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. Three striking facts highlight the dramatic shift in recent years in the relative economic balance of “first-world” and “third-world” economies. Last year, according to our estimates, emerging economies produced slightly more than half of world output measured at purchasing-power parity. Second, they also accounted for more than half of the increase in global GDP in current-dollar terms. And third, perhaps most striking of all, the 32 biggest emerging economies grew in both 2004 and 2005. Every previous year during the past three decades saw at least one country in recession – if not a deep crisis. Some economies will inevitably stumble over the coming years, but, thanks to sounder policies, most can look forward to rapid long-term growth. The young emerging economies have grown up in more ways than one.
B. Such happenings are part of the biggest shift in economic strength since the emergence of the United States more than a century ago. As developing countries and the former Soviet bloc have embraced market-friendly economic reforms and opened their borders to trade and investment, more countries are industrialising than ever before and more quickly. During their industrial revolutions, America and Britain took 50 years to double their real incomes per head; today China is achieving that in a single decade. In an open world, it is much easier to catch up by adopting advanced countries’ technology than it is to be an economic leader that has to invent new technologies in order to keep growing. The shift in economic power towards emerging economies is therefore likely to continue. This is returning the world to the sort of state that endured throughout most of its history. People forget that, until the late 19th century, China and India were the world’s two biggest economies and today’s “emerging economies” accounted for the bulk of world production.
C. Many bosses, workers, and politicians in the rich world fear that the success of these newcomers will be at their own expense. However, rich countries will gain more than they lose from the enrichment of others. Fears that the third world will steal rich-world output and jobs are based on the old fallacy that an increase in one country’s output must be at the expense of another’s. But more exports give developing countries more money to spend on imports mainly from developed economies. Faster growth in poor countries is therefore more likely to increase the output of their richer counterparts than to reduce it. The emerging economies are helping to lift world GDP growth at the very time when the rich world’s ageing populations would otherwise cause growth to slow significant redistribution of income.
D. Although stronger growth in emerging economies will make developed count lies as a whole better off, not everybody will be a winner. Globalisation is causing the biggest shift in relative prices (of labour, capital, commodities, and goods) for a century, and this in turn is causing a significant redistribution of income. Low-skilled workers in developed economies are losing out relative to skilled workers. And owners of capital are-grabbing a bigger slice of the cake relative to workers as a whole..
E. As a result of China, India, and the former Soviet Union embracing market capitalism, the global labour force has doubled in size. To the extent that this has made labour more abundant, and capital relatively scarcer, it has put downward pressure on wages relative to the return on capital. Throughout the rich world, profits have surged to record levels as a share of national income, while the workers’ slice has fallen. Hence, Western workers as a whole do not appear to have shared fully in the fruits of globalisation; many low-skilled ones may even be worse off. However, this is only part of the story. Workers’ wages may be squeezed, but as consumers they benefit from lower prices. As shareholders and future pensioners, they stand to gain from a more efficient use of global capital. Competition from emerging economies should also help to spur rich-world productivity growth and thus, average incomes.
F. To the extent that rich economies as a whole gain from the new wealth of emerging ones, governments have more scope to compensate losers. Governments have another vital role to play, too. The intensifying competition from emerging economies makes flexible labour and product markets even more imperative, so as to speed up the shift from old industries to new ones. That is why Europe and Japan cannot afford to drag their heels over reform or leave workers ill equipped to take up tomorrow’s jobs. Developed countries that are quick to abandon declining industries and move upmarket into new industries and services will fare best as the emerging economies come of age. Those that resist change can look forward to years of relative decline. Those that embrace it can best share in the emerging economies’ astonishing new wealth.
Questions 1-4
The text has 6 paragraphs (A – F). Which paragraph contains each of the following pieces of information?
1. Advice for developed countries
2. The reason that it is faster to develop nowadays
3. The fact that in the 30 years before 2004, not all large developing economies grew
4. The fact that domination of the global economy by Western countries is unusual in global history
Questions 5-8
Complete the following sentences using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each gap.
Developing economies can catch up with developed ones faster because they don’t have to (5) ___________. Growth in developing countries helps developed economies because of spending (6) ___________. Capital is being used more efficiently because it is (7)___________. Economic (8) ___________ required in many developed economies.
Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 9 – 13 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
9. Large developing economies should not have any problems in the future.
10. If one country increases production, another country will have to reduce its production.
11. Globalisation is causing greater differences in income.
12. Low-skilled workers in developed economies are earning less.
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.
Mobiles are barred, but passengers can lap away on their laptops to their hearts’ content. Is one really safer than the other? In the US, a Congressional subcommittee grilled airline representatives and regulators about the issue last month. But the committee heard that using cell phones in planes may indeed pose a risk albeit a slight one. This would seem to vindicate the treatment of Manchester oil worker Neil Whitehouse, who was sentenced last summer to a year in jail by a British court for refusing to turn off his mobile phone on a flight home from Madrid. Although he was only typing a message to be sent on landing, not actually making a call, the court decided that hems putting the flight at risk.
A. The potential for problems is certainly there. Modern airliners are packed with electronic devices that control the plane and handle navigation and communications. Each has to meet stringent safeguards to make sure it doesn’t emit radiation that would interfere with other devices in the plane-standards that passengers’ personal electronic devices don’t necessarily meet. Emissions from inside the plane could also interfere with sensitive antennae on the fixed exterior.
B. But despite running a number of studies, Boeing, Airbus and various government agencies haven’t been able to find clear evidence of problems caused by personal electronic devices, including mobile phones. “We’ve done our own studies. We’ve found cell phones actually have no impact on the navigation system,” says Maryanne Greczyn, a spokeswoman for Airbus Industries of North America in Herndon, Virginia, Not do they affect other critical systems, she says. The only impact Airbus found? “Sometimes when a passenger is starting or finishing a phone call, the pilot hears a wry slight beep in the headset,” she says.
C. The best evidence yet of a problem comes from a report released this year by Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority. Its researchers generated simulated cell phone transmissions inside two Boeing aircrafts. They concluded that the transmissions could create signals at a power and frequency that would not affect the latest equipment, but exceeded the safety threshold established in 1984 and might, therefore, affect some of the older equipment on board. This doesn’t mean “mission critical” equipment such as the navigation system and flight controls. But the devices that could be affected, such as smoke detectors and fuel level indicators, could still create serious problems for the flight crew if they malfunction.
D. Many planes still use equipment certified to the older standards, says Dan Hawkes, head of avionics at the CAA’s Safely Regulation Croup. The CAA study doesn’t prove the equipment will actually fail when subjected to the signals but does show there’s a danger. “We’ve taken some of the uncertainty out of these beliefs,” he says. Another study later this year will see if the cellphone signals actually cause devices to fail.
E. In 1996, RTCA, a consultant hired by the Federal Aviation Administration in the US to conduct tests, determined that potential problems from personal electronic devices were “low”. Nevertheless, it recommended a ban on their use during “critical” periods of flight, such as take-off and landing. RTCA didn’t actually test cell phones, but nevertheless recommended their wholesale ban on flights. But if “better safe than sorry” is the current policy, it’s applied inconsistently, according to Marshall Cross, the chairman of Mega Wave Corporation, based in Boylston, Massachusetts. Why are cell phones outlawed when no one considers a ban on laptops? “It’s like most things in life. The reason is a little bit technical, a little bit economic and a little bit political,” says Cross.
F. The company wrote a report for the FAA in 1998 saying it is possible to build an on-board system that can detect dangerous signals from electronic devices. But Cross’s personal conclusion is that mobile phones aren’t the real threat. “You’d have to stretch things pretty far to figure out how a cell phone could interfere with a plane’s systems,” he says. Cell phones transmit in ranges of around 400, 800 or 1800 megahertz. Since no important piece of aircraft equipment operates at those frequencies, the possibility of interference is very low, Cross says. The use of computers and electronic game systems is much more worrying, lie says. They can generate very strong signals at frequencies that could interfere with plane electronics, especially if a mouse is attached (the wire operates as an antenna) or if their built-in shielding is somehow damaged. Some airlines are even planning to put sockets for laptops in seatbacks.
G. There’s fairly convincing anecdotal evidence that some personal electronic devices have interfered with systems. Aircrew on one flight found that the autopilot was being disconnected, and narrowed the problem down to a passenger’s portable computer. They could actually watch the autopilot disconnect when they switched the computer on. Boeing bought the computer, took it to the airline’s labs and even tested it on an empty flight. But as with every other reported instance of interference, technicians were unable to replicate the problem.
