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 Sending money home
A Every year millions of migrants travel vast distances using borrowed money for
their airfares and taking little or no cash with them. They seek a decent job to support
themselves with money left over that they can send home to their families in
developing countries. These remittances exceeded $400 billion last year. It is true that
the actual rate per person is only about $200 per month but it all adds up to about
triple the amount officially spent on development aid.

B In some of the poorer, unstable or conflict-torn countries, these sums of money

are a lifeline – the only salvation for those left behind. The decision to send money
home is often inspired by altruism – an unselfish desire to help others. Then again, the
cash might simply be an exchange for earlier services rendered by the recipients or it
could be intended for investment by the recipients. Often it will be repayment of a
loan used to finance the migrant’s travel and resettlement.

C At the first sign of trouble, political or financial upheaval, these personal sources
of support do not suddenly dry up like official investment monies. Actually, they
increase in order to ease the hardship and suffering of the migrants’ families and,
unlike development aid, which is channelled through government or other official
agencies, remittances go straight to those in need. Thus, they serve an insurance role,
responding in a countercyclical way to political and economic crises.

D This flow of migrant money has a huge economic and social impact on the
receiving countries. It provides cash for food, housing and necessities. It funds
education and healthcare and contributes towards the upkeep of the elderly. Extra
money is sent for special events such as weddings, funerals or urgent medical
procedures and other emergencies. Occasionally it becomes the capital for starting up
a small enterprise.

E Unfortunately, recipients hardly ever receive the full value of the money sent
back home because of exorbitant transfer fees. Many money transfer companies and
banks operate on a fixed fee, which is unduly harsh for those sending small sums at a
time. Others charge a percentage, which varies from around 8% to 20% or more
dependent on the recipient country. There are some countries where there is a low
fixed charge per transaction; however, these cheaper fees are not applied
internationally because of widespread concern over money laundering. Whether this
is a genuine fear or just an excuse is hard to say. If the recipients live in a small
village somewhere, usually the only option is to obtain their money through the local
post office. Regrettably, many governments allow post offices to have an exclusive
affiliation with one particular money transfer operator so there is no alternative but to
pay the extortionate charge.

F The sums of money being discussed here might seem negligible on an individual
basis but they are substantial in totality. If the transfer cost could be reduced to no
more than one per cent, that would release another $30 billion dollars annually –
approximately the total aid budget of the USA, the largest donor worldwide – directly
into the hands of the world’s poorest. If this is not practicable, governments could at
least acknowledge that small remittances do not come from organised crime networks,
and ease regulations accordingly. They should put an end to restrictive alliances
between post offices and money transfer operators or at least open up the system to
competition. Alternately, a non-government humanitarian organisation, which would
have the expertise to navigate the elaborate red tape, could set up a non-profit
remittance platform for migrants to send money home for little or no cost.

G Whilst contemplating the best system for transmission of migrant earnings to the
home country, one should consider the fact that migrants often manage to save
reasonable amounts of money in their adopted country. More often than not, that
money is in the form of bank deposits earning a tiny percentage of interest, none at all
or even a negative rate of interest.

H If a developing country or a large charitable society could sell bonds with a

guaranteed return of three or four per cent on the premise that the invested money
would be used to build infrastructure in that country, there would be a twofold benefit.
Migrants would make a financial gain and see their savings put to work in the
development of their country of origin. The ideal point of sale for these bonds would
be the channel used for money transfers so that, when migrants show up to make their
monthly remittance, they could buy bonds as well. Advancing the idea one step
further, why not make this transmission hub the conduit for affluent migrants to
donate to worthy causes in their homeland so they may share their prosperity with
their compatriots on a larger scale?

SECTION 1 Questions 1–13

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.
Questions 1–7
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A–G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B–H from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–x, in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i Stability of remittances in difficult times
ii Effect of cutback in transaction fees
iii Targeted investments and contributions
iv Remittances for business investment
v How to lower transmission fees
vi Motivations behind remittances
vii Losses incurred during transmission
viii Remittances worth more than official aid
ix How recipients utilise remittances
x Frequency and size of remittances
xi Poor returns on migrant savings
Example:
Paragraph G xi
1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F
7 Paragraph H

Questions 8–13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8–13 on your answer sheet.

Countries are unwilling to enforce lower transaction fees as they are worried about 8
……………….., and villagers lose out when post offices have a special relationship
with one particular money transfer agency.

