CAMBRIDGE IELTS 1
PRACTICE TEST 3
READING
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions
13-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below
Moles
happy as homes go underground
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A
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The first
anybody knew about Dutchman Frank Siegmund and his family was when workmen
tramping through a field found a narrow steel chimney protruding through the
grass. Closer inspection revealed a chink of sky-light window among the
thistles, and when amazed investigators moved down the side of the hill they
came across a pine door complete with leaded diamond glass and a brass
knocker set into an underground building. The Siegmunds had managed to live undetected
for six years outside the border town of Breda, in Holland. They are the
latest in a clutch of individualistic homemakers who have burrowed
underground in search of tranquillity.
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B
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Most, falling
foul of strict building regulations, have been forced to dismantle their
individualistic homes and return to more conventional lifestyles. But subterranean
suburbia, Dutch-style, is about to become respectable and chic. Seven luxury
homes cosseted away inside a high earth-covered noise embankment next to the
main Tilburg city road recently went on the market for $296,500 each. The
foundations had yet to be dug, but customers queued up to buy the unusual
part-submerged houses, whose back wall consists of a grassy mound and whose
front is a long glass gallery.
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C
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The Dutch
are not the only would-be moles. Growing numbers of Europeans are burrowing
below ground to create houses, offices, discos and shopping malls. It is already
proving a way of life in extreme climates; in winter months in Montreal,
Canada, for instance, citizens can escape the cold in an underground complex complete
with shops and even health clinics. In Tokyo builders are planning a massive
underground city to be begun in the next decade, and underground shopping
malls are already common in Japan, where 90 percent of the population is
squeezed into 20 percent of the landspace.
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D
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Building big
commercial buildings underground can be a way to avoid disfiguring or
threatening a beautiful or “environmentally sensitive” landscape. Indeed many
of the buildings which consume most land -such as cinemas, supermarkets,
theatres, warehouses or libraries -have no need to be on the surface since
they do not need windows.
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E
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There are
big advantages, too, when it comes to private homes. A development of 194
houses which would take up 14 hectares of land above ground would occupy 2.7
hectares below it, while the number of roads would be halved. Under several
metres of earth, noise is minimal and insulation is excellent. “We get 40 to
50 enquiries a week,” says Peter Carpenter, secretary of the British Earth Sheltering
Association, which builds similar homes in Britain. "People see this as
a way of building for the future." An underground dweller himself,
Carpenter has never paid a heating bill, thanks to solar panels and natural
insulation.
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F
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In Europe
the obstacle has been conservative local authorities and developers who
prefer to ensure quick sales with conventional mass produced housing. But the
Dutch development was greeted with undisguised relief by South Limburg
planners because of Holland's chronic shortage of land. It was the Tilburg
architect Jo Hurkmans who hit on the idea of making use of noise embankments
on main roads. His two-floored, four bedroomed, two-bathroomed detached homes
are now taking shape. "They are not so much below the earth as in
it," he says. "All the light will come through the glass front, which
runs from the second floor ceiling to the ground. Areas which do not need much
natural lighting are at the back. The living accommodation is to the front so
nobody notices that the back is dark."
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G
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In the US,
where energy-efficient homes became popular after the oil crisis of 1973,
10,000 underground houses have been built. A terrace of five homes, Britain's
first subterranean development, is under way in Nottinghamshire. Italy's outstanding
example of subterranean architecture is the Olivetti residential centre in
Ivrea. Commissioned by Roberto Olivetti in 1969, it comprises 82 one-bedroomed
apartments and 12 maisonettes and forms a house/ hotel for Olivetti
employees. It is built into a hill and little can be seen from outside except
a glass facade. Patnzia Vallecchi, a resident since 1992, says it is little
different from living in a conventional apartment.
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H
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Not everyone
adapts so well, and in Japan scientists at the Shimizu Corporation have
developed "space creation" systems which mix light, sounds, breezes
and scents to stimulate people who spend long periods below ground.
Underground offices in Japan are being equipped with "virtual"
windows and mirrors, while underground departments in the University of
Minnesota have periscopes to reflect views and light.
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I
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But Frank
Siegmund and his family love their hobbit lifestyle. Their home evolved when
he dug a cool room for his bakery business in a hill he had created. During a
heatwave they took to sleeping there. "We felt at peace and so close to
nature," he says. "Gradually I began adding to the rooms. It sounds
strange but we are so close to the earth we draw strength from its vibrations.
Our children love it; not every child can boast of being watched through
their playroom windows by rabbits.
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Questions 13-20
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs (A-I).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of
headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xii) in boxes 13-20
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.
List of
Headings
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i
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A designer describes his houses
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ii
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Most people prefer conventional housing
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iii
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Simulating a natural environment
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iv
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How an underground family home
developed
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v
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Demands on space and energy are reduced
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vi
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The plans for future homes
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vii
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Worldwide examples of underground
living accommodation
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viii
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Some buildings do not require natural
light
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ix
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Developing underground services around
the world
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x
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Underground living improves health
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xi
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Homes sold before completion
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xii
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An underground home is discovered
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Example
Answer
Paragraph A xii
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13
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Paragraph B
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14
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Paragraph
C
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15
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Paragraph
D
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16
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Paragraph
E
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17
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Paragraph
F
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18
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Paragraph
G
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19
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Paragraph
H
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20
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Paragraph
I
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Questions 21-26
Complete the sentences below with words taken
from the reading passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.
21
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Many developers prefer mass-produced
houses because they _____________
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22
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The Dutch development was welcomed by _____________
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23
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Hurkmans’ houses are built into _____________
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24
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The Ivrea centre was developed for V
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25
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Japanese scientists are helping people _____________underground
life.
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26
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Frank Siegmund’s first underground room
was used for_____________
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