Question Type 5: Matching Headings To Paragraphs: Exercise 1 Medical Gloves
Question Type 5: Matching Headings To Paragraphs: Exercise 1 Medical Gloves
Task Description
G ai‡Yi cÖ‡kœ Reading Text Gi K‡qKwU Paragraph Gi Heading wVK Ki‡Z ejv nq| mv‡_ †`qv nq m¤¢ve¨ Heading Gi
GKwU ZvwjKv| ZvwjKvq mvaviYZt c¨vivMÖvd Gi msL¨vi †P‡q †ekx msL¨K Heading _v‡K|
G ai‡Yi cÖ‡kœ mvdj¨ †c‡Z n‡j cÖ‡Z¨KwU c¨vivMÖvd Gi cÖavb fveUv (main focus) eyS‡Z n‡e| Avi Most Suitable Heading
Uv †hb c¨vivMÖvd Gi g•j fve cÖKvk K‡i|
Heading Aek¨B c¨vivMÖvd Gi g•j myi ev g•j g‡bvfve ev cÖavb welq‡K cÖwZdjb Ki‡e|
mvaviYZt me Paragraph Gi Heading Match Ki‡Z ejv nq bv| ïaygvÎ wbe©vwPZ Paragraph ¸‡jvB co‡Z n‡e Ges
Zvi Heading Match Ki‡Z ejv n‡e| GKevi Paragraph Heading ZvwjKvUvq `ªyZ †PvL eywj‡q †bqv fv‡jv|
cÖ‡kœi cÖ_g Paragraph wU co~b| g‡b ivL‡eb, Avcwb Main Idea Uv LuyR‡Qb| nVvr †Kvb A_© / bv Rvbv kã ev D`vniY
ev eY©bvi g‡a¨ nvwi‡q hv‡eb bv, Avcbvi D‡Ïk¨ Paragraph Gi g•j myi †LuvRv| Gevi Heading Gi ZvwjKvq wdiyb|
Avcbvi G¶zwb cov Paragraph Gi Rb¨ Most Suitable Heading Luy‡R †ei Kiyb|
Exercise 1 Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
Medical Gloves
A. Medical gloves are disposable gloves that are worn to help reduce cross-contamination between
doctors, nurses and other health professionals and patients during surgery, physical examinations
and other medical procedures. When health professionals use gloves, they protect their patients
from infection more effectively than if they simply wash their hands or, in the case of surgical
teams, scrub up before operations. Likewise, health professionals are protected from being
infected by their patients.
B. Not all medical gloves are the same, however. Surgical gloves have more precise sizing than exam
gloves, for example, as well as greater sensitivity. They are also less prone to ripping or tearing.
Exam gloves are available as either sterile or non-sterile, while surgical gloves are always sterile.
Both exam and surgical gloves can be made of natural materials, such as latex, or synthetic
materials, such as vinyl, neoprene or nitrile rubber. Surgical gloves can be unpowdered or
powdered with cornstarch, which makes them easier to put on the hands. Cornstarch has mostly
replaced powders such as talc, which are more likely to cause irritation, but since even cornstarch
can impede healing if it gets into tissues during surgery, unpowdered gloves are now becoming
more commonly used during surgery. A manufacturing process called chlorination has made
unpowdered surgical gloves somewhat easier to slip on.
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C. A significant innovation involving medical gloves occurred at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,
USA in the 1880s. Following the advice of the British physician Joseph Lister, Chief Surgeon W. S.
Halsted directed surgeons and surgical nurses to disinfect their hands with carbolic acid to reduce
the rate of infection during operations. One of his nurses, Caroline Hampton, was sensitive to the
chemical and found it was damaging the skin on her hands, and considered abandoning her
career at the hospital. Dr Halsted contacted the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, asking if
they could make a rubber glove that could be dipped in carbolic acid. That short letter has
become known as 'the most important paragraph in the history of surgical literature'. The gloves
that Goodyear produced proved to be very satisfactory, and soon all of Dr Halsted's nurses and
assistants were required to routinely use sterilized rubber gloves.
D. Strangely enough, Dr Halsted and his fellow surgeons didn't, at first, wear gloves themselves. The
wonderfully named Dr Joseph Bloodgood, Halsted's pupil, began using gloves during surgery in
1896. 'Why shouldn't the surgeon use them as well as the nurse?' he asked. In 1899, Bloodgood
published a report on over 450 surgeries with a near 100 per cent drop in the infection rate
brought about by using gloves. Halsted wrote at the time, 'Why was I so blind not to have
perceived the necessity for wearing them all the time?'
