08,01,2021

 

    

Compulsory means you're required by law such as compulsory military service.

Oblige is when someone is legally or morally bound to an action. One example would be a doctor being obliged to save a patient's life. "Although the doctor did not like the patient, he was obliged to give him the best care."

Force is when you're coerced or threatened to do something against your will. Violence is usually a threat factor in this face. "They forced me out of my car."

Compel is like a mixture of oblige and force. Someone is forced or pressured into doing something. "His morals compelled him to tell the truth." 

 

You will hear a woman asking a tutor for more information about a Media Studies course at a university.

 

Questions 21 - 23

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

21 How long did Louise work at a radio station?

A 2 years

B 4 years

C 6 years

22 Why does Louise want to do a Masters?

A To get a promotion in her current job

B To go into TV

C Employers like post-graduate qualifications

23 How long will it take to do the Masters part-time rather than the modular route?

A 18 months

B 3 years

C 4 years

 

Questions 24 and 25

Choose TWO letters A-F.

Which two things must Louise have to join the course?

A A bachelor's degree

B Work experience

C Either a bachelor's degree or work experience

D Research experience

E A completed thesis

F Motivation

 

Questions 26-30

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Fees and Funding

The fees are (26) per year to do the course part-time. The university has a (27) it can use to fund the most suitable students. You must have a (28) in place before you can get any funding. The details on funding can be found on the (29) . That will also have information on eligibility, help available, and (30) . 

 

When you get a chart or graph to describe, it is always important to check whether there is a time frame or not.

If there is, you will need to use the language of change.

However, it is not enough just to describe the changes of each element (ActiveX, Java and Net in this case) on their own and ignore how they relate to each other.

Look at the question – you are asked to compare the data as well. So you must also compare the elements where relevant in your IELTS task 1.

You must also group data together to make sure you have a well organized and coherent answer.

 

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart shows the number of times per week (in 1000s), over five weeks, that three computer packages were downloaded from the internet.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

 

  

Model Answer

The bar chart illustrates the download rate per week of ActiveX, Java and Net computer packages over a period of five weeks. It can clearly be seen that ActiveX was the most popular computer package to download, whilst Net was the least popular of the three.

To begin, downloads of ActiveX and Java showed similar patterns, with both gradually increasing from week 1 to week 5. However, the purchases of Active X remained significantly higher than that of the other product over this time frame. In week 1, purchases of ActiveX stood at around 75,000, while those of Java were about 30,000 lower. With the exception of a slight fall in week 4, downloading of ActiveX kept increasing until it reached a peak in the final week of just over 120,000. Java downloads also increased at a steady rate, finishing the period at 80,000.

The product that was downloaded the least was Net. This began at slightly under 40,000, and, in contrast to the other two products, fell over the next two weeks to reach a low of approximately 25,000. It then increased sharply over the following two weeks to finish at about 50,000, which was well below that of ActiveX.

(Words 198)

• gradually increasing
• a slight fall
• kept rising 
• reached a peak
• increased at a steady rate
• fell
• increased sharply
• a low of
• finish at
• stood at
• finishing the period at

 

In this IELTS sample reading you have:

• multiple choice questions
• summary completion
• matching statements

Wind Power

The power of the wind has been used for centuries to directly drive various machines to perform such tasks as grinding wheat or pumping water. Recently, however, the wind has joined other natural forces such as water and steam as a viable method of generating electricity.

Traditional means of electricity generation using coal or oil-fueled plants have two major drawbacks; they pollute the environment and the fuels they use are inefficient and non-renewable. In response to growing environmental awareness there have been calls for a greener alternative. Nuclear power, while more efficient and less polluting, is seen by many people as unacceptable, because of the danger of accidents such as those that happened at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. Wind power, however, is clean, renewable and, with modern advances, surprisingly efficient.

