Assessing the risk | Real exam ielts reading passage 2026 | Real exam ielts reading test 2026 with answers |

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Reading Practice

 

Assessing the risk

A

As a title for a supposedly unprejudiced debate on scientific progress, “Panic attack: interrogating our obsession with risk” did not bode well. Held last week at the Royal Institution in London, the event brought together scientists from across the world to ask why society is so obsessed with risk and to call for a “more rational” approach. “We seem to be organising society around the grandmotherly maxim of ‘better safe than sorry’,” exclaimed Spiked, the online publication that organised the event. “What are the consequences of this overbearing concern with risks?”

B

The debate was preceded by a survey of 40 scientists who were invited to describe how awful our lives would be if the “precautionary principle” had been allowed to prevail in the past. Their response was: no heart surgery or antibiotics, and hardly any drugs at all; no aeroplanes, bicycles or high-voltage power grids; no pasteurisation, pesticides or biotechnology; no quantum mechanics; no wheel; no “discovery” of America. In short, their message was: no risk, no gain.

C

They have absolutely missed the point. The precautionary principle is a subtle idea. It has various forms, but all of them generally include some notion of cost-effectiveness. Thus the point is not simply to ban things that are not known to be absolutely safe. Rather, it says: “Of course you can make no progress without risk. But if there is no obvious gain from taking the risk, then don’t take it.”

D

Clearly, all the technologies listed by the 40 well-chosen savants were innately risky at their inception, as all technologies are. But all of them would have received the green light under the precautionary principle because they all had the potential to offer tremendous benefits – the solutions to very big problems – if only the snags could be overcome.

E

If the precautionary principle had been in place, the scientists tell us, we would not have antibiotics. But of course, we would – if the version of the principle that sensible people now understand had been applied. When penicillin was discovered in the 1920s, infective bacteria were laying waste to the world. Children died from diphtheria and whooping cough, every open-drain brought the threat of typhoid, and any wound could lead to septicaemia and even gangrene.

F

Penicillin was turned into a practical drug during the Second World War when the many pestilences that result from were threatened to kill more people than the bombs. Of course antibiotics were a priority. Of course, the risks, such as they could be perceived, were worth taking.

G

And so with the other items on the scientists’ list: electric light bulbs, blood transfusions. CAT scans, knives, the measles vaccine – the precautionary principle would have prevented all of them, they tell us. But this is just plain wrong. If the precautionary principle had been applied properly, all these creations would have passed muster, because all offered incomparable advantages compared to the risks perceived at the time.

H

Another issue is at stake here. Statistics are not the only concept people use when weighing up risk. Human beings, subtle and evolved creatures that we are, do not survive to three-score years and ten simply by thinking like pocket calculators. A crucial issue is the consumer’s choice. In deciding whether to pursue the development of new technology, the consumer’s right to choose should be considered alongside considerations of risk and benefit. Clearly, skiing is more dangerous than genetically modified tomatoes. But people who ski choose to do so; they do not have skiing thrust upon them by portentous experts of the kind who now feel they have the right to reconstruct our crops. Even with skiing, there is the matter of cost-effectiveness to consider: skiing, I am told, is exhilarating. Where is the exhilaration in GM soya?

I

Indeed, in contrast to all the other items on Spiked’s list, GM crops stand out as an example of a technology whose benefits are far from clear. Some of the risks can at least be defined. But in the present economic climate, the benefits that might accrue from them seem dubious. Promoters of GM crops believe that the future population of the world cannot be fed without them. That is untrue. The crops that really matter are wheat and rice, and there is no GM research in the pipeline that will seriously affect the yield of either. GM is used to make production cheaper and hence more profitable, which is an extremely questionable ambition.

J

The precautionary principle provides the world with a very important safeguard. If it had been in place in the past it might, for example, have prevented insouciant miners from polluting major rivers with mercury. We have come to a sorry pass when scientists, who should above all be dispassionate scholars, feel they should misrepresent such a principle for the purposes of commercial and political propaganda. People at large continue to mistrust science and the high technologies it produces partly because they doubt the wisdom of scientists. On such evidence as this, these doubts are fully justified.

