Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published December 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
A. In Thailand, elephants are revered as a national symbol, but even there, the survival of great mammals is at risk. A century ago, more than 100,000 elephants worked in the Thai timber industry or roamed the forests. Today the number of elephants in captivity is just 2,500 and there are even fewer in the wild. Illegal hunting has taken a toll. Deforestation and the banning of logging have removed the elephants’ chief source of employment.
B. Recently, on the site of a former government logging camp, the Thai elephant conservation centre has been established. It is home to more than one hundred elephants retrenched from the logging industry. An American elephant specialist and his team have come up with an ingenious career alternative for these redundant employees. A select group of the centre’s residents have been chosen to play in the world’s first elephant orchestra. The project was initiated to create income for the operation of the Elephant Conservation centre.
C. The orchestra currently has twelve members, selected for their musical aptitude and motivation. They are aged seven to eighteen and play a variety of percussion and wind instruments in the Thai tradition – rentals which look like xylophones, slit drums, harmonicas, a bow bass, a gong and a thundersheet. The instruments are ‘elephant sized’ and specially designed to be played with trunks. Early in the project the organisers were unsure how the elephants would respond to musical training. Then one morning they were awakened to the sound of harmonicas.The elephants had picked up the instruments on their own and were wandering through the forest playing enthusiastically.
D. Making music comes naturally to elephants. They have huge brains and are highly sociable creatures. Their hearing is much better than their sight and they use a wide range of vocalisations.In performance, they stand in a line and prompted by the trainers, play their instruments. A strong sense of rhythm is evident as they flap their ears to the beat, swish their tails and generally rock back and forth. Some add to the melody with their own trumpeting. As the conductor paces up and down orchestrating proceedings, a trunk can sometimes be seen imitating the movement of his arm.
E. The elephants aren’t forced to learn complex patterns, so playing the instruments is quite easy. Commands are given only to indicate when to start and when to stop. The rest of the time, the players have the time to improvise. According to the trainers, the elephants love their work. The modest plan initially was to teach the elephants just to hit the instruments and then overdub those sounds with other music. But after only five practice sessions, a decision was made to record the performances intact with just the human noises removed. The players improvise distinct metres and melodies, then vary and repeat them.The resulting music is meditative, deliberate and delicate and it is real elephant music. Western listeners often describe it as ‘haunting’. To some ears it may seem monotonous but anyone not knowing they were listening to elephant music would assume that humans were playing.The first CD, classical in style, has sold well, so soon there will be a pop techno and country versions in production.
F. Playing music is not the only creative form of activity the elephants of the centre engage in. For several years now, a number of residents have been painting. They use acrylic paints on large canvases and have a preference for broad strokes and bold colours. Last year, elephant paintings helped raise over $25,000 at charity auctions internationally. These art sales together with profits from the CD are helping to fund the centre’s operations. The proceeds go towards an orphanage, hospital and mobile veterinary clinic for elephants and to support the training school.
G. Animal rights’ advocates might object to these non-traditional occupations for elephants. But, Thai elephants have always had to work for a living. If they weren’t playing music or painting pictures, they would be dragging logs or carrying tourists. Given those choices, playing music and painting are not such bad options.
Questions 1-6
The passage The Elephant Orchestra’ has paragraphs labelled (A-G).In which paragraph can the following information be found? Use only ONE letter for each answer. Note: You may use each letter more than once.
1 Description of the type of music produced by the elephants………………….. 2 Details of how the income generated is used………………….. 3 Description of the musical instruments………………….. 4 Forthcoming projects for the orchestra………………….. 5 Situation of elephants in Thailand………………….. 6 How the orchestra got started…………………..
Questions 7 – 11
Complete the summary. Choose your answers from the list below. Note: There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all. You may use any word more than once.
In order to raise funds for the Thai Elephant Centre a number of creative 7___________________have been developed, including the first Elephant Orchestra. The elephants play a variety of instruments and their 8 ———————–are being sold to 9 ________________income. These intelligent animals also produce paintings, which have been sold at international auctions. The 10 ——————support an orphanage, hospital and 11————— facility.
