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IELTS General Training (Vol 3)

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1- 14, which are based on Reading Passage 1
below.

Accommodation

Questions 1 – 3

Use information in the description below to answer Questions 1 to 3. Write your answer in boxes 1-3
on your answer sheet.

Morpeth is today a small town about two hours’ drive north of Sydney. The town of Morpeth grew
from an original 2000 acres of land given to an English army officer, Lieutenant Edward Close
(1790-1866), in 1821. During the 1830s and 1840s Morpeth became a major river port, due to its
favourable location. Produce, hides and timber were brought to Morpeth from inland New South
Wales and shipped down the Hunter river to the coast and then to Sydney. However, in 1870 a
railway line reached the town, and the importance of river shipping began to decline. Today,
Morpeth, with its beautiful old buildings, is a popular tourist destination.

Questions 4 -7

There are four advertisements on the next page for places to stay near Morpeth.

Answer the questions below by writing the letters of the appropriate advertisements in boxes 4-7 on
your answer sheet.

WHERE TO STAY Accommodation

B
A

Siesta Motel

“Spend a night – not a fortune”

Country Comfort Inn, Hunter
Valley
That’s the Budget Motel chain motto. The Siesta Motel, rated
3-star, is conveniently placed at the gateway to tire winery
The Country Comfort Inn, Hunter
district and nearby to the historic towns
Valley, is a beautifully restored 125-
of Morpeth and Wollombi.
year-old building just 20 minutes
from the vineyards.
The family-owned and operated Siesta offers air –
conditioned comfort and a friendly atmosphere. A free light
Formerly an orphanage, the Inn is set breakfast is delivered to your suite and excellent meals are
on 10 acres of landscaped gardens available at the Maitland City Bowling Club next door.
complete with pool, sauna, tennis Quality of accommodation is assured and the tariff is the
court, spa, gym, billiard room, guest lowest in the district.
lounge, fireplace, cocktail bar, and
two restaurants. Special packages
available.
258 New England Highway, Maitland.
New England Highway, Maitland.
Phone (049) 32 83 22
Call toll free 1800 065 064

or (049) 32 52 88
D
C

Eskdale Country Cottages

Endeavour East Maitland Motel
Rustic cottages secluded amongst gum trees provide
28 modern, comfortable 3-star units quietness and privacy on 200 acres. The cottages are located
which open onto the swimming pool on the historic beef cattle property, “Eskdale”, nestled in the
and barbeque area. All units feature Williams Valley. Each cottage is completely self-contained
TV and videos, air- conditioning, 2 having 2 bedrooms, full kitchen facilities, and sitting rooms
with spas. with TV and video, and offers comfortable rural
accommodation to those who enjoy the delights of the
Fully licensed restaurant with cocktail country yet still retain access to the city. Situated close to the
bar and lounge is open 7 nights. Close towns of Morpeth, Maitland, Port Stephens
to all amenities. & rainforests around Dungog.

New England Highway, East Nelson Plains Road, Seaham NSW 2324.
Maitland.
Phone (049) 88 62 07, 88 62 09
Phone (049) 33 54 88
Fax (049)88 62 09

Questions 8 – 14

Read the description below of the town of Morpeth and answer the questions that follow.

The best way to see Morpeth is to take the Morpeth Heritage Walk. This covers about three
kilometres, and takes visitors past many beautiful historical buildings. Starting at Fig Tree Hill, which
has picnic facilities, stroll past the Surgeon’s Cottage, built in 1845, formerly home of the local
doctor, now shops. From there you will come to Morpeth Bridge, erected in 1870, which replaced a
ferry boat. Opposite it on the right is the Courthouse, still in use today. Continue your walk past the
historic Railway Station, then turn into George Street. Stroll past gracious houses until you come to
the Church of the Immaculate Conception on your right, built of bricks made in Gosford. Continuing
up George Street, you come to the shopping district; browse through the shops or stop for
refreshment. Your tour of Morpeth will finish at magnificent Closebourne House, built in 1826 by
Lieutenant Edward Close.
Section 1: Questions 1-14
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Questions 1-3

Use information in the description below to answer Questions 1 to 3.