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE               if the statement is true

FALSE              if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN    if the information is not given in the passage

 

1.....................   The title of the debate is not unbiased.

2.....................   All the scientists invited to the debate were from the field of medicine.

3.....................   The message those scientists who conducted the survey were sending was people shouldn’t take risks.

4.....................   All the 40 listed technologies are riskier than other technologies.

5.....................   It was worth taking the risks to invent antibiotics.

6.....................   All the other inventions on the list were also judged by the precautionary principle.

Questions 7-13

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage

Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

 

When applying the precautionary principle to decide whether to invent a new technology,

people should also the consideration of the 7....................., along with the usual consideration of 8...................... For example, though risky and dangerous enough, people still enjoy 9..................... for the excitement it provides. On the other hand, experts believe that future population desperately needs 10..................... in spite of their undefined risks. However, the researchers conducted so far have not been directed towards increasing the yield of 11....................., but to reduce the cost of 12..................... and to bring more profit out of it. In the end, such selfish use of the precautionary principle for business and political gain has often led people to 13..................... science for they believe scientists are not to be trusted.

Question 14

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 14 on your answer sheet.

14. What is the main theme of the passage?

A     people have the right to doubt science and technologies

B     the precautionary principle could have prevented the development of science andtechnology

C     there are not enough people who truly understand the precautionary principle

D     the precautionary principle bids us take risks at all costs

Solution:

1. TRUE	8. risk and benefit
2. NOT GIVEN	9. Skiing
3. FALSE	10. GM crops
4. NOT GIVEN	11. wheat and rice
5. TRUE	12. production
6. NOT GIVEN	13. mistrust
7. consumer’s right	14. A

 
PASSWORD: REALEXAM2026

The Ecological Importance of Bees | Real exam ielts reading passage 2026 | Real exam ielts reading test 2026 with answers |

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Reading Practice

 

The Ecological Importance of Bees

A            Sometime in the early Cretaceous period of the Earth's history, hunting wasps of a certain type became bees by adopting a vegetarian diet: they began to rely more and more on the pollen of plants as a source of protein for themselves and their offspring, as an alternative to insects. In so doing, they accidentally transported pollen on their bodies to other plants of the same species, bringing about pollination. The stage was thus set for a succession of ever-closer mutual adaptations of bees and flowering plants. In particular, flowers began to reward bees for their unwitting role in their reproduction by providing richer sources of pollen and another source of nutrition, nectar.

B            Today about 15 per cent of our diet consists of crops which are pollinated by bees. The meat and other animal products we consume are ultimately derived from bee- pollinated forage crops, and account for another 15 per cent. It follows that around one third of our food is directly or indirectly dependent on the pollinating services of bees. On a global basis, the annual value of agricultural crops dependent on the pollination services of bees is estimated at £1,000 million (US$1,590 million). Much of this pollination is due to honey bees, and in monetary terms it exceeds the value of the annual honey crop by a factor of fifty.

C            But the apparently harmonious relationship between bees and plants conceals a conflict of interests. Although flowers need bees and vice versa, it pays each partner to minimise its costs and maximise its profits. This may sound like an extreme case of attributing human qualities to non-human species, but using the marketplace and the principles of double-entry book keeping as metaphors may give US some insights into what is really going on between bees and flowering plants. In the real world, both flower and bee operate in a competitive marketplace. A community of retailers, the flowers, seek to attract more or less discriminating consumers, the bees. Each flower has to juggle the costs and benefits of investing in advertising, by colour and scent, and providing rewards, nectar and pollen, clearly a species which depends on cross-pollination is on a knife-edge: it must provide sufficient nectar to attract the interest of a bee, but not enough to satisfy all of its needs in one visit. A satiated bee would return to its nest rather than visit another flower. The bee, on the other hand, is out to get the maximum amount of pollen and nectar. It must assess the quality and quantity of rewards which are on offer and juggle its energy costs so that it makes a calorific profit on each foraging trip. The apparent harmony between plants and bees is therefore not all that it seems. Instead, it is an equilibrium based on compromises between the competing interests of the protagonists.

