IELTS READING 4.
5: LESSON 8
IELTS Complete 4-5 TEST 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WE1WuoWgRAk&index=8&t=1206s&list=PLoJ-
gM4TbsLjwcevmtAcZQ_2ldZlMdjGn
1.
Speed reading
What is speed reading, and why do we need it?
A
Speed reading is not just about reading fast. It is also about how
much information you can remember when you have finished
reading. The World Championship Speed-Reading Competition says
that its top competitors average between 1,000 and 2,000 words a
minute. But they must remember at least 50 percent of this in order
to qualify for the competition.
B
Nowadays, speed reading has become an essential skill in any
environment where people have to master a large volume of
information. Professional workers need reading skills to help them
get through many documents every day, while students under
pressure to deal with assignments may feel they have to read more
and read faster all the time.
C
Although there are various methods to increase reading speed, the
trick is deciding what information you want first. For example, if you
only want a rough outline of an issue, then you can skim the material
quickly and extract the key facts. However, if you need to
understand every detail in a document, then you must read it slowly
enough to understand this.
D
Even when you know how to ignore irrelevant detail, there are other
improvements you can make to your reading style which will
increase your speed. For example, most people can read much faster
if they read silently. Reading each word aloud takes time for the
information to make a complete circuit in your brain before being
pronounced. Some researchers believe that as long as the first and
last letters are in place, the brain can still understand the
arrangement of the other letters in the word because it logically puts
each piece into place.
E
Chunking is another important method. Most people learn to read
either letter by letter or word by word. As you improve, this changes.
You will probably find that you are fixing your eyes on a block of
words, then moving your eyes to the next block of words, and so on.
You are reading blocks of words at a time, not individual words one
by one. You may also notice that you do not always go from one
block to the next: sometimes you may move back to a previous
block if you are unsure about something.
F
A skilled reader will read a lot of words in each block. He or she will
only look at each block for an instant and will then move on. Only
rarely will the reader’s eyes skip back to a previous block of words.
This reduces the amount of work that the reader’s eyes have to do. It
also increases the volume of information that can be taken in over a
given period of time.
G
On the other hand, a slow reader will spend a lot of time reading
small blocks of words. He or she will skip back often, losing the flow
and structure of the text, and muddling their overall understanding
of the subject. This irregular eye movement quickly makes the
reader tired. Poor readers tend to dislike reading because they feel it
is difficult to concentrate and comprehend written information.
H
The best tip anyone can have to improve their reading speed is to
practise. In order to do this effectively, a person must be engaged in
the material and want to know more. If you find yourself constantly
having to re-read the same paragraph, you may want to switch to
reading material that grabs your attention. If you enjoy what you are
reading, you will make quicker progress.
Notes:
