A More than a million people are likely to be disappointed by their experience of the Government’s attempts to improve the democratic process. They may have signed an online petition against road pricing, but ministers are determined to push ahead with plans to make it more expensive to drive. The Government is convinced that this is …
Park the Car Permanently – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A The ping of a text message has never sounded so sweet. In what is being touted as a world first, Kenya’s biggest mobile operator is allowing subscribers to send cash to other phone users by SMS. Known as M-Pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionise banking in a country where more than …
Money Transfers by Mobile – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A The works of Aboriginal artists are now much in demand throughout the world, and not just in Australia, where they are already fully recognised: the National Museum of Australia, which opened in Canberra in 2001, designated 40% of its exhibition space to works by Aborigines. In Europe their art is being exhibited at a museum …
Painters of time – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, onerous, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has culminated in robotics – the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. A The modern world is increasingly populated by quasi-intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely …
Mars is the closest potentially habitable planet. It has solid ground, protective surface features, a thin atmosphere, more closely mimics the gravitational and lighting conditions on Earth, and is reachable – just. Most importantly, studies have found that this planet has vast reserves of frozen water, and there are other basic minerals as well. In …
Destination Mars – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
In the past, management took a minor role in influencing motivation. It was generally considered that if the correct tools, training, and environment were provided, individuals would do their jobs, and that this was sufficient in itself. People in organisations were considered ‘personnel’. But look how it has now changed. ‘Personnel’ have become ‘human resources’. …
That Vision Thing – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Australia is a nation of beer drinkers. Actually, make that wine. Yes, wine has now just about supplanted beer as the alcoholic drink of choice, probably because of the extensive range of choices available and the rich culture behind them. This all adds a certain depth and intimacy to the drinking process which beer just …
Make That Wine! – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
When convicted criminals have served long terms of imprisonment, it is obvious that, upon their release, one cannot necessarily expect them to be reformed and able to reintegrate into society. In the potentially rough and violent ganglands of prisons, quite the opposite may occur, which raises a difficult dilemma in the criminal justice system. To …
Criminal Rehabilitation – A Difficult Issue: IELTS Reading Answer Read More »
Agnes Milowka was one of the foremost cave divers in the world. Female, photogenic, and experienced, she had gained international recognition for her exploratory work in many underground caverns around the world. In early 2011, she entered Tank Cave, near Mount Gambier, a seven-kilometre maze of narrow tunnels – yet ones she had explored many …
An Insanely Dangerous Activity – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
I am looking at a very thick twisted trunk, rising to medium height, at which point appears a stumpy canopy of spiky needles. It’s a tree, but a very special one. Ron Simonson, a park ranger explains. “It’s a bristlecone pine, and it’s been given the name, Methuselah”. I ask the obvious question, and Ron …
