Cambridge IELTS Academic 14 Reading Test 2 Answers with Explanation / IELTS Academic Reading: Alexander Henderson , Back to the Future of Skyscraper Design ,Why Companies Should Welcome Disorder

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1.

Alexander Henderson (1831-1913)

Answer	Keywords	Location	Explanation
1. False	Henderson, Press estate	Para 1, last lines	Scan for the keywords: Henderson, Press estate which is in para1. No need to search for the synonyms if noun.Now read this line “Alexander (Henderson) spent much of his childhood in the area”…This means he often stayed in the Press estate (the area) when he was younger. It is contradictory to the question. Therefore, FALSE.
2. True	business career, family wanted	Para 2, line 2	Now read this line “.In 1849 he began a three-year apprenticeship to become an accountant. Although, he never liked the prospect of a business career, he stayed with it to please his family.”He stayed with it to please his family means that he only pursued a business career because his family wanted him to do so. Thus, it is clear that the statement is TRUE.
3.Not Given	Henderson, Notman, 1865	Para 3	According to this paragraph Henderson and Notman carried out an experiment with magnesium flares. There is no reference, however, to the results of the experiment or about the men‟s reaction towards such results. Hence Not Given
4.False	similarities, landscapes, Henderson, Notman	Para 4, line 1	Now read this line “In spite of their friendship, their styles of photography were quite different. While Notman’s landscapes were noted for their bold realism, Henderson for the first 20 years of his career produced romantic images, showing the strong influence of the British landscape tradition.”Their styles of photography were quite different means that that the works of Henderson and Notman did not have much similarities. It is contradictory to the question. Therefore, FALSE.
5.Not Given			The location of the studio is not mentioned.
6.True	gave up, taking photographs,	Para 5, line 2	No direct keywords hence search for landscape photography and other views =photography of scenery, dropped = gave up.Now read this line “From about 1870 he dropped portraiture to specialize in landscape photography and other views.”The word “specialize” implies that he wanted to focus his efforts on only one kind of photography, so this statement is TRUE.
7. False	Intercolonial Railway, Montreal to Halifax line	Para 7, line 5-8	Search for the keywords; paragraph 7, Intercolonial Railway, Montreal to Halifax lineNow read this line “That same year, while in the lower St. Lawrence River region, he took some photographs of the construction of the Intercolonial Railway. This undertaking led in 1875 to a commission from the railway to record the principal structures along the almost-completed line connecting Montreal to Halifax.”Almost-completed line connecting Montreal to Halifax suggest that the Montreal to Halifax line was not yet completed at that time. It is contradictory to the question. Therefore, FALSE.
8.True	last work, photographer, Canadian Pacific	Para 8	Search for the keywords and synonyms of last work, photographer, Canadian Pacific which is in para 8.Now read this line “In 1892 Henderson accepted a full-time position with the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) as manager of a photographic department …He continued in this post until 1897, when he retired completely from photography.”Thus, it can be understood that his last photography work (before retiring) was with the CPR. The statement is TRUE.
9. merchant	Scotland, 1831	Para 1 line 1	Now read this line “Alexander Henderson was born in Scotland in 1831 and was the son of a successful merchant.”
10. equipment	Henderson’s, photography,time, heavy	Para 5, line 6-10	Now read this line “Henderson, therefore, did not have much competition…. There are two reasons for this: “time-consuming techniques” and the“weight of the equipment”.Time-consuming techniques means taking up considerable time, and the latter as “heavy equipment”. Thus, the answer is “equipment”.
11. gifts	Henderson, sold, souvenirs	Para5, line 6-10	Now read this line “people wanted to buy photographs as souvenirs of a trip or as gifts”. Therefore, it is clear that the blank should be filled with “gifts”.
12. canoe	many trips, eastern rivers	Para 7, line 1	Now read this line  “In the 1870s and 1880s Henderson travelled widely throughout Quebec and Ontario. . .. . . .. .He was especially fond of the wilderness and often travelled by canoe on the Blanche, du Lievre, and other noted eastern rivers.”Often travelled by canoe suggest that Henderson made many trips (travelled widely) in a canoe.
13. mountains	CPR, 1885, Rogers Pass	Para 7, last line	Now read the line “In 1885 he went west long the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) as far as Rogers Pass in British Columbia, where he took photographs of the mountains and the progress of construction.”He took the photos of two things: progress of Roger pass and the mountains. So mountains is the answer.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 .

