Cambridge IELTS 2 General Training Reading Test 2
3 passages · 40 questions · 60 minutes
Dining Out / New Electricity Account Payment Facilities
[[READ: 1–7]]
DINING OUT
[A] Aboyne
The original Luigi's Italian Restaurant is now back in Aboyne. 231 Beach Road, Aboyne (ample parking available) Open: Luncheon 12 to 3 pm, Dinner 6 to 10 pm, Tuesday to Sunday Entrees $5.50, Mains $8.00 Free ice cream for the kids Special functions – up to 120 people Reservations: Phone 9763 3501
[B] Mermaids
Seafood | Italian & Seafood Cuisine Lunch: Tuesday – Friday, 12 noon – 2.30 pm Dinner: 7 nights, 6.00 pm – 11.30 pm Tel & Fax: 9784 1234 54 Shore Street, Kempton
[C] Riviera Cruising Boat Club
Breakfast by the water – $5.00 Saturday & Sunday, 8.00 am to 11.00 am Australian, Continental, American At Riviera Cruising Boat Club 9753 5544 The Quay, Gateside
[[READ: 8–13]]
NEW ELECTRICITY ACCOUNT PAYMENT FACILITIES AVAILABLE FROM 1 JULY 1998
After 1 July 1998, you may pay your electricity account in any of the following ways:
1. Payments via mail: A. No receipt required: Mail payments to: Coastside Power, Locked Bag 2760, Southport NSW 3479 B. Receipt required: Mail payments to: Coastside Power, PO Box 560, Northbridge NSW 3472
2. Agency payments (payments directly to the bank): Payments can be made at any branch of the Federal Bank by completing the deposit slip attached to your account notice. NB: This facility is no longer available at South Pacific Bank branches.
3. Payments directly to Coastside Power Office: Payments can be made directly to Coastside Power Office at 78-80 Third Avenue, Northbridge. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm.
Payment may be by personal cheque, bank cheque or cash. Note: Payments cannot be made by phone.
Questions 1–7
Look at the three restaurant advertisements above. Answer the questions below by writing the letters of the appropriate restaurants (A–C).
Restaurants
A Aboyne
B Mermaids
C Riviera Cruising Boat Club
1. It is open for breakfast.
2. It is open every night for dinner.
3. It is only open for lunch on weekdays.
4. It has recently returned to its previous location.
5. It welcomes families.
6. It caters for large groups.
7. It only opens at weekends.
Questions 8–13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVENif there is no information on this
8. If you want a receipt, you should send your payment to the Southport address.
9. You may pay your account at branches of the Federal Bank.
10. You must pay the full amount, instalments are not permitted.
11. The Coastside Power Office is open on Saturday mornings.
12. You may pay your account by phone using your credit card.
13. There is a reduction for prompt payment.
Personal Computers / Good Reasons for Choosing Atlas English Language College
[[READ: 14–20]]
Central Library PERSONAL COMPUTERS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC TO USE
2 personal computers are available, for a fee of $5.00. There is also an ink jet printer attached to each terminal. The library has a number of commercially available programs for word processing and spreadsheets.
A4 paper can be bought from the desk if you wish to print your work. Alternatively you can bring your own paper. If you wish to store information however, you will need to bring your own floppy disk.
Bookings
Because of high demand, a maximum of one hour's use per person per day is permitted. Bookings may be made up to three days in advance. Bookings may be made in person at the information desk or by phoning 8673 8901 during normal office hours. If for some reason you cannot keep your appointment, please telephone. If the library is not notified and you are 15 minutes late, your time can be given to someone else. Please sign in the visitors' book at the information desk when you first arrive to use the computer.
Please note that staff are not available to train people or give a lot of detailed instruction on how to use the programs. Prior knowledge is, therefore, necessary. However, tutorial groups are available for some of the programs and classes are offered on a regular basis. Please see the loans desk for more information about our computer courses.
[[READ: 21–26]]
GOOD REASONS FOR CHOOSING ATLAS ENGLISH LANGUAGE COLLEGE
On an English course with Atlas English Language College, you improve your language skills and make friends from all over the world!