information (n) : thông tin
finished (v) : kết thúc
Championship (n) : vô địch
competitors (n) : những đối thủ
average (v) : bình quân
qualify for (v) : đủ tư cách cho
competition (n) : cuộc thi
essential (adj) : cốt yếu
environment (n) : môi trường
Professional (adj) : chuyên nghiệp
get through (v) : đi qua
documents (n) : những tài liệu
under pressure (v): chịu áp lực
deal with (v) : xử lý
assignments (n) : những bài tập
various (adj) : khác nhau
methods (n) : phương pháp
trick (n) : mẹo
deciding (n) : việc quyết định
issue (n) : vấn đề
material (n) : tài liệu
extract (v) : rút ra
rough (adj) : thô
outline (n) : bản phác thảo
ignore (v) : phớt lờ
irrelevant (adj) : không thích hợp
detail (n) : chi tiết
silently (adv) : yên lặng
aloud (adv) : lớn tiếng
complete (adj) : trọn vẹn
circuit (n) : sơ đồ
pronounced (v) : đánh vần
as long as : ngay khi
arrangement (n): sự sắp đặt
logically (adv) : hợp lý
puts into (v) : đặt vào trong
method (n) : phương pháp
word by word : từng từ một
individual (adj) : riêng lẻ
unsure (adj) : không chắc chắn
previous (adj) : trước
for an instant : ngay lập tức
move on (v) : di chuyển
rarely (adv) : hiếm
increases (v) : tăng
taken over (v) : mang tới
skip back (v) : nhảy trở lại
structure (n) : cấu trúc
muddle (v) : lúng túng
irregular (adj) : không theo nguyên tắc
concentrate (v) : tập trung
comprehend (v): lĩnh hội
effectively (adv) : hiệu quả
engaged (v) : bận rộn
material (n) : tài liệu
constantly (adv) : luôn luôn
paragraph (n) : đoạn văn
switch to (v) : chuyển
progress (n) : quá trình
2. Link bài nghe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di4...
THE SUN
Imagine a world where the sun never sets. Children can laugh and
play in the streets all through the night. Fishermen enjoy 24 hours of
daylight on the open sea. To get any sleep, people must block all the
light from their windows.
Now imagine a world with only darkness. Even in the middle of the
day, the sun does not shine. The only light comes from the moon
and the stars in the black sky. Cars must drive with their lights on all
the time. When people awake in the morning, it looks like the middle
of the night.
This is the situation for people who live above the Arctic Circle. The
sun clearly influences their lives. This includes people in northern
Russia, Canada, Alaska and Greenland. For part of the year they
cannot see the sun. And part of the year the sun never disappears.
But do you ever think about the sun? All life depends on the power of
the sun. Year after year, the sun warms the earth, gives us light,
builds life on our planet, and even keeps us healthy.
Whatever early people thought about the sun, they did not know
much about it. But as people began to use science they learned
more about the sun. In 1543, Nicholas Copernicus demonstrated that
the earth travels around the sun. One hundred years later, scientists
estimated the distance to the sun. And as recently as 1904, a man
named Ernest Rutherford showed how the sun produced such large
amounts of heat. These people discovered that the sun is a star like
all the other stars in the sky. However, for our planet, it is a very
special star.
The earth is 150 million kilometers from the sun. Here is one way to
imagine this great distance. Imagine that you are standing on the
sun. Your friends are on the earth. If they turned on a light, it would
take eight minutes for you to see it! But this is the perfect distance
for the earth to use the sun's heat.
The temperature of the sun is around 6,000 degrees Celsius at its
surface, and 15 million degrees at its centre! If the earth were any
closer, we would burn. But if the earth were any further away, we
would freeze. And yet, the sun is more than a big heater.
The sun also helps provide us with fresh air. The sun heats the
oceans. Then the water heats the air. The changing air temperatures
create most of the world's wind. Wind moves air to different places
so plants can remove carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen.
But the sun also affects plants directly. The sun makes plants grow
through the process of photosynthesis. Plants can change light from
the sun into energy. They use the energy to grow bigger and
stronger. All life on earth depends on plants. Without the sun, we
could not grow food for ourselves or for our animals.
Plants are not the only things who capture the power of the sun.
Human can turn sunlight into electricity with solar cells. A solar cell
collects the power of the sun and stores it. Then, this power can be
used to run anything that uses electricity: cars, computers, or
homes.
Besides all these amazing things, the sun also helps us to do
something very simple, but needed. Without the sun, we would not
be able to see anything!
The sun also helps people to be healthy and strong. It acts as a
natural cleaner for our skin. The sun can help kill harmful bacteria
that live on our skin. And the sun helps our bodies produce vitamin
D. People need vitamin D to have strong bones.
The sun can also improve our mental health. In places where the sun
does not shine, people can suffer from seasonal affective disorder.
This is a kind of depression. People with season affective disorder do
not have energy and feel sad. They are treated by sitting near a
special light. But nothing is as good as being in real sunlight.
Sunlight can help prevent depression and keep people happy. When
the sun is shining, people have more hope about the future.