E. The first disposable medical gloves came onto the market in the 1960s. These gloves have a range
of clinical uses, as well as non-medical uses. Workers in the hospitality industry wear them, as do
some janitorial and sanitation workers. Criminals have also been known to wear these gloves
while committing their crimes, believing that they will conceal their identities. Ironically, because
of the thinness of these gloves, fingerprints may actually pass through the material as glove
prints, thus transferring the wearer's prints onto whatever surface is touched or handled.
Questions 1-5
The Reading Passage has five paragraphs, A-E.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, next to questions 1-5.
LIST OF HEADINGS
i. A wrong assumption regarding the qualities of medical gloves
ii. Comparison of the qualities of rival brands of medical gloves
iii. Main reasons why medical gloves are necessary
iv. Health problems arising from the wearing of medical gloves
v. Events leading to the development of medical gloves
vi. Varieties of medical gloves for specific purposes
vii. Evidence for the effectiveness of medical gloves
viii. Resistance to a policy promoting the use of medical gloves
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Exercise 2 Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
A. When, in 1938, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, DC, decided it
had run out of space, it began transferring part of its collection from the cramped (AuvKov w`‡q Ave× Kiv)
attic (wP‡j Ni) and basement rooms where the specimens had been languishing (Aembœ nIqv) to an out-
of-town warehouse. Restoring those specimens to pristine (cÖvPxb, Avw`g) conditions was a monumental
(weivU) task. One member of staff, for example, spent six months doing nothing but gluing the legs
back on to crane flies. But 30 million items and seven years later, the job was done.
B. At least for the moment. For the Smithsonian owns 130 million plants, animals, rocks and fossils and
that number is growing at 2-3% each year. On an international scale, however, such numbers are not
exceptional. The Natural History Museum in London has 80 million specimens. And, in a slightly
different scientific context, the Science Museum next door to it has 300,000 objects recording the
history of science and technology. Deciding what to do with these huge accumulations of things is
becoming a pressing problem. They cannot be thrown away, but only a tiny fraction can be put on
display.
C. The huge, invisible collections behind the scenes at science and natural history museums are the
result of dual functions of these institutions. On the one hand, they are places for the public to go and
look at things. On the other, they are places of research- and researchers are not interested merely in
the big, showy things that curators like to reveal to the public.
D. Blythe House in West London, the Science Museum’s principal storage facility, has as might be
expected, cabinets full of early astronomical instruments such as astrolabes and celestial (AvKvk m¤^Øxq)
globes. The museum is also custodian (ZˡveavqK) to things that are dangerous. It holds a lot of
equipment of Sir William Crookes, a 19 th century scientist who built the first cathode-ray tubes,
experimented with radium and also discovered thallium- an extremely poisonous element. He was a
sloppy worker. All his equipment was contaminated with radioactive materials but he worked in an
age when nobody knew about the malevolent effects of radioactivity.
E. Neil Brown is the senior curator for classical physics, time and microscopes at the Science Museum.
He spends his professional life looking for objects that illustrate some aspect of scientific and
technological development. Collections of computers, and domestic appliances such as television sets
and washing machines, are growing especially fast. But the rapid pace of technological change and
the volume of new objects make it increasingly hard to identify what future generations will regard as
significant. There were originally, for example, three different versions of the videocassette recorder
and nobody knew at the time, which was going to win. And who, in the 1970s, would have realized
the enormous effect the computer would have by the turn of the century?
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F. The public is often surprised at the Science Museum’s interest in recent objects. Mr. Brown says he
frequently turns down antique brass and mahogany electrical instruments on the grounds that they
already have enough of them, but he is happy to receive objects such as Atomic domestic coffee
maker, and a 114 piece Do-It-Yourself toolkit with canvas case, and a green beer bottle.
G. Natural history museums collect for a different reason. Their accumulations are part of attempts to
identify and understand the natural world. Some of the plants and animals are “type specimens”. In
other words, they are the standard reference unit, like a reference weight or length, for the species in
question. Other specimens are valuable because of their age. One of the most famous demonstrations
of natural selection in action was made using museum specimens. A study of moths collected over a
long period of time showed that their wings became darker (which made them less visible to
insectivorous birds) as the industrial revolution made Britain more polluted.