List of Words
painting projected music initiatives occupation proceeds production generate recordings training
Question 12
Choose the correct letter A-D.
12. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Elephants can be trained to do unusual tricks. B Creative projects can help to save endangered species. C Elephants have large brains. D Intelligent animals should not be forced to work.
Complete the sentences below with the words from the paragraph.
13. Making music comes ………….. to elephants. 14. Animal rights’ advocates might object to these ……………………. for elephants.
A detailed guide to this IELTS Writing Task 2 essay type, with structure templates, useful vocabulary, and techniques to achieve Band 7+.
Originally published December 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
A new study conducted for the World Bank by Murdoch University’s Institute for Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) has demonstrated that public transport is more efficient than cars. The study compared the proportion of wealth poured into transport by thirty-seven cities around the world. This included both the public and private costs of building, maintaining and using a transport system.
The study found that the Western Australian city of Perth is a good example of a city with minimal public transport. As a result, 17% of its wealth went into transport costs. Some European and Asian cities, on the other hand, spent as little as 5%. Professor Peter Newman, ISTP Director, pointed out that these more efficient cities were able to put the difference into attracting industry and jobs or creating a better place to live.
According to Professor Newman, the larger Australian city of Melbourne is a rather unusual city in this sort of comparison. He describes it as two cities: ‘A European city surrounded by a car-dependent one’. Melbourne’s large tram network has made car use in the inner city much lower, but the outer suburbs have the same car-based structure as most other Australian cities. The explosion in demand for accommodation in the inner suburbs of Melbourne suggests a recent change in many people’s preferences as to where they live.
Newman says this is a new, broader way of considering public transport issues. In the past, the case for public transport has been made on the basis of environmental and social justice considerations rather than economics. Newman, however, believes the study demonstrates that ‘the auto-dependent city model is inefficient and grossly inadequate in economic as well as environmental terms’.
Bicycle use was not included in the study but Newman noted that the two most ‘bicycle friendly’ cities considered – Amsterdam and Copenhagen – were very efficient, even though their public transport systems were ‘reasonable but not special’.
It is common for supporters of road networks to reject the models of cities with good public transport by arguing that such systems would not work in their particular city. One objection is climate. Some people say their city could not make more use of public transport because it is either too hot or too cold. Newman rejects this, pointing out that public transport has been successful in both Toronto and Singapore and, in fact, he has checked the use of cars against climate and found ‘zero correlation’.
When it comes to other physical features, road lobbies are on stronger ground. For example, Newman accepts it would be hard for a city as hilly as Auckland to develop a really good rail network. However, he points out that both Hong Kong and Zurich have managed to make a success of their rail systems, heavy and light respectively, though there are few cities in the world as hilly.
A. In fact, Newman believes the main reason for adopting one sort of transport over another is politics: ‘The more democratic the process, the more public transport is favored.’ He considers Portland, Oregon, a perfect example of this. Some years ago, federal money was granted to build a new road. However, local pressure groups forced a referendum over whether to spend the money on light rail instead. The rail proposal won and the railway worked spectacularly well. In the years that have followed, more and more rail systems have been put in, dramatically changing the nature of the city. Newman notes that Portland has about the same population as Perth and had a similar population density at the time.
B. In the UK, travel times to work had been stable for at least six centuries, with people avoiding situations that required them to spend more than half an hour travelling to work. Trains and cars initially allowed people to live at greater distances without taking longer to reach their destination. However, public infrastructure did not keep pace with urban sprawl, causing massive congestion problems which now make commuting times far higher.