D            This sounds remarkably like the ideas of the 18th-century economist Adam Smith. In his book, The Wealth of Nations, Smith postulated that in human society the competitive interactions of different ‘economic units' eventually resulted in a balanced, or ‘harmonious’ society. One might predict, therefore, that economists would find the relationships between bees and plants of some interest. This is the case in Israel, where economists are collaborating with botanists and entomologists in a long-term study of the pollination biology of the native flora, in an attempt to understand the dynamics of the relationship between communities of bees and plants.

E            This sort of study is of more than passing academic interest. It is important that authorities understand the dynamic relationships between plants and their pollinators. This is especially true when, say, devising conservation policies. A good example comes from the forests of tropical South America. Here, as in all rainforests, there is a high diversity of tree species. There may be more than 120 per acre, but in a given acre there may only be one or two individuals of any one species: These trees are pollinated by large, fast-flying bees. There is evidence that certain types of bees learn the distribution of these scattered trees and forage regularly along the same routes. This is called ‘trap-lining’ and the bees forage for up to 23 km from their nests. The bees are therefore acting as long distance pollinators.

F             An issue of current concern in tropical forest conservation is that of trying to estimate the minimum sustainable size of islands' of forest reserve in areas where large-scale felling is taking place. There is much discussion on seed dispersal distances. But this is only one half of the equation, so far as the reproduction of trees is concerned. There is another question that must be addressed in order to calculate whether proposed forest reserves are close enough to the nearest large tract of forest: ‘what is the flight range of these longdistance foragers?' We need to know much more about bees and their relationships with plants before this question can be answered.

G            Bees, then, are vital to our survival. Furthermore, much of the visual impact of human environments derives from vegetation, and most vegetation is dependent on bees for pollination. Thus, as pollinators of crops and natural vegetation, bees occupy key positions in the web of relationships which sustain the living architecture of our planet.

Questions 1-5

Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A, B, D, E and F from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. List of Headings

i                     Parallels between bee and human activities

ii                   An evolutionary turning point

iii                  A lack of total co-operation  iv   The preservation of individual plant species

v                  The commercial value of bees

vi                The structure of flowering plants vii      The pursuit of self-interest viii   The need for further research

 

1.....................               Paragraph A

2.....................               Paragraph B

Example

 

                           Paragraph C     vii

3.....................                                  

Paragraph D

4.....................Paragraph E           

5.....................Paragraph F           

Questions 6-12

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-12 on your answer sheet.

6.     Hunting wasps used to feed on other 6....................., rather than on vegetation.

7.     Flowering plants started to reward bees with rich pollen and an additional food in the form of 7.....................

8.     Approximately 8..................... of human food production relies on the activity of bees.

9.     If the process of 9..................... is to take place effectively, bees need to travel from one flower to another before going back to the nest.

10.  Bees need to balance the 10..................... of each trip against the calorific rewards they obtain.

11.  There can be over 120 different 11..................... in. an acre of rainforest.

12.  The bees that pollinate large forests regularly practise an activity known as 12.....................

Question 13

Choose the correct letter , A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in box 13 on your  answer sheet. Which is the best title for Reading Passage ?

A  The Ecological Importance of Bees

B  The Evolutionary History of Bees

C  The Social Behaviour of Bees

D  The Geographical Distribution of Bees

Solution:

1. ii	8. one third
2. v	9. cross-pollination
3. i	10. energy costs
4. iv	11. tree species
5. viii	12. trap-lining
6. insects	13. A

7. nectar

 
PASSWORD: Realexamreading2026

Katsushika Hokusai | Real exam ielts reading test 2026 | Katsushika Hokusai ielts reading passage with answers |

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Katsushika Hokusai

Hokusai (born October 1760, Edo [now Tokyo]), Japan—died May 10, 1848. Edo was a Japanese master artist and printmaker of the ukyō-e ("pictures of the floating world") school. His early works represent the full spectrum of ukyō-e art, including single-sheet prints of landscapes and squares, hand paintings, and surimon ("printed things"), such as greetings and announcements. Later he concentrated on the classical themes of the samurai and Chinese subjects. His famous print series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," published between 1825 and 1833, marked the summit in the history of the Japanese landscape print.