H. Some engineers, however, such as Bruce Donham of Boeing, says that common sense suggests phones are more risky than laptops. “A device capable of producing a strong emission is not as safe as a device which does not have any intentional emission,” he says. Nevertheless, many experts think it’s illogical that cell phones are prohibited when computers aren’t. Besides, the problem is more complicated than simply looking at power and frequency. In the air, the plane operates in a soup of electronic emissions, created by its own electronics and by ground-based radiation. Electronic devices in the cabin-especially those emitting a strong signal-can behave unpredictably, reinforcing other signals, for instance, or creating unforeseen harmonics that disrupt systems.
I. Despite the Congressional subcommittee hearings last month, no one seems to be working seriously on a technical solution that would allow passengers to use their phones. That’s mostly because no one -besides cell phone users themselves stand to gain a lot if the phones are allowed in the air. Even the cell phone companies don’t want it. They are concerned that airborne signals could cause problems by flooding a number of the networks’ base stations at once with the same signal. This effect, called bigfooting, happens because airborne cell phone signals tend to go to many base stations at once, unlike land calls which usually go to just one or two stations. In the US, even if FAA regulations didn’t prohibit cell phones in the air, Federal Communications Commission regulations would.
J. Possible solutions might be to enhance airliners’ electronic insulation or to fit detectors which warned flight staff when passenger devices were emitting dangerous signals. But Cross complains that neither the FAA, the airlines, nor the manufacturers are showing much interest in developing these. So despite Congressional suspicions and the occasional irritated (or jailed) mobile user, the industry’s “better safe than sorry” policy on mobile phones seems likely to continue. In the absence of firm evidence that the international airline industry is engaged in a vast conspiracy to overcharge its customers, a delayed phone call seems a small price to pay for even the tiniest reduction in the chances of a plane crash. But you’ll still be allowed to use your personal computer during a flight. And while that remains the case, airlines can hardly claim that logic has prevailed.
Questions 1-4
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage. Use no more than three words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
The would-be risk surely exists, since the avionic systems on modern aircraft are used to manage flight and deal with 1 ___________. Those devices are designed to meet the safety criteria which should be free from interrupting 2 ___________. The personal use of a mobile phone may cause the sophisticated 3 ___________ outside of the plane to dysfunction. Though definite interference in piloting devices has not been scientifically testified, the devices such as those which detect 4 ___________or indicate fuel load could be affected.
Questions 5-9
Use the information in the passage to match the Organization (listed A-E) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.
A British Civil Aviation Authority
B Maryanne Greczyn
C RTCA
D Marshall Cross
E Boeing company
5 Mobile usages should be forbidden in specific time.
6 Computers are more dangerous than cell phones.
7 Finding that the mobile phones pose little risk on flight’s navigation devices.
8 The disruption of laptops is not as dangerous as cell phones.
9 The mobile signal may have an impact on earlier devices.
Questions 10-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet, write TRUE, if the statement is true FALSE, if the statement is false NOT GIVEN, if the information is not given in the passage
10 Almost all scientists accept that cell phones have higher emission than that of personal computers.
11 Some people believe that radio emission will interrupt the equipment on the plane.
12 The signal interference-detecting device has not yet been developed because they are in priority for neither the administrative department nor offer an economic incentive.
13 The FAA initiated open debate with the Federal Communications Commission.
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.
Today they are everywhere. Production lines controlled by computers and operated by robots. There’s no chatter of assembly workers, just the whirr and click of machines. In the mid-1940s, the workerless factory was still the stuff of science fiction. There were no computers to speak of and electronics was primitive. Yet hidden away in the English countryside was a highly automated production line called ECME, which could turn out 1500 radioreceivers a day with almost no help from human hands.
A. John Sargrove, the visionary engineer who developed the technology, was way ahead of his time. For more than a decade, Sargrove had been trying to figure out how to make cheaper radios. Automating the manufacturing process would help. But radios didn’t lend themselves to such methods: there were too many parts to fit together and too many wires to solder. Even a simple receiver might have 30 separate components and 80 hand-soldered connections. At every stage, things had to be tested and inspected. Making radios required highly skilled labour—and lots of it.
B. In 1944, Sargrove came up with the answer. His solution was to dispense with most of the fiddly bits by inventing a primitive chip—a slab of Bakelite with all the receiver’s electrical components and connections embedded in it. This was something that could be made by machines, and he designed those too. At the end of the war, Sargrove built an automatic production line, which he called ECME (electronic circuit-making equipment), in a small factory in Effingham, Surrey.
