Candidate number

Candidate name

INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING SYSTEM 2022/12

Academic Reading
TEST MATERIALS
Additional materials: Answer sheet for Listening and Reading

Time 1 hour

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Do not open this question paper until you are told to do so.
Write your name and candidate number in the spaces at the top of this page.
Read the instructions for each part of the paper carefully.
Answer all the questions.
Write your answers on the answer sheet. Use a pencil.
You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit.
At the end of the test, hand in both this question paper and your answer sheet.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

There are 40 questions on this question paper.
Each question carries one mark.
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Reading Passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1.

How To Decide

A. A good life is the fruit of a succession of good decisions, especially around love and work.
However, we seldom accord the business of decision-making the kind of careful attention it requires.
When faced with a large decision, we lack rituals and procedures. We typically procrastinate, lean on
the nearest person or rush headlong into an unexamined solution. Fortunately, decision-making is a
skill and – like any other – it can be taught. The chief enemy of good decisions is a lack of sufficient
perspectives on a problem. We should systematically think through any issue from six distinct angles:
through the eyes of – variously – our Enemy, our Gut, Death, Caution, Courage and our Parents. As we
try out, juggle with and then synthesise these oblique perspectives, we will feel our sense of possibility
expand – and a tolerable way forward gradually emerge from the present confusion.

B. Our enemies have deep insights into us: they know our frailties, they actively want the worst
for us and they’re bringing a desperate, mean intelligence to bear on our case. Thinking of them helps
beautifully to clarify our thoughts. It can be unfeasibly hard to be a true friend to ourselves, in the way
we should be; our minds may well go blank if asked to imagine what a sweet and well-meaning person
might advise us to do next. We’re so much better at getting into the heads of our bitterest foes. They
know our weaknesses and temptations like no other. We can at least put these characters to
constructive use: by doing the very opposite of what we suspect (probably very correctly) they might
propose and say. We will be energised and focused by the haunting voices of those dispiriting but very
telling and mesmerising judges: those who refuse to believe in us.

C. In a sense, we know the answer already – or at least one version of it. We call it gut-instinct
and it is there from the moment a dilemma first appears. The Gut is the accumulation of all the
decision-making lessons we’ve ever derived across our lives, revealed unconsciously at speed. Most
of us have become rather good at not listening to the Gut. Probably it got us into trouble a number of
times, maybe pushing us into some crazy moments for which we paid dear. Now we pride ourselves
on being thinking people, who take their time, gather evidences and make full use of their higher
mental powers, as well we should. Nevertheless, we thereby lose a source of very important insight.
We should be brave enough to invite our Gut to the decision-making table, not necessarily in order to
follow it but in order to know what it wants, and then submit its stubborn and impatient certainties
to the inspection of rational cross-examination.

D. The largest, but always easily-forgotten certainty, is that all our decisions are unfolding in the
backdrop of a giant ticking death clock. We should listen to its beat and take its daunting messages to

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heart. The thought of Death has a habit of highlighting our responsibilities to ourselves and of
weakening our concern for living according to what is expected of us by society. It is a terrifying agent
of reality. Death may lend us a perverse sort of confidence to tackle challenges. By frightening us about
one enormous thing, it may make us less scared of the many smaller obstacles in our way. Our lives
won’t be what they could be unless we submit pretty much every choice we face to the arbiter of
eternity and oblivion. The thought of death is the guarantor of the meaningfulness of our lives.

E. Somewhere around the table at every decision must be the voice of caution. It wears dowdy
clothes and speaks quietly. It certainly lacks glamour in an age of bravado and bombast. It’s easy to
feel that we must always and invariably jump – because life has to be about giving the new ago. It may
not be. Let’s remember, Caution clears its throat to tell us, that most new businesses fail, most
schemes end in disaster and most relationships merely rehash the themes of the current
unsatisfactory one. Furthermore, there is a huge amount to be lost and there are many people around
us who may get very hurt by our ambitions. Caution does not look down on the idea of compromise,
it recognises that there are, at points, simply no ideal options for the imperfect beings we ultimately
are. Caution has the bravery not always to rebel against reality.

