Guía del Test de Reading IELTS: Test de Práctica de IELTS Reading Gratuito para IELTS General Reading e IELTS Academic Reading
En esta guía puedes empezar tu práctica de reading IELTS haciendo un test de reading IELTS gratuito. Sin embargo, existen dos versiones del examen: IELTS general reading e IELTS academic reading. Aprenderás cuál es la versión adecuada para ti y cómo abordar cada tipo de pregunta de reading utilizando nuestro material de reading IELTS.
Obtén un análisis gratuito de tu puntuación de reading de IELTS y un plan de estudio personalizado después de completar una prueba gratuita de reading de IELTS.
| Examen de IELTS General Reading | Examen de IELTS Academic Reading |
|---|---|
A continuación encontrarás nuestra lista completa de preguntas de reading de IELTS con respuestas. Nota: los enlaces en rojo son nuestras preguntas de reading más populares y recomendadas por nuestros estudiantes, y puedes practicarlas gratis cuando quieras.
Guía de práctica del IELTS Reading
El resto de esta guía te enseñará todo sobre el examen de IELTS Reading, tanto para la versión general como para la académica. Aprenderás cómo se calcula la puntuación de Reading, cómo responder con éxito a cada tipo de pregunta, a mejorar tu lectura con material en inglés y a dominar nuestras 3 estrategias para tener éxito en la práctica del IELTS Reading.
Índice de contenidos
- Información sobre el examen de IELTS Reading
- Información sobre el IELTS General Reading
- Información sobre el IELTS Academic Reading
- Calculadora de puntuación del IELTS Reading
- Cómo responder a los 11 tipos de preguntas del IELTS Reading
- Cómo mejorar tu band score en el IELTS Reading
- 3 estrategias para el IELTS Reading
- Descarga gratis un PDF de práctica del IELTS Reading con respuestas
Información sobre el examen de IELTS Reading
El examen de IELTS Reading consta de 3 secciones y un total de 40 preguntas. En general, responderás de 12 a 14 preguntas en cada sección y dispondrás de exactamente 60 minutos para completar la prueba. Cada sección contiene de 1 a 3 pasajes, según la versión del examen. Si ya sabes qué versión vas a hacer, puedes saltarte las próximas secciones. Si no, es importante que conozcas cada examen y cómo prepararte.
¿Qué examen de IELTS Reading es el adecuado para mí?
El examen de IELTS Reading tiene dos versiones: IELTS General Reading y IELTS Academic Reading. Harás el General Reading si vas a emigrar o a matricularte en la enseñanza secundaria. Harás el Academic Reading si vas a acceder a la enseñanza superior. La mayor diferencia entre el general y el académico está en la dificultad de los pasajes de lectura. Como su nombre indica, la versión académica utiliza material de fuentes académicas, mientras que la general utiliza material de la vida cotidiana.
Ambos exámenes tienen 3 secciones, 40 preguntas y 11 tipos de preguntas. En la tabla siguiente puedes ver con detalle cada sección de ambos exámenes.
| Sección | Examen IELTS Academic Reading | Examen IELTS General Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Un texto académico largo que va desde lo descriptivo y factual hasta lo discursivo y analítico. El texto procede de
libros, revistas científicas, revistas y periódicos. De 12 a 14 preguntas |
Dos o tres textos factuales cortos.
Los temas están relacionados con la vida cotidiana en un país de habla inglesa.
De 12 a 14 preguntas |
| 2 | Un texto académico largo que va desde lo descriptivo y factual hasta lo discursivo y analítico. El texto procede de
libros, revistas científicas, revistas y periódicos. De 10 a 14 preguntas |
Dos textos factuales cortos centrados en cuestiones laborales (por ejemplo, solicitudes de empleo, políticas de empresa, retribución y condiciones).
De 12 a 14 preguntas |
| 3 | Un texto académico largo que va desde lo descriptivo y factual hasta lo discursivo y analítico. El texto procede de
libros, revistas científicas, revistas y periódicos. De 12 a 14 preguntas |
Un texto más largo y complejo sobre un tema de interés general.
Los textos son auténticos y proceden de anuncios, avisos, manuales de empresa, libros, revistas y periódicos.
De 12 a 14 preguntas |
Ahora que ya conoces la estructura del examen de IELTS Reading y las versiones general y académica, es momento de saber si te conviene más la prueba en papel o la prueba por ordenador.
IELTS en papel (PBT) vs. IELTS por ordenador (CBT)
En el PBT se te entregará un Cuadernillo de Preguntas y una Hoja de Respuestas. En el Cuadernillo de Preguntas verás todas las preguntas que debes responder. En la Hoja de Respuestas escribirás tus respuestas definitivas para la corrección. Puedes consultar la hoja oficial de respuestas del IELTS en PDF aquí
Nota: A diferencia del examen de IELTS Listening, no se da tiempo adicional para transferir las respuestas del cuadernillo a la hoja de respuestas, así que asegúrate de ir trasladando cada pregunta a la hoja de respuestas a medida que la respondes.
En el CBT responderás a las preguntas en el ordenador. Los pasajes aparecen a la izquierda y las preguntas a la derecha. También podrás resaltar texto y utilizar funciones de control para copiar y pegar respuestas. Para más información sobre el PBT y el CBT, consulta la guía del IELTS por ordenador.
Puedes practicar cualquiera de las dos versiones cuando quieras con nuestro examen de práctica gratuito del IELTS Reading. Encontrarás enlaces a todo nuestro material de IELTS Reading en la parte superior de la página.
IELTS General Reading
En el examen general, los pasajes del IELTS Reading se extraen de libros, revistas, periódicos, anuncios, avisos, manuales de empresa y directrices que podrías encontrar en el día a día en un entorno de habla inglesa. Al igual que en el examen académico, hay 3 secciones, pero en el IELTS General Reading cada sección es algo distinta de la anterior.
Vídeo de introducción al IELTS General Reading
-
Sección 1: contiene dos o tres textos cortos o varios textos breves
Esta sección se denomina Social Survival y contiene textos relacionados con la supervivencia lingüística básica en inglés, con tareas centradas principalmente en obtener y aportar información factual general, por ejemplo: avisos, anuncios y horarios. -
Sección 2: incluye dos textos
Esta sección se denomina Workplace Survival y se centra en el contexto laboral, por ejemplo, descripciones de puestos, contratos y materiales de formación o desarrollo profesional. -
Sección 3: es un único texto largo
Esta sección se denomina General Reading e implica leer prosa más extensa, con una estructura más compleja. El enfoque es descriptivo e instructivo, en lugar de argumentativo.
Esperamos que no te sientas abrumado. El examen de Reading no es tan difícil como parece. Si sigues nuestros consejos de IELTS Reading y utilizas nuestras preguntas de práctica gratuitas, estarás listo para enfrentarte a cualquier pasaje y alcanzar el band score que te has propuesto. Por cierto, el examen académico de Reading se puntúa de forma ligeramente distinta al general. A continuación, hablaremos de las band scores y de cómo se calculan.
