1ST ENDTERM READING TEST -

SCHOOL YEAR 2021-2022

Subject: IELTS
Time allowance: 60 minutes

Student Name: …………………….............. Class: .................... Date: ............................

INSTRUCTIONS:
WRITE YOUR ANSWER RIGHT IN THE “ANSWER SHEET” ON MS FORM
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage
1 below.
A. Michel Guyot, owner and restorer of Saint Fargeau castle in France, first had the idea of
building a 13th-century style fortress following the discovery that the 15th-century red bricks
of his castle obscured the stone walls of a much older stronghold. His dream was to build a
castle just as it would have been in the Middle Ages, an idea which some found mildly
amusing and others dismissed as outright folly.
However, Maryline Martin – project director – was inspired by the exciting potential for the
venture to regenerate the region. It took several months to bring together and mobilise all the
various different partners: architects, archaeologists and financial backers. A site in the heart
of Guédelon forest was found: a site which offered not only all the resources required for
building a castle – a stone quarry, an oak forest and a water supply – but in sufficient
quantities to satisfy the demands of this gigantic site. The first team started work and on June
20th 1997 the first stone was laid.
B. Unlike any other present-day building site, Michel Guyot’s purpose is clear, he warmly
welcomes members of the public to participate. The workers’ role is to demonstrate and
explain, to a wide audience, the skills of our forefathers. Stone quarrying, the building of
vaulted ceilings, the blacksmith’s work and the raising of roof timbers are just some of the
activities which visitors can witness during a visit to Guédelon. The workers are always on
hand to talk about their craft and the progress of the castle.
Each year 60,000 children visit Guédelon with their schools. The site is an excellent
educational resource, bringing to life the history of the Middle Ages. Guided tours are
tailored to the school curriculum and according to age groups: activity trails for primary
school children and interactive guided tours for secondary school children. Pupils of all ages
have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of medieval stonemasons by taking part in a
stonecarving workshop or discover the secrets of the medieval master-builders at the
geometry workshop.
C. Workers in the Burgundy region of France are building a 13th century castle. They’re not
restoring an old castle. They’re actually building a new old castle. See the builders are
constructing it from scratch. The craftsmen have been working for nearly ten years now but
they’re not even halfway done yet. That’s because they’re using only medieval tools and
techniques. The World’s Gerry Hadden takes US to the site of what will be the Guedelon
Castle. Another reason said by Jean Francois, a member of Guedelon stone cutter’s guild, for
eight hours a day he bangs on a 13th century chisel with a 13th century iron mallet.
D. The progress of construction has to give way to tourists side for their visits. The visitors
from 2010, however unsightly they may be, are vital to the project. The initial funding came
not from pillaging the local peasantry but from regional councils, the European Union and
large companies. For the last 10 years, Guédelon, 100 miles southeast of Paris, has funded
itself from its entrance fees. Last year it had a record 300,000 visitors, who paid almost
€2.5m, making it the second most-visited site in Burgundy. The most visited site was the
Hospice de Beaune, a beautiful 15th-century almshouse built 600 years before, or, if you
prefer, 200 years “after”, Guédelon.
E. Limestone is found in the construction of various local buildings, from the great and
prestigious edifice of Ratilly castle to the more modest poyaudines houses. This stone
contains 30-40% iron oxide; this can make it extremely hard to extract and dress. Having
studied the block in order to determine and anticipate the natural fault lines of the stone, the
quarrymen first carve a series of rectilinear holes into the block. Iron wedges are then
hammered into this line of holes. The shockwaves produced by the quarrymen’s
sledgehammers cause the stone to split along a straight line.
The highest quality blocks are dressed to produce lintels, voussoirs, corbels, ashlars etc. The
medium quality blocks are roughly shaped by the stonecutters and used on the uncoursed
curtain walls, and as facing stones on the castle’s inner walls. There are water-filled clay pits
in the forest. Clay is taken from these pits, cleaned and pugged. It is then shaped in wooden
moulds to form bricks. After the bricks have been left to air-dry, they are fired in a woodfired
kiln for about 12 hours, at roughly 1000°c.
F. The mortar is the “glue” used to bind the castle’s stones. It is made up of precise doses of
lime, sand and water. The people working there wear the tunics, skirts and headgear that they
might have worn then, but they wear these over jeans and shoes with reinforced toes. They
mix their mortar primarily as they would have done then, using sand they dig themselves, but
they are not allowed to use the extremely effective hot lime from medieval days, because of
its toxicity, and so they add a modem chemical ingredient instead, to achieve the same effect.
Workers in the Mid Age obviously were unaware of it and some died earlier by inhaling toxic
gas. And so, we met many wonderful people who do not pretend to be anything but modem
human beings practicing an old technique and finding out what it would have felt like, as
much as possible, to do it with only the resources of an older time.
G. We also learned that even if there is a straight lintel across a doorway, you will usually
find an arch of stones built into the wall differently. Because of the physics of an arch, which
channels the weight above it down into whatever is supporting it at each side instead of
pressing down in the middle, this helps to take a lot of the weight off of the lintel itself,
whether it is free standing or buried in the wall against the impact of warfare. The arch is the
strongest element for spanning space in stone architecture. This is why, in ancient ruins, you
will often find the entire wall missing, and the arched windows and doorways still standing,
in beautiful patterns against the sky.
Questions 1-4
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the Statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
1 The French people would not abandon his idea in favor of realistic one.
2 One aim of the castle is to show the ancestral achievement to public.
3 Short lifespan of workers was due to overdue heating.
4 stones were laid not in a straight line arrangement to avoid damaging or collapsing.
Questions 5-10
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using A-L from the
following options for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet.
Limestone Processing
When 5 …............................found suitable block, they began to cut lines of 6
….....................into it. 7 …....................... were used and knocked into and generated
shockwaves to make stone 8 …........................... Different qualities of blocks would be used
in different place of castle. On the other hand, 9 …....................were shaped from clay in a
mould and went through a process of 10 …..................for about 12 hours.