Each remittance might be small but the total cost of remittance fees is huge.
Governments
should 9 ……………….. on small amounts and end the current post office system or
make it more competitive. Another idea would be for a large non-profit association,
capable of handling complicated 10 ……………….. to take charge of migrant
remittances.

Migrants who send money home are able to save money, too, but it receives little or
no interest from 11 ……………….. . If a country or organisation sold bonds that
earned a reasonable rate of interest for the investor, that money could fund the
development of homeland 12 ……………….. .The bonds could be sold at the
remittance centre, which could also take donations from 13 ……………….. to fund
charitable projects in their home country.
ANSWERS

1 x
2 vi
3 i
4 ix
5 vii
6 v
7 iii
8 money laundering
9 ease regulations
10 red tape
11 bank deposits/the bank/a bank
12 infrastructure
13 affluent migrants
 The Discovery of Penicillin

A The Scottish bacteriologist Dr Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) is credited with the

discovery of penicillin in London in 1928. He had been working at St Mary’s Hospital
on thebacteriology of septic wounds. As a medic during World War I, he had
witnessed the deaths of many wounded soldiers from infection and he had observed
that the use of harsh antiseptics, rather than healing the body, actually harmed the
blood corpuscles that destroy bacteria.

B In his search for effective antimicrobial agents, Fleming was cultivating

staphylococcus bacteria in Petri dishes containing agar1 . Before going on holiday in
the summer of 1928, he piled up the agar plates to make room for someone else to use
his workbench in his absence and left the windows open. When he returned to work
two weeks later, Fleming noticed mould growing on those culture plates that had not
been fully immersed in sterilising agent. This was not an unusual phenomenon, except
in this case the particular mould seemed to have killed the staphylococcus aureus
immediately surrounding it. He realised that this mould had potential.

C Fleming consulted a mycologist called C J La Touche, who occupied a laboratory

downstairs containing many mould specimens (possibly the source of the original
contamination), and they concluded it was the Penicillium genus of ascomycetous
fungi. Fleming continued to experiment with the mould on other pathogenic bacteria,
finding that it successfully killed a large number of them. Importantly, it was also
non-toxic, so here was a bacteria-destroying agent that could be used as an antiseptic
in wounds without damaging the human body. However, he was unsuccessful in his
attempts to isolate the active antibacterial element, which he called penicillin. In
1929, he wrote a paper on his findings, published in the British Journal of
Experimental Pathology, but it failed to kindle any interest at the time.

D In 1938, Dr Howard Florey, a professor of pathology at Oxford University, came

across Fleming’s paper. In collaboration with his colleague Dr Ernst Chain, and other
skilled chemists, he worked on producing a usable drug. They experimented on mice
infected with streptococcus. Those untreated died, while those injected with penicillin
survived. It was time to test the drug on humans but they could not produce enough –
it took 2,000 litres of mould culture fluid to acquire enough penicillin to treat a single
patient. Their first case in 1940, an Oxford police officer who was near death as a
result of infection by both staphylococci and streptococci, rallied after five days of
treatment but, when the supply of penicillin ran out, he eventually died.

E In 1941, Florey and biochemist Dr Norman Heatley went to the United States to
team up with American scientists with a view to finding a way of making large
quantities of the drug. It became obvious that Penicillium notatum would never
generate enough penicillin for effective treatments so they began to look for a more
productive species. One day a laboratory assistant turned up with a melon covered in
mould. This fungus was Penicillium chrysogeum, which produced 200 times more
penicillin than Fleming’s original species but, with further enhancement and filtration,
it was induced to yield 1,000 times as much as Penicillium notatum. Manufacture
could begin in earnest.

F The standardisation and large-scale production of the penicillin drug during World
War II and its availability for treating wounded soldiers undoubtedly saved many
lives. Penicillin proved to be very effective in the treatment of pneumococcal
pneumonia – the death rate in WWII was 1% compared to 18% in WWI. It has since
proved its worth in the treatment of many life-threatening infections such as
tuberculosis, meningitis, diphtheria and several sexually-transmitted diseases.

G Fleming has always been acknowledged as the discoverer of penicillin. However,

the development of a commercial penicillin drug was due to the skill of chemical
scientists Florey, Chain and others who overcame the difficulties of converting it into
a usable form. Fleming and Florey received knighthoods in 1944 and they, together
with Chain, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945.
Heatley’s contribution seems to have been overlooked until, in 1990, he was awarded
an honorary doctorate of medicine by Oxford University – the first in its 800-year
history.