IELTS Academic Reading
En el examen académico, los pasajes del IELTS Reading proceden de libros, revistas científicas, revistas y periódicos de fuentes académicas adecuadas para estudiantes universitarios. Cada pasaje es largo —entre 6 y 10 párrafos—, puede estar escrito en distintos estilos, como el narrativo o el descriptivo, y abarca una amplia variedad de temas académicos como antropología, historia, ciencia, biología, arte, educación, lingüística, etc. Los pasajes incluirán a veces términos técnicos o incluso material visual, como tablas y gráficos. Puedes practicar estos y otros temas con nuestras preguntas de práctica del IELTS Reading.
Vídeo de introducción al IELTS Academic Reading
¿Qué temas académicos aparecen con más frecuencia en el examen oficial de IELTS Academic Reading?
En 2018 y 2019, los temas de lectura académica más frecuentes fueron historia y ciencias sociales, lo que incluye cultura, educación, lingüística y sociología. Curiosamente, los temas de historia trataron sobre todo de animales y plantas de Nueva Zelanda, Australia, Reino Unido y Canadá. Los siguientes temas más frecuentes en el IELTS Reading fueron psicología, ciencias naturales, arte, antropología, negocios y biología.
El gráfico siguiente muestra los distintos temas evaluados en los exámenes académicos de IELTS Reading en 2018 y 2019.
Por estas tendencias, nos hemos asegurado de que nuestros exámenes de práctica del IELTS Reading cubran estos temas. También hemos añadido lecturas sobre temas menos frecuentes, por si acaso. Es importante que te prepares para todas las situaciones, porque nunca se sabe qué tema te tocará en el examen.
Cómo se calcula tu puntuación del IELTS Reading
Cada pregunta del IELTS Reading vale 1 punto, así que puedes conseguir una puntuación «bruta» de hasta 40 puntos. Después, tu puntuación bruta se convierte en tu band score. Las tablas siguientes te dan una idea general de cómo se convierten las puntuaciones brutas en band scores en cada examen.
Puntuación del IELTS General Reading vs. IELTS Academic Reading
| Puntuación bruta: Academic | Band score: Academic | Puntuación bruta: General | Band score: General |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39-40 | 9 | 40 | 9 |
| 37-38 | 8.5 | 39 | 8.5 |
| 35-36 | 8 | 37-38 | 8 |
| 33-34 | 7.5 | 36 | 7.5 |
| 30-32 | 7 | 34-35 | 7 |
| 27-29 | 6.5 | 32-33 | 6.5 |
| 23-26 | 6 | 30-31 | 6 |
| 19-22 | 5.5 | 27-29 | 5.5 |
| 15-18 | 5 | 23-26 | 5 |
| 13-14 | 4.5 | 19-22 | 4.5 |
| 10-12 | 4 | 15-18 | 4 |
| 8-9 | 3.5 | 12-14 | 3.5 |
| 6-7 | 3 | 9-11 | 3 |
| 4-5 | 2.5 | 6-8 | 2.5 |
| 1-3 | 2 | 1-5 | 2 |
Sin embargo, ten en cuenta que cada versión del examen de IELTS Reading es ligeramente diferente y la puntuación necesaria para alcanzar una determinada banda varía en función de cómo se desempeñaron todas las personas que hicieron el examen ese día concreto. Por eso, el número de respuestas correctas para conseguir una band score variará un poco de un examen a otro, pero, en general, deberías intentar acertar unas 30 de 40 preguntas si quieres obtener una banda 7.
Otra cosa que conviene recordar: las preguntas más difíciles y las más fáciles cuentan lo mismo en tu puntuación final de Reading, así que asegúrate de no perder puntos fáciles por quedarte atascado en las preguntas difíciles. A continuación veremos algunos consejos y estrategias para responder a cada tipo de pregunta del examen de Reading.
Consejos para el IELTS Reading: cómo responder a los 11 tipos de preguntas
En el examen de Reading hay 11 tipos de preguntas diferentes y cada uno requiere una estrategia distinta. Por eso es importante que practiques cada tipo para descubrir la mejor forma de abordarlo y conseguir un band score alto. En los siguientes apartados verás un ejemplo del IELTS Reading con respuestas para cada tipo de pregunta y aprenderás consejos para responder con éxito.
- Tipo de pregunta 1 – Emparejar información
- Tipo de pregunta 2 – Emparejar títulos
- Tipo de pregunta 3 – Emparejar características
- Tipo de pregunta 4 – Identificar información
- Tipo de pregunta 5 – Identificar opiniones o afirmaciones del autor
- Tipo de pregunta 6 – Opción múltiple
- Tipo de pregunta 7 – Emparejar finales de frase
- Tipo de pregunta 8 – Completar oraciones
- Tipo de pregunta 9 – Completar resúmenes, notas, tablas y diagramas de flujo
- Tipo de pregunta 10 – Completar etiquetas de diagramas
- Tipo de pregunta 11 – Preguntas de respuesta corta
- Cómo las tendencias te ayudan a preparar el IELTS Reading
Tipo de pregunta 1 – Emparejar información
En este tipo de pregunta tienes que relacionar afirmaciones con párrafos del texto de lectura. Las afirmaciones pueden ser razones, descripciones, resúmenes, definiciones, hechos o explicaciones. Debes encontrar la información concreta en el párrafo y emparejarla con una de las afirmaciones. La respuesta suele estar contenida en una frase u oración completa, no en una sola palabra. A continuación se muestra una pregunta de muestra de emparejamiento de información del IELTS Academic Reading.
Consulta nuestra aula completa de IELTS Reading sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de emparejamiento de información. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Reading Passage 7 has eight paragraphs labelled A-F.
Which paragraphs contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
- an explanation of the factors affecting the transmission of information
- an example of how unnecessary information can be omitted
- a reference to attitude to fame
- details of a machine capable of interpreting incomplete information
- a detailed account of an incident involving information theory
- a reference to what Shannon initially intended to achieve in his research
Answer sheet
| 27 | |
| 28 | |
| 29 | |
| 30 | |
| 31 | |
| 32 |
-
spellcheck Answers27 D
28 F
29 B
30 E
31 A
32 C
Information theory lies at the heart of everything - from DVD players and the genetic code of DNA to the physics of the universe at its most fundamental. It has been central to the development of the science of communication, which enables data to be sent electronically and has therefore had a major impact on our lives
A In April 2002 an event took place which demonstrated one of the many applications of information theory. The space probe, Voyager I, launched in 1977, had sent back spectacular images of Jupiter and Saturn and then soared out of the Solar System on a one-way mission to the stars. After 25 years of exposure to the freezing temperatures of deep space, the probe was beginning to show its age. Sensors and circuits were on the brink of failing and NASA experts realised that they had to do something or lose contact with their probe forever. The solution was to get a message to Voyager I to instruct it to use spares to change the failing parts. With the probe 12 billion kilometres from Earth, this was not an easy task. By means of a radio dish belonging to NASA's Deep Space Network, the message was sent out into the depths of space. Even travelling at the speed of light, it took over 11 hours to reach its target, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Yet, incredibly, the little probe managed to hear the faint call from its home planet, and successfully made the switchover.
