TAS K TYPE 4 Match ing Headings

Footbridge reflected o n a canal surface, Yunnan Province, China

A About the task

1 Read the information about the task type. Then look at a quiz about the task from a
website. Choose the correct options to complete the sentences.

The Matching Headings task tests your ability to read and understand the main ideas in a passage. On the
question paper, you see a set of headings that report information and ideas from the passage. Your job is to read
the passage and decide which of the headings best describes the information and ideas in each paragraph or
section of the passage.
Here are the basic rules for the Matching Headings task:
• The list of headings in the box are in random order.
• There are more options in the box than you need to answer all the questions.
• You can use each heading once only.
• The words in the headings summarise the main ideas in the passage, but do not use exactly the same
words or phrases.
• You read each paragraph or section of the passage carefully and find the main idea.
• You then decide which of the headings in the box reports that idea exactly and write the correct Roman
numeral (e.g. i, ii, iii, iv, etc.) on your answer sheet.

MATC H I NG H EAD I NGS

1 You can I cannot use the headings more than once.
2 You should read the passage quickly I carefully.
3 There are more I fewer headings than paragraphs.
4 You are likely I unlikely to see the words in the headings repeated in the passage.
5 You write a letter I numeral o n the answer sheet.

100 ACADEMIC READING

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B Sample questions
2 Read the passage and answer the questions. Use the rules about the task from
Section A to help you. Then check your answers. Which questions did you find difficult?

I E LTS PRACTICE TAS K

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.

A wrong assumption regarding the qualities of medical gloves 1 Paragraph A

ii Comparison of the qualities of rival brands of medical gloves 2 Paragraph B
iii Main reasons why medical gloves are necessary 3 Paragraph C
iv Health problems arising from the wearing of medical gloves 4 Paragraph D
v Events leading to the development of medical gloves 5 Paragraph E
vi Varieties of medical gloves for specific purposes
vi i Evidence for t h e effectiveness o f medical gloves
viii Resistance to a policy promoting the use of medical gloves

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,
u npowdered gloves are now becoming more commonly used during surgery. A manufacturing process called d1lorination
has made unpowdered surgical gloves somewhat easier to slip on.
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 comrT1itting 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.

ACADEMIC READING 101

 TASK TYPE 4 Matching Headings

C Tips a nd tactics
3 Work in pairs. Read the tips and tactics and discuss these questions.
a Which tips and tactics do you think are the most useful?
b Did you use any of these tips and tactics when you answered the sample questions
in Section B?
c Which tips will you use in the future?
1 Before you read the passage, read the list of headings and underline the key words.
2 Read the passage quickly to get an idea of the type of information and ideas it contains.
3 Now read each paragraph or section of the passage carefully. Think about the main idea
or the main point that the writer is making in each paragraph.
4 After reading each paragraph or section, look at the list of headings and choose the one
that best reports the main idea.
5 When you read the passage, you may see some words or phrases that appear in the
headings. Be careful. The correct heading for each paragraph uses d ifferent words to
express the main ideas.
6 Don't use your own knowledge of the subject to help you choose the heading. The
headings need to report the ideas in the passage.
7 Quickly read the paragraph or section again to make sure you haven't missed anything.
8 Remember to write only the correct Roman numeral on the answer sheet.
9 Always answer all the questions, even if you're not sure of th e answer.

D Skills-building exercises
Q FOCUS 4 Read the passage on page 103. Look at these headings. Which of the headings {i or ii)
best reflects the content of each paragraph (1-6)?
Identifying an
appropriate heading i What is special about the Rafflesia?
for paragraphs in a ii Why scientists find the Rafflesia interesting
passage 2 i Unusual features of the Rafflesia
ii Unusual features of the Tetrastigma vine
3 i How to identify the plant
ii How the plant spreads
4 i The conservation status of the plant
ii How the plant should be protected
5 i Threats to the plant from tourism
ii How the plant is regarded
6 i Similarities and differences with the Titan arum
ii Why the Rafflesia's position is being challenged by the Titan arum

5 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.

1 Did you and your partner choose the same headings?
2 Discuss why each of the headings you have chosen is correct and the other one
is wrong.
3 Compare your ideas with those of another pair.