C. There is a widespread belief that increasing wealth encourages people to live farther out where cars are the only viable transport. The example of European cities refutes that. They are–often wealthier than their American counterparts but have not generated the same level of car use. In Stockholm, car use has actually fallen in recent years as the city has become larger and wealthier. A new study makes this point even more starkly. Developing cities in Asia, such as Jakarta and Bangkok, make more use of the car than wealthy Asian cities such as Tokyo and Singapore. In cities that developed later, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank discouraged the building of public transport and people have been forced to rely on cars -creating the massive traffic jams that characterize those cities.
D. Newman believes one of the best studies on how cities built for cars might be converted to rail use is The Urban Village report, which used Melbourne as an example. It found that pushing everyone into the city centre was not the best approach. Instead, the proposal advocated the creation of urban villages at hundreds of sites, mostly around railway stations.
E. It was once assumed that improvements in telecommunications would lead to more dispersal in the population as people were no longer forced into cities. However, the ISTP team’s research demonstrates that the population and job density of cities rose or remained constant in the 1980s after decades of decline. The explanation for this seems to be that it is valuable to place people working in related fields together. ‘The new world will largely depend on human creativity, and creativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face.’
Questions 1-5
Reading Passage has five marked paragraphs, A-E. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Avoiding an overcrowded centre ii A successful exercise in people power iii The benefits of working together in cities iv Higher incomes need not mean more cars v Economic arguments fail to persuade vi The impact of telecommunications on population distribution vii Increases in travelling time viii Responding to arguments against public transport
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 if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6. The ISTP study examined public and private systems in every city of the world. 7. TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN Efficient cities can improve the quality of life for their inhabitants. 8. An inner-city tram network is dangerous for car drivers. 9. In Melbourne, people prefer to live in the outer suburbs. 10 Cities with high levels of bicycle usage can be efficient even when public transport is only averagely good.
Questions 11-13
Look at the following cities ( Questions 11-13) and the list of descriptions below. Match each city with the correct description, A-F. Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
List of Descriptions
A successfully uses a light rail transport system in hilly environment B successful public transport system despite cold winters C profitably moved from road to light rail transport system D hilly and inappropriate for rail transport system E heavily dependent on cars despite widespread poverty F inefficient due to a limited public transport system
Advantages of Public Transport- IELTS Reading Answers
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published December 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
PASSAGE
A. John Franklin (1786-1847) was the most famous vanisher of the Victorian era. He joined the Navy as a midshipman at the age of 14, and fought in the battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar. When peace with the French broke out, he turned his attention to Arctic exploration, and in particular to solving the conundrum of the Northwest Passage, the mythical clear-water route which would, if it existed, link the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans above the northern coast of the American continent. The first expedition Franklin led to the Arctic was an arduous overland journey from Hudson Bay to the shores of the so-called Polar Ocean east of the Coppermine River. Between 1819 and 1822, Franklin and his twenty-strong team covered 5550 miles on foot. Their expedition was a triumph of surveying-they managed to chart hundreds of miles of previously unknown coastline.
B There followed a career as a travel writer and salon-goer (’the man who ate his boots’ was Franklin’s tag-line), a second long Arctic expedition, and a controversial spell as Governor of Van Diemen’s Land. Then, in May 1845, Franklin set off with two ships-the Erebus and the Terror—and 129 men on the voyage that would kill him. In July, the convoy was seen by two whalers, entering Lancaster Sound. Nothing more would be heard of it for 14 years. Had the ships sunk or been iced in? Were the men dead, or in need of rescue? Or had they broken through to the legendary open polar sea, beyond the ’ice barrier’?
C In his personal correspondence and in his published memoirs, Franklin comes across as a man dedicated to the external duties of war and exploration, who kept introspection and self-analysis to a minimum. His blandness makes him an amenably malleable subject for a novelist, and Sten Nadolny has taken full advantage of this licence. Most important, he has endowed his John Franklin with a defining character trait for which there is no historical evidence: (‘slowness’, or ‘calmness’).
