IELTS Reading Recent Actual Test 31

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Dealing with Different Sleep Patterns

Sleep medicine is a relatively young field in the UK, with only a couple of centers until the 1980s. In the last decade a number of centers have sprouted, often led by chest physicians and ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) surgeons with an interest in obstructive sleep apnoea, forcing neurologists and neurophysiologists to wake up and contribute to the non –respiratory aspect of this neglected subject.

Within sleep, two states are recognized – non rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM). These alternate cyclically through the night with cycle time of 90 minutes (50 ~ 60 minutes in the newborn). NREM sleep evolved with the homeothermic state and is divided into four stages: stage 1and 2 which are considered light sleep, and stages 3 and 4 which are considered deep sleep with high arousal threshold.

REM is ontogenecally primitive with EEG (electroencephalo-graph) activity closer to wake state, intermittent bursts of REMs and muscle atonia interrupted by phasic burst producing asynchronous twitching. The atonia of REM sleep prevents acting out of dreams and is lost in REM behavior disorder when dreams content becomes violent and patients act out their dream, often resulting in injury.

REM behavior disorder can be a precursor of neurodegenerative disease including Parkinsons. Dream content –pleasant or unpleasant –will be remembered on waking from REM sleep but there is often little or no memory of the preceding mental activity on arousals from NREM sleep, even when associated with complex behaviors and autonomic disturbance as occurs in night terrors or sleep walking.

In the newborn, 50 percent of total sleep time is occupied by REM sleep, progressively shrinking to 25 percent in the adult, the first block of REM sleep occurring about 90 minutes after sleep onset. Abrupt withdrawal of alcohol and many centrally acting recreational and non-recreational drugs can cause REM sleep to occur at sleep onset. This can also increase total REM sleep, leading to intense vivid often frightening dreams, similar to that experienced by patients with narcolepsy.

The NREM/REM sleep states are interrupted by brief arousals and transient awakenings. The frequency of the arousals may increase with emotional disturbance or environmental discomfort but also in many intrinsic sleep disorders such as periodic leg movements in sleep, obstructive sleep apnoea and narcolepsy.

A basic rest/activity cycle originates in fetal life. The newborn sleeps an equal amount during the day and night, the sleep/wake cycle organized around three to four hourly feeds. By the second month favoring of sleep towards night time occurs and by six months the baby will have about 12 hour of sleep at night in addition to a couple of daytime naps.

In general, children born prematurely have a tendency to be awake more at night in the first year and breast-fed babies wake more frequently, but the difference disappears by the second year. Persistent night awakenings in infants and toddlers usually reflect the child’s inability to self-soothe back to sleep without parental attention and will respond to a well supported behavioral programme.

The establishment of a consolidated night sleep pattern in children reflects brain maturation and may be disrupted in children with developmental problems. Even in this group success is possible by persisting with behavioral work, though many paediatricians prescribe melatonin for these children with some success. But as the long-term safety of melatonin remains unknown it should be used as a last resort.

There are now good studies looking at short term use of melatonin in sleep wake cycle disorders such as delayed sleep phase syndrome. Its use as a hypnotic should be discouraged, especially in the developing child as there is uncertainty on other cycles, such as menstrual.

In addition to the NREM/REM cycles, there is a circadian sleep/wake cycle entrained by intrinsic rhythms –melatonin and body temperature and extrinsic factors –light and social cues such as mealtimes, work times.

The pineal hormone melatonin plays a role in entraining the sleep/wake cycle to the light/dark cycle. Melatonin secretion is high in darkness and low in daylight hours, the process beginning in the retina with the supra chiasmatic nucleus playing a major role as a sleep regulator via melatonin. Blind people may lose this entrainment and develop a free running sleep/wake cycle with progressive advancement of sleep onset time.

Polymorphism of the circadian clock gene has now been identified with the population divided between morning types (larks) and evening types (owls). Those predisposed to later sleep onset time are susceptible to developing delayed sleep phase syndrome especially during adolescence when sleep requirement increases and there is a tendency towards later time for sleeping and waking.

In delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep onset is delayed to the early hours of the morning with consequent difficulty in waking in time for school/work. Once established advancing sleep onset time is difficult and requires treatment with appropriately timed melatonin or bright light therapy, or chronotherapy –advancing sleep onset progressively forwards until the desired sleep time is reached.

In contrast the elderly who are more susceptible to perturbation in their sleep/wake schedule can develop advanced sleep phase syndrome with sleep onset occurring early in the evening. Shift workers often struggle to cope with shift patterns as they grow older due to difficulty in re-adjusting their circadian clock. In general, morning bright light exposure is a more powerful synchronizer of the circadian rhythm than melatonin.

Questions 1-8

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?

On your answer sheet please write

TRUE               if the statement is true

FALSE              if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN    if the information is not given in the passage.

1   Growth interest on sleeping disorder studies caused growth number of centers for researching on sleep medicines.

2   People are often injured when dreaming aggressive scenes or sleepwalking.

3   Parkinsons is scientifically proved to be the only result of REM disorders.

4   REM sleep counts for less proportion of total sleep time for grownups than newborns.

5   Frightening dreams are considered irrelevant to alcohols and drugs.

6   According to the author, babies would sleep more at night from the second month of their births.

7   During the night, children born prematurely wake as frequently as breast fed babies.

8   Children require more deep sleep and less disruption during their sleep in the first half of the night.

Questions 9-14

Complete the summary below.

Choose your answer from the list below and write them in boxes 9-14 on your answer sheet.

NB   There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all.

Researchers had laid their eyes on using medicines in sleep-wake cycle disorders. The NREM/REM cycles affect sleep along with human 9 _________ and outside factors. Melatonin plays a determinant role in 10 _________ the sleep wake cycle to the day-night cycle. Scientists found that melatonin is high within 11 _________ environment, with an exception of 12 _________ subject who may build up a free cycle. Circadian clock genes are 13 _________ between “morning people” and “night people”. It is difficult for people with delayed sleep phase syndrome to wake in time. Conversely, 14 _________ are more susceptible to sleep early in the evening.

rhythms      shadow       different      identical

paces     bright       body       shift workers

entraining       daylight       elders       blind

physiological       cycle       younger       sight

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. 

From Novices to Experts

Expertise is commitment coupled with creativity. Specifically, it is the commitment of time, energy, and resources to a relatively narrow field of study and the creative energy necessary to generate new knowledge in that field. It takes a considerable amount of time and regular exposure to a large number of cases to become an expert.

An individual enters a field of study as a novice. The novice needs to learn the guiding principles and rules –the heuristics and constraints –of a given task in order to perform that task. Concurrently, the novice needs to be exposed to specific cases, or instances, that test the boundaries of such heuristics. Generally, a novice will find a mentor to guide her through the process of acquiring new knowledge. A fairly simple example would be someone learning to play chess. The novice chess player seeks a mentor to teach her the object of the game, the number of spaces, the names of the pieces, the function of each piece, how each piece is moved, and the necessary conditions for winning or losing the game.

In time, and with much practice, the novice begins to recognize patterns of behavior within cases and, thus, becomes a journeyman. With more practice and exposure to increasingly complex cases, the journeyman finds patterns not only within cases but also between cases. More importantly, the journeyman learns that these patterns often repeat themselves over time. The journeyman still maintains regular contact with a mentor to solve specific problems and learn more complex strategies. Returning to the example of the chess player, the individual begins to learn patterns of opening moves, offensive and defensive game-playing strategies, and patterns of victory and defeat.

When a journeyman starts to make and test hypotheses about future behavior based on past experiences, she begins the next transition. Once she creatively generates knowledge, rather than simply matching superficial patterns, she becomes an expert. At this point, she is confident in her knowledge and no longer needs a mentor as a guide –she becomes responsible for her own knowledge.

In the chess example, once a journey man begins competing against experts, makes predictions based on patterns, and tests those predictions against actual behavior, she is generating new knowledge and a deeper understanding of the game. She is creating her own cases rather than relying on the cases of others.