B It was the longest-distance repair job in history, and a triumph for the NASA engineers. But it also highlighted the astonishing power of the techniques developed by American communications engineer Claude Shannon, who had died just a year earlier. Born in 1916 in Petoskey, Michigan, Shannon showed an early talent for maths and for building gadgets, and made breakthroughs in the foundations of computer technology when still a student. While at Bell Laboratories, Shannon developed information theory, but shunned the resulting acclaim In the 1940s, he single-handedly created an entire science of communication which has since inveigled its way into a host of applications, from DVDs to satellite communications to bar codes - any area, in short, where data has to be conveyed rapidly yet accurately.
C This all seems light years away from the down-to-earth uses Shannon originally had for his work, which began when he was a 22-year-old graduate engineering student at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1939. He set out with an apparently simple aim: to pin down the precise meaning of the concept of 'information'. The most basic form of information, Shannon argued, is whether something is true or false - which can be captured in the binary unit, or 'bit', of the form 1 or 0. Having identified this fundamental unit, Shannon set about defining otherwise vague ideas about information and how to transmit it from place to place. In the process he discovered something surprising: it is always possible to guarantee information will get through random interference - 'noise' - intact.
D Noise usually means unwanted sounds which interfere with genuine information. Information theory generalises this idea via theorems that capture the effects of noise with mathematical precision. In particular, Shannon showed that noise sets a limit on the rate at which information can pass along communication channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the relative strengths of the signal and noise travelling down the communication channel, and on its capacity (its 'bandwidth'). The resulting limit, given in units of bits per second, is the absolute maximum rate of error-free communication given signal strength and noise level. The trick, Shannon showed, is to find ways of packaging up - 'coding' - information to cope with the ravages of noise, while staying within the information-carrying capacity - 'bandwidth' - of the communication system being used.
E Over the years scientists have devised many such coding methods, and they have proved crucial in many technological feats. The Voyager spacecraft transmitted data using codes which added one extra bit for every single bit of information; the result was an error rate of just one bit in 10,000 - and stunningly clear pictures of the planets. Other codes have become part of everyday life - such as the Universal Product Code, or bar code, which uses a simple error-detecting system that ensures supermarket check-out lasers can read the price even on, say, a crumpled bag of crisps. As recently as 1993, engineers made a major breakthrough by discovering so-called turbo codes - which come very close to Shannon's ultimate limit for the maximum rate that data can be transmitted reliably, and now play a key role in the mobile videophone revolution.
F Shannon also laid the foundations of more efficient ways of storing information, by stripping out superfluous ('redundant') bits from data which contributed little real information. As mobile phone text messages like 'I CN C U' show, it is often possible to leave out a lot of data without losing much meaning. As with error correction, however, there's a limit beyond which messages become too ambiguous. Shannon showed how to calculate this limit, opening the way to the design of compression methods that cram maximum information into the minimum space.
Tipo de pregunta 2 – Emparejar títulos
Este tipo de pregunta evalúa tu capacidad para entender la idea principal de cada párrafo. Te darán entre 5 y 7 títulos y tendrás que emparejar cada párrafo del texto con un título. Un título es una frase corta que resume la información de un párrafo. Siempre hay más títulos que párrafos.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de emparejamiento de títulos. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Reading Passage 6 has six sections, A-E.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D and E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-vii in boxes 2-5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
- Commercial pressures on people in charge
- Mixed views on current changes to museums
- Interpreting the facts to meet visitor expectations
- The international dimension
- Collections of factual evidence
- Fewer differences between public attractions
- Current reviews and suggestions
| Example | Answer |
| 1. Section A | v |
- Section B
- Section C
- Section D
- Section E
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 |
-
spellcheck Answers2. ii
3. vi
4. i
5. iii
Section A The conviction that historical relics provide infallible testimony about the past is rooted in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective and value free. As one writer observes: 'Although it is now evident that artefacts are as easily altered as chronicles, public faith in their veracity endures: a tangible relic seems ipso facto real/ Such conviction was, until recently, reflected in museum displays. Museums used to look - and some still do - much like storage rooms of objects packed together in showcases: good for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but not for the ordinary visitor, to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information accompanying the objects often made little sense to the lay visitor. The content and format of explanations dated back to a time when the museum was the exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.
Section B Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented have altered. The key word in heritage display is now 'experience', the more exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the senses. Good examples of this approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York; the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford; and the Imperial War Museum in London. In the US the trend emerged much earlier: Williamsburg has been a prototype for many heritage developments in other parts of the world. No one can predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites the re-enactment of historical events is increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual reality experiences, which will present visitors with a vivid image of the period of their choice, in which they themselves can act as if part of the historical environment. Such developments have been criticised as an intolerable vulgarisation, but the success of many historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the majority of the public does not share this opinion.
Section C In a related development, the sharp distinction between museum and heritage sites on the one hand, and theme parks on the other, is gradually evaporating. They already borrow ideas and concepts from one another. For example, museums have adopted story lines for exhibitions, sites have accepted 'theming' as a relevant tool, and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based presentations. In zoos, animals are no longer kept in cages, but in great spaces, either in the open air or in enormous greenhouses, such as the jungle and desert environments in Burgers' Zoo in Holland. This particular trend is regarded as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the twentieth century.
Section D Theme parks are undergoing other changes,too, as they try to present more serious social and cultural issues, and move away from fantasy. This development is a response to market forces and, although museums and heritage sites have a special, rather distinct role to fulfil, they are also operating in a very competitive environment, where visitors make choices on how and where to spend their free time. Heritage and museum experts do not have to invent stories and recreate historical environments to attract their visitors: their assets are already in place. However, exhibits must be both based on artifacts and facts as we know them, and attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of interpreting history are thus in a difficult position, as they must steer a narrow course between the demands of 'evidence' and 'attractiveness' especially given the increasing need in the heritage industry for income-generating activities.
Section E It could be claimed that in order to make everything in heritage more 'real', historical accuracy must be increasingly altered. For example, Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with Malay facial features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant gesture to his wife. Such presentations tell us more about contemporary perceptions of the world than about our ancestors. There is one compensation, however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: if they did not provide the interpretation, visitors would do it for themselves, based on their own ideas, misconceptions and prejudices. And no matter how exciting the result it would contain a lot more bias than the presentations provided by experts.
Section F Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of history has to do with the transitory nature of the materials themselves. The simple fact is that not everything from history survives the historical process. Castles, palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of ordinary people. The same applies to the furnishings and other contents of the premises. In a town like Leyden in Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by approximately the same number of inhabitants as today, people lived within the walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden. In most of the houses several families lived together in circumstances beyond our imagination. Yet in museums, fine period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle of the upper class of that era. No wonder that people who stroll around exhibitions are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that life was so much better in the past. This notion is induced by the bias in its representation in museums and heritage centres.
Tipo de pregunta 3 – Emparejar características
En este tipo de pregunta tienes que emparejar una lista de opciones con un conjunto de afirmaciones.
Las opciones son un grupo de características extraídas del texto del IELTS y están identificadas con letras.
Por ejemplo, puede que tengas que emparejar distintos resultados de investigación con una lista de investigadores,
características con grupos de edad, acontecimientos con periodos históricos, etc.