H Fleming was mindful of the dangers of resistance to penicillin early on and he

expressly warned on many occasions against overuse of the drug, because this would
lead to bacterial resistance. Ironically, the occurrence of resistance is pushing the
drive today to find new, more powerful antibiotics.

Questions 1–6
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 1–6 on your answer sheet.

1 results of animal experiments

2 recognition of the scientists’ valuable work
3 a statement about the beginning of mass production
4 Fleming’s cautionary advice
5 examples of uses for penicillin
6 the starting point for Fleming’s original research
Questions 7–10
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7–10 on your answer sheet.

Dr Fleming’s Accidental Discovery

In a bid to find a safe and effective antiseptic, Dr Fleming was growing

staphylococcus
aureus bacteria in his lab. On his return from 7 ……………….., he found mould on
an
unsterilised plate and saw that it had destroyed the bacteria around it. A 8
………………..
helped him identify the mould. Fleming found that it was active against several
different
9 ……………….. and, because it was 10 ……………….., it was safe to use in
humans.

Questions 11–13
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet

Timeline

1928 Fleming’s discovery of penicillin

1929 Fleming’s research published
1938 Florey begins work on penicillin
1940 The first human subject 11 ……………….
1941 Collaboration with 12 ……………….
1944 Two of the scientists are knighted
1945 Three of them share a 13 ……………….
1990 Heatley’s work is acknowledged
ANSWERS

1D
2G
3E
4H
5F
6B
7 holiday
8 mycologist
9 (pathogenic) bacteria
10 non-toxic
11 (eventually) died
12 American scientists
13 Nobel Prize
 “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

– Rudyard Kipling, The Law for the Wolves

A wolf pack is an extremely well-organised family group with a well-defined social

structure and a clear-cut code of conduct. Every wolf has a certain place and function
within the pack and every member has to do its fair share of the work. The supreme
leader is a very experienced wolf – the alpha – who has dominance over the whole
pack. It is the protector and decision-maker and directs the others as to where, when
and what to hunt. However, it does not lead the pack into the hunt, for it is far too
valuable to risk being injured or killed. That is the responsibility of the beta wolf, who
assumes second place in the hierarchy of the pack. The beta takes on the role of
enforcer – fighter or ‘tough guy’– big, strong and very aggressive. It is both the
disciplinarian of the pack and the alpha’s bodyguard.

The tester, a watchful and distrustful character, will alert the alpha if it encounters
anything suspicious while it is scouting around looking for signs of trouble. It is also
the quality controller, ensuring that the others are deserving of their place in the pack.
It does this by creating a situation that tests their bravery and courage, by starting a
fight, for instance. At the bottom of the social ladder is the omega wolf, subordinate
and submissive to all the others, but often playing the role of peacemaker by
intervening in an intra-pack squabble and defusing the situation by clowning around.
Whereas the tester may create conflict, the omega is more likely to resolve it.

The rest of the pack is made up of mid- to low-ranking non-breeding adults and the
immature offspring of the alpha and its mate. The size of the group varies from
around six to ten members or more, depending on the abundance of food and numbers
of the wolf population in general.

Wolves have earned themselves an undeserved reputation for being ruthless predators
and a danger to humans and livestock. The wolf has been portrayed in fairy tales and
folklore as a very bad creature, killing any people and other animals it encounters.
However, the truth is that wolves only kill to eat, never kill more than they need, and
rarely attack humans unless their safety is threatened in some way. It has been
suggested that hybrid wolf-dogs or wolves suffering from rabies are actually
responsible for many of the historical offences as well as more recent incidents.

Wolves hunt mainly at night. They usually seek out large herbivores, such as deer,
although they also eat smaller animals, such as beavers, hares and rodents, if these are
obtainable. Some wolves in western Canada are known to fish for salmon. The alpha
wolf picks out a specific animal in a large herd by the scent it leaves behind. The prey
is often a very young, old or injured animal in poor condition. The alpha signals to its
hunters which animal to take down and when to strike by using tail movements and
the scent from a gland at the tip of its spine above the tail.

Wolves kill to survive. Obviously, they need to eat to maintain strength and health but
the way they feast on the prey also reinforces social order. Every member of the
family has a designated spot at the carcass and the alpha directs them to their places
through various ear postures: moving an ear forward, flattening it back against the
head or swivelling it around. The alpha wolf eats the prized internal organs while the
beta is entitled to the muscle-meat of the rump and thigh, and the omega and other
low ranks are assigned the intestinal contents and less desirable parts such as the
backbone and ribs.