H. Year after year, the value of such collections quietly and reliably increases, as scientists find uses that
would have been unimaginable to those who started from a century or two ago. Genetic analysis,
pharmaceutical development, bio-mimetrics (engineering that mimics (AbyKiY Kiv) natures to produce
new designs) and bio-diversity mapping are all developments that would have been unimaginable to
the museum’s founders.
I. But as the collections grow older, they grow bigger. Insects may be small, but there are millions of
them and entomologists (KxUZˡwe`) would like to catalogue everyone. And when the reference material
is a pair of giraffes or a blue whale, space becomes a problem. That is why museums such as the
Smithsonian are increasingly forced to turn to out of town storage facilities. But museums that show
the public only a small fraction of their material risk losing the fickle (Lvg‡Lqvjx) goodwill of
governments and the public, which they need to keep running. Hence the determination of so many
museums to make their back room collections more widely available.
Questions 1-9
Choose the most suitable heading for Sections A-I from the list of headings on the following page.
1. Section A
2. Section B
3. Section C
4. Section D
5. Section E
6. Section F
7. Section G
8. Section H
9. Section I
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Headings
MATCHING FEATURES
The Matching Features task tests your ability to read a passage carefully and understand the main ideas as
well as detailed information and arguments. These are kind of similar to Heading Matches in that they ask
you to match paragraphs to certain statements/ arguments. They look slightly different then, but they
both test the same reading skills in the same way.
On the question paper, you see a set of numbered statements. There is also a box containing a set of
options - these could be a list of people's names, organisations or any other feature that is found in the
passage. Your job is to read the passage and match the information and ideas in the statements to the
options.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Exercise Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
B. In the 1550s, biographer and artist Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to remodel the Hall of the Five
Hundred and paint several enormous murals, each four or five metres high. One mural - picturing the
same battle - was to be painted over Leonardo's unfinished work, but at least one source describes
Vasari as a Leonardo fan who couldn't bring himself to destroy the work.
C. Maurizio Seracini, an art diagnostician at the University of California, San Diego, has spent around 40
years on a quest to find out what happened to da Vinci's painting. He has said, ‘I am convinced it's
there.' A break came in the 1970s, when he climbed a scaffold in front of Vasari's painting and spied
two words inscribed on a banner one of the knights is carrying: 'cerca trova; it said, which roughly
translates as 'seek and find'. Seracini took it as a clue that rather than doing what had been asked,
Vasari had built a false wall in front of da Vinci's work and painted his mural on that surface instead.
D. A team led by Seracini eventually got permission to scan the entire building with high-frequency
surface penetrating radar. The scanning revealed some sort of hollow space directly behind the
section of mural where the inscription had been found. To peek behind Vasari's fresco, the team
planned to drill 14 strategically located centimetre-wide holes in the work. But an outcry ensued after
journalists publicised the project. Some 300 Italian scholars petitioned the mayor of Florence to halt
the work. 'But the team was making little boreholes some nine to twelve metres above the ground;
said art historian Martin Kempof of Oxford University, who wasn't involved in the work. 'That kind of
damage can be repaired invisibly.'
E. Despite the public protests, in late 2011 Seracini and his team were given permission to continue their
work - but not in the 14 spots they'd originally hoped to investigate. To avoid damaging original
portions of Vasari's painting, museum curators permitted them to drill only into existing cracks and
recently restored spots. This time the researchers struck gold: a hollow space behind 17 centimetres
of fresco and brick. They inserted an endoscopic camera into the space and took video footage of
rough masonry work as well a s spots that appear to have been stroked by a brush. A substance
removed from the void was analysed with x-rays, and the results suggested it contained traces of
black pigment.
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F. Based on the x-ray data, Seracini thinks the black pigment, which is made up of an unusual
combination of manganese and iron, is similar to those found in brown glazes of what is probably da
Vinci's most famous painting, La Gioconda (Mona Lisa). That Seracini found components unique to
Renaissance painting leads him to call the results 'encouraging evidence', yet he complained that
further samples couldn't be collected because he was only permitted to work on the project within a
very narrow time period. 'Unless I get hold of a piece of it, and prove that it is real paint, I cannot say
anything definite, and that's very frustrating; he said.
Questions 1-8
The Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-F, next to each statement.