Ten en cuenta que algunas opciones pueden no usarse y que otras pueden usarse más de una vez.
Las instrucciones te indicarán si las opciones pueden utilizarse varias veces.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de emparejamiento de características. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Look at the following items (Questions 7-10) and the list of groups below.
Match each item with the group which first invented or used them.
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
- black powder
- rocket-propelled arrows for fighting
- rockets as war weapons
- the rocket
A the Chinese
B the Indians
C the British
D the Arabs
E the Americans
Answer sheet
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 |
-
spellcheck Answers7 A
8 A
9 B
10 E
The invention of rockets is linked inextricably with the invention of 'black powder'. Most historians of technology credit the Chinese with its discovery. They base their belief on studies of Chinese writings or on the notebooks of early Europeans who settled in or made long visits to China to study its history and civilisation. It is probable that, some time in the tenth century, black powder was first compounded from its basic ingredients of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur. But this does not mean that it was immediately used to propel rockets. By the thirteenth century, powder- propelled fire arrows had become rather common. The Chinese relied on this type of technological development to produce incendiary projectiles of many sorts, explosive grenades and possibly cannons to repel their enemies. One such weapon was the 'basket of fire' or, as directly translated from Chinese, the 'arrows like flying leopards'. The 0.7 metre-long arrows, each with a long tube of gunpowder attached near the point of each arrow, could be fired from a long, octagonal-shaped basket at the same time and had a range of 400 paces. Another weapon was the 'arrow as a flying sabre', which could be fired from crossbows. The rocket, placed in a similar position to other rocket-propelled arrows, was designed to increase the range. A small iron weight was attached to the 1.5m bamboo shaft, just below the feathers, to increase the arrow's stability by moving the centre of gravity to a position below the rocket. At a similar time, the Arabs had developed the 'egg which moves and burns'. This 'egg' was apparently full of gunpowder and stabilised by a 1.5m tail. It was fired using two rockets attached to either side of this tail.
It was not until the eighteenth century that Europe became seriously interested in the possibilities of using the rocket itself as a weapon of war and not just to propel other weapons. Prior to this, rockets were used only in pyrotechnic displays. The incentive for the more aggressive use of rockets came not from within the European continent but from far-away India, whose leaders had built up a corps of rocketeers and used rockets successfully against the British in the late eighteenth century. The Indian rockets used against the British were described by a British Captain serving in India as 'an iron envelope about 200 millimetres long and 40 millimetres in diameter with sharp points at the top and a 3m-long bamboo guiding stick'. In the early nineteenth century the British began to experiment with incendiary barrage rockets. The British rocket differed from the Indian version in that it was completely encased in a stout, iron cylinder, terminating in a conical head, measuring one metre in diameter and having a stick almost five metres long and constructed in such a way that it could be firmly attached to the body of the rocket. The Americans developed a rocket, complete with its own launcher, to use against the Mexicans in the mid-nineteenth century. A long cylindrical tube was propped up by two sticks and fastened to the top of the launcher, thereby allowing the rockets to be inserted and lit from the other end. However, the results were sometimes not that impressive as the behaviour of the rockets in flight was less than predictable.
Tipo de pregunta 4 – Identificar información (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN)
En este tipo de pregunta se te darán afirmaciones relacionadas con el pasaje y tu trabajo será indicar si la afirmación es verdadera, falsa o no se proporciona. Es uno de los tipos de pregunta más difíciles del IELTS Reading, porque hay que aplicar una lógica rigurosa para responder correctamente. Es fundamental que los candidatos entiendan la diferencia entre «FALSE» y «NOT GIVEN».
Si la respuesta es «FALSE», significa que el pasaje contiene información que demuestra que la afirmación es incorrecta.
Si la respuesta es «NOT GIVEN», significa que el pasaje no incluye la información de la afirmación y no la confirma ni la contradice.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de identificación de información (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN). Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1–7 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
- Chronobiology is the study of how living things have evolved over time.
- The rise and fall of sea levels affects how sea creatures behave.
- Most animals are active during the daytime.
- Circadian rhythms identify how we do different things on different days.
- A 'night person' can still have a healthy circadian rhythm.
- New therapies can permanently change circadian rhythms without causing harm.
- Naturally-produced vegetables have more nutritional value
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 |
-
spellcheck Answers1. FALSE
2. TRUE
3. NOT GIVEN
4. FALSE
5. TRUE
6. FALSE
7. TRUE
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science fiction novel, perhaps – but it's actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna.
This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns. Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon. Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as bats and possums, prefer to forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the lowlight of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours.
When it comes to humans, chronobiologists are interested in what is known as the circadian rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during the day, each cycle involves many other factors such as changes in blood pressure and body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. 'Night people', for example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms known as a chronotype.
Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands. Recent therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we breach these natural rhythms for extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this respect; studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser.
Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate biology – after all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy drinks, shift work and cities that never sleep? – keeping in synch with our body clock is important.
The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04 a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at 7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who awoke then.
Once you're up and ready to go, what then? If you're trying to shed some extra pounds, dietitians are adamant: never skip breakfast. This disorients your circadian rhythm and puts your body in starvation mode. The recommended course of action is to follow an intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round and weight loss results are not as pronounced.
Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Supplement absorption by the body is not temporal-dependent, but naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost at breakfast helps us get energised for the day ahead. For improved absorption, Stone suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are soluble and steering clear of caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns to take care with storage; high potency is best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the potency of a supplement.
After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition – we have the Italians to thank for that – but to prepare for a good night's sleep we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m. With a seven hour half-life, a cup of coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine in your nervous system at ten o'clock that evening. It is essential that, by the time you are ready to sleep, your body is rid of all traces.
Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietitian Geraldine Georgeou warns that an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand. This will deprive your body of vital energy needs. Overloading your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient.
Tipo de pregunta 5 – Identificar opiniones o afirmaciones del autor
En este tipo de pregunta se te darán una serie de afirmaciones y se te preguntará:
¿Coinciden las siguientes afirmaciones con las opiniones o afirmaciones del autor?
Debes escribir YES, NO o NOT GIVEN en las casillas de la hoja de respuestas.
NO significa que las opiniones o afirmaciones del autor contradicen explícitamente la afirmación.
NOT GIVEN significa que la opinión o afirmación ni se confirma ni se contradice en el texto.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de identificación de opiniones o afirmaciones del autor. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 4-7 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
- Thirty per cent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-relateddiseases.
- If one partner in a marriage smokes, the other is likely to take up smoking
- Teenagers whose parents smoke are at risk of getting lung cancer at some time during their lives.
- Opponents of smoking financed the UCSF study.
Answer sheet
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 |
-
spellcheck Answers4. NO
5. NOT GIVEN
6. YES
7. NOT GIVEN
Discovered in the early 1800s and named 'nicotianine', the oily essence now called nicotine is the main active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases the risk of developing fatal medical conditions.
In addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is associated with cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought to cause about 14 per cent of leukemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.
Passive smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco between puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk. A report published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized the health dangers, especially from side-stream smoke. This type of smoke contains more smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has classified environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing cancer.
As an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure and the figure jumps to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It has been calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence.