The sun does many other things as well. It helps us tell time. It
controls the where and when animals travel. The sun's gravity keeps
the planet in orbit. It even lets us see at night. This is because the
sun shines on the moon and the moon sends the light down to the
earth. The sun makes the colors of a rainbow after it rains. And it
paints the sky during a sunset.
There are many things we still do not know about the sun. But the
more we learn about the sun, the more we can thank God for giving
us this wonderful gift.
Notes:
Sets (v) : mọc
through the night : suốt đêm
darkness (n) : màn đêm
awake (v) : thức dậy
situation (n) : hoàn cảnh
above (adv) : trên
influences (n) : các ảnh hưởng
includes (v) : bao gồm
disappears (v) : biến mất
depends on (v) : phụ thuộc vào
planet (n) : hành tinh
keeps healthy (v) : giữ sức khỏe
science (n) : khoa học
demonstrated (v) : chứng minh
estimated (v) : ước lượng
distance (n) : khoảng cách
produced (v) : cung cấp
discovered (v) : khám phá
turned on (v) : bật
temperature (n) : nhiệt độ
surface (n) : bề mặt
freeze (v) : đóng băng
heats (v) : làm nóng
remove (v) : loại bỏ
affects (v) : gây ảnh hưởng
photosynthesis (n) : sự quang hợp
energy (n) : năng lượng
depends on (v) : phụ thuộc vào
capture (v) : lấy
turn into (v) : chuyển đổi vào
solar cells (n) : những tấm pin mặt trời
be able to : có thể
harmful (adj) : có hại
bacteria (n) : vi khuẩn
produce (v) : cung cấp
bones (n) : xương
mental health : sức khỏe tinh thần
suffer from (v) : chịu đựng từ
seasonal (adj) : mùa
affective (adj) : dễ bị ảnh hưởng
disorder (n) : sự rối loạn
depression (n) : bệnh trầm cảm
prevent depression (v) : phòng chống bệnh trầm cảm
gravity (n) : lực hấp dẫn
orbit (n) : quỹ đạo
rainbow (n) : cầu vồng
3.
The burden of thirst
Millions of women carry water long distances. If they had a tap by
their door, whole societies would be transformed.
A
Aylito Binayo’s feet know the mountain. Even at four in the morning,
she can run down the rocks to the river by starlight alone and climb
the steep mountain back up to her village with a container of water
on her back. She has made this journey three times a day since she
was a small child.
So has every other woman in her village of Foro, in the Konso district
of south-western Ethiopia in Africa. Binayo left school when she was
eight years old, in part because she had to help her mother fetch
water from the Toiro River. The water is unsafe to drink; every year
that the drought continues, the river carries less water, and its flow
is reduced. But it is the only water Foro has ever had.
B
In developed parts of the world, people turn on a tap and out pours
abundant, clean water. Yet nearly 900 million people in the world
have no access to clean water. Furthermore, 2.5 billion people have
no safe way to get rid of human waste. Polluted water and lack of
proper hygiene cause disease and kill 3.3 million people around the
world annually, most of them children. In southern Ethiopia and in
northern Kenya, a lack of rain over the past few years has made
even dirty water hard to find. But soon, for the first time, things are
going to change.
C
Bringing clean water close to villagers’ homes is the key to the
problem. Communities where clean water becomes accessible and
plentiful are transformed. All the hours previously spent hauling
water can be used to cultivate more crops, raise more animals or
even start a business. Families spend less time sick or caring for
family members who are unwell. Most important, not having to
collect water means girls can go to school and get jobs. The need to
fetch water for the family, or to take care of younger siblings while
their mother goes, usually prevents them ever having this
experience.
D
But the challenges of bringing water to remote villages like those in
Konso are overwhelming. Locating water underground and then
reaching it by means of deep wells requires geological expertise and
expensive, heavy machines. Abandoned wells and water projects
litter the villages of Konso. In similar villages around the developing
world, the biggest problem with water schemes is that about half of
them break down soon after the groups that built them move on.