Early years

Hokusai was born in the Hong quarter jue during the age of two. He was adored named Nakajima but he never accepted though the true son of Nakajima, he had been born of a concubine.
“Jo (Tokyo) and became interested in ...od by a prestigious artisan family.”
…heil—possibly supporting the theory that,

Hokusai is said to have served in his youth as clerk in a lending bookshop, and from 15 to 18 years of age he was apprenticed to a wood-block engraver. This early training in the book and printing trades obviously contributed to Hokusai’s artistic development as a printmaker
The earliest contemporary record of Hokusai dates from the year 1778, when, at the age of 18, he became a pupil of the leading ukyō-e master, Katsukawa Shunshō. The young Hokusai’s first published works appeared the following year—actor prints of the kabuki theatre, the genre that Shunshō and the Katsukawa school practically dominated.

To judge from the ages of his several children, Hokusai must have married in his mid-20s. Possibly under the influence of family life, from this period his designs tended to turn from prints of actors and women to historical and landscape subjects, especially uki-e (semi-historical landscapes using Western-influenced perspective techniques), as well as prints of children. The artist’s book illustrations and texts turned as well from the earlier themes to historical and didactic subjects. At the same time, Hokusai’s work in the surimon genre during the subsequent decade marks one of the early peaks in his career. Surimon were prints issued privately for special occasions—New Year’s and other greetings, musical programs and announcements, private verse selections—in limited editions and featuring immaculate printing of the highest quality.

Middle years

In his middle years, Hokusai experienced significant artistic evolution and personal hardship. He began to distance himself from the Katsukawa school, partly due to the death of his master Shunshō in 1792 and partly due to his own burgeoning interest in other Japanese and Chinese artistic traditions. He started using the name "Hokusai" around 1797, and his work from this period shows a broader range of influences.

A series of personal tragedies, including the death of his wife and his own financial struggles, seemed to fuel rather than hinder his artistic output. He moved residences frequently—some accounts say over ninety times in his life—often to avoid creditors. Despite this instability, the period from 1800 to 1820 was one of prodigious production. He created several major illustrated books, including the first volumes of his instructional manga (random drawings), which were sketchbooks of countless subjects—animals, people, mythological figures—intended as model books for other artists. These manga volumes became widely popular and demonstrated his incredible draftsmanship and observational skill.

Later years and legacy

Hokusai's most celebrated work was created in his seventies. It was during this period that he produced the iconic "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," which includes the world-renowned print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa." This series was revolutionary for its bold composition, innovative use of the newly affordable Prussian blue pigment, and its focus on the daily lives of common people within dramatic landscapes. The series was so popular that ten additional prints were added to the original thirty-six.

In his later writings, Hokusai expressed a profound belief in his own artistic growth with age. He famously wrote that by the age of 110, every dot and line he drew would be alive. Though he never reached that age, he continued working relentlessly until his death at 88. Hokusai's influence extended far beyond Japan; after the country opened up in the Meiji period, his prints reached Europe and profoundly impacted the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Artists like Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh collected his prints and were inspired by his compositions and use of color.

Questions 1–6

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1–6 on your answer sheet, write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Hokusai’s series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" was published over an eight-year period.
2. Hokusai was the biological son of the Nakajima family.
3. Hokusai’s apprenticeship with a wood-block engraver lasted for four years.
4. Hokusai’s first published works were landscapes.
5. Hokusai’s work in the surimon genre is considered one of the early high points of his career.
6. The death of his master Shunshō was the only reason Hokusai distanced himself from the Katsukawa school.

Questions 7–13

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 7–13 on your answer sheet.

Hokusai's Life and Work

• Early Training:
• Worked as a clerk in a 7 .......................
• Apprenticed to a 8 ....................... from age 15 to 18.
• Artistic Shifts:
• After marriage, his subjects changed to historical scenes and 9 ......................., which used Western perspective.
• His surimon were known for their high-quality 10 .......................
• Middle Years:
• Began using the name 'Hokusai' around 11 .......................
• Published 12 ....................... which were sketchbooks for artists.
• Later Work:
• His famous series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" used a new blue pigment called 13 .......................
• His work greatly influenced European art movements, including Impressionism.

