IELTS
(International English Language Testing System)
READING
Reading Passage – 1
The Step Pyramid of Djoser
A . The pyramids are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt and
still hold enormous interest for people in the present day. These grand,
impressive tributes to the memory of the Egyptian kings have become
linked with the country even though other cultures, such as the Chinese
and Mayan, also built pyramids. The evolution of the pyramid form has
been written and argued about for centuries. However, there is no question
that, as far as Egypt is concerned, it began with one monument to one king
designed by one brilliant architect: the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.
B. Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and the first
to build in stone. Prior to Djoser's reign, tombs were rectangular
monuments made of dried clay brick, which covered underground
passages where the deceased person was buried. For reasons which remain
unclear, Djoser's main official, whose name was Imhotep, conceived of
building a taller, more impressive tomb for his king by stacking stone slabs
on top of one another, progressively making them smaller, to form the
shape now known as the Step Pyramid. Djoser is thought to have reigned
for 19 years, but some historians and scholars attribute a much longer time
for his rule, owing to the number and size of the monuments he built.
C. When finally completed, the Step Pyramid rose 62 meters high and
was the tallest structure of its time. The complex in which it was built was
the size of a city in ancient Egypt and included a temple, courtyards,
shrines, and living quarters for the priests. It covered a region of 16
hectares and was surrounded by a wall 10.5 meters high. The wall had 13
false doors cut into it with only one true entrance cut into the south-east
corner; the entire wall was then ringed by a trench 750 meters long and 40
meters wide. The false doors and the trench were incorporated into the
complex to discourage unwanted visitors. If someone wished to enter, he
or she would have needed to know in advance how to find the location of
the true opening in the wall. Djoser was so proud of his accomplishment
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that he broke the tradition of having only his own name on the monument
and had Imhotep's name carved on it as well.
Quenstion 1 – 3. Do the following statements agree with the
information given in Reading Passage 1? Select
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. The pyramid designs were copied.
2. Initially Djoser had to be persuaded to build in stone rather than
clay.
3. It was difficult to get inside the pyramid for any visiters who had not
been invited.
Reading Passage 1 has three paragraphs, A-C.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E and G-I from the list
of headings below.
Write the correct number, I-VI, in boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet.
Q4) Paragraph A
Q5) Paragraph B
Q6) Paragraph C
Q.7) Which of the following point does the writer makes about King
Djoser?
A. There is disagreement conerning the lenght of his reign.
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(International English Language Testing System)
B. He failed to appreciate Imhotep’s part in design of the Step Pyramid.
C. A few of his possessions were still in his tomb when archaeologists
found it.
D. He criticised the design and construction of other pyramids in Egypt.
Reading Passage – 2
Roman tunnels
The Romans, who once controlled areas of Europe, North Africa and Asia
Minor, adopted the construction techniques of other civilizations to build
tunnels in their territories
A. The Persians, who lived in present-day Iran, were one of the first
civilizations to build tunnels that provided a reliable supply of water to
human settlements in dry areas. In the early first millennium BCE, they
introduced the qanat method of tunnel construction, which consisted of
placing posts over a hill in a straight line, to ensure that the tunnel kept to
its route, and then digging vertical shafts down into the ground at regular
intervals. Underground, workers removed the earth from between the ends
of the shafts, creating a tunnel. The excavated soil was taken up to the
surface using the shafts, which also provided ventilation during the work.
Once the tunnel was completed, it allowed water to flow from the top of a
hillside down towards a canal, which supplied water for human use.
Remarkably, some qanats built by the Persians 2,700 years ago are still in
use today.
B. The Romans dug tunnels for their roads using the counter-excavation
method, whenever they encountered obstacles such as hills or mountains
that were too high for roads to pass over. An example is the 37-meter-long,
6-meter-high, Furlo Pass Tunnel built in Italy in 69-79 CE. Remarkably, a
modern road still uses this tunnel today. Tunnels were also built for
mineral extraction. Miners would locate a mineral vein and then pursue it
with shafts and tunnels underground. Traces of such tunnels used to mine
gold can still be found at the Dolaucothi mines in Wales. When the sole
purpose of a tunnel was mineral extraction, construction required less
planning, as the tunnel route was determined by the mineral vein.
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(International English Language Testing System)
C. Roman tunnel projects were carefully planned and carried out. The
length of time it took to construct a tunnel depended on the method being
used and the type of rock being excavated. The qanat construction method
was usually faster than the counter-excavation method as it was more
straightforward. This was because the mountain could be excavated not
only from the tunnel mouths but also from shafts. The type of rock could
also influence construction times. When the rock was hard, the Romans
employed a technique called fire quenching which consisted of heating the
rock with fire, and then suddenly cooling it with cold water so that it
would crack. Progress through hard rock could be very slow, and it was
not uncommon for tunnels to take years, if not decades, to be built.
Construction marks left on a Roman tunnel in Bologna show that the rate
of advance through solid rock was 30 centimeters per day. In contrast, the
rate of advance of the Claudius tunnel can be calculated at 1.4 meters per
day. Most tunnels had inscriptions showing the names of patrons who
ordered construction and sometimes the name of the architect. For
example, the 1.4-kilometer Çevlik tunnel in Turkey, built to divert the
floodwater threatening the harbor of the ancient city of Seleuceia Pieria,
had inscriptions on the entrance, still visible today, that also indicate that
the tunnel was started in 69 CE and was completed in 81 CE.
Label the diagrams below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.
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(International English Language Testing System)
Quenstion 4-5. Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN
TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 04-05 on your answer sheet.
Q4) What type of mineral were the Dolaucothi mines in Wales built to
extract?
Q5) In addition to the patron, whose name might be carved onto a tunnel?
Question 6-8. Which section contains the following information? Write
correct letter A-C.
Q.6) Description of how Romans used tunnels for purposes other than
transportation
Q.7) An example of how the type of rock affected the construction process
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(International English Language Testing System)
Mention of names inscribed at tunnel sites
Q.8) Mentions how ancient Persian tunnels are still useful today
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 09-12 on your answer sheet.
9. The Persians created qanats by digging a gentle __________ into
sloping ground.
10. The Romans learned tunnel construction techniques from the
__________.
11. Tunnels for mining were often directed by following a __________.
12.The type of rock influenced the length of time needed for __________.
A. ventilation B. Architect C. Persians
D. Granite E. Slope F. mineral vein G. Excavation
IELTS
(International English Language Testing System)
WRITING
IELTS
(International English Language Testing System)
WRITING TASK 2
IELTS
(International English Language Testing System)
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
In their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasise that their
products are new in some way.
Why is this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from
your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
SPEAKING
QUESTION TYPES
Part 1 – General Questions
Part 2 – Cue Card
Part 3 – Follow up Questions