[A] Because Atlas courses start every Monday of the year, there's bound to be one that fits in with your academic, personal or professional commitments. Whatever your level of language ability, from beginner to advanced, you can choose to study for any length of time, from two weeks to a full year. Courses match a range of individual requirements, from intensive examination preparation to short summer programmes. Most courses commence at 9 am and run till 3 pm.
[B] If you take an intensive full-time course, we will help you to select the Special Interest Options which best suit your goals. From then on, our teacher will discuss your work with you on a weekly basis. This means that you should develop the language skills you need – and that you are helped to study at your own pace.
[C] The popularity and success of any language school depend greatly on the quality of the teachers and the methods they employ. All Atlas teachers have specialist qualifications in the teaching of English to foreign students and are all native speakers. We employ only experienced professionals with a proven record of success in the classroom.
[D] Atlas's teaching methodology is constantly revised as more is discovered about the process of learning a new language. Our teachers have access to an extensive range of materials, including the very latest in language teaching technology.
[E] On your first day at school, you will take a test which enables our Director of Studies to place you at the appropriate study level. Your progress will be continuously assessed and, once you have achieved specific linguistic goals, you will move up to a higher level of study.
[F] Every Atlas course fee includes accommodation in carefully selected homestay families. Breakfast and dinner each day are also included, so you need have no concerns about having to look for somewhere to live once you get to the school.
[G] On completion of any Intensive, Examination or Summer course, you will receive the Atlas Course Certificate of Attendance. On completion of a four-week course or longer you will also receive the Atlas Academic Record that reflects your ability in every aspect of the language from conversation to writing. Such a record will allow you to present your linguistic credentials to academic institutions or potential employers around the world.
Questions 14–20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVENif there is no information on this
14. There are two computers and two printers available for public use at the library.
15. You can buy floppy disks at the information desk.
16. The information desk is closed at weekends.
17. It is essential to reserve a computer three days in advance if you want to use one.
18. If you are more than a quarter of an hour late, you could lose your reservation for the computer.
19. Library employees do not have detailed knowledge of computers.
20. The library runs courses for people who want to learn about computers.
Questions 21–26
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
List of Headings:
i. Recognition of your achievements
ii. Courses start every week
iii. Other services/Pastoral care/Personal arrangements
iv. A personal approach
v. Two meals every day
vi. First-class staff
vii. Up-to-date classroom practice
viii. Discovering a new language
ix. Monitored achievement
21. Paragraph B:
22. Paragraph C:
23. Paragraph D:
24. Paragraph E:
25. Paragraph F:
26. Paragraph G:
Robots at Work
ROBOTS AT WORK
[A] The newspaper production process has come a long way from the old days when the paper was written, edited, typeset and ultimately printed in one building with the journalists working on the upper floors and the printing presses going on the ground floor. These days the editor, subeditors and journalists who put the paper together are likely to find themselves in a totally different building or maybe even in a different city. This is the situation which now prevails in Sydney. The daily paper is compiled at the editorial headquarters, known as the prepress centre, in the heart of the city, but printed far away in the suburbs at the printing centre. Here human beings are in the minority as much of the work is done by automated machines controlled by computers.
[B] Once the finished newspaper has been created for the next morning's edition, all the pages are transmitted electronically from the prepress centre to the printing centre. The system of transmission is an update on the sophisticated page facsimile system already in use in many other newspapers. An imagesetter at the printing centre delivers the pages as films. Each page takes less than a minute to produce, although for colour pages four versions are used, one each for black, cyan, magenta and yellow. The pages are then processed into photographic negatives and the film is used to produce aluminium printing plates ready for the presses.
[C] A procession of automated vehicles is busy at the new printing centre where the Sydney Morning Herald is printed each day. With lights flashing and warning horns honking, the robots (to give them their correct name, the LGVs or laser guided vehicles) look for all the world like enthusiastic machines from a science fiction movie, as they follow their own random paths around the plant busily getting on with their jobs. Automation of this kind is now standard in all modern newspaper plants. The robots can detect unauthorised personnel and alert security staff immediately if they find an “intruder”, and not surprisingly, tall tales are already being told about the machines starting to take on personalities of their own.