 

1.       TRUE

2.       FALSE

3.       TRUE

4.       FALSE

5.       TRUE

6.       FALSE

7.       bookshop

8.       wood-block engraver

9.       landscapes

10.   printing

11.   1797

12.   manga

13.   Prussian blue

Decision Fatigue | Real exam ielts reading passage with answer |

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Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue’ helps explain why ordinarily sensible people avoid making decisions or are easily persuaded to make the wrong decisions when they are tired. Yet few people are conscious of it, and researchers are only beginning to understand why it happens.

A. No matter how rational people try to be, they cannot make decision after decision without paying a biological price. This ‘decision fatigue’ is different from ordinary physical fatigue. People are not conscious of being tired, but nevertheless they are low on energy. The more choices one makes throughout the day, the harder it becomes for the brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts: either to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to think through the possible results, or the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Avoiding a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment it eases the mental strain.

B. Decision fatigue involves a phenomenon called ego depletion, a term coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister. His research demonstrated that there is a finite store of mental stamina for exerting self-control. For example, when people fended off the temptation to eat freshly baked biscuits, they were then less able to resist other temptations. When they tried to resist the urge to cry during a sad movie, afterwards they gave up more quickly on tasks requiring self-discipline, such as working on a geometry puzzle. The experiments confirmed the 19th-century notion of willpower being like a muscle that became tired with use; something which could be conserved by avoiding temptation.  ‘Decision fatigue’ helps explain why ordinarily sensible people avoid making decisions or are easily persuaded to make the wrong decisions when they are tired. Yet few people are conscious of it, and researchers are only beginning to understand why it happens.

C. Decision fatigue leaves people vulnerable to marketers who know how to time their sales, as Jonathan Levav demonstrated. He visited a tailor to have a suit made for his wedding and began going through the choices of fabric, buttons, aria and so forth, and when he got through the third pile of fabric samples, Levav recalls, “I could not tell the choices apart anymore. After a while my only response to the tailor became, ‘What do you recommend?’” Levav put the experience to use in an experiment conducted at German car dealerships, where real customers had to choose among four styles of gearshift knobs, 25 configurations of the engine and gearbox, and a palette of 56 colours for the interior. As they started picking features, customers would carefully weigh the choices, but as decision fatigue set in they would start settling for the default option. By manipulating the order of the car buyers’ choices, the researchers found that customers would end up paying more.

D. Similarly, sweet snacks are featured prominently at cash registers at most supermarkets. With their willpower reduced after shopping, people are especially vulnerable to sweet drinks and snacks. While supermarkets figured this out a long time ago, only recently did researchers discover why. Baumeister’s research team tested the notion that people could build up willpower by first indulging in pleasure. They found that a delicious, thick milkshake strengthened willpower by helping people perform better than expected on their next task. However, the experiment also included a control group who drank a tasteless low-fat dairy beverage. It provided them with no pleasure, yet it produced similar improvements in self-control. Baumeister concluded that even the tasteless drink had worked because the brain, like the rest of the body, derived energy from glucose, the simple sugar manufactured from all kinds of foods, including milk.

E. To establish cause and effect, researchers at Baumeister’s lab tried refuelling the brain in experiments involving lemonade mixed either with sugar or with a diet sweetener. The sugary lemonade provided a burst of glucose, the effects of which could be observed immediately in the lab; the sugarless sweeteners tasted similar but did not contain the glucose. Again and again, the sugar restored willpower, but the artificial sweetener had no effect. The glucose would mitigate the ego depletion and sometimes completely reverse it, improving self-control and the quality of decisions.

F. However, some brain researchers had reservations about the glucose connection. “Todd Heatherton, a pioneer of social neuroscience, believed in ego depletion but didn’t see how this process could be caused simply by variations in glucose levels.” To observe the process, and to see if it could be reversed by glucose, Heatherton’s team recorded images of the brains of 45 people who  were on a low-calorie diet as they reacted to pictures of food. Next, these dieters watched a comedy video while forcing themselves to suppress their laughter—thereby draining mental energy and inducing ego depletion. When they were again shown pictures of food, further brain scans revealed more activity in the brain’s reward centre and a decrease in the amygdala, which helps control impulses. The food’s appeal, in other words, registered more strongly while impulse control weakened. What surprised Heatherton was that administering glucose completely reversed the brain changes brought about by ego depletion.