Back to the Future of Skyscraper Design

Answer	Keywords	Location	Explanation
14. F	avoided, hospitals, 19th	Para F, Line 1	Keywords hospitals, 19th are obvious in para F.Now read this line “Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital and building design was driven by a panicked public clamoring for buildings that could protect against what was thought to be the lethal threat of miasmas – toxic air that spread disease.”Above lines suggest that 19th-century people were terrified , people were shouting against such buildings. Here, building = hospitals. This means they were avoiding hospitals at that time.
15. C	popularity, tall buildings, prestige	Para C, Line last	No direct keywords but synonyms; tall buildings= skyscrapers, status= prestige.Now read this “Short regards glass, steel and air-conditioned skyscrapers as symbols of status, rather than practical ways of meeting our requirements”.Above line means the tall buildings (skyscrapers) symbolizes status (prestige).
16. E	air, 19th century, modern	Para E, Line 1	Now read this line “We discovered that 19th century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour – that’s similar to the performance of a modern-day, computer-controlled operating theatre.”This is a clear comparison on the circulation of air between 19th century building and modern day buildings.
17. D	potential savings		Search for the keyword potential savings and you will find safe in Para D.Now read this line “We spent three years digitally modeling Billings’ final designs”, says Short. “We put pathogens in the airstreams, modeled for someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room would have kept other patients safe from harm.”This is a description of how Short tested the circulation of air in Johns Hopkins Hospital building which was built in the 19th Century.
18. B	advertising, air conditioning,		Search for the Keywords and synonyms for this question: advertising= marketed, air conditioning. They are obvious in para B.Now read this line “…before the widespread introduction of air conditioning systems, which were ‘relentlessly and aggressively marketed’ by their inventors.”Therefore, it can be paraphrased that advertising led to the large increase in the use of air conditioning.
19. design/s	Alan short, examined, John Shaw Billings	Para D	Search for the keywords in para D.Now read this line “Short’s book highlights a developing and sophisticated art and science of ventilating buildings through the 19th and earlier-20th centuries, including the design of ingeniously ventilated hospitals. Of particular interest were those built to the designs of John Shaw Billings, including the first John Hopkins Hospital in the US city of Baltimore (1873-1889).” Implies Alan Short examined the works of John Shaw Billings, whose works influenced the designs of hospitals with great ventilation.
20 & 21.pathogens & tuberculosis	calculated, air, patients, harmed	Para D	Scan for the keywords in para D. “patients= someone with tuberculosis“, “calculated= digitally modelling“, air and harm are obvious.Now read intensively “We spent three years digitally modelling Billings’ final designs,” says Short. “We put pathogens in the airstreams, modeled for someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room would have kept other patients safe from harm.”So, He calculated pathogens in the air coming from patients suffering from TB would not have harmed other patients.
22. wards	air,hospitals, often modernoperating theatre		Keywords are easy to scan in para E.Now read this line intensively “We discovered that 19th-century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour – that’s similar to the performance of a modern-day, computer-controlled operating theatre.”This means that the air in hospitals wards could change as often as in a modern operating theatre.
23. communal	energy, reduced, locating, patients,	Para E	Scan for the keywords in para E.Now read this line intensively “Communal wards appropriate for certain patients – older people with dementia, for example – would work just as well in today’s hospitals, at a fraction of the energy cost.”Hence, He suggests that energy use could be reduced (at a fraction of the energy cost) by locating more patients in communal areas (Communal wards).
24 & 25.public & miasmas	19th-century hospital, ventilation	Para F	Scan for the Keywords in paragraph F.Now read this line intensively, “Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital and building design was driven by a panicked public clamouring for buildings that could protect against what was thought to be lethal threat of miasmas – toxic air that spread disease.”Here, the lines suggest that the public demanded protection against miasmas.
26. cholera	epidemics, Londonand Paris,	Para F, line 3	Scan for the keywords in para F.Now read this line intensively “Miasmas were feared as the principal agents of disease and epidemics for centuries, and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages right through to the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during in 1850s.”Meaning that London and Paris city suffered from the epidemics (outbreaks) of cholera.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 .