A more recent study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to smokers. Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe someone else's cigarette smoke, the report suggests that the smoke experienced by many people in their daily lives is enough to produce substantial adverse effects on a person's heart and lungs.
The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA), was based on the researchers' own earlier research but also includes a review of studies over the past few years. The American Medical Association represents about half of all US doctors and is a strong opponent of smoking. The study suggests that people who smoke cigarettes are continually damaging their cardiovascular system, which adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking. It further states that people who do not smoke do not have the benefit of their system adapting to the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive smoking are far greater on non-smokers than on smokers.
This report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette smoke; harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for example, competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood's ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke activate small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood of blood clots, thereby affecting blood circulation throughout the body.
The researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with the tobacco industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does on non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage done by passive smoking and, in support of their recent findings, cite some previous research which points to passive smoking as the cause for between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart attacks each year in the United States. This means that passive smoking is the third most preventable cause of death after active smoking and alcohol-related diseases
The study argues that the type of action needed against passive smoking should be similar to that being taken against illegal drugs and AIDS (SIDA). The UCSF researchers maintain that the simplest and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work places, schools and public places.
Tipo de pregunta 6 – Opción múltiple
Tanto en el IELTS Academic Reading como en el IELTS General Reading tendrás que responder preguntas de opción múltiple. Cada pregunta varía en cuanto al número de opciones que debes elegir y al tipo de pregunta que se plantea.
Distintos números de opciones de respuesta
- Elegir una respuesta entre cuatro opciones (la más habitual)
- Elegir dos respuestas entre cinco opciones
- Elegir tres respuestas entre seis opciones
Tipos de pregunta
- Completar una oración
- Responder a una pregunta
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de opción múltiple. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Choose the appropriate letters A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 10-12 on your answer sheet.
- reduced the productivity of farmland by 20 per cent.
- was almost as severe as in India and China.
- was causing significant damage to 20 per cent of farmland.
- could be reduced by converting cultivated land to meadow or forest.
- used 50 per cent less fertiliser than Dutch farmers.
- used twice as much fertiliser as they had in 1960.
- applied fertiliser much more frequently than in 1960.
- more than doubled the amount of pesticide they used in just 3 years.
- farm incomes
- use of fertiliser
- over-stocking
- farm diversification
Answer sheet
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 |
-
spellcheck Answers10. C
11. B
12. D
All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. For example, land clearing for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertilisers and pesticides may contaminate water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion; and the spread of monoculture and use of high- yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of food plants which might have provided some insurance against pests or diseases in future. Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries. The United States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity. The country subsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 per cent of its cropped land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in America.
Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming can cause. In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm output drive up the price of land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense: about $250 billion, or more than all World Bank lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per acre, a farmer's easiest option is to use more of the most readily available inputs: fertilisers and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 and increased in The Netherlands by 150 per cent. The quantity of pesticides applied has risen too: by 69 per cent in 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 per cent in the frequency of application in the three years from 1981.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies. The most dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984. A study of the environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the end of fertiliser subsidies had been followed by a fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes). The removal of subsidies also stopped land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the principal causes of erosion. Farms began to diversify. The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to have been bad for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion.
In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather than eliminate subsidies, and to introduce new payments to encourage farmers to treat their land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow. It may sound strange but such payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow food crops. Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become interested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement for petrol (as ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass). Such fuels produce far less carbon dioxide than coal or oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. They are therefore less likely to contribute to the greenhouse effect. But they are rarely competitive with fossil fuels unless subsidised - and growing them does no less environmental harm than other crops.
Tipo de pregunta 7 – Emparejar finales de frase
En este tipo de prueba se te da una lista de oraciones incompletas sin sus finales y otra lista con posibles finales. Tu tarea es emparejar las oraciones incompletas con el final correcto, según el texto.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de emparejamiento de finales de frase. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-J from the box below.
Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 8-10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
- Passive smoking
- Compared with a non-smoker, a smoker
- The American Medical Association
- includes reviews of studies in its reports.
- argues for stronger action against smoking in public places.
- is one of the two most preventable causes of death.
- is more likely to be at risk from passive smoking diseases.
- is more harmful to non-smokers than to smokers.
- is less likely to be at risk of contracting lung cancer.
- is more likely to be at risk of contracting various cancers.
- opposes smoking and publishes research on the subject.
- is just as harmful to smokers as it is to non-smokers.
- reduces the quantity of blood flowing around the body.
Answer sheet
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 |
-
spellcheck Answers8. E
9. G
10. H
Discovered in the early 1800s and named 'nicotianine', the oily essence now called nicotine is the main active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases the risk of developing fatal medical conditions.
In addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is associated with cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought to cause about 14 per cent of leukaemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.
Passive smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco between puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk. A report published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized the health dangers, especially from sidestream smoke. This type of smoke contains more smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has classified environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing cancer.
As an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure and the figure jumps to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It has been calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high levels of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence.
A more recent study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to smokers. Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe someone else's cigarette smoke, the report suggests that the smoke experienced by many people in their daily lives is enough to produce substantial adverse effects on a person's heart and lungs.
The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA), was based on the researchers' own earlier research but also includes a review of studies over the past few years. The American Medical Association represents about half of all US doctors and is a strong opponent of smoking. The study suggests that people who smoke cigarettes are continually damaging their cardiovascular system, which adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking. It further states that people who do not smoke do not have the benefit of their system adapting to the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive smoking are far greater on non-smokers than on smokers.
This report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette smoke; harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for example, competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood's ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke activate small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood of blood clots, thereby affecting blood circulation throughout the body.
The researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with the tobacco industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does on non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage done by passive smoking and, in support of their recent findings, cite some previous research which points to passive smoking as the cause for between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart attacks each year in the United States. This means that passive smoking is the third most preventable cause of death after active smoking and alcohol-related diseases.
The study argues that the type of action needed against passive smoking should be similar to that being taken against illegal drugs and AIDS (SIDA). The UCSF researchers maintain that the simplest and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work places, schools and public places.
Tipo de pregunta 8 – Completar oraciones
En este tipo de pregunta se te darán una serie de oraciones con huecos y tendrás que completarlas
con palabras del texto.
Estas preguntas son tanto pruebas de vocabulario como de lectura, porque exigen que reconozcas paráfrasis
(uso de palabras distintas para repetir una frase con el mismo significado) y sinónimos
(palabras con significados iguales o muy similares).
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de completar oraciones o tablas. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- ______would be a more effective target for government investment than micro-turbines.
- An indirect benefit of subsidising micro-turbines is the support it provides for ______
- Most spending has a _____effect on the environment
- If people buy a micro-turbine, they have less money to spend on things like foreign holidays and ____.
Answer sheet
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 |
-
spellcheck Answers10 offshore wind farms.
11. developing technology
12. negatived
13. cars
A In terms of micro-renewable energy sources suitable for private use, a 15-kilowatt (kW) turbine is at the biggest end of the spectrum. With a nine metre diameter and a pole as high as a four-storey house, this is the most efficient form of wind microturbine, and the sort of thing you could install only if you had plenty of space and money. According to one estimate, a 15-kW micro-turbine (that's one with the maximum output), costing £41,000 to purchase and a further £9,000 to install, is capable of delivering 25,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh)' of electricity each year if placed on a suitably windy site.
