Category: IELTS Reading

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IELTS Reading preparation posts are here.

IELTS Reading Sample # Truth About Kids

Source : http://www.timeforkids.com/news/truth-about-kids-and-tech/304976

The Truth About Kids and Tech

It should come as no surprise (an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc.)that kids are spending a lot of time in front of screens. According to a new study, tweens (a girl ages about 9-14…too old for toys, but too young for boys)from 8 to 12 years of age spend an average (a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number)of four-and-a-half hours each day watching (look at or observe attentively over a period of time)TV or using a digital (expressed as series of the digits 0 and 1, typically represented by values of a physical quantity such as voltage or magnetic polarization) device (a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment). For teens 13 to 18, the average is six-and-a-half hours. But those numbers hide a bigger, more complex (consisting of many different and connected parts)picture.

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group focused (directing a great deal of attention, interest, or activity towards a particular aim)on helping children, parents and teachers better understand media and technology, conducted the study. It looked at a wide range of media-related (the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively)activities, from old methods (a particular procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one)like reading and listening to the radio, to new favorites like using social media and video chatting. More than 2,600 kids from around the country were surveyed (look closely at or examine (someone or something)). Here are some truths—and some myths—that the study revealed:

Truth 1: Some teens spend too much time looking at screens.

One in five tweens uses more than six hours of screen media each day, and 18% of teens are looking at their screens for more than 10 hours a day. Often they’re doubling (become twice as much or as many)up on screens, watching television on one while chatting (talk in a friendly and informal way)with friends on another.

Myth 1: This is the end of reading.

While the average time young people spend reading, either in print or on a screen, is only 30 minutes per day, kids who took the survey say reading is one of their favorite (preferred to all others of the same kind)activities.

Truth 2: Boys prefer video games; girls prefer social media.

Among tween boys, 71% enjoy playing video games, twice as many as tween girls. And while more than 25% of teen boys list playing video games as their favorite media activity, only 2% of teen girls do. Teen girls, meanwhile, spend about 40 minutes more each day on social media than boys do.

Myth 2: TV and music have been muscled out.

For tweens, TV is still the top media activity. They enjoy it the most and watch it every day. In fact, 47% of tweens have television sets in their bedrooms (a room for sleeping in). For teens, while 57% have TV sets in their rooms, music is the reigning form of entertainment (a room for sleeping in). However, only about a third listen to music on the radio. Most teens listen to it on their smartphones (a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps).

Truth 3: Gamers don’t get out as much as kids who don’t play video games.

Kids report spending about an hour each day being active. For gamers, that average drops to 47 minutes, the lowest for any kind of media consumer (a person who purchases goods and services for personal use). Social media users are the most active, spending one hour and 13 minutes per day doing some form of physical activity.

Myth 3: The Digital Revolution is making young people more creative than ever.

So far, kids are too busy consuming ( completely filling one’s mind and attention; absorbing)to be doing much producing. Tweens spend an average of five minutes and teens nine minutes per day making something with all their digital tools, whether it’s art, music, or writing.

In a statement, Common Sense Media chief executive officer James P. Steyer said that study “provides parents, educators and the media industry (economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories)with an excellent (extremely good; outstanding) overview (a general review or summary of a subject)of what kids are doing today and how we can make the most of the media (the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively)and technology (the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry)in their lives.”

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IELTS Practice Reading # Turn Off The Heat

Source : http://www.timeforkids.com/news/turn-heat/307576

TURN OFF THE HEAT!!

Levels (a position on a scale of amount, quantity, extent, or quality)of greenhouse gases (a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons are examples of greenhouse gases) trapped (trick or deceive (someone) into doing something contrary to their interests or intentions)in Earth’s atmosphere (the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet) reached (stretch out an arm in a specified direction in order to touch or grasp something)an all-time high in 2014, according (as stated by or in)to a new report (give a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated)by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The group’s findings (the action of finding someone or something)were released on Monday, November 9.

Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide (CO2), come from everyday (daily) activities (the condition in which things are happening or being done)such as turning on a light and driving around town. They are released (allow or enable to escape from confinement; set free)in larger amounts (a quantity of something, especially the total of a thing or things in number, size, value, or extent)by factories (a building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured or assembled chiefly by machine)and farms. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which makes the Earth warmer (of or at a fairly or comfortably high temperature).

“We can’t see CO2,” WMO Secretary-General, Michel Jarraud, said in a statement (a definite or clear expression of something in speech or writing). “It is an invisible (unable to be seen)threat (a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done), but a very real one.”

The WMO reported (give a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated)that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 397.7 parts per million (ppm) in 2014. In the Northern hemisphere it rose to above 400 ppm—a symbolic (serving as a symbol) milestone (a stone set up beside a road to mark the distance in miles to a particular place). Scientists (a person who is studying or has expert knowledge of one or more of the natural or physical sciences)say that CO2 levels should stay below 400 ppm to avoid long-term climate (the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period)issues, like heat waves and floods.

“Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and in the ocean for even longer,” said Jarraud. “Past, present and future emissions will have a [growing] impact” on the world’s environment.