NB- You may use any letter more than once.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Question type 6: Yes, No, Not Given/ True, False, Not Given Statements
Task Description
G ai‡Yi cÖ‡kœ K‡qKwU Òwee„wZÒ (statement) †`qv n‡e| wee„wZ c‡o ej‡Z n‡e †jLK Gi `„wó fw½i mv‡_ GUv hvq-wK hvq bv A_ev
G e¨vcv‡i †jLK Z_¨ †`bwb ev Av‡jvPbv K‡ibwb|
G ai‡Yi cÖ‡kœ fv‡jv Ki‡Z n‡j †jL‡Ki g‡bvfve †evSvi †¶‡Î `¶Zv †`Lv‡Z n‡e| †jLK mivmwi hv e‡j‡Qb Zvi cvkvcvwk, Zvi bv
ejv e³e¨ I g‡bvfve eyS‡Z n‡e| †hgb-‡jLK nq‡Zv mivmwi e‡jbwb †h, wPwoqvLvbv wZwb cQ›` K‡ib bv| wKš‘ †jLK hw` eb¨cï
wkKvi I e›`x Kiv, A‡_©i wewbg‡q eb¨cÖvYx cÖ`k©b, mvK©v‡m cÖvYx e¨envi, wbôziZv, cQ›` bv K‡ib Ges G‡`i ¯^vfvweK †MvcbxqZv,
¯^vfvweK eb¨ Rxeb Gi c‡¶¨ †mvPPvi nb, Zvn‡j Avgiv Abygvb Ki‡Z cvwi †h, wZwb wPwoqvLvbv cQ›` K‡ib bv| wKš‘ hw` †jLK
wPwoqvLvbv e¨e¯’vcbvi wewfbœ `ye©j w`K wb‡q mgv‡jvPbv K‡i _v‡Kb, Zvn‡j wKš‘ Avgiv ej‡Z cvwi bv †h, wZwb wPwoqvLvbv cQ›` K‡ib
bv| GLv‡b mveavb _vKv DwPZ †hb Avgiv †jL‡Ki g‡bvfve Av›`vR ev Abygvb bv Kwi|
Cracking Yes, No, Not Given/ True, False, Not Given Statements
GB cÖ‡kœ Yes, No, Not Given wZb ai‡Yi DËi n‡Z cv‡i|
Statement ¸‡jv‡Z GKevi †PvL eywj‡q wbb hv‡Z g•j Reading Text covi Av‡M aviYv wb‡Z cv‡ib †h †Kvb wel‡q
†jL‡Ki gZvgZ ev g‡bvfve Avcwb LuyR‡Qb| Gevi GKwU GKwU K‡i Statement DËi Kivi Rb¨ AvMvb| cÖ_g evK¨wUi
DËi Kiv Avcbvi D‡Ïk¨| Reading Text G wM‡q G msµvšÍ Section wU hZœ K‡i co~b Ges †jL‡Ki g‡bvfve ey‡S Yes,
No, Not Given DËi w`b| Avi cÖ_g Statement Gi Z_¨ LuyR‡Z `ªyZ †PvL †evjv‡Z wM‡q hw` Ab¨ †Kvb Statement
Gi Z_¨ †c‡q hvb, Mark K‡i ivLyb †hb c‡i Luy‡R †c‡Z myweav nq| Gfv‡e G‡K G‡K Statement ¸‡jv DËi Kiyb|
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Exercise 1 Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
The Museum and Art Gallery is open to the public free of charge on Monday to Saturday, 9:30am —
6:00pm. Both buildings are closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Objectives
To support and assist the University Museum and Art Gallery
To promote the understanding and appreciation (Abyaveb) of art, particularly Chinese art
To raise funds, enrich the collections and finance exhibitions and cultural activities
To promote friendship among members
Activities
Lectures, seminars, museum and art gallery tours
Overseas tours to museums, galleries and other places of interest
Membership
Membership of the Society is open to all. Categories of membership are:
Ordinary Membership
HK$250 per annum (single)
HK$300 per annum (joint)
Full-time Student Membership
HK$800 per annum (most lectures are free)
Life Membership
HK$2,500 (single)
HK$3000 (joint)
The membership year runs from June to May. Anyone joining after 1st March receives membership until
May of the following year.
