Elementary Podcast # Listening Section

Given below is a audio from British Council elementary podcast.
Listen to the audio and answer questions 1-11.

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

  • Tesh belongs to the city of (1)______________
  • Zara would like to meet (2)____________
  • The email id on which you send the names of people you admire is (3)________
  • The word given while playing the quiz is (4)_______
  • Daniel wrote (5)____ words while Alice made up to (6)____
  • (7)________ is the green heart of the new York city.
  • Caralina will be studying in (8)_________ east to England.

Choose the correct letter A, B or C

  1. Caralina will be taking a

A. full time course

B.part time course

C. not came for studying

10. Caralina will be in Britain for a period of

A. 2 years

B. 3 years

C. 13 years

11. The purpose for Gordon to come into the show was

A.Share an information

B. Tell a joke

C.Irritate ravi

 

ANSWERS 

  1. London
  2. Angelina Jolie
  3. org
  4. kitchen
  5. 5
  6. 7
  7. Central park
  8. University of New Castle
  9. A
  10. B
  11. B

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Running Business # Essay For IELTS

Some people believe that the sure shot way to succeed in business is to have a unique product.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

Write atleast 250 words.

SAMPLE ANSWER

A successful business is either built on a product or on a service and the choice is always unique. Some believe that having a unique product is the key to succeed. Whereas others claim that it depends on how well an individual can run and understand the business. Although there have been great business built on a product, I believe it all depends on the team building the business.

Having a unique product surely places great advantage to the business. Firstly, there is no competition. For instance, if I am the only person who sells Android phones, it is obvious that anyone who needs it will buy it from me, making my business rise. Secondly, a unique idea brings with it different ways of doing a particular thing. Like when Steve Jobs created the first digital computer, it led to many other inventions like ipads, iPhones, iTunes etc.

However, merely having a unique product does not make a business successful. For instance- if two companies are selling the same product, the ones with better quality or service will be preferred more for obvious reasons. Even more, two companies selling the same product can have different business models and that makes the difference.

Overall, I believe an uncommon product does gives some added advantage but in the end, it all boils down to the way a business is being done. The better the methodology, more successful the business will be.

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Music # Speaking Section

Music has become one of the most flourishing industry in recent times. with the coming of smart phones and Internet, mostly people are listening to songs, either while traveling or while taking a break. Considering this, in IELTS, often in first part, question related to music are asked. Today we will look at some of the possible answers. Remember, the answers depend on a individual and can vary.

  1. Do you like music?

Yes, I do love to listen music.

2. What kind of music do you like?

Well, I don’t have a particular taste in that. I usually go for the lyrics. The one I feel connected to, I add it in my play list. It could be either pop or rock or contemprory or any other. Although there are some which have great beats, I do listen to them as well.

3. When do you usually listen to music?

Music to me is like a way of relaxing.  I usually listen while I am going back from work or after doing something tiring.I even sometimes hear it while cooking or doing something trivial.

4. What kind of music did you like when you were younger?

As a young kid, I never followed music, as in I never thought much as to what new album is coming. I usually listened to the ones that came on Television or the ones that were part of a movie.

5. What kind of music is popular in your country?

I think every individual has his/her own tastes in music. The elder generation of my country still prefers the music from their times, however they also tend to like the new Bollywood songs. The younger generation is much more global. They have access to Internet and so they usually look forward to listening the songs by international artist. However, I think the Bollywood songs are loved and enjoyed by everyone in our country.

6. Do you play any musical instrument?

um-mm. I do play guitar sometimes and I know some songs that I usually play. However, I am not a expertise in it, I usually play it when I am stressed out.

7. Which is your favorite musical instrument?

I like guitar a lot. I think it gives me a feel of a rockstar. Even more, the strings of the guitar and the changes we can make just by placing fingers on different parts of the strings really excites me.

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History Of Sugar # Reading Section

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

SUGAR

THE HISTORY

[A]It is thought that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India. In 510 BC the Emperor Darius of what was then Persia invaded India where he found “the reed which gives honey without bees”. The secret of cane sugar, as with many other of man’s discoveries, was kept a closely guarded secret whilst the finished product was exported for a rich profit.

[B]It was the major expansion of the Arab peoples in the seventh century AD that led to a breaking of the secret. When they invaded Persia in 642 AD they found sugar cane being grown and learnt how sugar was made. As their expansion continued they established sugar production in other lands that they conquered including North Africa and Spain.

[C]Sugar was only discovered by western Europeans as a result of the Crusades in the 11th Century AD. Crusaders returning home talked of this “new spice” and how pleasant it was. The first sugar was recorded in England in 1099. The subsequent centuries saw a major expansion of western European trade with the East, including the importation of sugar. It is recorded, for instance, that sugar was available in London at “two shillings a pound” in 1319 AD. This equates to about US$100 per kilo at today’s prices so it was very much a luxury.

