SECTION AThe most difficult aspect of money to understand is its function as a unit of account. In linear measurement we find the definition of a yard, or a metre, easy to accept. In former times these lengths were defined in terms of fine lines etched onto brass rods maintained in standards laboratories at constant …
MONEY AS THE UNIT OF ACCOUNT – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
The circulation of air in the atmosphere is activated by convection, the transference of heat resulting from the fact that warm gases or fluids rise while cold gases or fluids sink. For example, if one wall of a room is heated whilst the opposite wall is cooled, air will rise against the warm wall and …
AIRCONDITIONING THE EARTH – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Set within treacherously steep cliffs, and hidden away valleys of northeast Brazil, is some of Southeast America’s most significant and spectacular rock-art. Most of the art so far discovered from the ongoing excavations comes from the archaeologically – important National Park o’ the Serra da Capivara in the state of Piaui, and it is causing …
America’s oldest art? – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A Such is our dependence on fossil fuels, and such is the volume of carbon dioxide we have already released into the atmosphere, that most climate scientists agree that significant global warming is now inevitable – the best we can hope to do is keep it at a reasonable level, and even that is going to …
Can we prevent the poles from melting? – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1874, followed by the Cincinnati Zoo the next year. By 1940 there were zoos in more than one hundred American cities. The Philadelphia Zoo was more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would open later but in …
Nature on display in American zoos – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
At a time when most think of outer space as the final frontier, we must remember that a great deal of unfinished business remains here on earth. Robots crawl on the surface of Mars, and spacecraft exit our solar system, but most of our own planet has still never been seen by human eyes. It …
There are more than 160 known species of chameleons. The main distribution is in Africa and Madagascar, and other tropical regions, although some species are also found in parts of southern Europe and Asia. There are introduced populations in Hawaii and probably in California and Florida too. New species are still discovered quite frequently. Dr …
Communicating in Colour – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Scientists studying penguins’ feathers have revealed how the birds stay ice free when hopping in and out of below zero waters in the Antarctic. A combination of nano-sized pores and an extra water repelling preening oil the birds secrete is thought to give Antarctic penguins’ feathers superhydrophobic properties. Researchers in the US made the discovery …
Penguins’ anti-ice trick revealed – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
It is easy to see why AIDS seemed so mysterious and frightening when US medics first encountered it 35 years ago. The condition robbed young, healthy people of their strong immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And it seemed to come out of nowhere. Today we know much more how and why HIV – …
We know the city where HIV first emerged – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A After 36 days of battling sharks that kept biting their equipment, scientists have returned from the remote Pacific Ocean with a new way of looking at the world’s largest – and possibly most mysterious – volcano, Tamu Massif. B The team has begun making 3-D maps that offer the clearest look yet at the underwater mountain, …
Scientists Are Mapping the World’s Largest Volcano – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