A metal vedge D masons G bricks J split

B hammer handle E patterns H wood K walls
C lift F heating I experts L holes

Questions 11-13
Choose three correct letters, A-G.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
Why does the castle building project last 10 years for just half progress?
A They lack of enough funds
B Guedelon castle needs a time-consuming design
C Workers obeyed modem working hours
D Their progress were delayed by unpredictable weather
E Guedelon castle need to receive valuable visitors
F They used old techniques and skills
G Stone processing need more labour and time

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage
2 below.
Have you ever picked up a small stone off the ground and wondered how old it was? Chances
are, that stone has been around many more years than your own lifetime. Many scientists
share this curiosity about the age of inanimate objects like rocks, fossils and precious stones.
Knowing how old an object is can provide valuable information about our prehistoric past. In
most societies, human beings have kept track of history through writing. However, scientists
are still curious about the world before writing, or even the world before humans. Studying
the age of objects is our best way to piece together histories of our pre-historic past. One such
method of finding the age of an object is called radiocarbon dating. This method can find the
age of any object based on the kind of particles and atoms that are found inside of the object.
Depending on what elements the object is composed of, radiocarbon can be a reliable way to
find an object’s age. One famous specialist in this method is the researcher Nancy Athfield.
Athfield studied the ancient remains found in the country of Cambodia. Many prehistoric
remains were discovered by the local people of Cambodia. These objects were thought to
belong to some of the original groups of humans that first came to the country of Cambodia.
The remains had never been scientifically studied, so Nancy was greatly intrigued by the
opportunity to use modern methods to discover the true age of these ancient objects.
Athfield had this unique opportunity because her team, comprised of scientists and
filmmakers, were in Cambodia working on a documentary. The team was trying to discover
evidence to prove a controversial claim in history: that Cambodia was the resting place for
the famous royal family of Angkor. At that time, written records and historic accounts
conflicted on the true resting place. Many people across the world disagreed over where the
final resting place was. For the first time, Athfield and her team had a chance to use
radiocarbon dating to find new evidence. They had a chance to solve the historic mystery that
many had been arguing over for years.
Athfield and her team conducted radiocarbon dating of many of the ancient objects found in
the historic site of Angkor Wat. Nancy found the history of Angkor went back to as early as
1620. According to historic records, the remains of the Angkor royal family were much
younger than that, so this evidence cast a lot of doubt as to the status of the ancient remains.
The research ultimately raised more questions. If the remains were not of the royal family,
then whose remains were being kept in the ancient site? Athfield’s team left Cambodia with
more questions unanswered. Since Athfield’s team studied the remains, new remains have
been unearthed at the ancient site of Angkor Wat, so it is possible that these new remains
could be the true remains of the royal family. Nancy wished to come back to continue her
research one day.
In her early years, the career of Athfield was very unconventional. She didn’t start her career
as a scientist. At the beginning, she would take any kind of job to pay her bills. Most of them
were low-paying jobs or brief Community service opportunities. She worked often but didn’t
know what path she would ultimately take. But eventually, her friend suggested that Athfield
invest in getting a degree. The friend recommended that Athfield attend a nearby university.
Though doubtful of her own qualifications, she applied and was eventually accepted by the
school. It was there that she met Willard Libby, the inventor of radiocarbon dating. She took
his class and soon had the opportunity to complete hands-on research. She soon realised that
science was her passion. After graduation, she quickly found a job in a research institution.
After college, Athfield’s career in science blossomed. She eventually married, and her
husband landed a job at the prestigious organisation GNN. Athfield joined her husband in the
same organisation, and she became a lab manager in the institution. She earned her PhD in
scientific research, and completed her studies on a kind of rat when it first appeared in New
Zealand. There, she created original research and found many flaws in the methods being
used in New Zealand laboratories. Her research showed that the subject’s diet led to the fault
in the earlier research. She was seen as an expert by her peers in New Zealand, and her
opinion and expertise were widely respected. She had come a long way from her old days of
working odd jobs. It seemed that Athfield’s career was finally taking off.
But Athfield’s interest in scientific laboratories wasn’t her only interest. She didn’t settle
down in New Zealand. Instead, she expanded her areas of expertise. Athfield eventually
joined the field of Anthropology, the study of human societies, and became a well-qualified
archaeologist. It was during her blossoming career as an archaeologist that Athfield became
involved with the famous Cambodia project. Even as the filmmakers ran out of funding and
left Cambodia, Athfield continued to stay and continue her research.
In 2003, the film was finished in uncertain conclusions, but Nancy continued her research on
the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. This research was not always easy. Her research was often
delayed by lack of funding, and government paperwork. Despite her struggles, she committed
to finishing her research. Finally, she made a breakthrough. Using radiocarbon dating,
Athfield completed a database for the materials found in Cambodia. As a newcomer to
Cambodia, she lacked a complete knowledge of Cambodian geology, which made this feat
even more difficult. Through steady determination and ingenuity, Athfield finally completed
the database. Though many did not believe she could finish, her research now remains an
influential and tremendous contribution to geological sciences in Cambodia. In the future,
radiocarbon dating continues to be a valuable research skill. Athfield will be remembered as
one of the first to bring this scientific method to the study of the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat.
Questions 14-20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2 ?
In boxes 14-20 on you answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
14 Nancy Athfield first discovered the ancient remains in Cambodia.
15 The remains found in the Cambodia was in good condition.
16 Nancy took some time off from her regular work to do research in Cambodia.
17 The Cambodia government asked Nancy to radiocarbon the remains.
18 The filmmakers aimed to find out how the Angkor was rebuilt.
19 Nancy initially doubted whether the royal family was hidden in Cambodia.
20 Nancy disproved the possibility that the remains belonged to the Angkor royal family.
Questions 21-26
Complete the flow-chart below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes
21-26 on your answer sheet.
The Career of Nancy Athfield
During her mid-teens, Nancy wasn’t expected to attend 21……………………..
↓
Willard Billy later helped Nancy to find that she was interested in science.
↓
Her PhD degree was researching when a kind of 22……………………., first went into
New Zealand.
↓
Her research showed that the subject’s 23………………………… accounted for the fault
in the earlier research.
↓
She was a professional 24………………….. before she went back to Cambodia in 2003.
↓
When she returned Cambodia, the lack of 25……………………….. was a barrier for her
research.
↓
Then she compiled the 26……………………… of the Cambodia radiocarbon dating of the
ancients.
↓
After that, the lack of a detailed map of the geology of Cambodia became a hindrance of
her research.