D Slowness influences not only Franklin’s behaviour but also his vision, his thought and his speech. The opening scene of The Discovery of Slowness (The Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny) -depicts Franklin as a young boy, playing catch badly because his reaction time is too slow. Despite the bullying of his peers, Franklin resolves not to fall into step with ‘their way of doing things. For Nadolny, Franklin’s fatal fascination with the Arctic stems from his desire to find an environment suited to his peculiar slowness.
E He describes Franklin as a boy dreaming of the ‘open water and the time without hours and days’ which exist in the far north, and of finding in the Arctic a place ‘where nobody would find him too slow’. Ice is a slow mover. Ice demands a corresponding patience from those who venture onto it. The explorers who have thrived at high latitudes and at high altitudes haven’t usually been men of great speed. They have tended instead to demonstrate unusual self-possession, a considerable capacity for boredom, and a talent for what the Scots call ‘tholing’, the uncomplaining endurance of suffering.
F These were all qualities which the historical Franklin possessed in abundance, and so Nadolny’s concentration and exaggeration of them isn’t unreasonable. Even as an adult, his slowness of thought means that he is unable to speak fluently, so he memorises entire fleets of words and batteries of response’, and speaks a languid, bric-a-brac language. In the Navy, his method of thinking first and acting later initially provokes mockery from his fellow sailors. But Franklin persists in doing things his way, and gradually earns the respect of those around him. To a commodore who tells him to speed up his report of an engagement, he replies: ‘When I tell something, sir, I use my own rhythm.’ A lieutenant says approvingly of him:‘Because Franklin is so slow, he never loses time.’
G Since it was first published in Germany in 1983, The Discovery of Slowness has sold more than a million copies and been translated into 15 languages. It has been named as one of German literature’s twenty ‘contemporary classics’, and it has been adopted as a manual and manifesto by European pressure groups and institutions representing causes as diverse as sustainable development, the Protestant Church, management science, motoring policy and pacifism.
H The various groups that have taken the novel up have one thing in common: a dislike of the high-speed culture of Postmodernity. Nadolny’s Franklin appeals to them because he is immune to ‘the compulsion to be constantly occupied’, and to the idea that ‘someone was better if he could do the same thing fast.’ Several Germanchurches have used him in their symposia and focus groups as an example of peacefulness, piety and selfconfidence. A centre scheme (a ‘march of slowness’ or ‘of the slow’), inspired by the novel. Nadolny has appeared as a guest speaker for RIO, a Lucernebased organisation which aims to reconcile management principles with ideas of environmental sustainability. The novel has even become involved in the debate about speed limits oil German roads. Drive down an autobahn today, and you will see large road-side signs proclaiming ‘tranquillity’ or ‘unhurriedness’, a slogan which deliberately plays off the title of the novel.
I A management journal in the US described The Discovery of Slowness as a ‘major event not only for connoisseurs of fine historical fiction, but also for those of us who concern themselves with leadership, communication and systems-thinking, issues’. It’s easy to see where the attraction lies for the management crowd. The novel is crammed with quotations about timeefficiency, punctiliousness and profitability: “As a rule, there are always three points in time:the right one, the lost one and the premature one.”What did too late mean? They hadn’t waited for it long enough, that’s what it meant.’
QUESTIONS
Questions 27-32
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-H, in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.
27 What was Sir John Franklin’s occupation before he went on career of the arctic exploration?
28 A story John Franklin reacted strangely when he met bullies by other children.
29 Reason of popularity for the book The Discovery of Slowness
30 A depiction that Sten Nadolny’s biography on John Franklin is not much based on facts.
31 The particular career Sir John Franklin took after his expedition unmatched before.
32 what is the central scheme and environment conveyed by the book The Discovery of Slowness
Questions 33-36
Complete the Summary paragraph described below. In boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet, write the correct answer with one word chosen from the box below.
Summary
In his personal correspondence to and in his published memoirs by Sten Nadolny, John Franklin was depicted as a man dedicated to the exploration, and the word of “slowness” was used to define his 33 ………………. ; when Franklin was in his childhood, his determination to the 34 ………………. of the schoolboys was too slow for him to fall into step. And Franklin was said to be a boy dreaming finding in a place he could enjoy the 35 ………………. in the Arctic. Later in 20th,His biography of discovery of slowness has been adopted as a 36 ………………. as for the movement such as sustainable development, or management science, motoring policy.