Use NO MORE THREE WORD AND/OR NUMBER

Write your answer in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet

When was Lieutenant Close given the land on which Morpeth grew?

On what river is Morpeth situated?

When did trains first get to Morpeth?

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Questions 4-7

There are four advertisements on the next page for places to stay near Morpeth.

Answer the questions below by writing the letters of the appropriate advertisements in boxes 4-7 on
your answer sheet.
4

Which place to stay has restaurant besides Country Comfort Inn?

Which place claims to offer the cheapest rate?

For more information, to which place can you telephone free of charge?

At which place can the guests cook their own food?

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Questions 8-14

Using information from the text, fill in the names of the numbered tourist attractions on the map.
Write your answers in boxes 8-14 on your answer sheet. The first one has been done for you as an
example. Note: there are more names than you will need

Tourist attractions
A Fig Tree Hill
B Ferry Boat
C George Street
D Gosford
E Church of the Immaculate Conception
F Closebourne House
G Morpeth Bridge
H shopping district
I Surgeon’s Cottage
J Railway Station
K Courthouse

Focus on the number(2,3,4,...) after your answers, they are the number of the place on the
map.
Numeracy Centre
Many business and marketing courses require a knowledge of introductory statistics,
computing or mathematics. If you feel inadequately prepared for your course, you can get
help from the Numeracy Centre, which offers FREE elementary help in maths and statistics.
Grab a timetable from the Centre and drop in when it suits you.

COURSE A

The first course available to students is a Revision Course in Basic Maths. This 3-hour lecture
will review mathematical concepts necessary for elementary statistics, such as fractions, area
and percentages up to a Year 8 level of mathematics. It is not necessary to book, so feel free
to drop in. This session is FREE!

COURSE B

For those students doing marketing courses, and other courses requiring statistical analysis,
there is the Bridging Course in Statistics for Marketing. This three-day course introduces
ideas in elementary statistics to provide a starting point for further developments in statistical
skills later on in other courses. The course is run in sessions of three hours, in the form of a
one-hour lecture followed by a two-hour tutorial. Examples will be drawn from the reference
books listed. The tutorials will be interactive where possible (eg. drawing random samples
from the population of numbered cards in class) with hands-on experience of data
manipulation using MINITAB on a bank of PCs.

COURSE C

Statistics for the Practitioner is slightly different to the previous course, which must be
completed before this course. This course is largely non-mathematical.

It will instead concentrate on the interpretation and application of statistics rather than on
computation. The statistical package MTNITAB will be used as a teaching tool. This course
will be conducted over two days in the form of workshops and small group discussions, with
a strong emphasis on hands-on experience of data manipulation using computers.

COURSE D

A further course of interest to many students is English for Computer Studies. Students with
English as their second language who will be needing elementary computing for their courses
are encouraged to enrol in this 8-hour course. Students will learn through workshops giving
hands-on experience. The cost of the course is $15 which includes notes and refreshments.

Section 2: Questions 15-27

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Questions 15-22

Below is a chart summarising information about the Numeracy Centre courses.

Complete the required details using information from the passage.

Write your answers in boxes 15-22 on your answer sheet.

Number of hours or Name of previous studies Teaching

Course Cost
days required Method

16
A 15 3 hours None

lecture and
B 17 None
18
hours
 20

C 2 days 19
and small
groups
$ 21 22
D 8 hours None

Show Notepad

Questions 23-27

Courses A to D are each aimed at helping a specific group of students.

Below is a list of different students. Match the students to the course that would help them
most.

In boxes 23-27 on your answer sheet write the letter A, B, C or D for the number of the
course, or N if there is no course available for the student’s needs.

23

Narelle, from Taiwan, has to use a computer to do assignments in her business studies
classes.

24

Joe, who left high school 10 years ago, wants to brush up on his maths before he starts his
studies for the year.

25

Jenny needs an advanced course on computer graphics for her studies in Graphic Design.

26

Geoff, who has to read many articles containing statistics, needs to know how to interpret and
apply the facts and figures.

27

Bob needs to know how to perform some of the basic statistic equations for the assignments in his
business course.