to
answer that. In their study, researchers selected 40 psychology students and 40 engineering students.
Generally, psychology students are more likely to feel empathy for others, while engineering
students are thought to be concerned with objects and science. Each student was made to wait
individually in a waiting room, along with an undercover assistant who yawned 10 times in as many
minutes. The students were then administered an emotional quotient test: students were shown 40
images of eyes and asked what emotion each one displayed. The results of the test support the idea
that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. The psychology students—whose future profession
requires them to focus on others—yawned contagiously an average of 5.5 times in the waiting room
and scored 28 out of 40 on the emotional test. The engineering students—who tend to focus on
things like numbers and systems—yawned an average of 1.5 times and scored 25.5 out of 40 on the
subsequent test. The difference doesn’t sound like much, but researchers consider it significant.
Strangely enough, women, who are generally considered more emotionally attuned, didn’t score any
higher than men.

E. Another study, led by Atsushi Senju, a cognitive researcher at the University of London, also
sought to answer that question. People with autism disorder are considered to be developmentally
impaired emotionally. Autistics have trouble connecting with others and find it difficult to feel
empathy. Since autistics have difficulty feeling empathy, then they shouldn’t be susceptible to
contagious yawning. To find out, Senju and his colleagues placed 49 kids aged 7 to 15 in a room
with a television. 24 of the test subjects had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the other
25 were non-autistic kids. The test subjects were shown short clips of people yawning as well as
clips of people opening their mouths but not yawning. While the kids with autism had the same lack
of reaction to both kinds of clips, the non-autistic kids yawned more after the clips of people
yawning.
F. There also have been studies that suggest yawning, especially psychological “contagious”
yawning, may have developed as a way of keeping a group of animals alert and bonding members of
a group into a more unit one. If an animal is drowsy or bored, it may not be as alert as it should to be
prepared to spring into action and its yawning is practically saying, “Hey, I need some rest, you stay
awake”. Therefore, a contagious yawn could be an instinctual reaction to a signal from one member
of the herd reminding the others to stay alert when danger comes. So the theory suggests evidence
that yawning comes from the evolution of early humans to be ready to physically exert themselves
at any given moment.


Question 1 - 5
Read paragraphs A—F. Which paragraph contains the following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. _________Humans’ imaginations can cause yawning.
2. _________Research shows that yawning is closely related to occupations.
3. _________An overview of the latest research in yawning.
4. _________Yawning is used to regulate brain temperature.
5. _________Scientists discovered some evidence disproving the early understanding of
yawning.
Questions 6 - 9

Match each of the following research results with the university which it comes from
NB You may use any letter more than once.

A. University of Albany
B. University of Leeds
C. University of London
6. _________ There is no gender difference in the cause of yawning.
7. _________ People with certain disorders are less likely to be affected by other people
yawning.
8. _________Yawning is associated with the way people breathe.
9. _________People who are trained to feel empathy for others are more likely to yawn than
those who are untrained.


Questions 10 - 13
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer. Write your answers.

Another theory shows that yawning is used for 10......................................
individuals into a tighter social unit. Alternatively, yawning can help increase
alertness of group members in case 11...................................... is close. For
example, yawning signals that a member of the group needs some
12...................................... and requires the others to stay aware of the
surrounding situation. This theory proves that yawning is only a spontaneous
behaviour resulting from some part of a simple 13......................................
system in early humans.


READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on

Reading Passage 2 below.

Water Treatment 2 : Reed Bed
In recent years, it has been shown that plants, more accurately roots, play a crucial part in
purifying dirty water before it enters seas and rivers. In 15th-century Britain, dirty water
was purified by passing through the wetlands. People began to realize that the “natural”
way of water purification was effective. Nowadays subsurface flow wetlands (SSFW) are
a common alternative in Europe for the treatment of wastewater in rural areas, Mainly in
the last 10 to 12 years there has been a significant growth in the number and size of the
systems in use. The conventional mechanism of water purification used in big cities
where there are large volumes of water to be purified is inappropriate in rural areas.
The common reed has the ability to transfer oxygen from its leaves, down through its
stem and rhizomes, and out via its root system. As a result of this action, a very high
population of microorganisms occurs in the root system, in zones of aerobic, anoxic, and
anaerobic conditions. As the waste water moves very slowly through the mass of reed
roots, this liquid can be successfully treated. The reason why they are so effective is often
because within the bed’s root sector, natural biological, physical and chemical processes
interact with one another to degrade or remove a good range of pollutants.
Dirty water from households, farms and factories consume a lot of oxygen in the water,
which will lead to the death of aquatic creatures. Several aquatic plants are important in
purifying water. They not only absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the water,
improving the environment for fish, but absorb nutrients from the welter as well. Britain
and the G.S. differ in their preference of plants to purify water. Bulrushes (Scirpus spp.)
and rushes (Juncus spp.) are excellent water purifiers. They remove excess nutrients from
the water as well as oil and bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella. However,
algae grow freely in summer and die off in winter. Their remains foul the bottom of the
pool.
Artificial reed beds purify water in both horizontal and downflow ways. The reeds
succeed best when a dense layer of root hairs has formed. It takes three years for the roots
to fully develop. Which type of wetland a certain country applies varies widely