B I don't know of any credible studies of the greenhouse gas emissions involved in producing and installing turbines, so my estimates here are going to be even more broad than usual. However, it is worth trying. If turbine manufacture is about as carbon intensive per pound sterling of product as other generators and electrical motors, which seems a reasonable assumption, the carbon intensity of manufacture will be around 640 kilograms (kg) per £1,000 of value. Installation is probably about as carbon intensive as typical construction, at around 380 kg per £1,000. That makes the carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse gases that installing a turbine creates) 30 tonnes.
C The carbon savings from wind-powered electricity generation depend on the carbon intensity of the electricity that you're replacing. Let's assume that your generation replaces the coal-fuelled part of the country's energy mix. In other words, if you live in the UK, let's say that rather than replacing typical grid electricity, which comes from a mix of coal, gas, oil and renewable energy sources, the effect of your turbine is to reduce the use of coal-fired power stations. That's reasonable, because coal is the least preferable source in the electricity mix. In this case the carbon saving is roughly one kilogram per kWh, so you save 25 tonnes per year and pay back the embodied carbon in just 14 months - a great start.
D The UK government has recently introduced a subsidy for renewable energy that pays individual producers 24p per energy unit on top of all the money they save on their own fuel bill, and on selling surplus electricity back to the grid at approximately 5p per unit. With all this taken into account, individuals would get back £7,250 per year on their investment. That pays back the costs in about six years. It makes good financial sense and, for people who care about the carbon savings for their own sake, it looks like a fantastic move. The carbon investment pays back in just over a year, and every year after that is a 25-tonne carbon saving. (It's important to remember that all these sums rely on a wind turbine having a favourable location)
E So, at face value, the turbine looks like a great idea environmentally, and a fairly good long-term investment economically for the person installing it. However, there is a crucial perspective missing from the analysis so far. Has the government spent its money wisely? It has invested 24p per unit into each micro-turbine. That works out at a massive £250 per tonne of carbon saved. My calculations tell me that had the government invested its money in offshore wind farms, instead of subsidising smaller domestic turbines, they would have broken even after eight years. In other words, the micro-turbine works out as a good investment for individuals, but only because the government spends, and arguably wastes, so much money subsidising it. Carbon savings are far lower too.
F Nevertheless, although the micro-wind turbine subsidy doesn't look like the very best way of spending government resources on climate change mitigation, we are talking about investing only about 0.075 percent per year of the nation's GDP to get a one percent reduction in carbon emissions, which is a worthwhile benefit. In other words, it could be much better, but it could be worse. In addition, such investment helps to promote and sustain developing technology.
G There is one extra favourable way of looking at the micro-wind turbine, even if it is not the single best way of investing money in cutting carbon. Input- output modelling has told us that it is actually quite difficult to spend money without having a negative carbon impact. So if the subsidy encourages people to spend their money on a carbon-reducing technology such as a wind turbine, rather than on carbon-producing goods like cars, and services such as overseas holidays, then the reductions in emissions will be greater than my simple sums above have suggested.
Tipo de pregunta 9 – Completar resúmenes, notas, tablas y diagramas de flujo
En este tipo de pregunta se te da un resumen del texto del IELTS y tienes que completarlo con información del texto. El resumen solo abarca una parte del pasaje, no lo resume entero. Hay dos variantes de este tipo de pregunta: o bien debes seleccionar palabras del texto o bien elegir de una lista de respuestas.
La información puede presentarse en forma de:
- varias oraciones conectadas (denominadas resumen)
- varias notas (denominadas notas)
- una tabla con algunas celdas vacías o parcialmente vacías (denominada tabla)
- una serie de cuadros o pasos unidos por flechas que muestran una secuencia de hechos
- con algunos cuadros o pasos vacíos o parcialmente vacíos (denominado diagrama de flujo).
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de completar resúmenes. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
| Species | French | Spanish | South African ball |
| Preferred climate | cool | 9 _____ | 12 _____ |
| Complementary species | Spanish | 13 _____ | |
| Start of active period | late spring | 10 _____ | |
| Number of generations per year | 1-2 | 11 _____ |
Answer sheet
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 |
-
spellcheck Answers9 temperate
10 early spring
11 two to five / 2-5
12 sub-tropical
13 South African tunneling/tunnelling
Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.
For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long), is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
Glossary
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals
2. cow pats: droppings of cows
Tipo de pregunta 10 – Completar etiquetas de diagramas
Este tipo de pregunta requiere completar las etiquetas de un diagrama que se relaciona con una descripción del texto. Hay tres tipos de diagramas posibles: un dibujo técnico de una máquina o invento, algo del mundo natural o un diseño o plano.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de completar etiquetas de diagramas. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Label the tunnels on the diagram below using words from the box.
Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.
Answer sheet
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 |
-
spellcheck Answers6 South African
7 French
8 Spanish
Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.
For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long), is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals
2. cow pats: droppings of cows
Tipo de pregunta 11 – Preguntas de respuesta corta
En este tipo de pregunta tienes que escribir una, dos o tres palabras o un número como respuesta.
Las preguntas suelen referirse a información factual sobre detalles del texto.
Las instrucciones indicarán claramente cuántas palabras o números debes usar en cada respuesta, p. ej., NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER del pasaje, ONE WORD ONLY o NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
Si escribes más palabras de las que se piden, perderás puntos.
Los números pueden escribirse en cifras o en letras.
Consulta nuestra aula completa sobre cómo responder a las preguntas de respuesta corta. Incluye vídeos para ambas versiones del examen y explicaciones detalladas con preguntas de muestra.
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.
- In which year did the World Health Organisation define health in terms of mental, physical and social well-being
- Name the three broad areas which relate to people's health, according to the socio-ecological view of health.
- During which decade were lifestyle risks seen as the major contributors to poor health?
Answer sheet
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 |
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spellcheck Answers1. 1946
2. social, economic, environmental
3. 1970's
The concept of health holds different meanings for different people and groups. These meanings of health have also changed over time. This change is no more evident than in Western society today, when notions of health and health promotion are being challenged and expanded in new ways.
For much of recent Western history, health has been viewed in the physical sense only. That is, good health has been connected to the smooth mechanical operation of the body, while ill health has been attributed to a breakdown in this machine. Health in this sense has been defined as the absence of disease or illness and is seen in medical terms. According to this view, creating health for people means providing medical care to treat or prevent disease and illness. During this period, there was an emphasis on providing clean water, improved sanitation and housing.
In the late 1940s the World Health Organisation challenged this physically and medically oriented view of health. They stated that "health is a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and is not merely the absence of disease" (WHO, 1946). Health and the person were seen more holistically (mind/body/spirit) and not just in physical terms.