[D] The robots' principal job, however, is to shift the newsprint (the printing paper) that arrives at the plant in huge reels and emerges at the other end some time later as newspapers. Once the size of the day's paper and the publishing order are determined at head office, the information is punched into the computer and the LGVs are programmed to go about their work. The LGVs collect the appropriate size paper reels and take them where they have to go. When the press needs another reel its computer alerts the LGV system. The Sydney LGVs move busily around the press room fulfilling their two key functions – to collect reels of newsprint either from the reel stripping stations or from the racked supplies in the newsprint storage area. At the stripping station, the tough wrapping that helps to protect a reel of paper from rough handling is removed. Any damaged paper is peeled off and the reel is then weighed.
[E] Then one of the four paster-robots moves in. Specifically designed for the job, it trims the paper neatly and prepares the reel for the press. If required the reel can be loaded directly onto the press; if not needed immediately, an LGV takes it to the storage area. When the press computer calls for a reel, an LGV takes it to the reel loading area of the presses. It lifts the reel into the loading position and places it in the correct spot with complete accuracy. As each reel is used up, the press drops the heavy cardboard core into a waste bin. When the bin is full, another LGV collects it and deposits the cores into a shredder for recycling.
[F] The LGVs move at walking speed. Should anyone step in front of one or get too close, sensors stop the vehicle until the path is clear. The company has chosen a laser guide function system for the vehicles because, as the project development manager says, “The beauty of it is that if you want to change the routes, you can work out a new route on your computer and lay it down for them to follow.” When an LGV's batteries run low, it will take itself offline and go to the nearest battery maintenance point for replacement batteries. And all this is achieved with absolute minimum human input and a much reduced risk of injury to people working in the printing centres.
[G] The question newspaper workers must now ask, however, is, how long will it be before the robots are writing the newspapers as well as running the printing centre, churning out the latest edition every morning?
Questions 27–32
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
List of Headings:
i. Robots working together
ii. Preparing LGVs for take-over
iii. Looking ahead
iv. The LGVs' main functions
v. Split location for newspaper production
vi. Newspapers superseded by technology
vii. Getting the newspaper to the printing centre
viii. Controlling the robots
ix. Beware of robots!
27. Paragraph A:
28. Paragraph B:
29. Paragraph D:
30. Paragraph E:
31. Paragraph F:
32. Paragraph G:
Questions 33–40
Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
The Production Process
The newspaper is compiled at the editorial headquarters by the journalists.
↓
The final version of the text is (33) ………………………… to the printing centre.
↓
The pages arrive by facsimile.
↓
The pages are converted into (34) ………………………….
↓
(35) ………………………… are made for use in the printing presses.
↓
The LGVs are (36) ………………………… by computer.
↓
The LGVs collect the reels of paper.
↓
The LGVs remove the (37) ………………………… from the reel.
↓
The reel is (38) ………………………….
↓
The reel is trimmed and prepared by the (39) ………………………….
↓
The reel is taken to the press.
↓
The reel is taken to the (40) ………………………….
Answers
1. C
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. A
7. C
8. False
9. True
10. Not Given
11. False
12. False
13. Not Given
14. True
15. False
16. Not Given
17. False
18. True
19. Not Given
20. True
21. iv
22. vi
23. vii
24. ix
25. iii
26. i
27. v
28. vii
29. iv
30. i
31. viii
32. iii
33. transmitted
34. film
35. aluminium printing plates
36. programmed
37. tough wrapping
38. weighed
39. paster robot
40. storage area
Explanations
- 1. C
- Only the Riviera Cruising Boat Club advertisement mentions breakfast, served by the water on Saturday and Sunday mornings.Common trap: Meal-name trap — Mermaids' lunch begins at midday, which a rushed reader might mistake for a breakfast service; only Riviera explicitly advertises breakfast.