A. exploration
B. blandness
C. personality
D. policy
E. pressure
F. guidebook
G. management
H. timelessness
I. sports
J. bully
K. evidence
Questions 37-40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
37 why does the author mention “the ice is a slow mover” in the geological arctic, to demonstrate the idea
A of the difficulties Franklin conquered B that Franklin had a dream since his childhood C of fascination with the Arctic exploration D that explorer like Franklin should possess the quality of being patient
38 When Franklin was on board with sailors, how did he speak to his follow sailors
A he spoke in a way mocking his followers B he spoke a bric-a-brac language to show his languish attitude C he spoke in the words and phrases he previously memorized D he spoke in a rhythmical tune to save chatting time
39 His effort to overcome his slowness in marine time life had finally won the
A understanding of his personality better B capacity for coping with boredom C respect for him as he insisted to overcome his difficulties D the valuable time he can use to finish a report
40 why is the book The Discovery of Slowness sold more than a million copies
A it contains aspects of the life people would like to enjoy B it contains the information for the flag language applied in ships it induces a debate about speed limits German D it contains the technique for symposia German churches
John Franklin: “the discovery of the slowness” Reading Answers
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published December 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
A. The world’s first wild algae biodiesel, produced in New Zealand by Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, was successfully test-driven in Wellington by the Minister for Energy and Climate Change Issues, David Parker. In front of a crowd of invited guests, media and members of the public, the Minister filled up a diesel-powered Land Rover with Aquaflow B5 blend bio-diesel and then drove the car around the forecourt of Parliament Buildings in Central Wellington. Green Party co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons was also on board. Marlborough-based Aquaflow announced on May 2006 that it had produced the world’s first bio-diesel derived from wild microalgae sourced from local sewage ponds.
B. “We believe we are the first company in the world to test drive a car powered by wild algae-based biodiesel. This will come as a surprise to some international bio-diesel industry people who believe that this break-through is still years away,” explains Aquaflow spokesperson Barrie Leay. “A bunch of inventive Kiwis and an Aussie have developed this fuel in just over a year”, he comments. “This is a huge opportunity for New Zealand and a great credit to the team of people who saw the potential in this technology from day one.”
C. Bio-diesel based on algae could eventually become a sustainable, low cost, cleaner-burning fuel alternative for New Zealand, powering family cars, trucks, buses and boats. It can also be used for other purposes such as heating or distributed electricity generation. There is now a global demand for billions of litres of biodiesel per year. Algae are also readily available and produced in huge volumes in nutrient-rich waste streams such as at the settling ponds of Effluent Management Systems (EMS). It is a renewable indigenous resource ideally suited to the production of fuel and other useful by-products. The breakthrough comes after technology start-up, Aquaflow, agreed to undertake a pilot with Marlborough District Council late last year to extract algae from the settling ponds of its EMS based in Blenheim. By removing the main contaminant to use as a fuel feedstock, Aquaflow is also helping clean up the council’s water discharge – a process known as bio-remediation. Dairy farmers, and many food processors too, can benefit in similar ways by applying the harvesting technology to their nutrient-rich waste streams.
D. Blended with conventional mineral diesel, bio-diesel can run vehicles without the need for vehicle modifications. Fuel derived from algae can also help meet the Government B5 (5% blended) target, with the prospect of this increase over time as bio-fuel production increases. “Our next step is to increase capacity to produce one million litres of bio-diesel from the Marlborough sewage ponds over the next year,” says Leay. Aquaflow will launch a prospectus pre-Christmas as the company has already attracted considerable interest from potential investors. The test drive bio-diesel was used successfully in a static engine test at Massey University’s Wellington campus on Monday, December 11.