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage
3 below.
Group Behaviour
Most people consider themselves autonomous individuals who make their own decisions.
However, studies have shown that conformity is a natural human impulse, and people will go
to astonishing lengths just to fit in.
In sociology, the similarity with which members of a group behave is known as group
behaviour, and a peculiar aspect of people in groups is that they tend to conform to the
beliefs, opinions, and behaviours of the other members. At times, people may even engage in
conduct that conflicts with their personal moral and ethical code. Some violate these
conventional codes because they perceive membership as too valuable to compromise. In
such cases, their conscience may become disturbed, but they tend to go along with the group
anyway. Many studies have explored or attempted to explain this phenomenon.
A series of tests conducted by Solomon Asch, an American Gestalt psychologist, examined
the willingness of a group member to conform to the viewpoint of fellow members even if the
members' viewpoint was incorrect. In each test, he put people in groups of seven at a table
and showed them two cards - one with a single line and one with three lines of varying
lengths. The participants were then asked which of the three lines on the second card was the
same length as the single line on the first card. However, there was a catch. In each
experiment, only one out of the seven subjects was 'real'; the others had been coached to
respond to questions in a certain way. Specifically, they were told to purposely answer some
questions incorrectly to pressure the real student to conform. Asch discovered that more than
half of the real subjects went along with the incorrect answer at least once.
But is this really a simple matter of peer pressure or fear of going against the mainstream?
Neurologist Gregory Berns sought a physiological explanation and conducted an experiment
with MRI scanners to determine which parts of the brain were 'activated' when a person
accepted a decision that was in conformation with the group, even when they felt it was
incorrect. He reasoned that if peer pressure was responsible, he would see changes in activity
in the forebrain, which is involved in monitoring conflicts. But what Berns discovered was
that when people follow a group's opinion, the posterior areas of the brain were stimulated.
This indicated that a change in spatial perception had occurred, and led Berns to conclude
that the incorrect responses false respondents had provided literally altered the perception of
the true participants. Thus, he challenged the notion that the participants in the Asch
experiment were merely giving in to peer pressure. In fact, they were actually seeing the
length of the lines differently from how they would have if no false responses were given.
Social psychologist Stanley Milgram went even further in his experiments at Yale University
in the early 1960s. The Milgram experiments were groundbreaking in that they were the first
extensive ones carried out that focused on extreme obedience to authority and its potentially
destructive repercussions. Milgram told the subjects that they were participating in a study
about learning and memory and then assigned them to be 'teachers”, with the stated goal of
determining the role of punishment in learning. However, what Milgram actually wanted to
do was find out the extremes to which people would go to punish others when instructed to
do so. In the experiment Milgram designed, the subjects were instructed to punish the
'learners', who in fact were actors, by giving them an electric shock each time they failed to
offer the correct answer. His experiments demonstrated that even when the actors screamed in
agony for the test to stop, the majority of "teachers' continued to administer the shocks at the
request of the experimenter.
An even more ominous experiment conducted by a high school teacher in Palo Alto,
California underscores the dangers of conforming. History teacher Ron Jones was teaching
his class about totalitarianism when he was interrupted by a question asking how the citizens
of any nation could "Winced to accept living under a dictatorship. This gave him an idea. The
next week, he began lecturing on the positive qualities of discipline and instituted new rules,
under the name 'Third win mandated that students answer questions succinctly, in three words
or less. He also introduced slogans like 'Strength through discipline; strength through
community' and had the stand and recite the new mottos. Furthermore, he introduced a Third
Wave salute and ship cards, and suggested that members report others who were breaking
rules. He was astounded when they willingly did so.
On the fourth day of the experiment, Jones told the students that Third Wave was based on an
actual political movement in history and that he would reveal the leader of the movement the
next day, and he did this by showing a film which featured Adolf Hitler and footage of the
German labour camps during World War II. The students were stunned, and some were in
tears. Jones pointed out to them that out of regard for the group's objectives, they had failed
to examine their own convictions and the principles on which the group was founded. The
name 'Third Wave' had not been accidental. Indeed, a new Third Reich had nearly been born.
Experiments aside, it goes without saying that in any society, group members must conform
to some degree for cooperation and sound decision making. Yet the dangers of rigid
conformity must be avoided, or it can result in 'groupthink, creating excessive loyalty to an
idea, cause, action, or decision at the expense of critical thinking. So, then, in any group,
deviance in some form is aly to guarantee that the ramifications of a proposition are explored
from every possible angle. Still, deviance in its extreme can lead to stalemates, arguments, or
even anarchy. Thus, it is imperative that constructive forms of criticism be encouraged while
destructive criticism is regarded with the utmost vigilance.

