CAMBRIDGE IELTS 1
PRACTICE TEST 1
READING
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 1-15 which are based on Reading Passage 1
below
The control of fire was
the first and perhaps greatest of humanity’s steps towards a life-enhancing technology
To early
man, fire was a divine gift randomly delivered in the form of lightning,
forest fire or burning lava. Unable to make flame for themselves, the
earliest peoples probably stored fire by keeping slow burning logs alight or
by carrying charcoal in pots.
How and where
man learnt how to produce flame at will is unknown. It was probably a secondary
invention, accidentally made during tool-making operations with wood or stone.
Studies of primitive societies suggest that the earliest method of making fire
was through friction. European peasants would insert a wooden drill in a
round hole and rotate it briskly between their palms This process could be
speeded up by wrapping a cord around the drill and pulling on each end. The
Ancient Greeks used lenses or concave mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays
and burning glasses were also used by Mexican Aztecs and the Chinese.
Percussion methods
of firelighting date back to Paleolithic times, when some Stone Age tool-makers
discovered that chipping flints produced sparks. The technique became more
efficient after the discovery of iron, about 5000 years ago In Arctic North
America, the Eskimos produced a slow-burning spark by striking quartz against
iron pyrites, a compound that contains sulphur. The Chinese lit their fires by
striking porcelain with bamboo. In Europe, the combination of steel, flint
and tinder remained the main method of firelighting until the mid 19th
century.
Fire-lighting
was revolutionised by the discovery of phosphorus, isolated in 1669 by a
German alchemist trying to transmute silver into gold. Impressed by the
element’s combustibility, several 17th century chemists used it to manufacture
fire-lighting devices, but the results were dangerously inflammable. With
phosphorus costing the equivalent of several hundred pounds per ounce, the first
matches were expensive.
The quest
for a practical match really began after 1781 when a group of French chemists
came up with the Phosphoric Candle or Ethereal Match, a sealed
glass tube containing a twist of paper tipped with phosphorus. When the tube
was broken, air rushed in, causing the phosphorus to selfcombust. An even
more hazardous device, popular in America, was the Instantaneous Light Box
— a bottle filled with sulphuric acid into which splints treated with
chemicals were dipped.
The first
matches resembling those used today were made in 1827 by John Walker, an English
pharmacist who borrowed the formula from a military rocket-maker called Congreve.
Costing a shilling a box, Congreves were splints coated with sulphur and
tipped with potassium chlorate. To light them, the user drew them quickly
through folded glass paper.
Walker never
patented his invention, and three years later it was copied by a Samuel Jones,
who marketed his product as Lucifers. About the same time, a French
chemistry student called Charles Sauria produced the first “strike-anywhere”
match by substituting white phosphorus for the potassium chlorate in the
Walker formula. However, since white phosphorus is a deadly poison, from 1845
match-makers exposed to its fumes succumbed to necrosis, a disease that eats away
jaw-bones. It wasn’t until 1906 that the substance was eventually banned.
That was 62
years after a Swedish chemist called Pasch had discovered non-toxic red or
amorphous phosphorus, a development exploited commercially by Pasch’s compatriot
J E Lundstrom in 1885. Lundstrom’s safety matches were safe because the red
phosphorus was non-toxic; it was painted on to the striking surface instead
of the match tip, which contained potassium chlorate with a relatively high ignition
temperature of 182 degrees centigrade.
America
lagged behind Europe in match technology and safety standards. It wasn’t until
1900 that the Diamond Match Company bought a French patent for safety matches
— but the formula did not work properly in the different climatic conditions prevailing
in America and it was another 11 years before scientists finally adapted the French
patent for the US.
The Americans,
however, can claim several “firsts” in match technology and marketing. In
1892 the Diamond Match Company pioneered book matches. The innovation didn’t
catch on until after 1896, when a brewery had the novel idea of advertising its
product in match books. Today book matches are the most widely used type in the
US, with 90 percent handed out free by hotels, restaurants and others.
Other
American innovations include an anti-afterglow solution to prevent the match
from smouldering after it has been blown out; and the waterproof match, which
lights after eight hours in water.
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Questions 1-8
Complete the summary below. Choose
your answers from the box at the bottom of the page and write them in boxes 1 8 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all You may use any of the words more than once
NB There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all You may use any of the words more than once
EARLY FIRE-LIGHTING METHODS
Primitive societies saw fire as a ... (Example)
... gift. Answer heavenly
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They tried to ... (1) ...
burning logs or charcoal ... (2) ... that they could create fire
themselves. It is suspected that the first man-made flames were produced by
... (3) ...
The very first fire-lighting methods
involved the creation of ... (4) ... by, for example, rapidly ... (5)
... a wooden stick in a round hole. The use of ... (6) ... or
persistent chipping was also widespread in Europe and among other peoples such
as the Chinese and ... (7) ... . European practice of this method
continued until the 1850s ... (8) ... the discovery of phosphorus some
years earlier.
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List
of Words
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||
Mexicans
despite
sunlight
percussion
unaware
heating
until
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random
preserve
lacking
chance
without
Eskimos
smoke
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rotating
realising
heavenly
friction
make
surprised
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Questions 9-15
Look at the following notes that have
been made about the matches described in Reading Passage 1.
Decide which type of match (A-H) corresponds with each description and
write your answers in boxes 9 15 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more
matches than descriptions so you will not use them all. You may use any match more
than once.
Example
could be lit after soaking in water
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Answer
H
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NOTES
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9
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made using a less poisonous type of
phosphorus
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10
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identical to a previous type of match
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11
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caused a deadly illness
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12
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first to look like modern matches
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13
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first matches used for advertising
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14
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relied on an airtight glass container
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15
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made with the help of an army design
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Types of
Matches
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A
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the Ethereal Match
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B
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the Instantaneous Lightbox
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C
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Congreves
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D
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Lucifers
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E
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the first strike-anywhere match
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F
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Lundstrom’s safety match
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G
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book matches
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H
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waterproof matches
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ANSWER
KEY
Is there any full explanation of this passage on your blog.I was really confused when i see my results.
ReplyDeleteWhich number?
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