F. From an early age, we’ve learnt how to follow the rules, wait in line and do the dutiful,
expected things. We can be good boys and girls; it got us to where we are today. There would have
been no other way to learn how to spell, drive a car or take up a position in the working world. But
there can now be a subtle risk from an opposite direction; the risk of being overly faithful for too long
to conventions that were dreamt up without our particular interests and hopes in mind. At points, we
need vigorously to relearn the art of Courage, to remember that the happiest lives have invariably had
inflection points where people did the slightly unexpected and weird thing, took a gamble and won.
Sometimes, Caution is just weakness and cowardice wrapped up in the cloak of self-deception.
Courage and Caution need to fight this one out, without any presumption of victory on either side.

G. They have been in our heads longer than anyone else. They don’t necessarily know best, that
is more than evident. But we have to bring their way of thinking to consciousness, because it is there
anyway, constantly subtly influencing what we think and may plan. We should articulate directly what
each parent (if we knew them) would have advised us to do. Even if they are long dead, the exercise
won’t be hard. We are probably their best mimics and interpreters. Then comes the job of sifting
through the advice. A lot of it stands to be self-serving. They may oddly have been a bit competitive
with us. They may have made mistakes they needed to justify to themselves; they may not have
wanted us to be happy in our own way. But they also – at their kindest moments – genuinely didn’t
want us to suffer more than we had to or repeat the mistakes they had already paid dearly for. At
moments of great choice, we should bear to reclaim our real inheritance: the experience of those who
came before us.

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Question 1-8
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
THE BUSINESS OF MAKING GOOD DECISIONS

Aspects to consider What we should do

Enemies Do the exact opposite of what our
- understand our 1 .................... and weaknesses. enemies want.
- always try to stop us.
Gut Listen to our gut’s desire, and then use
- gives us a sense of knowing what is right. our 3 ..................... to judge it.
- is the 2 ..................... of all decisions we’ve learned to
make.
Death Keep death clock beats in mind.
- motivates us to live for ourselves.
- is a 4 ..................... reminder of reality.
- give us 5 ..................... confidence to overcome
obstacles.
Caution Always consider the consequences of
- is subtle and quiet. our decisions.
- tells us not to always react against 6 ..................... in an
aggressive manner.
Courage → Be brave to take risks.
- plays a role as 7 ..................... leading us to a happy life.
Parents → Interpret advice from our parents
- know and influence us more than anyone else and then sift through them.
- want us to receive better things and avoid their previous
costly 8 .....................

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Question 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write:
YES if the statement agrees with the text
NO if the statement contradicts with the text
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the text
9. A good decision can be achieved by viewing a problem from different angles.

10. We are often dispirited when thinking about our weaknesses and temptations.

11. Listening to the gut derives us of an important insight from a personal viewpoint.

12. Thinking about death might instill greater courage in us when facing other challenges.

13. Caution helps us acknowledge that sometimes, the choices we have are as flawed as our
ultimate nature.

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Reading Passage 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2.

The Discovery Of Uranus

A. Uranus was thought to be a star for many years. It's the seventh planet in the solar system
and with an average temperature of -217 degrees Celsius, it is the coldest of the lot. Unlike all of its
siblings, it rolls around the Sun rather than spins and was the first planet to be discovered since
antiquity. It has less gravity than Venus yet is able to wield a sizably thick atmosphere and has no less
than 27 known moons.

B. Uranus is the epitome of the age-old adage "hidden in plain sight". On a nice clear sky with
very little light pollution, you can (if your eyes are strong enough) spot Uranus. Of course, you will
need to know exactly where to look and it's not very bright and pretty small. Despite this, if you have
your timing right you might, just barely, spot it in the night's sky. You could, of course, cheat and use
one of the many astronomical apps available to guide you. Yet despite this, Uranus wasn't officially
noticed until as late as 1781!