 

Why Companies Should Welcome Disorder

Answer	Keywords	Location	Explanation
27. vi			Skim Section A and underline (bold here) the keywords as you keep on reading.“we ought to organise our company, our home life, our week, our day and even our sleep, all as a means to becoming more productive. Every week, countless seminars and workshops take place around the world to tell a paying public that they ought to structure their lives in order to achieve this.”These lines suggest that people are increasingly (becoming) expected (ought to) to organise their companies (what).
28. i			“Ironically, however, the number of businesses that fail has also steadily increased. Work-related stress has increased. A large proportion of workers from all demographics claim to be dissatisfied with the way their work is structured and the way they are managed.”Fails, stress, and dissatisfaction are the Complaints about the impact of a management (certain approach).
29. iii			Skim this line “Writing in the first half of the 20th century, he designed a number of principles to improve the efficiency of the work process, which have since become widespread in modern companies.”This paragraph talks about the reference of some recommendations regarding business activities which was given in the first half of the 20th century (early).
30. ii			Skim this line “New research suggests that this obsession with efficiency is misguided.”It means that the beliefs regarding efficiency are misguided or incorrect.
31. ix			Skim these lines “What’s more, recent studies show that order actually has diminishing returns.” and “Order does increase productivity to a certain extent, but eventually the usefulness of the process of organisation, and the benefit it yields, reduce until the point where any further increase in order reduces productivity.”They mean that order does more damage than progress.
32. vii			Skim through the line “These environments can lead to new solutions that, under conventionally structured environments …….. would never be reached.”This implies that a new approach can achieve outcomes that are impossible under the current practice.
33. iv			This section discusses the new approach – disorganisation, which has been embraced by many organisations such as Google, General Electric, Oticon, etc.
34. viii			Skim this line “This research also shows that we should continually question whether or not our existing assumptions work.”whether or not our existing assumptions work means there is no guarantee that any approach may work.
35. productive	raining sessions, aimed at, people who feel	Para 2, sec A, line 2	No direct keywords so Scan for the synonym & similar keywords: countless= numerous, people= public, sessions= seminars, aimed at= to tell.Now read this line intensively “We are told that we ought to organise our company, our home life, our week, our day and even our sleep, all as a means to becoming more productive. Every week, countless seminars and workshops take place around the world to tell a paying public that they ought to structure their lives in order to achieve this.”The lines suggest that countless seminars and workshops (Numerous training sessions) are targeted at people who are not productive.
36. perfectionists	organized, appeals, people, regard themselves	Para 2, Sec A	Scan for the keyword “regard themselves= self-proclaimed“.Now read intensively “This rhetoric has also crept into the thinking of business leaders and entrepreneurs, much to the delight of self proclaimed perfectionists with the need to get everything right.”This means that being organised appeals to perfectionists.
37. dissatisfied	many people feel, work	Para 1, Sec B	Scan for the Keywords: large proportion of workers = Many people.The answer is in paragraph no. 1 of Section B. “A large proportion of workers from all demographics claim to be dissatisfied with the way their work is structured and the way they are managed.”Hence, a large proportion of workers are dissatisfied with their work because the way it is structured and the way they are managed.
38. true	businesses and people, considering, value,	Sect D	Scan for the Keywords in sect D: “businesses and people”, “considering= looking at”   Now read intensively “The result is that businesses and people spend time and money organising themselves for the sake of organising, rather than actually looking at the end goal and structure of such an effort.”They “spend time and money organising” ratherthan actually “looking at the usefulness of such an effort”.
39. false	innovation, successful, people involved,	Sect F	Scan for the Keywords: innovation, most successful= best approach, people involved= engaged.Read intensively this line “In fact, research shows that, when innovating, the best approach is to create an environment devoid of structure and hierarchy and enable everyone to engage as one organic group.”So, the lines suggest that if people work together as one organic group, innovation is most successful, not if people have distinct roles.
40. not given	Google, inspired, adopt, flexibility, success, General Electric	Sect G	While scanning the Keywords look in sect G.Whether Google was or was not inspired to adopt flexibility by General Electric is not made clear.