The 1970s was a time of focusing on the prevention of disease and illness by emphasising the importance of the lifestyle and behaviour of the individual. Specific behaviours which were seen to increase risk of disease, such as smoking, lack of fitness and unhealthy eating habits, were targeted. Creating health meant providing not only medical health care, but health promotion programs and policies which would help people maintain healthy behaviours and lifestyles. While this individualistic healthy lifestyles approach to health worked for some (the wealthy members of society), people experiencing poverty, unemployment, underemployment or little control over the conditions of their daily lives benefited little from this approach. This was largely because both the healthy lifestyles approach and the medical approach to health largely ignored the social and environmental conditions affecting the health of people.
During the 1980s and 1990s there has been a growing swing away from seeing lifestyle risks as the root cause of poor health. While lifestyle factors still remain important, health is being viewed also in terms of the social, economic and environmental contexts in which people live. This broad approach to health is called the socio-ecological view of health. The broad socio-ecological view of health was endorsed at the first International Conference of Health Promotion held in 1986, Ottawa, Canada, where people from 38 countries agreed and declared that: "The fundamental conditions and resources for health are peace, shelter, education, food, a viable income, a stable eco-system, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic requirements." (WHO, 1986)
It is clear from this statement that the creation of health is about much more than encouraging healthy individual behaviours and lifestyles and providing appropriate medical care. Therefore, the creation of health must include addressing issues such as poverty, pollution, urbanisation, natural resource depletion, social alienation and poor working conditions. The social, economic and environmental contexts which contribute to the creation of heath do not operate separately or independently of each other. Rather, they are interacting and interdependent, and it is the complex interrelationships between them which determine the conditions that promote health. A broad socio-ecological view of health suggests that the promotion of health must include a strong social, economic and environmental focus.
At the Ottawa Conference in 1986, a charter was developed which outlined new directions for health promotion based on the socio-ecological view of health. This charter, known as the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, remains as the backbone of health action today. In exploring the scope of health promotion it states that:
Good health is a major resource for social, economic and personal development and an important dimension of quality of life. Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioural and biological factors can all favour health or be harmful to it. (WHO, 1986) The Ottawa Charter brings practical meaning and action to this broad notion of health promotion. It presents fundamental strategies and approaches in achieving health for all. The overall philosophy of health promotion which guides these fundamental strategies and approaches is one of "enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health" (WHO, 1986).
Cómo las tendencias te ayudan a preparar el IELTS Reading
Ya hemos hablado de los consejos para responder a cada tipo de pregunta del IELTS Reading. Ahora veamos una tendencia interesante que puede ayudarte en tu preparación. El gráfico circular siguiente muestra la proporción de cada tipo de pregunta de Reading que apareció en los exámenes oficiales de IELTS Reading en 2017.
Como puedes ver, los tipos de pregunta de «Sentence/Summary/Note/Table/Flow-chart/Diagram completion & Short answer» fueron los más frecuentes, con un 29 %, seguidos muy de cerca por los de «Identifying information/viewer claims», con un 23 %. Por último, el tipo «Matching features» representó el 16 %, «Matching information/Multiple choice» el 11 % y «Matching headings» el 10 %.
Con esta información, puedes ver qué tipos de pregunta son más probables en tu examen de IELTS Reading. Aunque DEBES prepararte para todos los tipos, conocer estos datos te ayudará a gestionar mejor tu tiempo. Por supuesto, si te salen bien algunos tipos de pregunta, probablemente debas dedicar más tiempo a los tipos en los que tienes dificultades. Si quieres saber exactamente qué tipos te resultan más difíciles, empieza un examen de muestra GRATUITO del IELTS Reading y, al final, haz clic en «Ver resultados» para ver tu informe diagnóstico completo, que también incluye tu desempeño en cada tipo de pregunta.
A continuación veremos consejos y estrategias del IELTS Reading necesarios para conseguir una puntuación alta.
Consejos para el IELTS Reading: cómo mejorar tu band score
La mayoría de los candidatos no aprueban la sección de Reading por las siguientes tres razones:
- Velocidad de lectura lenta
- Vocabulario pobre
- Poca o ninguna preparación
Cómo mejorar tu velocidad de lectura
Empecemos por lo obvio: para mejorar tu velocidad de lectura tienes que leer y hacerlo de forma constante.
Ahora veamos una estrategia menos evidente que te ayudará a entender el significado de bloques de frases extensos. Empieza diseccionando la frase. Para ello, busca el sujeto y el verbo de la oración. Encontrar el sujeto y el verbo te ayudará a comprender el significado de la frase. Una razón por la que los pasajes académicos pueden resultar difíciles de entender es que encadenan varias ideas en oraciones compuestas largas. Esto produce bloques largos de texto difíciles de asimilar, así que usar el sujeto y el verbo como guía para entender todo el bloque es una herramienta excelente para el examen.
Cómo mejorar tu vocabulario
Mucha gente piensa que responder a las preguntas de Reading consiste simplemente en buscar palabras clave e información... pero no es tan sencillo. Las preguntas suelen estar parafraseadas, es decir, las palabras se cambian usando sinónimos del pasaje. Esto se hace para aumentar la dificultad; de lo contrario, el examen sería demasiado fácil. Por eso, debes mejorar tu vocabulario para conocer los distintos sinónimos de cada palabra.
Mientras te preparas para el examen, cuando te encuentres con una palabra que no conoces, acostúmbrate a buscarla en el momento o, al menos, a anotarla para buscarla después. Es un poco tedioso, pero muy efectivo. Tu objetivo debería ser estudiar entre 15 y 20 palabras académicas nuevas cada día.
Saber en qué tipos de pregunta las respuestas siguen el orden del texto
Es importante saber que, en algunos tipos de pregunta, las respuestas suelen aparecer (casi siempre) en el mismo orden que en el pasaje. En otros tipos, las respuestas rara vez siguen el mismo orden del texto. Hemos preparado una tabla con los tipos que siguen el orden y los que no.
| Las respuestas suelen seguir (casi siempre) el orden del pasaje | Las respuestas rara vez siguen el orden del pasaje |
|---|---|
|
|
Encontrar la mejor estrategia de lectura para ti
El mayor reto al que se enfrenta la mayoría de los candidatos en el IELTS Reading es completar todas las preguntas antes de que se acabe el tiempo. En el siguiente apartado aprenderás tres estrategias y dependerá de ti decidir cuál es la que mejor se adapta a ti. Lo harás con nuestras prácticas gratuitas de lectura.
3 estrategias para el IELTS Reading
Estrategia 1: Leer todo el pasaje y luego responder a las preguntas.
En realidad, esto no es tanto una estrategia. Es lo que hacen quienes no se preparan adecuadamente para el examen. Aun así, la incluimos como estrategia porque, técnicamente, si puedes retener la información del pasaje en la primera lectura y responder a las preguntas, no necesitarás la estrategia 2.
Esta estrategia, si no tienes una memoria mejor que la media, es ineficiente. Acabarás quedándote sin tiempo antes de poder responder a todas las preguntas. Mucha gente comete este error. Sin embargo, hay algunas preguntas que no requieren mucho esfuerzo y se benefician de esta estrategia. Por ejemplo, si la respuesta es «sí» o «no», podrás repasar el texto rápidamente y encontrar la respuesta enseguida, pero no hay suficientes preguntas de este tipo, así que no es recomendable usar esta estrategia salvo que puedas asumirla.
