IELTS Reading

IELTS Reading

note completion

Complete the notes. Write ONE WORD from the text in each gap.

Fill in the Blank

Following Henri Becquerel’s discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon, which Marie later called ‘radioactivity’, Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in uranium was to be found in other elements. She discovered that this was true for thorium.

When uranium was discovered to be radioactive, Marie Curie found that the element called ________ had the same property.

Fill in the Blank

Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by the presence in the ore of small quantities of an unknown substance of very high activity. Pierre Curie joined her in the work that she had undertaken to resolve this problem, and that led to the discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium.

Marie and Pierre Curie’s research into the radioactivity of the mineral known as _______led to the discovery of two new elements.

Fill in the Blank

In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form of radium.

In 1911, Marie Curie received recognition for her work on the element ______.

Fill in the Blank

During World War I, Marie Curie, with the help of her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the development of the use of X-radiography, including the mobile units which came to be known as ‘Little Curies’, used for the treatment of wounded soldiers.

Marie and Irène Curie developed X-radiography which was used as a medical technique for _______.

Fill in the Blank

One of Marie Curie’s outstanding achievements was to have understood the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research.

Marie Curie saw the importance of collecting radioactive material both for research and for cases of ____________.

Fill in the Blank

The existence in Paris at the Radium Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium made a decisive contribution to the success of the experiments undertaken in the years around 1930. This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of artificial radioactivity.

The radioactive material stocked in Paris contributed to the discoveries in the 1930s of the ______and of what was known as artificial radioactivity.

Paraphrase

Multiple Choice

World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes that once spaceships can exceed the speed of light, humans could feasibly travel millions of years into the future in order to repopulate earth in the event of a forthcoming apocalypse. This is because as the spaceships accelerate into the future, time would slow down around them (Hawking concedes that bygone eras are off limits - this would violate the fundamental rule that cause comes before effect).

• Human time travel is theoretically possible, but is unlikely to ever actually occur.

• Human time travel might be possible, but only moving backward in time.

• Human time travel might be possible, but only moving forward in time.

Multiple Choice

Procrastination, a kind of chronic time-wasting, has long been dismissed as an innocuous human foible. Researchers are now beginning a more sober examination of this practice, however, and there may be good reason for doing so: twenty per cent of Americans now admit to suffering from procrastination, a fifteen per cent jump from 1970.

• Procrastination has never been considered a serious problem.

• Procrastination has, until recently, not been recognised as a serious problem.

• Procrastination has always been recognised as a serious problem.

Multiple Choice

Another option is the ‘relaxation response’, discovered by Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson. Benson found that certain behaviours, such as deep breathing, meditation, and the repetition of simple, affirmative phrases, acted as an antidote to mind chatter and the fight or flight responses, calming the nervous system and inducing a relaxed state of mind and body instead.

• Benson found that a combination of three behaviours can reduce stress.

• Benson found that saying positive words can reduce stress.

• Benson found that nothing can really reduce stress.

True/False/Not Given

Multiple Choice

Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text? Ada did not go to school.

Although it was unusual for young women of her era to pursue mathematics as a discipline, and Ada did not enjoy the privilege of formal education, her position in society allowed her access to some of the greatest minds of her day. Among these tutors was Mary Somerville, a noted mathematician and astronomer, whose legacy is continued in the naming of women’s colleges around the world. Another tutor, logician Augustus De Morgan, informed Anne that her daughter had the potential to become ‘an original mathematical investigator, perhaps of first-rate eminence’.

• True

• False

• Not Given

Multiple Choice

Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text? Mary Somerville was a greater mathematician than Augustus de Moran.

Although it was unusual for young women of her era to pursue mathematics as a discipline, and Ada did not enjoy the privilege of formal education, her position in society allowed her access to some of the greatest minds of her day. Among these tutors was Mary Somerville, a noted mathematician and astronomer, whose legacy is continued in the naming of women’s colleges around the world. Another tutor, logician Augustus De Morgan, informed Anne that her daughter had the potential to become ‘an original mathematical investigator, perhaps of first-rate eminence’.

• True

• False

• Not Given

Multiple Choice

Does the following statement agree with the views of the writer? Davis’ trumpet teacher wanted him to play with vibrato.

Whereas most trumpeters of the era favoured the use of vibrato (a wobbly quiver in pitch inflected in the instrument’s tone), Davis was taught to play with a long, straight tone, a preference his instructor reportedly drilled into the young trumpeter with a rap on the knuckles every time Davis began using vibrato.

• Yes

• No

• Not Given

Multiple Choice

Does the following statement agree with the views of the writer? Playing in jazz clubs in New York was the best way to become famous.

Much of his early training took place in the form of jam sessions and performances in the clubs of 52nd Street, where he played alongside both up-and-coming and established members of the jazz pantheon such as Coleman Hawkins, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, and Thelonious Monk.

• Yes

• No

• Not Given

Multiple Choice

Does the following statement agree with the views of the writer? According to Davis, studying at Julliard helped him to improve his musical abilities.

His enrolment in the prestigious Julliard School of Music was short-lived, [but] Davis did later acknowledge that this time at the school was invaluable in terms of developing his trumpet-playing technique and giving him a solid grounding in music theory.

• Yes

• No

• Not Given