ielts higher practice test 01 reading ac

8/12/2019 IELTS HIGHER Practice Test 01 Reading Ac

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IELTS PRACTICE TESTS

READINGTEST 01


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ReadingAcademicTest 01





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SECTION 1 Questions 1 - 13

LEISURE TIME IN AMERICA

A As most Americans will tell you if you can stop them long enough to ask, working people in the UnitedStates are as busy as ever. Sure, technology and competition are boosting the economy; but nearly everyone

thinks they have increased the demands on people at home and in the workplace. But is the overworked

American a creature of myth?

B A pair of economists have looked closely at how Americans actually spend their time. Mark Aguiar, at

the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Erik Hurst, at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of

Business constructed four different measures of leisure. The narrowest includes only activities that nearly

everyone considers relaxing or fun; the broadest counts anything that is not related to a paying job,

housework or errands as "leisure". No matter how the two economists slice the data, Americans seem to

have much more free time than before.

C Over the past four decades, depending on which of their measures one uses, the amount of time that

working-age Americans are devoting to leisure activities has risen by 4-8 hours a week. For somebody

working 40 hours a week, that is equivalent to 5-10 weeks of extra holiday a year. Nearly every category of

American has more spare time: single or married, with or without children, both men and women.

Americans may put in longer hours at the office than other countries, but that is because average hours in

the workplace in other rich countries have dropped sharply.

D How then have Messrs Aguiar and Hurst uncovered a more relaxed America, where leisure has actually

increased? It is partly to do with the definition of work, and partly to do with the data they base theirresearch upon. Most American labour studies rely on well-known official surveys, such as those collected by

the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau, that concentrate on paid work. These are good

at gleaning trends in factories and offices, but they give only a murky impression of how Americans use the

rest of their time. Messrs Aguiar and Hurst think that the hours spent at your employer's are too narrow a

definition of work. Americans also spend lots of time shopping, cooking, running errands and keeping

house. These chores are among the main reasons why people say they are so overstretched, especially

working women with children.

E However, Messrs Aguiar and Hurst show that Americans actually spend much less time doing them than

they did 40 years ago. There has been a revolution in the household economy. Appliances, home delivery,

the internet, 24-hour shopping, and more varied and affordable domestic services have increased flexibility

and freed up people's time.

F The data for Messrs Aguiar and Hurst's study comes from time-use diaries that American social

scientists have been collecting methodically, once a decade, since 1965. These diaries ask people to give

detailed information on everything they did the day before, and for how long they did it. The beauty of such

surveys, which are also collected in Australia and many European countries, is that they cover the whole day,

not just the time at work, and they also have a built-in accuracy check, since they must always account for

every hour of the day.

G Do the numbers add up? One thing missing in Messrs Aguiar's and Hurst's work is that they have

deliberately ignored the biggest leisure-gainers in the population, the growing number of retired folk. The





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two economists excluded anyone who has reached 65 years old, as well as anyone under that age who retired

early. So America's true leisure boom is even bigger than their estimate.

H The biggest theoretical problem with time diaries is "multi-tasking". Do you measure the time you

spend cleaning your house while listening to portable music as "leisure" or "work"? This problem may beexaggerated: usually people seem to combine two work activities, using a laptop computer on a plane, or two

leisure ones, watching television and doing something else. The two economists counted many

combinations of work and leisure, such as reading a novel while commuting or goofing off on the internet at

the office, as time spent working.

I Is all this leisure a good thing? Some part-time workers might well wish they had less leisure and more

income. For most Americans, however, the leisure dividend appears to be a bonus. Using average hourly

wages after tax, Steven Davis, a colleague of Mr Hurst's, reckons that the national value of five extra hours of

leisure per week is $570 billion, or $3,300 per worker, every year.





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Questions 1 - 9

Match each heading to the most suitable paragraph.