Sometimes technology is used that can’t be repaired locally, or spare
parts are available only in the capital.
E
Today, a UK-based international non-profit organisation called
WaterAid is tackling the job of bringing water to the most remote
villages of Konso. Their approach combines technologies proven to
last - such as building a sand dam to capture and filter rainwater that
would otherwise drain away. But the real innovation is that WaterAid
believes technology is only part of the solution. Just as important is
involving the local community in designing, building and maintaining
new water projects. Before beginning any project, WaterAid asks the
community to create a WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) committee
of seven people. The committee works with WaterAid to plan projects
and involve the village in construction. Then it maintains and runs
the project.
F
The people of Konso, who grow their crops on terraces they have dug
into the sides of mountains, are famous for hard work. In the village
of Orbesho, residents even constructed a road themselves so that
drilling machinery could come in. Last summer, their pump, installed
by the river, was being motorised to push its water to a newly built
reservoir on top of a nearby mountain. From there, gravity will carry
it down in pipes to villages on the other side of the mountain.
Residents of those villages have each given some money to help
fund the project. They have made concrete and collected stones for
the structures. Now they are digging trenches to lay pipes. If all goes
well, Aylito Binayo will have a tap with safe water just a three-minute
walk from her front door.
adapted from National Geographic magazine
Notes:
The burden (n) : gánh nặng
Thirst (n) : sự khát nước
carry (v) : vác
distances (n) : những khoảng cách
a tap (n) : cái vòi nước
mountain (n) : núi
run down (v) : chạy xuống
rocks (n) : đá
starlight (n) : ánh sáng từ vì sao
back up (v) : đi ngược trở lại
village (n) : làng
container (n) : đồ chứa
journey (n) : chuyến đi
fetch (v) : lấy
unsafe (adj) : không an toàn
drought (n) : hạn hán
reduced (v) : giảm
turn on (v) : mở
pours out (v) : rót /cung cấp
abundant (adj) : phong phú
have no access to : không có sự tiếp cận với
get rid of (v) : tránh khỏi
waste (n) : rác thải
Polluted (v) : ô nhiễm
lack of (v) : thiếu
proper (adj) : chính xác
hygiene (n) : vệ sinh
annually (adv) : hằng năm
southern (adj) : phía nam
northern (adj) : phía bắc
dirty (adj) : bẩn
Communities (n) : những cộng đồng
accessible (adj) : dễ tiếp cận
plentiful (adj) : dồi dào
transformed (v) : thay đổi
previously (adv) : trước kia
haul (v) : kéo
cultivate (v) : nuôi dưỡng
unwell (n) : ốm yếu
fetch (v) : đem về
take care of (v): chăm sóc
siblings (n) : anh/chị em ruột
prevents (v) : ngăn cản
experience (n) : trải nghiệm
challenges (n) : những thử thách
remote (adj) : xa xôi
overwhelming (adj) : quá mức
underground (n) : dưới ngầm
requires (v) : đòi hỏi
geological (adj) : thuộc địa chất
expertise (n) : chuyên gia
Abandoned (adj) : bị bỏ đi
schemes (n) : những chương trình
move on (v) : di chuyển đi
technology (n) : công nghệ
break down (v) : đổ vỡ
repaired (v) : sửa chữa
locally (adv) : địa phương
available (adj) : có sẵn
international (adj) : quốc tế
non-profit (adj) : phi lợi nhuận
tackle (v) : giải quyết
approach (v) : tiếp cận
combines (v) : kết hợp
capture (v) : giữ lại
filter (v) : lọc
otherwise (adv) : mặt khác
drain away (v) : chảy đi nơi khác
innovation (n) : sáng kiến
solution (n) : giải pháp
involve (v) : bao gồm
design (v) : thiết kế
maintain (v) : duy trì
committee (n) : ủy ban
construction (n) : công trình
runs the project : chạy dự án
crops (n) : mùa vụ
terraces (n) : những cánh đồng
dug into (v) : đào vào trong
residents (n) : cư dân
drilling machinery (n) máy khoan
constructed (v) : xây dựng
pump (n) : cái bơm
motorised (v) : cơ giới hóa
reservoir (n) : bể chứa nước
gravity (n) : trọng lực
pipes (n) : những ống dẫn
fund (n) : gây quỹ
concrete (n) : bê tông
trenches (n) : những cái mương
lay (v) : đặt ở dưới đất
4.
