Betty and her mate Abel are captive crows in the care of Alex Kacelnik, an expert in animal behaviour at Oxford University. They belong to a forest-dwelling species of bird (Corvus rnoneduloides) confined to two islands in the South Pacific. New Caledonian crows are tenacious predators, and the only birds that habitually use a wide …
Two Wings And A Toolkit – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A Seaweed is a particularly wholesome food, which absorbs and concentrates traces of a wide variety of minerals necessary to the body’s health. Many elements may occur in seaweed – aluminium, barium, calcium, chlorine, copper, iodine and iron, to name but a few – traces normally produced by erosion and carried to the seaweed beds by …
Seaweeds Of New Zealand – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A Hypnosis has been shown through a number of rigorously controlled studies to reduce pain, control blood pressure, and even make warts go away. But because very few studies have attempted to define the actual processes involved, most scientists are sceptical of its power and uses. That scepticism has driven David Spiegel, a professor of psychiatry …
Hypnotism — is it real or just a circus trick? – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Today, the mapmaker’s vision is no longer confined to what the human eye can see. The perspective of mapmaking has shifted from the crow’s nest of the sailing vessel, mountain top and airplane to new orbital heights. Radar, which bounces microwave radio signals off a given surface to create images of its contours and textures, …
Revolutions in Mapping – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A Scientists have succeeded in copying the silk-producing genes of the Golden Orb Weaver spider and are using them to create a synthetic material which they believe is the model for a new generation of advanced bio-materials. The new material, biosilk, which has been spun for the first time by researchers at DuPont, has an enormous …
Spider silk cuts weight of bridges – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Computers have been shrinking ever since their conception almost two centuries ago, and the trend is set to continue with the latest developments in microchip manufacturing. The earliest prototype of a mechanical computer was called the Difference Engine, and was invented by an eccentric Victorian called Charles Babbage. It weighed over 15 tons and had …
Water And Chips Break New Ground – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
Browse the shelves of any health food shop or pharmacy and you’ll find dozens of dietary supplements—vitamins, antioxidants, minerals—along with a seemingly endless range of homeopathic remedies. There is always something new, some ‘miracle ingredient’ offering the promise of a longer, healthier, happier life. There are extracts of every kind of fruit and vegetable you …
Cure-All Pills: Myths Or Reality? – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
1 “THE time for discussion of the rights and wrongs of GM crops has passed. Intense and consistent economic sabotage and intimidation are what will make the commercialisation of GM crops an unattractive option.” 2 Words like these, from an article in the current edition of Earth First!, a radical environmental journal, send shivers down the spines …
Much Ado About Almost Nothing – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A The blue plaques scheme has been running for over 140 years and is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. The idea of erecting ‘memorial table was first proposed by William Ewart in the House of Commons in 1863. If had an immediate impact on the public imagination, and in 1866 the …
English Heritage Blue Plaques Scheme – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
A When is an occupation a profession? There appears to be no absolute definition, but only different ways of looking at the issue, from historical, cultural, sociological, moral, political, ethical or philosophical viewpoints. It is often said that professions are elites who undertake specialized, selfless work, in accordance with ethical codes, and that their work is …
Physician Rule Thyself – IELTS Academic Reading Passage Read More »