One possible source of inaccuraciesLess time doing chores

A difference between perception and reality

Te value of extra leisure time

Americans are working harder

Signicantly more free time

Te effect of including retirees

Te need for a wider description of work

An effective system for measuring time spentHow Americans think about their time

1 Paragraph A ..........

2 Paragraph B ..........

3 Paragraph C ..........

4 Paragraph D ..........

5 Paragraph E ..........

6 Paragraph F ..........

7 Paragraph G ..........

8 Paragraph H ..........

9 Paragraph I ..........

iii

iii

iv

v

vi

vii

viii

ixx





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Questions 10 - 13

Choose A, B or C.

10 Americans seem to spend more time in the office than people in other rich countriesA Because of the increase in Americans leisure time

B Because of a decrease in leisure time in the other rich countries

C Because of a decrease in office time in the other rich countries

11 One problem with data from the BLS is that

A it is unclear about out of work time

B it is limited to factories and offices

C it does not include leisure time

12 Time-use diaries

A are only available in America and Australia

B are the most accurate time use measurement tool

C provide data for 24 hours of each day

13 Aguiar and Hurst counted multi-tasking activities of leisure and work

A as free time

B as work time

C as neither free time or work time





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RECLAIMING THE NIGHT

A. On a summer's day, apart from the intermittent drizzle and lowering sky, South Street in Romford looksas close to an Englishman's dream of a continental-style piazza as it is possible to get. Leafy trees line the

extended pavements crowded with seats and tables as young families, pensioners, teenagers and

businessmen tuck into a variety of faux-European dishes for lunch. Local cafes serve the full range of

meaningless variations on the theme of coffee, from cappuccino through mochaccino to doppos, all at top

prices. Round the corner, in the Market Place, it is French week. There are several stalls, complete with real

Frenchmen, selling claret and cheeses.

B. The cafes are open during the day, and the clubs stay open until two or three in the morning most nights.

In this respect, Romford is typical of contemporary Britain. In the late 1980s, the centres of many towns and

cities went into decline as retailers, and particularly supermarkets, moved to new big, out-of-town shoppingcentres. So in the early 1990s, many local councils, in league with local businesses, re-developed their

increasingly desolate town centres into "leisure zones". They looked to continental Europe for the inspiration

to create modern 24-hour environments, mixing cafes, bars and clubs to keep people in the centres spending

money for as long as possible.

C. By night however, South Street turns into a very different place. The street becomes a mass of

18-26-year-olds, drinking as much as they can. For anyone else, the place becomes almost a no-go area.

Gillian Balfe, the council's town-centre manager and a strong supporter of the "leisuring" of South Street,

concedes that the crowds become uncontrollable, and the atmosphere quickly turns "hostile and

threatening". Buses are now barred from going down South Street after 9.30pm: there are too many drunkenpeople milling about.

D. In a survey for the local council done last year, 49% of the residents of the surrounding areas of South

Street confessed that they did not want to come to the city centre any more for fear of crime. The local police

concede that they are virtually overwhelmed. Violence is commonplace. There has only been one

consequent fatality in the area in the past couple of years, but the police say that this is mainly thanks to the

merciful proximity of the local hospital. Romford's dilemma is typical of what has happened in the other

"leisure zones" in towns and cities throughout the country. What were meant to be civilised places for

entertainment and shopping have too often turned into alcoholic ghettos for the young.

E. For all the problems, however, Romford's local authority thinks that the idea of a 24-hour-city is already

too profitable to be stopped. Local authorities think that new repressive legislation, or even a decision not to

reform the licensing laws, would be unworkable. So instead of trying to pack everyone back off to bed,

Romford is trying to reclaim the town centre for a broader mix of people, and so to fulfil the original

ambitions of the 24-hour-city dreamers.

F. The first part of the strategy involves security. The police accept that, with their current resources, they

will never be able to make South Street safe on their own. So they now work closely with the 528

"door-staff", previously known as bouncers, to target drug-dealers in the bars and clubs. In the year since

that scheme came into effect, there have been more than 300 arrests for drugs. In the six months before that,

there had been only one. All the premises now have a radio link to the police station for an instant response

to trouble.