C. An operator sat at one end of each ECME line, feeding in die plates. She didn’t need much skill, only quick hands. From now on, everything was controlled by electronic switches and relays. First stop was the sandblaster, which roughened the surface of the plastic BO that molten metal would stick to it The plates were then cleaned to remove any traces of grit The machine automatically checked that the surface was rough enough before sending the plate to the spraying section. There, eight nozzles rotated into position and sprayed molten zinc over both sides of the plate. Again, the nozzles only began to spray when a plate was in place. The plate whizzed on. The next stop was the milling machine, which ground away the surface layer of metal to leave the circuit and other components in the grooves and recesses. Now the plate was a composite of metal and plastic. It sped on to be lacquered and have its circuits tested. By the time it emerged from the end of the line, robot hands had fitted it with sockets to attach components such as valves and loudspeakers. When ECME was working flat out; the whole process took 20 seconds.
D. ECME was astonishingly advanced. Electronic eyes, photocells that generated a small current when a panel arrived, triggered each step in the operation, BO avoiding excessive wear and tear on the machinery. The plates were automatically tested at each stage as they moved along the conveyor. And if more than two plates in succession were duds, the machines were automatically adjusted—or if necessary halted In a conventional factory, I workers would test faulty circuits and repair them. But Sargrove’s assembly line produced circuits so cheaply they just threw away the faulty ones. Sargrove’s circuit board was even more astonishing for the time. It predated the more familiar printed circuit, with wiring printed on aboard, yet was more sophisticated. Its built-in components made it more like a modem chip.
E. When Sargrove unveiled his invention at a meeting of the British Institution of Radio Engineers in February 1947, the assembled engineers were impressed. So was the man from The Times. ECME, he reported the following day, “produces almost without human labour, a complete radio receiving set. This new method of production can be equally well applied to television and other forms of electronic apparatus.
F. The receivers had many advantages over their predecessors, wit components they were more robust. Robots didn’t make the sorts of mistakes human assembly workers sometimes did. “Wiring mistakes just cannot happen,” wrote Sargrove. No w ừ es also meant the radios were lighter and cheaper to ship abroad. And with no soldered wires to come unstuck, the radios were more reliable. Sargrove pointed out that the drcuit boards didn’t have to be flat. They could be curved, opening up the prospect of building the electronics into the cabinet of Bakelite radios.
G. Sargrove was all for introducing this type of automation to other products. It could be used to make more complex electronic equipment than radios, he argued. And even if only part of a manufacturing process were automated, the savings would be substantial. But while his invention was brilliant, his timing was bad. ECME was too advanced for its own good. It was only competitive on huge production runs because each new job meant retooling the machines. But disruption was frequent. Sophisticated as it was, ECME still depended on old- fashioned electromechanical relays and valves—which failed with monotonous regularity. The state of Britain’s economy added to Sargrove’s troubles. Production was dogged by power cuts and post-war shortages of materials. Sargrove’s financial backers began to get cold feet.
H. There was another problem Sargrove hadn’t foreseen. One of ECME’s biggest advantages—the savings on the cost of labour—also accelerated its downfall. Sargrove’s factory had two ECME production lines to produce the two c ữ cuits needed for each radio. Between them these did what a thousand assembly workers would otherwise have done. Human hands were needed only to feed the raw material in at one end and plug the valves into then sockets and fit the loudspeakers at the other. After that, the only job left was to fit the pair of Bakelite panels into a radio cabinet and check that it worked.
I. Sargrove saw automation as the way to solve post-war labour shortages. With somewhat Utopian idealism, he imagined his new technology would free people from boring, repetitive jobs on the production line and allow them to do more interesting work. “Don’t get the idea that we are out to rob people of then jobs,” he told the Daily Mnror. “Our task is to liberate men and women from being slaves of machines.”
J. The workers saw things differently. They viewed automation in the same light as the everlasting light bulb or the suit that never wears out—as a threat to people’s livelihoods. If automation spread, they wouldn’t be released to do more exciting jobs. They’d be released to join the dole queue. Financial backing for ECME fizzled out. The money dried up. And Britain lost its lead in a technology that would transform industry just a few years later.