C. It has long been known that even the Babylonians knew about all of the planets of our solar
system between Mercury and Saturn in antiquity. Although Herschell is widely acknowledged as the
planet's discoverer, many other prominent astronomers acknowledged its existence long before
William. Ancient records seem to indicate that a Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, noted the planet in
the 2nd Century BC. However, he recorded it as a star, not a planet. You may have heard his name
before - he was not only an astronomer but also the founder of trigonometry.

D. Hipparchus's work was later incorporated into Ptolemy's Almagest. This would become the
main source for later Islamic astronomers and scholars for the next 1,000 years until the middle ages.
The next earliest and reliable discovery of the planet was made by English astronomer John Flamsteed
in 1690. He, like Hipparchus, also misidentified it as a star and catalogued it in the Taurus
Constellation.

E. During the middle of the 1700's French astronomer, Pierre Lemonnier made a further dozen
sightings. He, like his predecessors, recorded it as another star. Then, finally, Sir William Herschel
stepped up to the plate and on one fateful evening on the 13th March in 1781 (whilst looking for
binary stars), he also 'found' Uranus. Initially recording it as a "Nebulus star or perhaps a comet" on
the 26th April 1781 he later settled on a comet as it appeared to be moving. Excited by his discovery
he duly reported it to the Royal Society, maintaining it was a comet but that it did have some
similarities to planets. His discovery caused a storm in the astronomical community of the day with
many concluding it was indeed a planet. Herschel was eventually persuaded in 1783.

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F. Why Was Uranus Not Discovered Until 1781? The short answer is it was, as we have seen. The
long one, of course, is a lot more complex. Before that fateful night, and nomenclature battle that
followed, "Uranus" had been spotted and noted many times in history. The difference in 1781 was
that it was eventually recognized as a planet, not a star or comet.

G. Although noted by Hipparchus and Ptolemy in ancient antiquity, it would take thousands of
years for it to be mentioned again. It took human technology and time to catch up, so that it would
be, at least possible, to more easily find others. The first telescope wasn't developed
until 1608 by Hans Lippershey, and it would gradually improve in power over the next four centuries.

H. As the technology improved, it enabled astronomers of "The Enlightenment" to make more

detailed and scientific surveys of the cosmos. It was now only a matter of time before Uranus was
"discovered". With all the rigmarole of finding the planet in the first place, you might be forgiven for
thinking that was the end of the story. But the story of Uranus didn't end in 1781.

I. For many centuries, it was believed that only Saturn had a set of beautiful and majestic rings.
This assumption was smashed when in 1977 an astronomical named Edward W. Dunham first spotted
them. Thanks to him, we now know that there are in fact 10-13 distinct rings around Uranus. They
start at around a distance of 38,000 km (from the planet's center) and extend out to around 98,000
km. Unlike Uranus's bigger sibling Saturn, the rings of Neptune are relatively dark and are composed
of chunks of rock rather than dust and ice. Each measuring between 0.2 and 20 meters across.

J. Uranus is effectively a cold dead ball of ice and gas. Its gaseous atmosphere is actually pretty
thick which is surprising. For this reason, the only way the thick atmosphere can be held in place is
because it is so cold on the planet. But why? This is hotly debated but it likely the planet's odd tilt plays
a major factor - after all, shouldn't it be warmer than Neptune?

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Questions 14-19

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 14-19 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

14. Most planets in the solar system roll around the Sun.

15. There are some technological applications that can help people observe Uranus.

16. William Herschel tried to convince the public that he found a planet.

17. Since stars and comets are so similar, it was hard to tell which type Uranus was.

18. It took Hans Lippershey a very long time to devise and improve his first telescope.

19. The low temperature of Uranus helps maintain the thick atmosphere of this planet.

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Question 20-23

Looking at the following facts (Questions 20-23) and the list of people’s names below.
Match each fact with the correct person, A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.

