CAMBRIDGE IELTS 1
PRACTICE TEST 3
READING
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions
1-12 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below
SPOKEN
CORPUS COMES TO LIFE
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A
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The
compiling of dictionaries has been historically the provenance of studious
professorial types – usually bespectacled - who love to pore over weighty
tomes and make pronouncements on the finer nuances of meaning. They were probably
good at crosswords and definitely knew a lot of words, but the image was
always rather dry and dusty. The latest technology, and simple technology at
that, is revolutionising the content of dictionaries and the way they are put
together.
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B
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For the
first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into
their data. It gives lexicographers (people who write dictionaries) access to
a more vibrant, up-to-date vernacular language which has never really been
studied before. In one project, 150 volunteers each agreed to discreetly tie
a Walkman recorder to their waist and leave it running for anything up to two
weeks. Every conversation they had was recorded. When the data was collected,
the length of tapes was 35 times the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Teams of
audio typists transcribed the tapes to produce a computerised database of ten
million words.
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C
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This has
been the basis - along with an existing written corpus - for the Language
Activator dictionary, described by lexicographer Professor Randolph Quirk as
“the book the world has been waiting for”. It shows advanced foreign learners
of English how the language is really used. In the dictionary, key words such
as “eat” are followed by related phrases such as “wolf down” or “be a picky
eater”, allowing the student to choose the appropriate phrase.
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D
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“This kind
of research would be impossible without computers,” said Delia Summers, a
director of dictionaries. “It has transformed the way lexicographers work. If
you look at the word “like”, you may intuitively think that the first and
most frequent meaning is the verb, as in “I like swimming”. It is not. It is
the preposition, as in: “she walked like a duck”. Just because a word or
phrase is used doesn’t mean it ends up in a dictionary. The sifting out
process is as vital as ever. But the database does allow lexicographers to
search for a word and find out how frequently it is used – something that
could only be guessed at intuitively before.
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E
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Researchers
have found that written English works in a very different way to spoken
English. The phrase “say what you like” literally means “feel free to say anything
you want”, but in reality it is used, evidence shows, by someone to prevent
the other person voicing disagreement. The phrase “it’s a question of crops
up on the database over and over again. It has nothing to do with enquiry, but
it’s one of the most frequent English phrases which has never been in a
language learner’s dictionary before: it is now.
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F
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The Spoken
Corpus computer shows how inventive and humorous people are when they are
using language by twisting familiar phrases for effect. It also reveals the
power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time, convey emotion, doubt
and irony.
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G
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For the
moment, those benefiting most from the Spoken Corpus are foreign learners.
“Computers allow lexicographers to search quickly through more examples of
real English,” said Professor Geoffrey Leech of Lancaster University. “They
allow dictionaries to be more accurate and give a feel for how language is being
used.” The Spoken Corpus is part of the larger British National Corpus, an initiative
carried out by several groups involved in the production of language learning
materials: publishers, universities and the British Library.
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Questions 1-6
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs (A-G).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of
headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xi) in boxes 1-6 on
your answer sheet. Paragraph C 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.
List of
Headings
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i
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Grammar is corrected
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ii
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New method of research
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iii
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Technology learns from dictionaries
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iv
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Non-verbal content
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v
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The first study of spoken language
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vi
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Traditional lexicographical methods
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vii
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Written English tells the truth
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viii
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New phrases enter dictionary
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ix
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A cooperative research project
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x
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Accurate word frequency counts
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xi
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Alternative expressions provided
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1
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Paragraph A
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2
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Paragraph B
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Example Answer
Paragraph C xi
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3
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Paragraph
C
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4
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Paragraph
D
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5
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Paragraph
E
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6
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Paragraph
F
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Questions 7-11
The diagram below illustrates the
information provided in paragraphs B-F of Reading Passage 1 Complete
the labels on the diagram with an appropriate word or words Use NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS for each space Write your answers in boxes 7 11 on your
answer sheet
Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in box 12 on your
answer sheet
12
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Why
was this article written?
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A
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To give an example of a current
dictionary.
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B
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To announce a new approach to
dictionary writing.
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C
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To show how dictionaries have
progressed over the years.
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D
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To compare the content of different
dictionaries
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ANSWER
KEY
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