Benefits
Museum Society newsletters and invitations to lectures and seminars
Invitations to previews of exhibitions at the University Museum and Art Gallery
20% discount on University Museum and Art Gallery publications.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Questions 1-5 Look at the statements that follow. Indicate-
1. The University Museum and Art Gallery is on the university campus on Bonham Road.
2. The Museum and Art Gallery are open every day of the year.
3. The University of Hong Kong Museum Society aims to raise money for travel grants for artists.
4. Membership of the University of Hong Kong Museum Society is free and open to all.
5. Members may take part in overseas tours to museums.
Exercise 2 Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
The Opera House was designed not by an Australian but by a celebrated Danish architect, Jorn Utzon,
whose design won an international competition in the late 1950s. However, it was not, in fact, completed
to his original specifications. Plans for much of the intended interior design of the building have only
recently been discovered. Sadly, the State Government of the day interfered with Utzon’s plans because of
concerns about the speculating cost, though this was hardly surprising- the building was originally
expected to cost only $8 million. Utzon left the country before completing the project and in a fit of anger
vowed never to return. The project was eventually paid for by a State-run lottery.
The size of the interior of the building was scaled down appreciably by a team of architects whose job it
was to finish construction within a restricted budget. Rehearsal rooms and other facilities for the various
theatres within the complex were either made considerably smaller or cut out altogether, and some artists
have complained bitterly about them ever since. But despite the controversy that surrounded its birth, the
Opera House has risen above the petty squabbling (SMov, Kjn) and is now rightfully hailed as a modern
architectural masterpiece. The Queen officially opened the building in 1975 and since then, within its
curved and twisted walls, audience of all nationalities have been quick to acclaim the many world-class
performances of stars from the Australian opera, ballet and theatre.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
Questions 1-10 Look at the statements that follow. Indicate-
Exercise 3 Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
Staff retention is once again a key concern for almost two-thirds of UK Companies, while turnover) in the
retail sector is twice as high as the national average. But firms wishing to buy their employees’ loyalty
would be well advised to offer career opportunities rather than money, according to a survey by Reed
Personnel Services.
With staff turnover at 26 per cent, it is not surprising that three out of four retailers have introduced, or
are considering introducing, measures to retain people. Less predictably however, respondents put a
higher salary second to the chance of career progression in a list of the top five reasons why people
change jobs.
Employers’ responses to the problem vary widely, from staff recognition programmes to multi-skilling and
team-building exercises, but 70 per cent of those surveyed listed training as their primary solution. ‘This
research emphasises how effective it can be to concentrate on increasing staff morale rather than pay,’
said James Reed, Chief Executive of Reed.
Tesco, one of the retailers featured in the survey, began a staff retention programme some years ago.
Although out mover was 33 per cent last year, the company is confident that morale is rising and long-
term loyalty has increased.
Employees in every store have recently gone through a management programme focusing on improving
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core skills and process development. Managers scrutinized jobs and attempted to eliminate unnecessary
or bureaucratic processes so that staff were able to concentrate on the main business.
The company has been running a programme called Project Future since early 1997 and, according to
Cartwright, it is now an ongoing process. Managers attend short core skill workshops in their stores,
together with shop-floor staff who are earmarked for promotion.
This training fits in with managers’ individual career development plans, and the company is also keen to
encourage employees to apply for jobs in different functions. ‘I’ve been here for 12 years, but never in the
same job for more than two,’ Cartwright said. ‘It’s almost like working for a different company each time
you move.’ It is also worth noting that Tesco’s expansion into Central Europe has opened up new
possibilities for long-term posts abroad. More than 100 of its British managers are working in Poland,
Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Republics, and 31 more Central European hypermarkets are planned
for the next few years.
1. Employee group says that a career path is more important than money.
2. Staff turnover in the UK in general is 26%.
3. Retailers are attempting to keep their staff.
4. Most employers in the survey prefer training to encourage staff to stay.
5. Tesco has reduced staff turnover.
6. Managers in each Tesco store designed the training programme.
7. All Tesco employees take part in Project Future.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
HOME WORK Exercises
Question Type 5: Heading Matches
Questions 1-5
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E from the list of headings below.
LIST OF HEADINGS
I. A long-standing mystery is now partially explained
II. A comparison that confirms a theory
III. Evidence suggesting a high level of skill
IV. A possible explanation why similar finds haven't been made elsewhere
V. A reason to doubt the claims made for a new discovery
VI. A lack of evidence to show the precise way in which the find was used
VII. Disagreement about the age of some implements
VIII. The age of a find is established
B. The find means early modern humans were sophisticated hunters, using tools to catch their dinner
rather than using their hands or spears. The bones were of both inland and deep sea species. 'That
these types of fish were being routinely caught 40,000 years ago is extraordinary; says O'Connor. 'It
requires complex technology and shows that early modern humans in Southeast Asia had amazingly
advanced maritime skills: It seems certain that the ancient inhabitants of Jerimalai used sophisticated
fishing technology and watercraft to fish in offshore waters. 'They were expert at catching species of
fish that are challenging even today, such as tuna.’ Capturing such fast-moving fish requires a lot of
planning and complex maritime technology, suggesting that early humans developed these abilities
earlier than previously thought.