List of people

A. the Babylonians
B. William Herschel
C. Ptolemy
D. John Flamsteed
E. Hans Lippershey
F. Edward W. Dunham

20. invented an astronomical device to pave the way for its future advancement.
21. thought Uranus was a star and recorded it as part of a constellation.
22. initially disagreed with many astronomers at that time but then realized he was wrong.
23. claimed that more than one planet in the solar system have surrounding rings.

Question 24-26
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. Amateurs can spot Uranus by using ..................... .

25. Besides being an astronomer, Hipparchus was also the one who set the foundation
for..................... .

26. William Herschel unexpectedly spotted Uranus while he was searching for ..................... .

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Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3.
Questions 27-34
Reading passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-H from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 27-34 on your answer sheet.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. Promising future of an engineering project

ii. The need for engineers to keep up with changes in technology
iii. Methods to increase the number of potential engineers
iv. A big engineering scheme and its difficulty
v. Two problems of the current education system
vi. Implementing a new type of course is not enough
vii. The need to increase diversity
viii. Contrasting ideas in a round table discussion
ix. Tempest - the biggest engineering project in the world
x. Positive results of favoring attitudes over academic scores

27. Paragraph A .....................

28. Paragraph B .....................
29. Paragraph C .....................
30. Paragraph D.....................
31. Paragraph E .....................
32. Paragraph F .....................
33. Paragraph G.....................
34. Paragraph H.....................

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 How To Inspire The Next Generation Of Engineers

Inspiring and hiring the next generation of talented, diverse engineers will need careful planning and
considerable thought. But the first steps are already underway, say Britain’s thought leaders in
engineering

A. In one of the vast exhibition halls in East London’s docklands, school students are queueing
excitedly to sit in the cockpit of a life-sized model of a future fighter jet called the Tempest, one the
UK’s most ambitious engineering projects. The queuing students are unaware that they are the focus
of a discussion going on in a not-so-vast meeting room just above the hall. Here, some of the country’s
leading engineers and employers from academia, industry and support organisations are debating
how best to convert today’s interested students into tomorrow’s engineers. It is a significant and
increasingly urgent challenge. Tempest, which is due to enter service in around 20 years’ time, is just
one of a number of new engineering challenges that may suffer from a shortage of engineers in future.
“With the current shortfall, we would need 1 in every 10 students in a given school year to become an
engineer,” says Kevin P Stenson, chief executive officer at The Smallpeice Trust, an educational charity
that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to young people.

B. That’s why BAE Systems has convened this round table discussion, chaired by Steve Fogg,
managing director of shared services at the company, to gather opinions and help solve the problem.
One important part of the puzzle is to appreciate that we don’t yet know exactly what will be required
of tomorrow’s engineers. “Who’s to say what technology is going to be really important over the next
10-15 years?” asks Andy Wright, Director of Strategic Technology for BAE Systems. “The key will be to
make sure people are constantly updating their skills and understanding.” Captain James Band, team
leader of the Royal Navy’s University College Team, points out that the challenge is not just about who
will design a next generation aircraft. “It’s also about developing the skills and knowledge needed to
maintain and operate it for the next four decades,” he says. Costas Soutis, professor of aerospace
engineering at the University of Manchester, agrees. “We need the kinds of brains that can develop
what we are going to need in 40 years’ time.”

C. The introduction of the new “T Levels” in September 2020 should help. T Levels are two year
courses that will be equivalent to three A Levels but that mix classroom learning with on-the-job
training. The government developed these qualifications in partnership with industry so that post-
GCSE students could study subjects while gaining valuable work experience. But although those at the
sharp end welcome such initiatives, they want to see even deeper change in the education system.
“Education should be responsive, changing its focus and blending different subjects as the needs of
the future become clear,” says Wing Commander Russ Barnes, Youth and STEM lead for the Royal Air
Force.

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D. One issue is assessments that are too inflexible and punitive towards students who struggle
to perform at their best in, for example, pen and paper exam situations. “The current way of
quantifying achievement needs to change,” says Hilary Leevers, CEO of Engineering UK. “It means we
are paying a very serious price in terms of who gets accepted onto apprenticeships.” There is also a
cultural issue to overcome, says Simon Harwood, director of defence and security at Cranfield
University: schools can often see and sell apprenticeships as an option for lower achievers. “We have
got to make people proud to get apprenticeships,” he says.