The rigid class structure in a wolf pack entails frequent displays of supremacy and
respect. When a higher-ranking wolf approaches, a lesser-ranking wolf must slow
down, lower itself, and pass to the side with head averted to show deference; or, in an
extreme act of passive submission, it may roll onto its back, exposing its throat and
belly. The dominant wolf stands over it, stiff-legged and tall, asserting its superiority
and its authority in the pack.

Questions 1–6
Classify the following statements as referring to
A the alpha wolf
B the beta wolf
C the tester wolf
D the omega wolf
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D in boxes 1–6 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 It is at the forefront of the pack when it makes a kill.

2 It tries to calm tensions and settle disputes between pack members.
3 It is the wolf in charge and maintains control over the pack.
4 It warns the leader of potential danger.
5 It protects the leader of the pack.
6 It sets up a trial to determine whether a wolf is worthy of its status in the pack.

Questions 7–13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 7–13 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

7 Wolves are a constant danger to humans.

8 Crossbred wolves or sick wolves are most likely to blame for attacks on people.
9 Canadian wolves prefer to eat fish, namely salmon.
10 The wolf pack leader identifies a particular target for attack by its smell.
11 When wolves attack a herd, they go after the healthiest animal.
12 The piece of a dead animal that a wolf may eat depends on its status in the pack.
13 A low-ranking wolf must show submission or the dominant wolf will attack it.
ANSWERS:

1B
2D
3A
4C
5B
6C
7 FALSE
8 TRUE
9 NOT GIVEN
10 TRUE
11 FALSE
12 TRUE
13 NOT GIVEN
IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 1 – READINGIELTS

Harry’s Hire Company

Example
Hire for: birthday party

Equipment Hire:

Day and date of event: 1 …………………… November

Number attending event: 2 ……………………
5 dozen dinner plates, bowls

5 dozen sets of 3 ………… and …………

Rental:
40 plastic 4 ……………………

4 dozen each small / medium glasses

six 5 ……………………

IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 1 - READINGIELTS_2

Costings:

Weekend Package: 5 p.m. Fri – 10 a.m. Mon: $1600 + tax

6 …………………… Package: 5 p.m. Sat – 10 a.m. Mon: $1350 + tax
7 ……………………: $50 (within 10 km)
Breakage Insurance: $60
plates, bowls – $3.55 per item
Replacement costs: small glasses – 8 …………………… per item
medium glasses – $4.40 per item

Customer Details:

Full name: 9 ……………………

Address: 28B Sandstone Close, Martinsborough
Contact number: 10. 084 ……………………
 Answers

1 Saturday 25th / 25
2 55 / fifty-five / fifty five
3 knives / forks
4 (garden) chairs
5 ice buckets
6 same-day / same Day
7 home delivery
8 $3.50 / three dollars fifty
9 Susan Millins
10 3987695
IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 2 – READINGIELTS

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer
Questions 6–10

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
 Answers

1. cream

2. brass

3. 65 / sixty-five

4. perfect

5. £30 / 30 pounds / thirty pounds

6. deep

7. 1.25 metres / 1.25 m

8. adjustable

9. £50 / 50 pounds / fifty pounds

10. Domain
IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 3 – READINGIELTS
BUYING A USED CAR
IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 3 - READINGIELTS_2
 ANSWERS

1 silver
2 paint
3 two / 2 owners
4 new
5 stereo
6 bike / bicycle
7 50,000 / fifty thousand
8 Hunter Place
9 4.30 / four thirty / pm / p.m.
10 352 7652
IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 4 – READINGIELTS
Example Answer
Number of items for sale: three

Bedside tables

Construction: wood
Colour: 1 ………………..
two (in each table)
Drawers:
handles made of 2 ………………..
Height: 3 ……………….. cm
Condition: 4 ………………..
Price: 5 ……………….. (for both)

IELTS LISTENING SECTION 1 – TEST 4 - READINGIELTS_2

Dressing table

Drawers: five (two are 6 ………………..)

Width: 7 ………………..

three: one large, two small (all

Mirrors:
8 ………………..)

Condition: good

Price: 9 ………………..

Seller’s details

Name: Carolyn Kline

Address: 19 10 ……………….. Road

 Answers

1. cream
2. brass
3. 65 / sixty-five
4. perfect
5. £30 / 30 pounds / thirty pounds
6. deep
7. 1.25 metres / 1.25 m
8. adjustable
9. £50 / 50 pounds / fifty pounds
10. Domain