QUESTIONS
Questions 1-7
Summary
The following diagram explains the process of ECME:
Complete the following chart of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes1-7on your answer sheet:
Questions 8-11
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 8-11 on your answer sheet
Summary
Sargrove had been dedicated to create a 8___________radio by automation of manufacture. The old version of radio had a large number of independent 9___________After this innovation was made, wireless-style radios became 10___________and inexpensive to export overseas. As Sargrove saw it, the real benefit of ECME’s radio was that it reduced 11___________of manual work; which can be easily copied to other industries of manufacturing electronic devices.
Questions 12-13
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write your answers inboxes 12-13 on your answer sheet</div>
12. What were workers attitude towards ECME Model initially A. Anxious B. Welcoming C. Boring D. Inspiring
13. What is the main idea of this passage? A. Approach to reduce the price of radio B. A new generation of fully popular products and successful business C. In application of die automation in the early stage D. ECME technology can be applied in many product fields
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published November 2022. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
A. We have long lived in an age where powerful images, catchy soundbites and too-good-to miss offers bombard us from every quarter. All around us the persuaders are at work. Occasionally their methods are unsubtle -the planting kiss on a baby’s head by a wannabe political leader, or a liquidation sale in a shop that has been “closing down” for well over a year, but generally the persuaders know what they are about and are highly capable. Be they politicians, supermarket chains, salespeople or advertisers, they know exactly what to do to sell us their images, ideas or produce. When it comes to persuasion, these giants rule supreme. They employ the most skilled image-makers and use the best psychological tricks to guarantee that even the most cautious among us are open to manipulation.
B. We spend more time in them than we mean to, we buy 75 percent of our food from them and end up with products that we did not realize we wanted. Right from the start, supermarkets have been ahead of the game. For example, when Sainsbury introduced shopping baskets into its 1950s stores, it was a stroke of marketing genius. Now shoppers could browse and pick up items they previously would have ignored. Soon after came trolleys, and just as new roads attract more traffic, the same applied to trolley space. Professor Merlin Stone, IBM Professor of Relationship Marketing at Bristol Business School, says aisles are laid out to maximize profits. Stores pander to our money-rich, time-poor lifestyle. Low turnover products — clothes and electrical goods-are stocked at the back while high turnover items command position at the front.
C. Stone believes supermarkets work hard to “stall” us because the more time we spend in them, the more we buy. Thus, great efforts are made to make the environment pleasant. Stores play music to relax us and some even pipe air from the in-store bakery around the shop. In the USA, fake aromas are sometimes used. The smell is both the most evocative and subliminal sense. In experiments, pleasant smells are effective in increasing our spending. A casino that fragranced only half its premise saw profit soar in the aroma-filled areas. The other success story from the supermarkets’ perspective is the loyalty card. Punters may assume that they are being rewarded for their fidelity, but all the while they are trading information about their shopping habits. Loyal shoppers could be paying 30% more by sticking to their favourite shops for essential cosmetics.
D. Research has shown that 75 percent of profit comes from just 30 percent of customers. Ultimately, reward cards could be used to identify and better accommodate these “elite” shoppers. It could also be used to make adverts more relevant to individual consumers – rather like Spielberg’s futuristic thriller Minority Report, in which Tom Cruise’s character is bombarded with interactive personalised ads. If this sounds far-fetched, the data-gathering revolution has already seen the introduction of radio-frequency identification to electronically tag products to see who is buying what,FRID means they can follow the product into people’s homes.
E. No matter how savvy we think we are to their ploys, the ad industry still wins. Adverts focus on what products do or on how they make us feel. Researcher Laurette Dube, in the Journal of Advertising Research, says when attitudes are based on “cognitive foundations” (logical reasoning), advertisers use informative appeals. This works for products with a little emotional draw but high functionality, such as bleach. Where attitude is based on effect (i.e, emotions), ad teams try to tap into our feelings. Researchers at the University of Florida recently concluded that our emotional responses to adverts dominate over “cognition”.
F. Advertisers play on our need to be safe (commercials for insurance), to belong (make a customer feel they are in the group fashion ads) and for self-esteem (aspirational adverts). With time and space at a premium, celebrities are often used as a quick way of meeting these needs – either because the celeb epitomizes success or because they seem familiar and so make the product seem “safe”. A survey of 4,000 campaigns found ads with celebs were 10 percent more effective than without. Humour also stimulates a rapid emotional response. Heiman Chung, writing in the International Journal of Advertising, found that funny ads were remembered for longer than straight ones. Combine humour with sexual imagery – as in Wonderbra’s “Hello Boys” ads-and you are on to a winner.