depending on the country in Europe and its main lines of development. Besides the


development of horizontal or vertical flow wetlands for wastewater treatment, the use of
wetlands for sludge treatment has been very successful in Europe. Some special design
lines offer the retention of microbiological organisms in constructed wetlands, the
treatment of agricultural wastewater, treatment of some kinds of industrial waste- water,
and the control of diffuse pollution.
If the water is slightly polluted, a horizontal system is used. Horizontal-flow wetlands
may be of two types: free-water surface-flow (FWF) or sub-surface water-flow (SSF). In
the former the effluent flows freely above the sand/gravel bed in which the reeds etc. are
planted; in the latter effluent passes through the sand/gravel bed. In FWF-type wetlands,
effluent is treated by plant stems, leaves and rhizomes. Such FWF wetlands are densely
planted and typically have water-depths of less than 0.4m. However, dense planting can
limit the diffusion of oxygen into the water. These systems work particularly well for low
strength effluents or effluents that have undergone some forms of pretreatment and play
an invaluable role in tertiary treatment and the polishing of effluents. The horizontal reed
flow system uses a long reed bed, where the liquid slowly flows horizontally through.
The length of the reed bed is about 100 meters. The downside of horizontal reed beds is
that they use up lots of land space and they do take quite a long time to produce clean
water.
A vertical flow (downflow) reed bed is a sealed, gravel filled trench with reeds growing
in it. The reeds in a downflow system are planted in a bed 60cm deep. In vertical flow
reed beds, the wastewater is applied to the top of the reed bed, flows down through a
rhizome zone with sludge as a substrate, then through a root zone with sand as a
substrate, followed by a layer of gravel for drainage, and is collected in an under drainage
system of large stones. The effluent flows onto the surface of the bed and percolates
slowly through the different layers into an outlet pipe, which leads to a horizontal flow
bed where it is cleaned by millions of bacteria, algae, fungi, and microorganisms that
digest the waste, including sewage. There is no standing water so there should be no

unpleasant smells.
Vertical flow reed bed systems are much more effective than horizontal flow reed- beds
not only in reducing biochemical oxygen demanded (BOD) and suspended solids (SS)
levels but also in reducing ammonia levels and eliminating smells. Usually considerably
smaller than horizontal flow beds, they are capable of handling much stronger effluents
which contain heavily polluted matters and have a longer lifetime value. A vertical reed
bed system works more efficiently than a horizontal reed bed system, but it requires more
management, and its reed beds are often operated for a few days then rested, so several
beds and a distribution system are needed.


The natural way of water purification has many advantages over the conventional
mechanism. The natural way requires less expenditure for installation, operation and
maintenance. Besides, it looks attractive and can improve the surrounding landscape.
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. The natural bed systems are a biologically proved, an environmentally friendly
and visually unobtrusive way of treating wastewater, and have the extra virtue of
frequently being better than mechanical wastewater treatment systems. Over the medium
to long term reed bed systems are, in most cases, more cost effective to install than any
other wastewater treatment. They are naturally environmentally sound protecting
groundwater, dams, creeks, rivers and estuaries.
Questions 14 - 16
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
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

14
_________ The reed bed system is a conventional method for water treatment in
urban areas.
15
_________ In the reed roots, there is a series of processes that help break down the
pollutants.
16

_________ Escherichia coli is the most difficult bacteria to eliminate.

Questions 17-19
Complete the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.


Question 20 – 24
-

-

Use the information in the passage to match the advantages and
disadvantages of the two systems: horizontal flow system and down-flow
system (listed A—H) below.
Write the appropriate letters A-H.

The advantage of the downflow system is 20...................; however,
21..................and
horizontal

22.....................The

system

are

two

advantages

23....................and

of

the

24......................In

comparison with the downflow system, the horizontal system is less
effective.
A.
B.
C.
D.

it requires several beds
it is easier to construct
it builds on a gradient
it doesn’t need much attention

E.
F.
G.
H.

it produces less sludges
it isn’t always working
it needs deeper bed
it can deal with more heavily polluted water


Questions 25-26
Choose two correct letters, from the following A, B, C, D or E. Write your answers.

What are the TWO advantages of the natural water purification system
mentioned in the passage:
A.

It uses micro-organisms

B.

It involves a low operating cost

C.

It prevents flooding.

D.

It is visually good-looking

E.

It can function in all climates