The chess example is a rather short description of an apprenticeship model. Apprenticeship may seem like a restrictive 18th century mode of education, but it is still a standard method of training for many complex tasks. Academic doctoral programs are based on an apprenticeship model, as are fields like law, music, engineering, and medicine. Graduate students enter fields of study, find mentors, and begin the long process of becoming independent experts and generating new knowledge in their respective domains.

To some, playing chess may appear rather trivial when compared, for example, with making medical diagnoses, but both are highly complex tasks. Chess has a well-defined set of heuristics, whereas medical diagnoses seem more open ended and variable. In both instances, however, there are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of potential patterns. A research study discovered that chess masters had spent between 10,000 and 20,000 hours, or more than ten years, studying and playing chess. On average, a chess master stores, 50,000 different chess patterns in long-term memory.

Similarly, a diagnostic radiologist spends eight years in full time medical training –four years of medical school and four years of residency –before she is qualified to take a national board exam and begin independent practice. According to a 1988 study, the average diagnostic radiology resident sees forty cases per day, or around 12,000 cases per year. At the end of a residency, a diagnostic radiologist has stored, on average, 48,000 cases in long-term memory.

Psychologists and cognitive scientists agree that the time it takes to become an expert depends on the complexity of the task and the number of cases, or patterns, to which an individual is exposed. The more complex the task, the longer it takes to build expertise, or, more accurately, the longer it takes to experience and store a large number of cases or patterns.

Experts are individuals with specialized knowledge suited to perform the specific tasks for which they are trained, but that expertise does not necessarily transfer to other domains. A master chess player cannot apply chess expertise in a game of poker –although both chess and poker are games, a chess master who has never played poker is a novice poker player. Similarly, a biochemist is not qualified to perform neurosurgery, even though both biochemists and neurosurgeons study human physiology. In other words, the more complex a task is the more specialized and exclusive is the knowledge required to perform that task.

An expert perceives meaningful patterns in her domain better than non-experts. Where a novice perceives random or disconnected data points, an expert connects regular patterns within and between cases. This ability to identify patterns is not an innate perceptual skill; rather it reflects the organization of knowledge after exposure to and experience with thousands of cases.

Experts have a deeper understanding of their domains than novices do, and utilize higher-order principles to solve problems. A novice, for example, might group objects together by color or size, whereas an expert would group the same objects according to their function or utility. Experts comprehend the meaning of data and weigh variables with different criteria within their domains better then novices.  Experts recognized variables that have the largest influence on a particular problem and focus their attention on those variables.

Experts have better domain-specific short-term and long-term memory than novices do. Moreover, experts perform tasks in their domains faster than novices and commit fewer errors while problem solving. Interestingly, experts go about solving problems differently than novices. Experts spend more time thinking about a problem to fully understand it at the beginning of a task than do novices, who immediately seek to find a solution. Experts use their knowledge of previous cases as context for creating mental models to solve given problems.

Better at self-monitoring than novices, experts are more aware of instances where they have committed errors or failed to understand a problem. Experts check their solutions more often than novices and recognize when they are missing information necessary for solving a problem. Experts are aware of the limits of their domain knowledge and apply their domain’s heuristics to solve problems that fall outside of their experience base.

Questions 15-21

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?

On your answer sheet please write

YES                  if the statement agrees with the writer

NO                   if the statement contradicts with the writer

NOT GIVEN    if there is no information about this in the passage.

15   Both freshmen and journeymen need the help of a mentor to solve specific problems.

16   Novices take more time to deal with a large number of cases than experts.

17   The apprenticeship model is always used to analyze the behavior of experts and novices.

18   A chess master is certainly qualified to play poker well.

19   Experts and novices comprehend the meaning of data and weigh variables in different ways.

20   Experts generally have better memories than novices do.

21   Interestingly, experts take more time to solve problems than novices who immediately seek to find a solution.

Questions 22-24

Complete the summary below.

