CAMBRIDGE IELTS 1
PRACTICE TEST 4
READING
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions
1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below
GLASS
CAPTURING THE DANCE
OF LIGHT |
|
A
|
Glass, in
one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans As one of the
most widely used of manufactured materials, and certainly the most versatile,
it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the width of a tennis court or as
small and simple as a marble rolling across dirt The uses of this adaptable
material have been broadened dramatically by new technologies glass fibre optics
— more than eight million miles — carrying telephone and television signals across
nations, glass ceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns
for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to
specific organs, even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order
to dispose of that unwanted material.
|
B
|
On the horizon
are optical computers These could store programs and process information by
means of light - pulses from tiny lasers - rather than electrons And the pulses
would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire These machines could function
hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and hold vastly
more information Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of
smaller and smaller objects than ever before - even bacterial viruses. A new
generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed
imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use
and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16
billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers) to building new
plants to meet demand.
|
C
|
But it is
not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons. The
use of glass as art, a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also
booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and
creating works of art. «I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,» Dale
Chihuly said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he
has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th
century. He now has a new commission - a glass sculpture for the headquarters
building of a pizza company - for which his fee is half a million dollars.
|
D
|
But not all
the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Consider the
simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown,
and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s pay for the average
worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the
1920s lighted a nation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder that the
machine has been called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time.
Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving
belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and
into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass. In this
way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single machine at the rate of
66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four
glassblowers.
|
E
|
The secret of
the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it is rigid,
and thus like a solid, the atoms are arranged in a random disordered fashion,
characteristic of a liquid. In the melting process, the atoms in the raw
materials are disturbed from their normal position in the molecular
structure; before they can find their way back to crystalline arrangements
the glass cools. This looseness in molecular structure gives the material
what engineers call tremendous “formability” which allows technicians to
tailor glass to whatever they need.
|
F
|
Today, scientists
continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test
their imaginations with applications of special types of glass. A London
architect, Mike Davies, sees even more dramatic buildings using molecular
chemistry. “Glass is the great building material of the future, the «dynamic
skin»,’ he said. “Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric
currents going through it, glass that will change from clear to opaque at the
push of a button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of how the tall
buildings in New York could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in
them is made to change colours instantly.” Glass as instant curtains is
available now, but the cost is exorbitant. As for the glass changing colours
instantly, that may come true. Mike Davies’s vision may indeed be on the way
to fulfilment.
|
Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs (A-F).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of
headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 1-5 on
your answer sheet. Paragraph A has been done for you as an example.
NB There are more
headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any heading
more than once.
Example
Answer
Paragraph A x
|
List of
Headings
|
|
i
|
Growth in the market for glass crafts
|
ii
|
Computers and their dependence on glass
|
iii
|
What makes glass so adaptable
|
iv
|
Historical development of glass
|
v
|
Scientists’ dreams cost millions
|
vi
|
Architectural experiments with glass
|
vii
|
Glass art galleries flourish
|
viii
|
Exciting innovations in fibre optics
|
ix
|
A former glass technology
|
x
|
Everyday uses of glass
|
1
|
Paragraph B
|
2
|
Paragraph
C
|
3
|
Paragraph
D
|
4
|
Paragraph
E
|
5
|
Paragraph
F
|
Questions 6-8
The diagram below shows the principle of
Coming’s ribbon machine. Label the diagram by selecting NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
from the Reading Passage to fill each numbered space. Write your answers in
boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.
Questions 9-13
Look at the list below of the uses of
glass. According to the passage, state whether these uses exist today,
will exist in the future or are not mentioned by the writer. In boxes 9-13
write
A
|
if the uses exist today
|
B
|
if the uses will exist in the
future
|
C
|
if the uses are not mentioned by
the writer
|
9
|
dental fittings
|
10
|
optical computers
|
11
|
sculptures
|
12
|
fashions
|
13
|
curtains
|
ANSWER
KEY
No comments:
Post a Comment
thank you for visiting my blog and for your nice comments