G. “Good decision-making is not a trait of the person,” Baumeister says. “It’s a state that fluctuates.” His studies show that people with the best self-control are the ones who avoid temptations, and who establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. Instead of counting on willpower all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for important decisions. “Even the wisest people won’t make good choices when they’re not rested and their glucose is low,” Baumeister notes. If a decision must be made late in the afternoon or in the evening, they know not to do it on an empty stomach. The best decision-makers, according to Baumeister, “are the ones who know when not to trust themselves.”

Questions 14–19

Reading Passage 2 has seven sections, A–G.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet.

14. research in which two substances that tasted alike had different effects on the subjects.

15. an instance where controlling emotions while viewing something upsetting led to a lack of perseverance in other activities.

16. an explanation of why it is important to eat something before making a decision at the end of the day.

17. a reference to a researcher who was not initially convinced of the effect of glucose.

18. an account of research that mirrored an experience the researcher had in his personal life.

19. an example of how the location of products in a shop can be used to take advantage of ‘decision fatigue’.

Questions 20–22

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The biological price of decision-making

Even when people attempt to be 20…… they experience ‘decision fatigue’ if they make several decisions in a row. They are not aware of how 21…… they are, but it is increasingly more difficult for their brainsto make decisions as the day progresses.

After making many decisions in one day, the brain seeks 22…… in order to conserve energy. The person may fail to consider the consequences of their decision or not make a decision at all. Avoiding decisions reduces the immediate strain but can cause difficulties later.

Questions 23–26

Look at the following statements (Questions 23–26) and the list of

researchers below.

NB: You may use any letter more than once.

List of Researchers

A. Roy F. Baumeister

B. Jonathan Levav

C. Todd Heatherton

23. The energy people have for exercising willpower is limited.

24. Even an unpleasant substance had a positive effect on willpower.

25. People’s responses to images changed after having to exercise self-control.

26. The sequence of options presented to consumers could be used to the consumers’ disadvantage.

ANSWER
14. E
15. B
16. G
17. C
18. F
19. D
20. rational
21. tired
22. shortcut
23. A
24. A
25. C
26. B

PASSWORD: 4APRIL

 

The Nuisance of Noise | Real exam ielts Reading Passage |

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READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 17–32, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

---

The Nuisance of Noise

A
As long as people have lived in close vicinity, they have been complaining about the noises other people make and yearning for quiet and relief from these disturbances.

To be sure, exposure to very loud noise, measured in high decibels, can impact more than a person’s mental state. About 2500 years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates identified the condition ‘tinnitus’, ringing in the ears often caused by prolonged exposure to loud noise. In modern times, people are often subjected to noise above 85 decibels. That’s indisputably a serious threat to one’s health, enough to cause significant hearing loss over time. Yet for some people, it’s not just loud noise that’s a problem; moderate, everyday noise at low decibels is also a constant nuisance.

---

B
It has often been asserted that a kind of absolute quietness is needed to achieve truly enlightened thinking. Famous philosophers dating back to Plato of ancient Greece have pointed to the need for quiet in order to really perceive things clearly. Only when the outside world is tuned out, it is said, can the thinker understand the true nature of the world. The French writer Blaise Pascal complained in 1660 that “the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room”. Two centuries later, the German philosopher Schopenhauer wrote that “noise is a torture to intellectual people”.

---

C
Yet research reveals something of a paradox: the more time and effort people spend trying to keep sound out, the more sensitive they become. The case of Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle, in 1831, he moved to London and soon complained in a letter to the authorities about the noise outside his window. He spent a fortune soundproofing the study in his house, but he couldn’t be satisfied. His unusually perceptive ears exaggerated the slightest sound, and was forced to retreat to the country.

