IELTS PRACTICE
TEST PLUS 3
Test 2
Reading Passage 1
Sport Science
in Australia
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The professional career paths available
to graduates from courses relating to human movement and sport science are as
diverse as the graduate’s imagination. However, undergraduate courses with
this type of content, in Australia as well as in most other Western
countries, were originally designed as preparation programmes for Physical
Education (PE) teachers.
The initial programmes commenced soon
after the conclusion of World War II in the mid-1940s. one of the primary
motives for these initiatives was the fact that, during the war effort, so
many of the men who were assessed for military duty had been declared unfit.
The government saw the solution in the providing of Physical Education
programmes in schools, delivered by better prepared and specifically educated
PE teachers.
Later, in the 1970s and early 1980s,
the surplus of Australians graduating with a PE degree obliged institutions
delivering this qualification to identify new employment opportunities for
their graduates, resulting in the first appearance of degree catering for
recreation professionals. In many instances, this diversity of programme
delivery merely led to degrees, delivered by physical educators, as a side-line
activity to the production of PE teachers.
Whilst the need to produce Physical
Education teachers remains a significant social need, and most developed
societies demand the availability of quality leisure programmes for their
citizen=s, the career options of graduates within this domain are still
developing. The two most evident growth domains are in the area of the
professional delivery of sport, and the role of physical lifestyle for
community health.
The sports industry is developing at an
unprecedented rate of growth. From a business perspective, sport is now seen
as an area with the potential for high returns. It is quite significant that
the businessman Rupert Murdoch broadened his business base from media to
sport, having purchased an American baseball team and an Australian Rugby
League competition, as well as seeking opportunities to invest in an English
football club. No business person of such international stature would see fit
to invest in sport unless he was satisfied that this was a sound business
venture with ideal revenue-generating opportunities.
These developments have confirmed sport
as a business with professional management structures, marketing processes
and development strategies in place. They have indicated new and developing career
paths for graduates of human movement science, sport science, exercise
science and related degrees. Graduates can now visualise career paths
extending into such diverse domains as sport management, sport marketing,
event and facility management, government policy development pertaining to
sport, sport journalism, sport psychology, and sport or athletic coaching.
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Business
leaders will only continue their enthusiasm for sport if they receive returns
for their money. Such returns will only be forthcoming if astute enthusiastic
and properly educated professionals are delivering the programs that earn
appropriate financial returns. The successful universities of the 21st
century will be those that have responded to this challenge by delivering
such degrees.
A second professional growth area this
group of graduates is associated with community health. The increasing demand
for government expenditure within health budges is reaching the stage where
most governments are simply unable to function in a manner that is satisfying
constituents. One of the primary reasons for this problem is the unhelpful
emphasis on treatment in medical care programmes. Governments have
traditionally given their senior health official the title of ‘Minister of
Health’, when in fact this officer has functioned as ‘Minister for Sickness
and the Construction of Hospitals’. Government focus simply has to change. If
the change is not brought about for philosophical reasons, it will occur naturally,
because insufficient funding will be available to address the ever-increasing
costs of medical support.
Graduates of human movement, exercise science
and sport science have the potential to become major players in this shift in
policy focus. It is these graduates who already have the skills, knowledge
and understanding to initiate community health education programmes to reduce
cardio-vascular disease, to reduce medical dependency upon diabetes, to
improve workplace health leading to increased productivity, to initiate and promote
programmes of activity for the elderly that reduce medical dependency, and to
maintain an active lifestyle for the unemployed and disadvantaged groups in
society. This is the graduate that governments will be calling upon to shift
the community focus from medical dependency to healthy lifestyles in the
decades ahead.
The career paths of these graduates are
developing at a pace that is not evident in other professions. The contribution
that these graduates can make to society, and the recognition of this contribution
is at an unprecedented high, and all indications are that it will continue to
grow.
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Question 1-5
Complete the flow chart below
Choose NO MORE
THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer
The history of
sports and physical science in Australia
Question 6-13
Do the following statements agree with
the information given in Reading passage 1
Write
TRUE
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if the statement agree with the
information
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FALSE
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if the statement contradicts the
information
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NOT GIVEN
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if there is no information on this
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6
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Sport is generally regarded as a
profitable area for investment.
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7
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Rupert Murdoch has a personal as well
as a business interest in sport.
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8
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The range of career opportunities
available to sport graduates is increasing.
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9
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The interests of business and the
interests of universities are linked.
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10
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Governments have been focusing too much
attention on preventative medicine.
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11
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It is inevitable that government
priorities for health spending will change.
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12
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Existing degree courses are unsuitable
for careers in community health.
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13
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Funding for sport science and related
degrees has been increased considerably.
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ANSWER KEY
1
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unfit
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2
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schools
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3
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PE teachers
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4
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surplus
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5
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employment opportunities/careers/routes
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6
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T
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7
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NG
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8
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T
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9
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T
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10
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F
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11
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T
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12
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F
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13
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NG
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