The Pompidou Centre
More than three decades after it was built, the Pompidou Centre in
Paris has survived its moment at the edge of architectural fashion
and proved itself to be one of the most remarkable buildings of the
20th century.
It was the most outstanding now building constructed in Paris for two
generations. It looked like an explosion of brightly coloured service
pipes in the calm of the city centre. However, when in 1977 the
architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano stood among a large
crowd of 5,000 at the opening of the Centre Culturel d'Art Georges
Pompidou (known as the Pompidou), no one was really aware of the
significance of this unusual building.
Rogers was only 38 when he and Piano won the competition to
design a new cultural centre for Paris in the old market site. Young,
unknown architects, they had been chosen from a field of nearly 700
to design one of the most prestigious buildings of its day. After six
difficult years, with 25,000 drawings, seven lawsuits, battles over
budgets, and a desperate last-minute scramble to finish the building,
it had finally been done.
Yet the opening was a downbeat moment. The Pompidou Centre had
been rubbished by the critics while it was being built, there was no
more work in prospect for the architects, and their partnership had
effectively broken down. But this was just a passing crisis. The
Centre, which combined the national museum of modern art,
exhibition space, a public library and a centre for modern music,
proved an enormous success. It attracted six million visitors in its
first year, and with its success, the critics swiftly changed their tune.
The architects had been driven by the desire for ultimate flexibility,
for a building that would not limit the movement of its users. All the
different parts were approached through the same enormous
entrance hall and served by the same escalator, which was free to
anyone to ride, whether they wanted to visit an exhibition or just
admire the view. With all the services at one end of the building,
escalators and lifts at the other, and the floors hung on giant steel
beams providing uninterrupted space the size of two football pitches,
their dream had become a reality.
The image of the Pompidou pervaded popular culture in the 1970s,
making appearances everywhere - on record-album covers and a
table lamp, and even acting as the set for a James Bond 1 film. This
did much to overcome the secretive nature of the architectural
culture of its time, as it enabled wider audience to appreciate the
style and content of the building and so moved away from the
strictly professional view.
The following year, Rogers was commissioned to design a new
headquarters for Lloyd's Bank in London and went on to create one
of Britain's most dynamic architectural practices. Piano is now
among the world's most respected architects. But what of their
shared creation?
It was certainly like no previous museum, with its plans for a flexible
interior that not only had movable walls but floors that could also be
adjusted up or down. This second feature did not in the end survive
when the competition drawings were turned into a real building. In
other ways, however, the finished building demonstrated a
remarkable degree of refinement - of craftsmanship even - in the
way the original diagram was transformed into a superbly detailed
structure. It was this quality which, according to some critics,
suggested that the Pompidou should be seen as closer to the 19th-
century engineering tradition than the space age.
Nevertheless, as a model for urban planning, it has proved
immensely influential. The Guggenheim in Bilbao* and the many
other major landmark projects that were built in the belief that
innovatively designed cultural buildings can bring about urban
renewal are all following the lead of the Pompidou Centre.
Other buildings may now challenge it for the title of Europe s most
outlandish work of architecture. However, more than a quarter of a
century later, this construction - it is hard to call it a building when
there is no façade, just a lattice of steel beams and pipes and a long
external escalator snaking up the outside - still seems extreme.