Questions 27-31
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below
Write the correct answer, A-G, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet
27 When membership of a group is considered so desirable, people
28 According to Berns, the false responses
29 In Milgram's experiment, subjects were told to
30 The Third Wave experiment required that students must
31 Strict compliance should be avoided because it can

A have changed the participant's actual perception.

B respond to questions with concise answers.
C go against the accepted code.
D prove that conformity influences behaviour.
E get in the way of critical thinking.
F have an impact on group decisions.
G impose punishment at false responses.

Questions 32-35
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

32 Asch found that only a few of the real participants chose incorrect answers.
33 Milgram intended to test how much punishment a person would inflict on another when
told to.
34 Any form of deviance will ensure that an idea is effective enough to realise.
35 Criticism which is not beneficial must be viewed with the greatest caution.

Questions 36-40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet
36 What was Solomon Asch trying to find out?
A what type of people conform to a group consensus
B how people reacted to the correct choice
C whether people could identify a group's incorrect viewpoint
D whether people would conform to a wrong opinion
37 The false participants in Asch's study were there to
A challenge the answers of real participants.
B agree with the answers of other members of the group.
C pressure the real participant to conform by giving wrong answers.
D ask the other participants to conform.
38 When conducting his experiment, Gregory Berns found that
A accepting group decisions created activity in the posterior regions of the brain.
B the participants were the same as those who were used in Asch's experiments.
C physiological explântions had been largely ignored by previous researchers.
D the front area of the brain is responsible for people's tendency to conform.
39 According to the writer, Milgram's experiments were innovative because
A they investigated the relationship between learning and punishment.
B they emphasised the possible negative consequences of accepting authority.
C they were the first to make use of electric shock on unsuspecting participants.
D they were sceptical of the role that memory plays in overall student learning.
40 The teacher who who conducted the Third Wave experiment was shocked when students
A came up with punishment for violation.
B strongly opposed the rules.
C organised a group to resist him.
D told on classmates who didn't follow the rules.
--------------------------------------------THE END----------------------------------------