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D
In 1907 an American, Julia Barnett Rice, founded a citizens’ group – the Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noise of New York – to combat the noise of her city. It attracted over 200 members from all walks of life. At a time before automobiles crowded the streets of New York, Rice and her group set out to restrict sea captains from blaring their horns as they navigated boats along the city waterways. The society next convinced the local government to establish quiet zones around hospitals and schools, so that patients could recover and children could study in peace. It even proposed regulations on the sidewalk vendors who shouted about their products to the heads of pedestrians passing by. However, in the end, by focusing on noise Mrs Rice only became more sensitive to it. She finally turned to architects to help build a quiet place deep under her house.

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E
In modern cities, governments around the world have stepped up to treat noise as a kind of environmental pollution, to be regulated the same way that smog and other chemical byproducts are regulated in factories. In New York, for instance, airline pilots are required to fly higher and more slowly around populated areas. City laws also specify the time of day that landscapers, construction crews and repairmen can use power tools and other noisy machines in residential neighborhoods. In recent years, New York City has sent out police with sound-measuring devices to go after noise-makers and installed hypersensitive listening devices to monitor the soundscape. Citizens are also encouraged to call a special telephone hotline to report noise violations.

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F
Yet laws against noisemakers have not satisfied our desire for silence. Many consumer products have emerged to meet the demand of increasingly noise-conscious consumers. One early and impractical attempt was called ‘The Isolator’, invented in 1925 by Hugo Gernsback. This was a large heavy helmet made of lead, with nine slits for viewing. It had a tube that could be connected to an oxygen tank, allowing the user to breathe without letting in noise. Around the same time, materials were designed to prevent noise outside from coming in. These include sound-muffling curtains, non-hardwood floors with synthetic lining, and better insulation of walls. No matter how thoughtful the design, however, unwanted sound continues to be a part of everyday life.

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G
Unable to suppress noise, consumers started trying to mask it with more pleasant audio, buying gadgets like white-noise machines or playing recorded sounds of what they would hear in nature, from breaking waves to rustling forests, on their stereos. Today, there are hundreds of digital apps and technologies, including noise cancellation products that detect outside noise and render it inaudible. In a Sony print commercial for their noise-cancelling headphones, the company depicts a world where the consumer exists in a sonic bubble as he walks along a strangely empty city street.

However, there is a risk to becoming accustomed to life without unwanted sounds from others. Psychologists warn that we may grow hyper-sensitized and isolated, and the outside world may seem increasingly noisy and hostile. The best strategy, they say, is to learn to live with, and to ignore, the nuisances of everyday sounds.

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Questions 17–21

Reading Passage 2 has seven sections, A–G.
Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 17–21 on your answer sheet.

17. examples of using relaxing sounds to cover up noise
18. a reference to an organisation with a goal to prohibit certain noises
19. a mention of the physical effect of noise on the ears
20. historical views on how noise affects our state of ability to reason
21. examples of technology used in law enforcement

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Questions 22 and 23

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 22 and 23 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about Thomas Carlyle?

A. He invented a device to block out noise.
B. He left the city because of the noise.
C. Loud music made it impossible for him to work as a writer.
D. His hearing was particularly sensitive.
E. The loud noise damaged his sense of hearing.

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Questions 24 and 25

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 24 and 25 on your answer sheet.

According to the writer, which TWO sources of noise did Julia Barnett Rice work to limit?

A. pedestrians
B. boats
C. vendors
D. school children
E. automobiles

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Questions 26 and 27

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 26 and 27 on your answer sheet.

The list below gives some of the noise sources that modern cities regulate.

Which TWO of these noise sources are mentioned by the writer of the text?

A. factories
B. telephones
C. work equipment
D. neighbours
E. planes

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Questions 28–32

Complete the sentences below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 28–32 on your answer sheet.

28. Users of ‘The Isolator’ wore a heavy helmet and breathed through a ________.
29. Insulated walls, lined floors and ________ that reduce noise were some of the 20th century designs to keep places quiet.
30. To mask noise, consumers use audio devices that produce white noise or sounds from ________ (e.g. moving water or trees).
31. An advert for headphones shows a person surrounded by a ________.
32. Learning to tolerate noise is an approach recommended by ________.

 Answers

17–21

17. G

18. D

19. A

20. B

21. E

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22–23

22. B

23. D

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24–25

24. B

25. C

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26–27

26. C

27. E

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28–32

28. tube

29. curtains

30. nature

31. bubble

32. psychologists

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