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G. The second part of the strategy involves trying to encourage more, and different kinds of people to use

the town centre at night. New attractions are opening next year to rival the pubs. On the site of the old

Romford brewery there will be a 16-screen cinema and a 24-hour supermarket. A new health and leisure

centre, open on some nights until 9pm, starts up soon. The hope is that these facilities will draw in a

different, more sober and ethnically diverse crowd. The police have bravely encouraged one club to start agay night on Wednesdays.

H. Together with other measures such as better street lighting, Romford hopes that it can show that the

phrase "24-hour city" can be more than a euphemism for an all-night drinkathon. As the new licensing laws

delegate the job of granting alcohol licences to local councils, cities across England will be trying to reclaim

the night.





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Questions 14 - 18

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 14-18 on your

answer sheet. You may use any letter more than once.

1 why some local people stay out of the centre at night

2 how communication with the police has been made faster

3 reasons behind the growth in inner-city leisure venues

4 examples of Romford's similarity to mainland Europe

5 how illegal substances are being controlled

Questions 19 - 26

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLYfrom the passage.

In an attempt to get a wider variety of 19 ................ into the 20................ at night time, the local government

and private organisations are going to provide different kinds of 21........... . Some examples include a

22 ............ and a 24-hour supermarket. They hope this will encourage people who are different 23 ................ ,

and not drunk, to use the city-centre 24 .......... ...... . The local government of Romford thinks that with these

25 ................ in place it will be able to 26................ the city centre in the evenings.





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THE DRINKING OF WINE

HE birth o the cult o ne wine can be dated precisely. On April 10th 1663, Samuel Pepys, diarist andman-about-London, noted that he had enjoyed a sort o French wine called Ho Bryan that hath a good and

most particular taste that I never met with.

Te owners o Ho Bryan were the Pontacs. Tey were the top winemaking amily o their day, and ounded

a ashionable restaurant, called Pontacks Head, in London, in 1663. John Locke, the philosopher whose

theory o the social contract inspired Americas revolutionaries, but who had worldlier interests too, spotted

the reasons or the superiority o Ho Bryan on a visit to the vineyard in 1667. He ound a little rise o

ground...white sand mixed with a little gravel; scarce t to bear anything. He added that they say the wine

in the next vineyard to it, tho seeming equal to me, is not so good. oday that vineyard is still rated just

below its neighbour.

Locke had seized on the essential concept o terroir, the combination o soil, subsoil, drainage and

microclimate which provide the conditions or the production o ne wine. Another connoisseur, the

18th-century economist Adam Smith, noted that the vine is more affected by the difference o soils than

any other ruit tree. From some it derives a avour which no culture or management can equal.

By the early 18th century claret was getting more popular partly because it was getting better. Te craf o

claret-making had developed. Te wine was designed to be kept or years not months, notably by being

careully stored in oak casks. Better corks allowed wine to be stored longer and more saely. Bottles were

produced that could be binnedlaid down on their sides to mature.

In the latter part o the 18th century drinking claret helped the rich to distinguish themselves rom

Englands port-sodden squirearchy. Port was not only the more traditional drink, but alsobecause it

attracted much lower dutiesar cheaper. John Hervey, the rst Earl o Bristol, spent our times as much on

claret as on port, whereas the lusty trenchermen who gathered in the Barbers Hall in the City o London

spent a mere 2 on claret as against 850 on port.

When Britain made peace with France in 1713, claret became more accessible and the wine trade ourished.

Claret was pricey but rich Londoners, who were also by then big spenders on theatres, spas and music

produced by ashionable immigrants, such as Handel, consumed conspicuous quantities. Sir Robert Walpole,

Britains rst prime minister, used navy ships to smuggle his avourite wines rom France. Te most

expensive one he bought was old burgundy, but thatas nowwas available only in tiny quantities. So he

relied largely on claret, buying our hogsheads o 24 dozen bottles o Margaux and one hogshead o Late

every three months. In a single year his wine bill amounted to over 1,200 (100,000 today). British

consumers bought the best stuff and paid top prices. By the time o the French revolution, the British were

paying ve times as much or their claret as the wines other main customers, the notoriously parsimonious

Dutch, who preerred the cheaper, lower-grade stuff.