- 2. B
- Mermaids serves dinner '7 nights', i.e. every night of the week, unlike Aboyne's dinner service which runs Tuesday to Sunday only.Common trap: Near-daily trap — Aboyne is open for dinner on six of the seven nights (Tuesday to Sunday), which can be mistaken for 'every night'.
- 3. B
- Mermaids' lunch service runs Tuesday to Friday only (weekdays), whereas its dinner service and Aboyne's lunch service both extend into the weekend.Common trap: Wrong-restaurant trap — Aboyne also serves lunch, but its 'Luncheon' hours run Tuesday to Sunday, including the weekend, so it does not fit 'weekdays only'.
- 4. A
- The advertisement states the restaurant 'is now back in Aboyne', implying it previously operated there, left, and has now returned.Common trap: Wording trap — 'the original' could be mistaken for simply meaning 'the first of its kind' rather than signalling a return to a former site.
- 5. A
- Free ice cream for children signals that Aboyne actively welcomes family diners.Common trap: No direct trap — only Aboyne mentions anything aimed at children.
- 6. A
- Aboyne advertises 'special functions' for 'up to 120 people', clearly catering for large groups.Common trap: No direct trap — no other advertisement mentions group or function bookings.
- 7. C
- Riviera Cruising Boat Club's breakfast service is the only one restricted to 'Saturday & Sunday' with no other opening times given.Common trap: No direct trap — both other restaurants advertise weekday opening hours as well.
- 8. False
- The notice states the opposite: the Southport address (Locked Bag 2760) is for payments where no receipt is required, while the Northbridge PO Box address is for payments where a receipt is required.Common trap: Swapped-detail trap — the statement swaps the two mailing addresses' purposes; Southport is the no-receipt address, not the receipt one.
- 9. True
- The notice confirms that agency payments can be made at any branch of the Federal Bank by completing the attached deposit slip.Common trap: Bank-name trap — the notice also mentions South Pacific Bank, but only to say that bank no longer offers this facility; Federal Bank is the one that does.
- 10. Not Given
- The notice lists the ways an account may be paid but never states whether partial or instalment payments are allowed or disallowed.Common trap: Fabricated-detail trap — nothing in the notice addresses instalments in either direction.
- 11. False
- Office hours for the Coastside Power Office are explicitly limited to Monday to Friday, so it is not open on Saturdays.Common trap: Weekend trap — no weekend hours are given, contradicting the statement.
- 12. False
- The notice explicitly rules out telephone payments of any kind, regardless of payment method.Common trap: Payment-method trap — credit card is never mentioned as an accepted payment method at all, and phone payment is directly ruled out.
- 13. Not Given
- The notice lists accepted payment methods (cheque, bank cheque, cash) but says nothing about discounts or reductions for paying early.Common trap: Unstated-incentive trap — no discount of any kind is mentioned anywhere in the notice.
- 14. True
- There are 2 personal computers, and since an ink jet printer is attached to each terminal, that means 2 printers in total.Common trap: Counting trap — the printer count (one per terminal) has to be inferred rather than being stated as '2 printers' directly.
- 15. False
- Only A4 paper can be bought from the desk; floppy disks must be brought by the user themselves.Common trap: Item-swap trap — paper is buyable at the desk, but the passage says the opposite for floppy disks.
- 16. Not Given
- The passage gives a phone number and mentions 'normal office hours' but never states whether the desk is open or closed on weekends.Common trap: Unstated-hours trap — 'normal office hours' is never defined as excluding weekends.
- 17. False
- Three days in advance is the maximum booking window allowed, not a requirement — bookings 'may' be made up to that far ahead, not that they must be.Common trap: Permission-vs-requirement trap — 'may be made up to' describes the latest a booking can be made, not a compulsory lead time.
- 18. True
- The passage states that an unnotified 15-minute delay ('a quarter of an hour') means the booked slot can be given to someone else.Common trap: Conditional trap — the loss of the slot only applies if the library was not notified in advance of the delay.
- 19. Not Given
- The passage says staff are not available to train users and that prior knowledge is required of visitors, but this is about staff not offering training, not evidence about the staff's own level of computer knowledge.Common trap: Unstated-knowledge trap — not providing training does not mean the staff themselves lack computer knowledge.