G. Slice-of-life ads are another tried and tested method-they paint a picture of life as you would like it, but still, one that feels familiar. Abhilasha Mehta, in the Journal of Advertising Research, noted that the more one’s self-image tallies with the brand being advertised, the stronger the commercial. Ad makers also use behaviorist theories, recognizing that the more sensation we receive from an object, the better we know it. If an advert for a chocolate bar fails to cause salivation, it has probably failed. No wonder advertisements have been dubbed the “nervous system of the business world”.
H. Probably all of us could make a sale if the product was something we truly believed in, but professional salespeople are in a different league-the best of them can always sell different items to suitable customers in the best time. They do this by using very basic psychological techniques.Stripped to its simplest level, selling works by heightening the buyer’s perception of how much they need a product or service. Buyers normally have certain requirements by which they will judge the suitability of a product. The seller, therefore, attempts to tease out what these conditions are and then explains how their products’ benefit can meet these requirements.
I. Richard Hession, author of Be a Great Salesperson says it is human nature to prefer to speak rather than listen, and good salespeople pander to this. They ask punters about their needs and offer to work with them to achieve their objectives. As a result, the buyer feels they are receiving a “consultation” rather than a sales pitch. All the while, the salesperson presents with a demeanour that takes it for granted that the sale will be made. Never will the words “if you buy” be used, but rather “when you buy”.
J. Dr Rob Yeung, a senior consultant at business psychologists Kiddy and Partner, says most salespeople will build up a level of rapport by asking questions about hobbies, family and lifestyle. This has the double benefit of making the salesperson likeable while furnishing him or her with more information about the client’s wants. Yeung says effective salespeople try as far as possible to match their style of presenting themselves to how the buyer comes across. If the buyer cracks jokes, the salespeople will respond in kind. If the buyer wants detail, the seller provides it, if they are more interested in the feel of the product, the seller will focus on this. At its most extreme, appearing empathetic can even include the salesperson attempting to “mirror” the hobby language of the buyer.
K. Whatever the method used, all salespeople work towards one aim: “closing the deal”. In fact, they will be looking for “closing signals” through their dealings with potential clients. Once again the process works by assuming success. The buyer is not asked “are you interested?” as this can invite a negative response. Instead, the seller takes it for granted that the deal is effectively done: when the salesman asks you for a convenient delivery date or asks what colour you want, you will probably respond accordingly. Only afterwards might you wonder why you proved such a pushover.
Questions 27-29
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
27. What is the supermarket’s purpose of using “basket” in paragraph B?
A. Create a convenient atmosphere of supermarket
B. Make customers spend more time on shopping
C. Relieve pressure on the supermarket’s traffic
D. More than half items bought need to be carried
28. What is the quality of the best salesman possessed according to this passage?
A. Sell the right product to the right person
B. Clearly state the instruction of one product
C. Show professional background
D. Persuade customers to buy the product they sell
29What’s the opinion of Richard Hession?
A. Pretend to be nice instead of selling goods
B. Prefer to speak a lot to customers
C. Help buyers to conclude their demands for ideal items
D. Show great interpersonal skill
Questions 30-35
The reading passage has 7 paragraphs A-K. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write your answers in boxes 30-35 on your answer sheet. NB. You may use any letter more than once.
30. How do supermarkets distract consumers
31. How to build a close relationship between salespeople and buyer
32. People would be impressed by the humour advertisement
33. Methods for salespeople to get the order
34. How question work for salespeople
35. Different customer groups bring different profits
Questions 36-40
Complete the notes below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.
Trolleys are born for the increasing traffic in the supermarket. The width of 36 __________ in supermarkets is broadened in order to generate the most profits. Research from 37 ___________ satisfying aromas can motivate people to buy more products. Except for the effort of creating a comfortable surrounding, 38 ___________ is another card that supermarkets play to reward their regular customers. For example, loyal customers spend 30% more in their loved shops for everyday necessary 39 ___________ .Clothes shops use advertisements to make the buyer think they are belonging to part of a 40 ___________ research from 4,000 campaigns reflect that humour advertisement received more emotional respect.