Choose your answer from the list below and write them in boxes 22-24 on your answer sheet.

NB   There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all.

The 22 _________ is not only a mode of education, but a standard method of training. On this basis, 23 _________ have been developed. Graduates seek their 24 _________ in respective fields and begin the long process of becoming experts.

mentors       chess       description

laws       apprenticeship       new knowledge

doctoral programs        complex tasks

Questions 25-27

Complete the flowchart below

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

From a novice chess player to an expert

A novice

Learns • The object of the game • The number of spaces • The name and function of each piece • How each piece is moved • The necessary conditions to win or close

A 25 _________

Learns • Patterns of opening moves • 26 _________ game-playing strategies • Pattern of victory and defeat

An expert

• Makes predictions based on patterns • Tests those predictions against actual behavior • Generates new knowledge • Create 27 _________

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

MASS PRODUCTION

A

Despite its obvious connection, mass production was not a corollary to the modern Industrial Revolution. Various mass production techniques had been practiced in ancient times, from ceramic production in the Orient to manufacturing in ancient Greece. The British were most likely the first modern economy to adapt water-powered, then steam-powered, machinery to industrial production methods, most notably in the textiles industry. Yet it is generally agreed that modern mass production techniques came into widespread use through the innovation of an assortment of Americans who substantially improved the ancient techniques. Indeed, this modern mass production was called the American System and its early successes are often attributed to Eli Whitney, who adapted mass production techniques and the interchangeability of parts to the manufacture of muskets for the U.S. government in the late 1790s.

B

In the late 18th century, French General Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, promoted standardized weapons, which became known as the Systeme Gribeauval after it was issued as a royal order in 1765. (Its focus at the time was artillery more than muskets or handguns.) The crucial step toward interchangeability in metal parts was taken by Simeon North, working only a few miles from Eli Terry. North created one of the world‘s first true milling machines to do metal shaping that previously was done by hand with a file. Diana Muir believes that North‘s milling machine was online around 1816. While Whitney was certainly an innovator of the American System, others maintain that Whitney‘s parts were not truly interchangeable and that credit should more appropriately go to John Hall, the New England gunsmith who built Muskets with flintlock for the United States government at the Harper‘s Ferry armory. Flintlock, as it was implied meant people used it to trigger the gun. Hall, born in Maine in 1769, built many of the machine tools needed for precision manufacturing and instituted a system that employed accurate gauges for measuring every aspect and piece of work his factory produced. Consequently, he achieved a much higher level of interchangeability and precision than did Whitney.

C

Still others maintain that the credit for these modem innovations should go to a French gunsmith whose methods and results predated those of Whitney and Hall by at least a decade. In Britain, and somewhat simultaneously with Whitney, the Frenchman Marc Isambard Brunei adapted steam-driven machinery and assembly-line techniques to the production of 130,000 pulleys for the marine industry in just one year. Brunei‘s achievements were made possible by the design and manufacture of several machine tools by the noted British inventor, Henry Maudslay.

D

Maudslay‘s contribution to modem mass production was the invention of precision machine tools capable of producing the identical parts necessary for mass production techniques which made producing guns cheaper. It is generally conceded that the British machine tool industry was far more advanced than that of the Americans in these early stages of mass production development. Simultaneous with Whitney‘s innovations in the United States were those of Oliver Evans, whose many inventions in the flour milling process led to an automated mill that could be run by a single miller.

E

Samuel Colt and Elisha King Root were also very successful innovators in the development of industrial processes that could mass produce interchangeable parts for the assembly-line production of firearms. Colt and Root wished to advance the machining of parts so that even the most minute of tasks could be performed with the precision that they believed only machines could achieve. In these endeavors, Colt and Root were largely successful.

F

Eli Terry also adapted mass production methods to clockmaking in the early 1800s, and George Eastman made innovations to assembly-line techniques in the manufacture and the developing of photographic film later in the century. Credit for the development of large scale, assembly-line, mass production techniques is usually given to Henry Ford and his innovative Model T production methods. Henry Ford had his workers standing in one place while parts were brought by on conveyor belts, and the car itself moved past the workers on another conveyor belt. Bodies were built on one line and the chassis and drive train were built on another. When both were essentially complete, the body was lowered onto the chassis for final assembly. Around the same time, production of guns also entered into the assembly line.