Today, the Pompidou Centre itself still looks much as it did when it
opened. The shock value of its colour-coded plumbing and its
structure has not faded with the years. But while traditionalists
regarded it as an ugly attack on Paris when it was built, they now see
it for what it is - an enormous achievement, technically and
conceptually.
Notes:
decades (n) : thập kỷ
survived (v) : sống sót
edge (n) : cạnh
architectural (adj) : kiến trúc
proved (v) : chứng minh
remarkable (adj) : phi thường
outstanding (adj) : nổi bật
constructed (v) : xây dựng
generations (n) : các thế hệ
explosion (n) : sự bùng nổ
brightly (adj) : sáng lạng
coloured (adj) : có màu sắc
pipes (n) : những ống
architects (n) : những kiến trúc sư
aware of (v) : nhận thức
significance (n) : tầm quan trọng
unusual (adj) : bất thường
competition (n) : cuộc tranh đấu
prestigious (adj) : có uy tín
drawings (n) : các bức vẽ
lawsuits (n) : các vu kiện cáo
battles (n) : cuộc chiến
budgets (n) : ngân quỹ
desperate (adj) : dữ dội
scramble (n) : sự tranh giành
downbeat (adj) : u sầu
rubbished (n) : rác rưởi
critics (n) : những nhà phê bình
prospect (n) : viễn cảnh
partnership (n) : công việc làm chung
architects (n) : những kiến trúc sư
broken down (v) : đổ vỡ
a passing crisis (n) : một cuộc khủng hoảng chốc lát
combined (v) : kết hợp
museum (n) : bảo tàng
modern art (n) : nghệ thuật hiện đại
exhibition (n) : cuôc triển lãm
enormous (adj) : khổng lồ
attracted (v) : thu hút
swiftly (adv) : nhanh chóng
tune (n) : giọng điệu
ultimate (adj) : sau cùng
flexibility (n) : sự linh hoạt
approached (v) : tiếp cận
entrance (n) : sảnh vào
enormous (adj) : rộng lớn
escalator (n) : cái thang
hung on (v) : treo
giant (adj) : khổng lồ
steel (n) : thép
beams (n) : cái xà
uninterrupted (adj) : liên tục
pitches (n) : cái sân
pervaded (v) : lan tràn
appearances (n) : những sự xuất hiện
overcome (v) : vượt qua
secretive (adj) : giữ kẽ
enabled (v) : cho phép
audience (n) : khán giả
appreciate (v) : trân trọng
content (n) : nội dung
moved away (v) : tiến xa hơn khỏi
strictly (adv) : một cách khắt khe
commissioned (v) : ủy quyền
headquarters (n) : tổng hành dinh
dynamic (adj) : năng động
architectural (adj) : thuộc kiến trúc
respected (adj) : tôn trọng
creation (n) : tác phẩm
interior (n) : trong nước
adjusted (v) : thay đổi
refinement (n) : cái đẹp
craftsmanship (n) : cuộc sự thành thạo
original (adj) : ban đầu
diagram (n) : sơ đồ
superbly (adv) : một cách tráng lệ
transformed (v) : chuyển
engineering (n) : kỹ thuật
Nevertheless (adv) : tuy nhiên
immensely (adv) : hết sức
influential (adj) : có ảnh hưởng
landmark (n) : bước ngoặt
innovatively (adv) : một cách sáng tạo
urban (n) : thành thị
renewal (n) : sự khôi phục
outlandish (adj) : xa xôi/ hẻo lánh
lattice (n) : lưới
beams (n) : những cái xà
pipes (n) : những cái ống
snake up (v) : uốn lượn lên
external (adj) : bên ngoài
faded with (v) : gây hứng thú với
traditionalists (n) : người theo chủ nghĩa truyền thống
regarded (v) : quan tâm
ugly (n) : đáng sợ
attack (n) : cuộc công kích
conceptually (adj) : thuộc quan niệm