By the late 19th century claret was beginning to ow down the social hierarchy. A ree-trade treaty between

Britain and France in 1860 drastically reduced the duty on French wines, thus encouraging the British

middle classes to ape their social superiors; and in that year the chancellor o the exchequer, William

Gladstone, keen to stiffen the nations moral spine, cut the duty on table wines to 40% o that on more

intoxicating ortied wines such as port and sherry.





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Te ollowing year came the Single Bottle Act, allowing grocers to sell wine by the bottle. A much-despised,

enormously popular drink called grocers claret was born, with the result that, between 1859 and 1878,

sales o French wines, largely rom Bordeaux, rose sixold to 36m bottles. Te Gilbey amily, one o the most

remarkable commercial dynasties o Victorian England, ranchised 2,000 grocers licensed to sell wine,

largely claret. Teir business grew so ast that by 1875 they were able to buy Chteau Loudenne in theMdoc to hold their gigantic stocks o claret. As the middle classes turned to claret, so the upper classes

abandoned this increasingly common tipple in avour o hock and champagne.

Ten the ortunes o the claret business turned. In the late 1870s and 1880s an attack o mildew tainted the

wines: the reputation o Late, or instance, was ruined when the 1884 vintage turned mouldy afer only a

couple o years in bottle. At the same time, the phylloxera bug began to devastate Bordeauxs vineyards.

Claret came back into its own in 1960 when the splendid 1959 vintage coincided with the arrival o big

American buyers. Its popularity has risen steadily since. London remains at the centre o the ne-wine

businesshome o organisations such as the Institute o Masters o Wine, o Decanter and World of FineWinemagazines, and o most o the worlds biggest wine auctions. Liv-Ex, the worlds rst stockmarket or

ne wine, is based in London; and its gures show that nine-tenths o the wine trade is still in classed

growth (leading) clarets. Newcomers rom vineyards in a dozen countries trying to launch their nest

wines on the world market come to London rst or validation. Yet though London may still have much o

the knowledge and the market, as consumers the British may be past their best. Tis year, 57% o the ne

wine that Sothebys sold globally, by value, was bought by Asians; our-fhs o those buyers were rom

China and Hong Kong.





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Questions 27 - 32

Match each name to the sentences below.

A John Hervey

B Adam Smith

C John Locke

D William Gladstone

E Robert Walpole

27 was perhaps the first person to notice why Ho Bryan tasted so good

28 imported wine illegally

29 wanted to discourage people from drinking strong wines30 drank more claret than port

31 was a specialist in wine and economics

32 bought more claret than any other kind of wine

Questions 33 - 39

Complete the summary below.ChooseNO MORE THAN TWO WORDSfrom the passage for each answer.

Sales of claret fell considerably in the late 19th century due in part to two factors. One of these was when

33 ............... destroyed the good name of Lafite and the other was when Bordeaux's vineyards were hit by a

34 .............. . It took many years for the wine to recover. In 1960, this recovery was helped by the production

of an excellent claret in 1959 and the 35............... of buyers from America. Today, London is the centre of the

36 ............... trade. People trying to enter the 37............... with new wines need to get 38 ............... for them in

London. The growing markets for the fine wines however now seems to be coming from outside the UK.

This year, the majority of Sotheby's wine sales 39 ............... were to Asia.

Questions 40

Choose A, B or C.

40 The main purpose of the article is to

A Present the main reasons why claret has always been popular.

B Give a brief history of claret.

C Describe some of the problems claret has faced.





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Answers





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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

x

iii

vi

viii

ii

ix

vii

i

iv

C

A

CB

D

F

B

A

F

people

centre

attractions

cinema

ethnically

facilities

measuresreclaim

C

E

D

A

B

E

mildew

bug

arrival

market

validationglobally

B

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40


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