E. Today Algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners and livestock feed. Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places. Naturally growing seaweeds are an important source of food, especially in Asia. They provide many vitamins including A, B, B2, B6, niacin and C, and are rich in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium and calcium. In addition, commercially cultivated microalgae, including both Algae and Cyan-bacteria, are marketed as nutritional supplements, such as Spirulina, Chlorella and the Vitamin-C supplement, Dunaliella, high in beta-carotene. Algae are national foods of many nations: China consumes more than 70 species, including fat choy, a cyanobacterium considered a vegetable; Japan, over 20 species. The natural pigments produced by algae can be used as an alternative to chemical dyes and colouring agents.
F. Algae are the simplest plant organisms that convert sunlight and carbon dioxide in the air around us into stored energy through the well-understood process of photosynthesis. Algae are rich in lipids and other combustible elements and Aquaflow is developing technology that will allow these elements to be extracted in a cost-effective way. The proposed process is the subject of a provisional patent. Although algae are good at taking most of the nutrients out of sewage, too many algae can taint the water and make it smell. So, councils have to find a way of cleaning up the excess algae in their sewage outflows and then either dispose of it or find alternative uses for it. And that’s where Aquaflow comes in.
G. Unlike some bio-fuels which require crops to be specially grown and thereby compete for land use with food production, and use other scarce resources of fuel, chemicals and fertilisers, the source for algae-based biodiesel already exists extensively and the process produces a sustainable net energy gain by capturing free solar energy from the sun.
Questions 1 – 5
Reading Passage contains seven paragraphs A-G. Which paragraph states the following information? Write the appropriate letter A-G, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once.
1. It is unnecessary to modify vehicles driven by bio-diesel. 2. Some algae are considered edible plants. 3. Algae could be part of a sustainable and recycled source. 4. Algae biodiesel is superior to other bio-fuels in a lot of ways. 5. Overgrown algae also can be a potential threat to the environment.
Questions 6 – 10
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage. Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.
Bio-diesel based on algae could become a substitute for 6 ___________ in New Zealand. It could be used to 7 ___________ vehicles such as cars and boats. As a result, billions of litres of bio-diesel are required worldwide each year. Algae can be obtained from 8 ___________ with nutrient materials. With the technology breakthrough, algae is extracted and the 9 ___________s removed from the settling ponds. Dairy farmers and many food processors can adopt such 10___________technology.
Questions 11 – 13
Choose words from the passage to answer the questions 11-13. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
11. What environmental standard would biodiesel vehicles meet? 12. What is the immediate plan for the coming years for Aquaflow? 13. Through what kind of process do algae obtain and store energy?
Solution Table: Aqua Product: New Zealand’s Algae Biodiesel
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published December 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
Call us not weeds; we are flowers of the sea.
Section A
Seaweed is a particularly nutritious food, which absorbs and concentrates traces of a wide variety of minerals necessary to the body’s health. Many elements may occur in seaweed – aluminium, barium, calcium, chlorine, copper, iodine and iron, to name but a few – traces normally produced by erosion and carried to the seaweed beds by river and sea currents. Seaweeds are also rich in vitamins: indeed, Eskimos obtain a high proportion of their bodily requirements of vitamin C from the seaweeds they eat.
The nutritive value of seaweed has long been recognised. For instance, there is a remarkably low incidence of goitre amongst the Japanese, and for that matter, amongst our own Maori people, who have always eaten seaweeds, and this may well be attributed to the high iodine content of this food. Research into old Maori eating customs shows that jellies were made using seaweeds, fresh fruit and nuts, fuchsia and tutu berries, cape gooseberries, and many other fruits which either grew here naturally or were sown from seeds brought by settlers and explorers.
