Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-17948-5 – Complete IELTS Bands 5-6.5

Guy Brook-Hart and Vanessa Jakeman
Excerpt
More information

Reading Section 1
Australian culture and culture shock
Exam information by Anna Jones and Xuan Quach
• Reading Passage 1 is usually a factual text.
• You need to find specific information. Sometimes work, study or a sense of adventure take us out
• It is usually easier than the other parts, so it’s a of our familiar surroundings to go and live in a different
good idea to do it first. culture. The experience can be difficult, even shocking.

1 Work in small groups. Look at the list of things 1 Almost everyone who studies, lives or works abroad has
people do when they live or study in a different problems adjusting to a new culture. This response is commonly
country. Which do you think are quite easy and referred to as ‘culture shock’. Culture shock can be defined as
which are more difficult? Why? ‘the physical and emotional discomfort a person experiences
• eating different food when entering a culture different from their own’ (Weaver, 1993).
• understanding people For people moving to Australia, Price (2001) has identified
• getting to know local people 2 certain values which may give rise to culture shock. Firstly, he
• using public transport
• missing family and friends argues that Australians place a high value on independence
• obtaining the correct papers and personal choice. This means that a teacher or course tutor
will not tell students what to do, but will give them a number of
options and suggest they work out which one is the best in their
circumstances. It also means that they are expected to take
action if something goes wrong and seek out resources and
support for themselves.

3 Australians are also prepared to accept a range of opinions

rather than believing there is one truth. This means that in an
educational setting, students will be expected to form their own
opinions and defend the reasons for that point of view and the
evidence for it.

4 Price also comments that Australians are uncomfortable with

differences in status and hence idealise the idea of treating
everyone equally. An illustration of this is that most adult
Australians call each other by their first names. This concern
with equality means that Australians are uncomfortable taking
anything too seriously and are even ready to joke about
themselves.

5 Australians believe that life should have a balance between work

and leisure time. As a consequence, some students may be
critical of others who they perceive as doing nothing but study.

6 Australian notions of privacy mean that areas such as financial

2 You are going to read a passage about culture matters, appearance and relationships are only discussed with
shock. Read the title of the passage and the close friends. While people may volunteer such information, they
subheading in italics. What do you think culture may resent someone actually asking them unless the friendship
shock is? is firmly established. Even then, it is considered very impolite to
3 Read the whole passage quickly. Which ask someone what they earn. With older people, it is also rude
stage of culture shock seems to be the most
uncomfortable?

10 Unit 1

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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-17948-5 – Complete IELTS Bands 5-6.5
Guy Brook-Hart and Vanessa Jakeman
Excerpt
More information

4 Read the paragraph in blue in the passage and

say which of these statements is TRUE, which is
to ask how old they are, why they are not married or why they do FALSE and which is NOT GIVEN.
not have children. It is also impolite to ask people how much they
1 Culture shock affects most people who spend
have paid for something, unless there is a very good reason for time living in another country.
asking. 2 Culture shock affects certain types of people
Kohls (1996) describes culture shock as a process of change more quickly than others.
7 marked by four basic stages. During the first stage, the new
3 Culture shock only affects how people feel.

arrival is excited to be in a new place, so this is often referred 5 Use the underlined words in Questions 1–6 below
to as the “honeymoon” stage. Like a tourist, they are intrigued to find the relevant part of the passage. Then read
by all the new sights and sounds, new smells and tastes of their those parts of the passage carefully to answer the
questions.
surroundings. They may have some problems, but usually they
accept them as just part of the novelty. At this point, it is the
Questions 1–6
similarities that stand out, and it seems to the newcomer that
people everywhere and their way of life are very much alike. This Do the following statements agree with the
information given in the reading passage?
period of euphoria may last from a couple of weeks to a month,
but the letdown is inevitable. Write
During the second stage, known as the ‘rejection’ stage, the
8 newcomer starts to experience difficulties due to the differences
TRUE if the statement agrees with the
information
between the new culture and the way they were accustomed to FALSE if the statement contradicts the
living. The initial enthusiasm turns into irritation, frustration, anger information
and depression, and these feelings may have the effect of people NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
rejecting the new culture so that they notice only the things that
cause them trouble, which they then complain about. In addition, 1 Australian teachers will suggest alternatives
to students rather than offer one solution.
they may feel homesick, bored, withdrawn and irritable during this
period as well. 2 In Australia, teachers will show interest in
students’ personal circumstances.
Fortunately, most people gradually learn to adapt to the new
9 culture and move on to the third stage, known as ‘adjustment
3 Australians use people’s fi rst names so that
everyone feels their status is similar.
and reorientation’. During this stage a transition occurs to a new 4 Students who study all the time may receive
optimistic attitude. As the newcomer begins to understand more positive comments from their colleagues.
of the new culture, they are able to interpret some of the subtle 5 It is acceptable to discuss financial issues
cultural clues which passed by unnoticed earlier. Now things with people you do not know well.
make more sense and the culture seems more familiar. As a 6 Younger Australians tend to be friendlier than
result, they begin to develop problem-solving skills, and feelings older Australians.
of disorientation and anxiety no longer affect them.
In Kohls’s model, in the fourth stage, newcomers undergo a
10 process of adaptation. They have settled into the new culture, and
Exam advice True / False / Not Given
this results in a feeling of direction and self-confidence. They have • If the passage expresses the same information,
accepted the new food, drinks, habits and customs and may even write TRUE.
find themselves enjoying some of the very customs that bothered • If the passage expresses the opposite
them so much previously. In addition, they realise that the new information, write FALSE.
culture has good and bad things to offer and that no way is really • If the passage does not include the information
expressed in the question, write NOT GIVEN.
better than another, just different.

adapted from Intercultural Communication for Students in the

Faculty of Economics and Commerce, University of Melbourne
Starting somewhere new 11

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