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A Crush On Mobile # Practice Reading

Source : http://www.economist.com/news/business/21677651-big-merger-shows-where-money-heading-industry-crush-mobile

COMPARE “Candy Crush Saga” with the “Star Wars” franchise (the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory)and it comes as a shock (a sudden and violent blow or impact)that the casual (happening by chance)game’s creator, King Digital Entertainment, would sell for almost 50% more than the $4 billion that Disney paid for Lucas film in 2012. But in paying $5.9 billion in cash and stock for King on November 3rd Activision Blizzard, a giant (a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.;major figure; legend)in video games for computers and specialist (a person who devotes himself or herself to one subject or to one particular branch of a subject or pursuit)gaming consoles (to alleviate or lessen the grief, sorrow, or disappointment of; give solace or comfort), is doing more than buying another industry leader. Its purchase is an acknowledgment (recognition of the existence or truth of something)that the future of video games, and of gaming profits, is in mobile, where games are usually given away, and where their creators make money by selling extra features to the most enthusiastic (full of or characterized by enthusiasm)players.

Mobile games have been by far the fastest-growing part of the market in recent years, and have broader (of great extent; large) international (between or among nations; involving two or more nations) appeal (an earnest request for aid, support, sympathy, mercy, etc.; entreaty;petition; plea)because of the penetration (the obtaining of a share of a market for some commodity or service)of smartphones (a device that combines a cell phone with a hand-held computer,typically offering Internet access, data storage, email capability, etc.). By Activision’s reckoning (count), worldwide revenues (the income of a government from taxation, excise duties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment of the public expenses.)from mobile games will almost catch up with those from PC and console games by 2019, reaching $55 billion (up from an estimated $36 billion this year). PC and console games’ sales are projected to reach $57 billion by then.

With “Candy Crush Saga” in its arsenal (a collection or supply of anything; store), Activision will have one of the most successful (achieving or having achieved success)mobile games yet seen, access to an active monthly user base of nearly half a billion people and dozens of new foreign markets where smartphones, not consoles, are the game platforms of choice. Those users might enjoy mobile versions of some of Activision’s hits, like the “Guitar Hero” series. The combined company will become the world’s second-biggest in terms of video-gaming revenues, with close to $7 billion a year, placing it behind only Tencent, a Chinese gaming and social-media conglomerate (a corporation consisting of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as a result of merger or acquisition).

Activision has flailed (an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle to one end of which is attached a freely swinging stick or bar)about in mobile gaming (even if it has had a recent hit with “Hearthstone”, a digital card game). Though King’s shares have weakened (not strong; liable to yield, break, or collapse under pressure or strain; fragile; frail)since it gave a profit warning in May this year, there are worries that Activision may be paying richly for its big move into mobile. James Gwertzman, the boss of Playfab, a provider of back-office technology for game developers, says it is not clear if Activision and King can add that much value to each other’s gaming platforms, in the way that Disney can exploit the “Star Wars” characters and stories across its various businesses.

There is also no guarantee (a promise or assurance, especially one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit, etc., or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time)that King can establish another runaway success like “Candy Crush Saga”—although it has created a moderately (kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme,excessive, or intense)successful sequel in “Candy Crush Soda”—or that the flagship (a ship carrying the flag officer or the commander of a fleet, squadron,or the like, and displaying the officer’s flag)“Saga” game will remain a hit. The faddish (like a fad)mobile game of the moment, like, say Zynga’s “FarmVille”, can give way seemingly overnight (very quickly)to new franchise hits—in its case, to “Candy Crush Saga” itself.

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IELTS Practice Reading # Does Flying Harm ?

Source : http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1654488,00.html

DOES FLYING HARM THE PLANET?

Given the rage (angry fury) that air travel can provoke (to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex)in even the most tranquil (free from commotion or tumult; peaceful; quiet; calm)among us these days, it may be surprising (causing wonder)that riot (a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons,as by a crowd protesting against another group, a government policy,etc., in the streets)police aren’t a more regular feature at airports. But Sunday’s pitched (to set at a certain point)battle between roughly 500 environmental activists and a phalanx ( a group of heavily armed infantry formed in rank sand files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping)of baton-wielding police at London’s Heathrow airport wasn’t about long lines, delays, lost luggage or missed connections. Instead, the protesters (an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, oftenin opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid)— who had demonstrated outside Heathrow all of last week — were trying to draw travelers’ attention to the impact on climate change of the carbon gases emitted by the aircraft in which they fly. A placard (a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carriedby a demonstrator or picketer)from one activist at Heathrow expressed it thus: “You Fly, They Die.”

Airplanes operate on petroleum fuel, which means they release large amounts of carbon dioxide when they fly. Commercial (able to yield or make a profit)air travel is currently responsible for a relatively tiny part of the global carbon footprint —just 3.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the unique chemistry of high-altitude jet emissions (an act or instance of emitting)may produce an additional warming effect, while the explosive (tending or serving to explode)growth in air travel makes it one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon gases in the atmosphere. And unlike energy or automobiles, where carbon-free or lower-carbon alternatives (a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things,propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes any other possibility)already exist, even if they have yet to be widely adopted, there is no low-carbon way to fly, and there likely won’t be for decades.

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