G

Despite the fact that he was not the first, Ford can certainly be viewed as the most successful of these early innovators due to one simple fact– Ford envisioned and fostered mass consumption as a corollary to mass production. Ford‘s techniques lessened the time needed to build a Model T from about twelve and a half hours to an hour and a half; the price was reduced as well–from $850 for the first Model T in 1908, to only $290 in 1927 after assembly-line techniques were introduced in 1913. The automobile was no longer a luxury for the rich, the Model T fast became a necessity for nearly everyone. Indeed, Ford sold almost half of all of the automobiles bought worldwide from 1908 to 1927–the years of Model T production. Apart from this, people showed different views over whether guns should be involved in mass production. The expense opposition to ammunition was the first one to trigger the debate. Other equipment involved in war or preparation for war was also against. Let alone all these required a lot of workforce to accomplish.

H

Assembly-line techniques also required that the manual skills necessary to build a product be altered. Previous to mass production techniques, as seen in the early manufacture of firearms, each workman was responsible for the complete manufacture and assembly of all of the component parts needed to build any single product. Mass production and parts interchangeability demanded that all parts be identical and the individual worker no longer be allowed the luxury of building a complete product based on his personal skills and inclinations. Machines came to dictate the production process, and each part–once created individually by hand–was now duplicated by a machine process that was merely guided by human control. The craft tradition, dominant in human endeavor for centuries, was abandoned in favor of a process that created parts by machine. Furthermore, assembly of these machine-made parts was divided into a series of small repetitive steps that required much less skill than traditional craftsmanship. Consequently, modem mass production techniques, while certainly increasing the efficiency of the manufacturing process and bringing industrial products within the reach of virtually all of humanity, apart from manufacturing ballpoint pens, making of gun is also part of it. But safety is also a factor to consider. People succeeded in restrain the production of guns resulting only 4 manufactures were permitted to produce guns in mass production.

Questions 28-33

The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-H.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-H from the list below.

Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i      The appearance of precision machine tools

ii     Different techniques applied to mass production

iii     prominent researchers‘ work dedicated to mass production of firearm making

iv    The disagreement on the first person who invented real interchangeable parts instead of Whitney

v     Successful elements for imposing restrictions on the production of guns

vi    Controversy on the permission of guns production

vii   The use of mass production to manufacture guns

viii The significant role of interchangeable parts

28   Paragraph C

29   Paragraph D

30   Paragraph E

31   Paragraph F

32   Paragraph G

33   Paragraph H

Questions 34-36

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 34-36 on your answer sheet.

34   What is the function of flintlock as mentioned in the passage?

A   Grind the gun

B   Decorate the gun

C   Fire the gun

D   Maintain the gun

35   Why does the author quote an example concerning Ford?

A   To demonstrate that mass production needed detailed techniques

B   To show that every object could be detached into several parts

C   To emphasize that Ford was a successful enterprise

D   To stress that cars were popular at that time in the U.S.

36   What is the main contribution of Maudslay?

A   Introduced assembly line for producing interchangeable parts of guns

B   Created useful tools for manufacture of guns with economic feasibility

C   Lessened the time for making guns

D   Set a standard of making guns and the standard of interchangeable parts

Questions 37-39

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 3.

Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 37-39 on your answer sheet.

People mainly expressed 37 _________ to buying ammunition after the success of applying assembly line to the production of automobiles which led to the same practice for guns followed by a heated debate over this application. Besides, other 38 _________ were needed in the war which demanded a big 39 _________ to support.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in box 40 on your answer sheet.

40   Which might be the best subtitle for the passage?

A   The origin of auto assembly line

B   A marvelous advancement in firearm production

C   The origin of mass production

D   The significance of producing interchangeable parts