Section B
New Zealand lays claim to approximately 700 species of seaweed, some of which have no representation outside this country. Of several species grown worldwide, New Zealand also has a particularly large share. For example, it is estimated that New Zealand has some 30 species of Gigartina, a close relative of carrageen or Irish moss. These are often referred to as the New Zealand carrageens. The gel-forming substance called agar which can be extracted from this species gives them great commercial application in seameal, from which seameal custard is made, and in cough mixture, confectionery, cosmetics, the canning, paint and leather industries, the manufacture of duplicating pads, and in toothpaste. In fact, during World War II, New Zealand Gigartina were sent to Australia to be used in toothpaste.
Section C
Yet although New Zealand has so much of the commercially profitable red seaweeds, several of which are a source of agar (Pterocladia, Gelidium, Chondrus, Gigartina), before 1940 relatively little use was made of them. New Zealand used to import the Northern Hemisphere Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) from England and ready-made agar from Japan. Although distribution of the Gigartina is confined to certain areas according to species, it is only on the east coast of the North Island that its occurrence is rare. And even then, the east coast, and the area around Hokiangna, have a considerable supply of the two species of Pterocladia from which agar is also available. Happily, New Zealand-made agar is now obtainable in health food shops.
Section D
Seaweeds are divided into three classes determined by colour – red, brown and green – and each tends to live in a specific location. However, except for the unmistakable sea lettuce (Ulva), few are totally one colour; and especially when dry, some species can change colour quite significantly – a brown one may turn quite black, or a red one appear black, brown, pink or purple.
Identification is nevertheless facilitated by the fact that the factors which determine where a seaweed will grow are quite precise, and they therefore tend to occur in very well-defined zones. Although there are exceptions, the green seaweeds are mainly shallow-water algae; the browns belong to medium depths, and the reds are plants of the deeper water. Flat rock surfaces near mid-level tides are the most usual habitat of sea bombs, Venus’ necklace and most brown seaweeds. This is also the location of the purple laver or Maori karengo, which looks rather like a reddish-purple lettuce. Deep-water rocks on open coasts, exposed only at very low tide, are usually the site of bull kelp, strap weeds and similar tough specimens. Those species able to resist long periods of exposure to the sun and air are usually found on the upper shore, while those less able to stand such exposure occur nearer to or below the low-water mark. Radiation from the sun, the temperature level, and the length of time immersed all play a part in the zoning of seaweeds.
Section E
Propagation of seaweeds occurs by spores, or by fertilisation of egg cells. None have roots in the usual sense; few have leaves, and none have flowers, fruits or seeds. The plants absorb their nourishment through their fronds when they are surrounded by water: the base or “holdfast” of seaweeds is purely an attaching organ, not an absorbing one.
Section F
Some of the large seaweeds maintain buoyancy with air-filled floats; others, such as bull kelp, have large cells filled with air. Some, which spend a good part of their time exposed to the air, often reduce dehydration either by having swollen stems that contain water, or they may (like Venus’ necklace) have | swollen nodules, or they may have distinctive shape like a sea bomb. Others, like the sea cactus, are filled with slimy fluid or have coating of mucilage on the surface. In some of the larger kelps, this coating is not only to keep the plant moist but also to protect it from the violent action of waves.
Questions 1-6
Reading Passage 1 has six sections A-F. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Locations and features of different seaweeds ii Various products of seaweeds iii Use of seaweeds in Japan iv Seaweed species around the globe v Nutritious value of seaweeds vi Why it doesn’t dry or sink vii Where to find red seaweeds viii Underuse of native species ix Mystery solved x How seaweeds reproduce and grow
1 Section A 2 Section B 3 Section C 4 Section D 5 Section E 6 Section F
Questions 7-10
Complete the flow chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
Gigartina(also called as 7 _________)
↓ made into
8 ___________
↙
↘
9 __________canned or bottled food
medicine(e.g. 10 __________) toothpaste others
Questions 11-13
Classify the following description as relating to
A Green seaweeds B Brown seaweeds C Red seaweeds
Write the correct letter A, B, or C in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
11 Can resist exposure to sunlight at high-water mark 12 Grow in far open sea water 13 Share their habitat with karengo