102 ACADEMIC READING

 •rn11•w1•.:,eum:111.1.1

1
The Rafflesia is not only the world's largest flower - it is also one of the most bizarre. There are several
species of Rafflesia that grow in the rainforests of southeast Asia. The largest is the Rafflesia arnoldii,
which produces a flower a metre in width and can weigh up to 1 1 kilograms. This species has been found
only on the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java in Southeast Asia, in particular in the Malaysian states
of Sabah and Sarawak.
2
The Rafflesia lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in primary (undisturbed)
rainforests. Rafflesia lacks any observable leaves, branches, or even roots, yet is still considered a vascular
plant. The plant grows as thread-like strands
of tissue completely embedded within the
vine that hosts it. Unlike most plants, the
Rafflesia has no leaves and no chlorophyll,
so it cannot photosynthesize and make its
own food. Because it lacks roots, it cannot
obtain water and minerals from the ground.
All of its water and nutrients come from the
Tetrastigma vine.
3
Rafflesia can only be seen when it is ready
to reproduce. Then, a tiny bud forms outside
the root or stem of its host and develops over
a period of a year. The cabbage-like head
that develops eventually unfolds, revealing
a massive, fleshy, reddish-brown flower. A
foul smell of spoiled meat attracts flies and
beetles to pollinate the plant. To pollinate
successfully, the flies or beetles must visit
both the male and female plants, in that
order. The fruit produced contain many
thousands of hard seeds that are eaten and
spread by ground squirrels and tree shrews.
4
It is not known how many individual plants exist; they are rare and hard to spot except when they are
in bloom, and the blossom only exists for a few days. However, all species of Rafflesia are classified
as threatened or endangered. The remaining primary forests where the Rafflesia live are disappearing.
To make matters worse, the flower of the Rafflesia is collected and used as an ingredient in traditional
medicines for women to promote their recovery from childbirth.
5
This strange and smelly parasitic plant has attracted eco-tourists eager to see the world's largest flower.
Landowners have been urged to preserve the flowers and charge tourists a fee to see them. The flower
of Rafflesia arnoldii has become an iconic symbol of the southeast Asian rainforest, and is often used on
the covers of tourist brochures to symbolize the rich biodiversity of the region's forests. The flower has
also been depicted on lnclonesian postage stamps on several occasions.
6
There are some plants with flowering organs bigger than tl1e flower of the Rafflesia. The enormous
Titan arum, also found in Indonesia, can reach a height of three metres and can weigh an incredible
75 kilograms. Like the Rafflesia, the Titan arum emits an unpleasant, rotting smell to attract pollinators.
Technically, however, the Titan arum is not a single flower. It is a cluster of many tiny flowers, called an
inflorescence. so the Rafflesia holds t11e record for the largest individual flower.

ACADEMIC READING 103

 TASKTYPE 4 Matching Headings

Q FOCUS
- -

6 Looi< at the passage and the list of headings. Choose the best heading (i, ii, iii or iv) for
the two paragraphs (A and B).
Choosing between
possible headings A B
for paragraphs in a Where the name 'Little Ice Age' came from How a theory was disproved
passage i i Scientists' ideas about why the Little Ice 11 How evidence supporting a theory was
Age started are confirmed gathered
iii New evidence may explain why the Little iii The key role of technology in developing
Ice Age didn't last a theory
iv Researchers put forward a new explanation iv How evidence from the past could help
for the Little Ice Age us predict the future

For more than a millennium, up to the late Middle Ages, 'This is the first time anyone has clearly identified the
temperate regions of the northern hemisphere enjoyed specific onset of the cold times marking the start of the
generally balmy weather. Then it got cooler and a period Little Ice Age,' says Gifford Miller, lead author of the study
that climatologists today call the Little Ice Age set in. There published in Geophysical Research Letters. The researchers
has been little scientific consensus about the onset of the reached their conclusions by analysing ancient samples
Little Ice Age - either its timing or cause. some experts of dead plants collected from beneath the margins of
believe an important factor was a slight reduction in the what are today receding ice caps on Canada's Baffin
amount of solar energy reaching Earth. Island. They found a cluster of 'kill dates' between 1275
But an international study, led by scientists from the and 1300, showing that the plants were quickly engulfed
University of Colorado, Boulder, suggests that the cooling by expanding ice. Confirmation came from ice cores of
started quite rapidly, with a series of four huge volcanic Iceland's Langjokull ice cap, which suddenly thickened over
eruptions between 1275 and 1300. These eruptions blasted the same period. Then computer modelling showed how
vast amounts of sulphates and dust particles into the upper this cold shock could persist for centuries, even without
atmosphere, reflecting solar energy back into space for further volcanic cooling. 'If the climate system is hit again
a few years. This led to an expansion of Arctic ice and a and again by cold conditions over a relatively short period -
related change in Atlantic Ocean currents, which prolonged in this case from volcanic eruptions - there appears to be a
the cooling for several centuries. cumulative cooling effect,' Miller says.

7 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.

1 Discuss why each of the other headings is wrong.
2 Underline the information in the paragraph that helped you decide which was the correct
heading.

IELTS PRACTICETASK

Questions 1-5

The Reading Passage on page 105 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.

A long-standing mystery is now partially explained 1 Paragraph A

ii A comparison that confirms a theory 2 Paragraph B
iii Evidence suggesting a high level of skill 3 Paragraph C
iv A possible explanation why similar finds haven't been made 4 Paragraph D
elsewhere 5 Paragraph E
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

104 ACADEMIC READING

 '4Mi§[email protected],@ijM!ii!.!.M

The World's Oldest Fish Hook

A
Digging in the Jerimalai cave on the Southeast Asian island of East Timor, Professor Sue O'Connor of the
Australian National University in Canberra and a team of scientists uncovered over 38,000 fish bones from 2,843
fish - dating back 42,000 years. More significant, though, was the unearthing of fish hooks made from seashells
which date back up to 23,000 years, according to radiocarbon dating of the charcoal in the soil surrounding the
specimens. The oldest previously known fish hooks are associated with the beginnings of agriculture, which in
Southeast Asia was around 5,500 years ago, says O'Connor.

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 d1allenging 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.

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 researd1 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:

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ACADEMIC READING 105