[D]In the 15th century AD, European sugar was refined in Venice, confirmation that even then when quantities were small, it was difficult to transport sugar as a food grade product. In the same century, Columbus sailed to the Americas, the “New World”. It is recorded that in 1493 he took sugar cane plants to grow in the Caribbean. The climate there was so advantageous for the growth of the cane that an industry was quickly established.

[E]By 1750 there were 120 sugar refineries operating in Britain. Their combined output was only 30,000 tons per annum. At this stage sugar was still a luxury and vast profits were made to the extent that sugar was called “white gold”. Governments recognized the vast profits to be made from sugar and taxed it highly. In Britain for instance, sugar tax in 1781 totaled £326,000, a figure that had grown by 1815 to £3,000,000. This situation was to stay until 1874 when the British government, under Prime Minister Gladstone, abolished the tax and brought sugar prices within the means of the ordinary citizen.

[F]Sugar beet was first identified as a source of sugar in 1747. No doubt the vested interests in the cane sugar plantations made sure that it stayed as no more than a curiosity, a situation that prevailed until the Napoleonic wars at the start of the 19th century when Britain blockaded sugar imports to continental Europe. By 1880 sugar beet had replaced sugar cane as the main source of sugar on continental Europe. Those same vested interests probably delayed the introduction of beet sugar to England until the First World War when Britain’s sugar imports were threatened.

[G]Today’s modern sugar industry is still beset with government interference at many levels and throughout the world. The overall pattern can be seen by investigating the mid 1990s’ position in the interactive map on the Introduction page. Annual consumption is now running at about 120 million tons and is expanding at a rate of about 2 million tons per annum. The European Union, Brazil and India are the top three producers and together account for some 40% of the annual production. However most sugar is consumed within the country of production and only approximately 25% is traded internationally.

[H]One of the most important examples of governmental actions is within the European Union where sugar prices are so heavily subsidised that over 5 million tons of white beet sugar have to be exported annually and yet a million tons of raw cane sugar are imported from former colonies. This latter activity is a form of overseas aid which is also practised by the USA. The EU’s over-production and subsequent dumping has now been subjected to GATT requirements which should see a substantial cut-back in production over the next few years.

How Sugar is Made

[I]There are a bewildering number of sugars and syrups available in the shops while other types are available for the industrial user. Some of the basic differences are discussed below.

White sugar is essentially pure sucrose and there is no difference between that derived from cane and that from beet. Different manufacturers produce crystals of different sizes however and this leads to some apparent differences. Smaller crystals dissolve more readily and might therefore appear to be sweeter because none is left at the bottom of the cup and they seem sweeter on the tongue if eaten alone. Similarly smaller crystals have more surfaces per spoonful and appear whiter than larger crystals. [Having said that, some white sugars are less white than others: it depends on how much processing the manufacturer applies.

[J]There are several speciality white sugars:

  • caster sugar is just a very small crystal size white sugar
  • icing sugar is ground up white sugar, essentially sugar dust
  • sugar cubes are lumps of sugar crystals “glued” together with a sugar syrup
  • preserving sugar is a special large crystal

[K]Brown sugars come in many different styles but are essentially one of two types: sticky browns and free-flowing browns. The sticky browns were originally the sort of mixture that comes out of a cane sugar crystallising pan. The extreme of this, still made in India today, is “juggeri” or “gur” which is essentially such a mixture boiled until dry.

Questions1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in reading passage 1?

In boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE             if the statement agrees with the information.

FALSE           if the statement contradicts with the information.

NOT GIVEN  if there is no information on this.

  1. Indian People were the first one to use sugar.
  2. The entire process of finding and producing sugar was made available to public from the beginning.
  3. Persia was invaded by Arab People in 642 BC.
  4. Sugar in early times was considered a luxury, by the people of London.
  5. The sugar industry in America flourished because of climatic support.
  6. Sugar is often termed as white gold.
  7. Sugar beet replaced sugar cane as the source of producing sugar in continental Europe.
  8. The top producers of sugar in the world are India and Brazil.

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

  1. Pure sucrose is also called (9)______________
  2. Smaller crystals of white sugar are more sweet because nothing is left at the (10)____________
  • White sugar comes with its own specialties (11)_____________ is the one often termed as the sugar dust.
  1. The two kinds of brown sugars are (12)__________ and (13)____________.

ANSWERS

  1. False
  2. False
  3. False
  4. True
  5. True
  6. True
  7. False
  8. Not Given
  9. White sugar
  10. Bottom of cup
  11. Icing sugar
  12. Sticky browns
  13. Free-flowing browns

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