E. Tom Gunter, senior policy manager at the Royal Academy of Engineering, points out that some
universities such as Bath and Loughborough are pioneering a new approach where they refuse to see
low grades in maths and physics as an insurmountable barrier to studying engineering. But he suggests
that the problem often begins much earlier, with schools sidelining some pupils in maths and science
and putting them onto a humanities track, before they have really had a chance to overcome any
difficulties with the subjects. Schools also need to see alternatives to sixth form as worthwhile
pathways. “Schools are just not talking enough about technical training,” he says. Another way to
improve throughput could be through the sharing of good interview candidates, suggests Richard
Hamer, BAE Systems’ education and skills director. Firms often talk about a shortage of applicants for
engineering roles, Hamer says, but that can be because students aren’t looking in the right places. BAE
Systems tends to have several good candidates for a single opening, he says; with permission, it should
be possible to pass on the details of those that didn’t get selected, to smaller firms that candidates
might not have noticed. “We need to communicate effectively and get smarter at sharing candidates
with smaller companies,” Hamer says.

F. At the end of the discussion the delegates head back downstairs. The queue at the Tempest
model has not diminished but the hope is that some of those standing patiently in line will be inspired
to work on the real Tempest when the opportunity arises. There are no quick solutions for easing the
path into engineering, but on this evidence, there is no shortage of excitement. But if the engineering
world can get the approach right, the results will be worth the wait.

G. One of the biggest untapped sources of engineering talent are communities that are
traditionally hard to attract. Current engineering trainees are overwhelmingly white and male, which
means that engineering is missing out on the skills and talents of a broad swathe of the rising
generation. This has to be addressed in approaches to reforming training. “Apprenticeships are less
attractive to young women,” says Hilary Leevers, CEO of EngineeringUK. “And they are so competitive
that they are not really helping with social mobility issues.” Steve Fogg, managing director of shared
services at BAE Systems and chair of the discussion, agrees. “Diversity will be a hugely important part
of this solution,” he says. Things are already moving in the right direction, however. “There are

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challenges but we can turn things around,” says Richard Hamer, BAE Systems’ education and skills
director.

H. Working in partnership with organisations such as the Prince’s Trust, which helps young,
unemployed people to access opportunities, has helped some engineering firms broaden their intake.
Since 2004, the proportion of female apprentices at BAE Systems has risen from five per cent to 26
per cent. What’s more, nearly one third of the firm’s English apprentices came from the 20 poorest
boroughs in the UK. This achievement is the result, in part, of BAE Systems’ approach to assessment.
“We don’t just focus on the best academic scores – we’re also looking at behaviours and approach,”
Hamer says. That’s a big plus when it comes to maths and science, suggests Kerry Baker, strategic
initiatives lead at STEM Learning UK. She reckons that the pipeline for potential engineers is being
narrowed by a focus on superlative maths and science scores. “We should be asking whether the level
of maths required to get onto engineering degrees is essential,” she says. “You can certainly have a
very successful career in the engineering sector without strong maths and science skills, and we don’t
actually know what skills people will need in the future. The most important thing might simply be a
mental attitude where they are willing to learn.”

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Questions 35-40

Look at the following statements (Questions 35-40) and the list of people’s names below.

Match each statement with the correct person, A-E.

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once

35. Being excellent at Math and Science is not the deciding factor for the success of an engineer.

36. There is a need for big firms to share candidates with smaller ones.

37. It is necessary to make a change in assessments.

38. Increasing the diversity of sources of engineers is difficult; nevertheless, the situation can be
changed.

39. We cannot tell what kind of technology will be of great significant use in the future.

40. People often do not take pride in serving an apprenticeship.

List of people

A. Andy Wright

B. Hilary Leevers

C. Simon Harwood

D. Richard Hamer

E. Kerry Baker

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