Estrategia 2: Leer primero las preguntas, leer con un objetivo, tomar notas y responder con criterio
Esta es nuestra estrategia recomendada. Te ayudará a conseguir un band score más alto. Considéralo un mapa claro para enfrentarte al examen:
Uno de los errores más comunes que cometen los candidatos al
abordar el examen de Reading es leer cada palabra de los pasajes. Aunque puedes
practicar para el examen leyendo por placer, «leer a ciegas» (leer sin tener idea de
qué te van a preguntar) no te ayudará en el examen. Al contrario, perjudicará
tus opciones de gestionar bien el tiempo y conseguir la mejor puntuación.
La principal razón para leer las preguntas primero es que el tipo de pregunta puede determinar qué
lees del pasaje o cómo lo lees. Por ejemplo, algunos tipos requieren la técnica
«skimming», mientras que otros requieren «scanning».
Es importante abordar un conjunto de preguntas del mismo tipo.
Tendrás que decidir qué tipo de pregunta vas a afrontar primero.
Una buena estrategia es empezar por el tipo más fácil y dejar los más difíciles para después.
Los tipos más fáciles son aquellos en los que dedicas menos tiempo a leer.
Por ejemplo, el tipo Emparejar títulos es más fácil porque
solo tienes que encontrar el título que mejor describe la idea principal de un párrafo.
Un ejemplo de tipo difícil sería Identificar información. En este tipo,
debes leer cada párrafo para determinar si cada afirmación es TRUE, FALSE o NOT GIVEN según el pasaje.
Aquí tienes una tabla con los niveles de dificultad para cada tipo de pregunta. Úsala como referencia para decidir cuál abordar primero.
| Nivel de dificultad | Tipo de pregunta |
|---|---|
| Fácil | Emparejar títulos Respuesta corta |
| Medio |
Emparejar finales de frase Emparejar características Opción múltiple Completar oraciones Completar etiquetas, resúmenes, notas, tablas y diagramas de flujo |
| Difícil |
Emparejar información Identificar información (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN) Identificar afirmaciones del autor (YES/NO/NOT GIVEN) |
Después de haber leído las preguntas, podrás leer con un objetivo. ¿Qué significa esto? Por ejemplo, si encuentras una pregunta que incluye el año «1896», puedes anotar dónde aparece ese año en el texto y usarlo después para responder a la pregunta.
Hay dos técnicas de lectura que te ayudarán a mantenerte centrado al leer con un objetivo. La primera, skimming, consiste en leer rápido para captar la idea general de un pasaje. Con esta técnica no te detienes en palabras desconocidas ni buscas detalles específicos. La segunda, scanning, consiste en leer en busca de información concreta. Con ella no te interesa la idea general, sino datos específicos. Cada técnica tiene un objetivo concreto. Eso te ayudará a encontrar la información más rápidamente.
Mientras lees con un objetivo, también debes tomar notas en los márgenes del pasaje, poniendo estrellas junto a la información clave o subrayando cosas que creas que te ayudarán a responder a las distintas preguntas. Así te resultará más fácil volver al texto cuando te hagan determinadas preguntas. Elige el sistema de notas que mejor te funcione, pero asegúrate de hacerlo.
Después de haber leído las preguntas, leído el pasaje y tomado las notas oportunas, deberías haber localizado la parte del texto que debes leer con detenimiento. Entonces, lee con atención y piensa de forma crítica para determinar la respuesta correcta.
Estrategia 3: Skimming, toma de notas y tipos de pregunta.
Esta es otra estrategia utilizada por muchos candidatos al IELTS. Te ayudará a conseguir una mejor puntuación de Reading. La estrategia consta de 4 pasos:
- Haz skimming en cada párrafo para captar su idea general. La idea principal de un párrafo suele estar en las primeras frases, así que céntrate un poco más en ellas. Las frases siguientes pueden leerse rápido, subrayando nombres, palabras o expresiones que destaquen.
- Tras hacer skimming en cada párrafo, escribe notas breves (2-5 palabras) al lado de cada párrafo con tu mejor estimación de la idea principal.
- A continuación, responde a un conjunto de preguntas del mismo tipo.
- Por último, responde a un conjunto de preguntas de forma eficiente y correcta.
Es importante que no dediques más de 3-5 minutos a los pasos 1 y 2. Dedicarles demasiado tiempo te dejará sin tiempo para el resto.
Pasos 1 y 2El objetivo es montar un método eficiente para encontrar respuestas en el pasaje. Al anotar la idea general de cada párrafo, sabrás qué párrafo contiene la respuesta a cada pregunta. Esto te ahorrará mucho tiempo, porque si no lo anotas, probablemente tengas que hacer skimming en cada párrafo para encontrar la idea general y luego escanear con cuidado para localizar la respuesta. Al anotar la idea principal de cada párrafo te saltas el primer paso de skimming y empiezas a escanear directamente.
Paso 3
Después de haber hecho skimming y tomado notas, estás listo para el paso 3.
En este paso debes decidir qué tipo de pregunta vas a abordar primero.
Una buena estrategia es empezar por el tipo más fácil y dejar los más difíciles para después.
Los tipos más fáciles son aquellos en los que dedicas menos tiempo a leer.
Por ejemplo, el tipo Emparejar títulos es más fácil porque
solo tienes que encontrar el título que mejor describe la idea principal de un párrafo, así que técnicamente solo necesitas los pasos 1 y 2 para resolverlo.
Un ejemplo de tipo difícil sería Identificar información. En este tipo,
debes leer cada párrafo para determinar si cada afirmación es TRUE, FALSE o NOT GIVEN según el pasaje.
Aquí tienes una tabla con los niveles de dificultad para cada tipo de pregunta. Úsala como referencia para decidir cuál abordar primero.
| Nivel de dificultad | Tipo de pregunta |
|---|---|
| Fácil | Emparejar títulos Respuesta corta |
| Medio |
Emparejar finales de frase Emparejar características Opción múltiple Completar oraciones Completar etiquetas, resúmenes, notas, tablas y diagramas de flujo |
| Difícil |
Emparejar información Identificar información (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN) Identificar afirmaciones del autor (YES/NO/NOT GIVEN) |
Ahora que ya sabes qué conjunto de preguntas vas a responder primero, llega el momento de responderlas :( ¡No te preocupes! Aunque cada tipo de pregunta es diferente, la estrategia para responder correctamente es la misma para todos. El principio básico es sencillo, basta con seguir los pasos siguientes:
- Lee la pregunta con atención e identifica las palabras clave importantes.
- Encuentra el párrafo que contiene la información necesaria para responder. (Si ya tienes anotadas las ideas generales de cada párrafo, esto es fácil de averiguar).
- Escanea el párrafo buscando las palabras clave importantes (¡probablemente serán sinónimos!) hasta localizar la parte del texto que debes leer con atención.
- Por último, lee con atención y piensa de forma crítica para determinar la respuesta correcta.
Descarga gratis muestras del IELTS Reading en PDF con respuestas
A continuación tienes algunas muestras gratuitas del British Council (los creadores del examen IELTS). Intenta responder a las preguntas y comprueba qué tal lo haces.