C. Such fish were clearly a primary food source for these people, since there were 'only rats, bats,
snakes, lizards and small birds available on land,’ according to O'Connor. However, researchers can
only speculate about exactly how these ancestral fishermen managed to catch the deep-sea fish. 'It's
not clear what method the islanders of Jerimalai used to capture the fish,’ O'Connor says.
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
D. Far older fish bones have been found at sites in southern Africa - those at the Blombos Cave in South
Africa, for example, date from 140,000-150,000 years ago - but those bones belonged to freshwater
inland species; catching such fish would require less complex technology. The oldest known fishing
equipment from that vicinity dates from around 12,000 years ago, but it includes only bone gorges
(straight hooks less sophisticated than curved hooks), and was probably used exclusively in rivers,
lakes and streams. O'Connor thinks that African coastal sites might have provided more evidence of
early maritime technology in Africa, but that these areas may have disappeared owing to a rise in sea
levels over time. The Jerimalai site - which was preserved because it perches high up on the edge of
an uplifted coastline - provides a 'window into what early modern humans were capable of,' she says.
E. The discovery of these ancient fish hooks has shed new light on one of the great puzzles of human
migration: the question of how and when Australia was first colonised. Recent research indicates that
the ancestors of the aboriginal people migrated from Africa through Asia about 75,000 years ago,
and that they arrived in Australia over 50,000 years ago. 'We have known for a long time that
Australians' ancient ancestors must have been able to travel hundreds of kilometres by sea because
they reached Australia at least 50,000 years ago,’ according to O'Connor. 'When we look at the
watercraft that indigenous Australians were using at the time of European contact, however, they are
all very simple, like rafts and cones. So how people got here at such an early date has always been
puzzling. Fishing skills would have helped early modern humans to cross the ocean to Australia by
allowing them to efficiently exploit coastlines and survive on the open sea,’ says O'Connor. 'These
new finds from the Jerimalai cave go a long way towards solving that puzzle.’
Exercise Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow.
When was the last time you saw a frog? Chances are, if you live in a city, you have not seen one for some
time. Even in wet areas once teeming (cwic~Y© nIqv) with frogs and toads, it is becoming less and less easy to
find those slimy, hopping and sometimes poisonous members of the animal kingdom. All over the world,
and even in remote areas of Australia, frogs are losing the ecological battle for survival, and biologists are
at a loss to explain their demise (g„Zz¨). Are amphibians simply over-sensitive to changes in the ecosystem?
Could it be that their decline in numbers is signaling some coming environmental disaster for all?
This frightening scenario is in part the consequence of a dramatic increase over the last quarter century in
the development of once natural areas of wet marshland (Rjvf~wg); home not only to frogs but to all
manner of wildlife. However, as yet, there are no obvious reasons why certain frog species are
disappearing from rainforests in Australia that have rarely been touched by human hand. The mystery is
unsettling to say the least, for it is known that amphibian species are extremely sensitive to environmental
variations in temperature and moisture levels. The danger is that planet Earth might not only lose a vital
link in the ecological food chain (frogs keep populations of otherwise pestilent (AcKviK) insects at
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MENTRS’ IELTS Regular Reading Module 3
manageable levels), but we might be increasing our output of air pollutants to levels that may have
already become irreversible. Frogs could be inadvertently warning us of a catastrophe.
An example of species of frog that, as far as is known, has become extinct, is the platypus frog. Like the
well-known Australian mammal it was named after, it exhibited some very strange behavior; instead of
giving birth to tadpoles in the water, it raised its young within the stomach. The baby frogs were actually
born out from their mother’s mouth. Discovered in 1981, less than 10 years later the frog had completely
vanished from the crystal clear waters of Booloumba Creek near Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Unfortunately, this freak nature is not the only frog species to have been lost in Australia. Since the 1970s,
no less than eight others have suffered the same fate.
One theory that seems to fit the facts concerns the depletion (wbt‡kl Kiv) of the ozone layer, a well-
documented phenomenon which has led to a sharp increase in ultraviolet radiation levels. The ozone layer
is meant to shield the Earth from UV rays, but increased radiation may be having a greater effect upon
frog populations than previously believed. Another theory is that worldwide temperature increases are
upsetting the breeding cycles of frogs.
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