In the 1970s Britain was in the forefront of research into wind power. The interest in wind diminished in the 1980s due to cheap North Sea oil, a strong pro-nuclear lobby and pricing structures that made it uneconomical to set up wind farms. Britain, the windiest country in Europe, had to wait until 1991 for its first wind farm. Located at Delabole in Cornwall, the farm was originally the idea of locals who opposed the construction of a nuclear power plant nearby and decided to set up a private company to generate power for the area using the wind. They had to fight opposition from local government and other local residents, who thought the turbines would be noisy and might interfere with television signals, but eventually, after showing local officials working wind farms in Denmark, they won and now there are 10 huge white wind turbines on the Delabole hills.

It is in Germany and Denmark that the greatest advances in wind power have come. Germany alone produces half of the wind generated electricity in Europe. Every year Germany adds 400 Megawatts (Mw) of capacity. In 2000 alone capacity expanded by 1669 Mw. Denmark now produces 30% of its electricity from wind power and this is predicted to rise to 50% by 2010. Both countries have encouraged this growth by “fixed feed tariffs” which guarantee a good price for private wind power operators.

Britain is catching up and the government has set a target 10% of all electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010, half of this to be from wind power. The 900 wind turbines in operation generate 400Mw of electricity and to meet the target roughly 400Mw will need to be added each year. With the advances in technology this is technically possible. Each turbine can now produce 400 Kilowatts (KW) compared to only 70 KW at the start of the 1980s. It will, however, need help from the government. This is being done by offering financial support and giving private power companies targets to meet.

Because many people feel wind farms spoil the view and, also, because the wind is stronger at sea, many wind farms are now being built offshore. They are usually built a few kilometres off the coast in shallow water. The construction and maintenance costs are higher, but electricity output is higher. The first in Britain was built in 2000 at Blyth, north of Newcastle, and was the largest in the world until May 2001, when a 20 turbine farm was opened at Middelgruden off Copenhagen. There are plans to construct up to 18 more in the UK by 2010. Together they will produce 800 Mw of electricity annually.

The use of wind power is far less advanced in the USA. Only 5% of America’s power comes from the wind, although it is estimated that this could be increased to as high as 12% with no changes to the power grid. However, there is an increased interest in wind power. There are plans to build a huge offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod on the North East seaboard. The farm will take up over 25 square miles, have 170 turbines and produce 420Mw at a cost of $600m. If constructed, it will be the world’s second biggest wind farm, after the 520Mw farm planned in Ireland.

IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 1 – 2

Choose the best answer to the questions below.

1. People do not like coal and oil powered power production because …

1. it damages the environment.
2. it is wasteful.
3. they cannot be replaced once consumed.
4. all of the above.

2. Wind power …

1. has only been used recently.
2. promotes environmental awareness.
3. cleans the environment.
4. is not wasteful.

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IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 3 – 7

Complete the following summary of the third paragraph from the IELTS sample reading using ONE OR TWO WORDS from the reading texts.

British Wind Power

While there was a great deal of interest in wind power in the 1970s, it (3) _______________ in the 1980s. This was mainly due to intense support for (4) _______________ power and little help in making wind power affordable. So, even though Britain has some of the best winds in Europe, the first wind farm was only built in 1991. The farm at Delabole came out of opposition by (5) _______________ to a nuclear power plant. Initially, they were opposed by local officials due to fears about noise and possible obstruction to (6) ________________ . This opposition was eventually overcome only after they were shown successful examples from (7) _______________.

IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 8 – 13

Match the country below or mark none to the statements taken from the IELTS sample reading.

Note: Some countries may not be used and countries can be used more than once.

BR_____ Britain
G______ Germany
D______ Denmark
US_____The United States
IRE_____Ireland
N______ None of the countries

8. Plans to produce 5% of its power using wind power.
9. Produces 50% of its power from wind.
10. Produces very little of its power using wind.
11. Will have the world’s largest wind farm.
12. Used to have the world's biggest off-shore wind farm.
13. Is the biggest producer of wind power in Europe