- 20. True
- Classes on the library's computer programs are offered on a regular basis, confirming the library runs its own courses.Common trap: No direct trap — the passage directly confirms regular classes are offered.
- 21. iv
- Paragraph B describes teachers selecting Special Interest Options with each student and discussing their work weekly, i.e. an individually tailored, personal approach to teaching.Common trap: Heading ii ('Courses start every week') is the correct heading for paragraph A, not B — its wording ('Monday of the year'/'every') tempts readers toward B, but B is about individual coaching, not start dates.
- 22. vi
- Paragraph C is about the qualifications and experience of the teaching staff — 'first-class staff'.Common trap: Heading vii ('Up-to-date classroom practice') describes paragraph D's materials/technology, not C's teacher qualifications — the two paragraphs about teaching quality are easy to conflate.
- 23. vii
- Paragraph D is about the school's constantly revised methodology and access to the latest teaching materials/technology — up-to-date classroom practice.Common trap: Heading vi ('First-class staff') belongs to paragraph C — D is about materials and technology being kept current, not about the teachers themselves.
- 24. ix
- Paragraph E describes the placement test and ongoing assessment that tracks a student's progress through levels — monitored achievement.Common trap: Heading i ('Recognition of your achievements') describes the certificates awarded in paragraph G, while E is about ongoing assessment during the course — the shared idea of 'achievement' makes the two easy to swap.
- 25. iii
- Paragraph F covers accommodation arrangements (with meals included), i.e. the personal/pastoral-care side of the course rather than the teaching itself.Common trap: Heading v ('Two meals every day') quotes the literal detail in F (breakfast and dinner) but is too narrow — the paragraph's real theme is accommodation/personal arrangements as a whole, not just the meals.
- 26. i
- Paragraph G describes the certificates and academic records issued at the end of a course — formal recognition of what the student has achieved.Common trap: Heading ix ('Monitored achievement') belongs to paragraph E's continuous assessment; G is about the certificates issued at course completion, a different sense of 'achievement'.
- 27. v
- Paragraph A explains that writing/editing and printing now happen in two separate locations, sometimes even different cities — a split location for newspaper production.Common trap: Heading vii ('Getting the newspaper to the printing centre') is about the transmission process described in paragraph B, not the fact that production is physically split across two sites in A.
- 28. vii
- Paragraph B describes how the finished pages are transmitted electronically and turned into printing plates — how the newspaper gets to the printing centre.Common trap: Heading v ('Split location for newspaper production') belongs to paragraph A's premise; B instead describes how the finished pages actually travel there.
- 29. iv
- Paragraph D describes the LGVs' core job of collecting and moving paper reels around the plant — their main functions.Common trap: Heading i ('Robots working together') fits paragraph E's paster-robot/LGV handover more closely; D is only about the LGVs' own tasks.
- 30. i
- Paragraph E introduces a second type of robot, the paster-robot, working alongside the LGVs to prepare and load reels — robots working together.Common trap: Heading iv ('The LGVs' main functions') is the correct heading for D — E extends the process by introducing a second machine cooperating with the LGVs.
- 31. viii
- Paragraph F explains the safety and routing systems that keep the LGVs operating correctly — controlling the robots.Common trap: Heading ii ('Preparing LGVs for take-over') sounds plausible but describes a process never mentioned in the passage; F is about how the LGVs are kept safe and rerouted, i.e. controlled.
- 32. iii
- Paragraph G ends with a question about what robots might do in the future — looking ahead.Common trap: Heading vi ('Newspapers superseded by technology') sounds close but overstates the text — G only speculates about robots writing the news one day, not that newspapers will be replaced.
- 33. transmitted
- The passage states the finished pages are 'transmitted electronically' from the prepress centre to the printing centre — the flow chart's own wording ('sent') is deliberately not used.Common trap: Wrong-verb trap — the passage's own word is 'transmitted', not a synonym like 'sent'.
- 34. film
- The imagesetter first delivers the pages as film, which is then processed into photographic negatives — either noun for this stage of production is accepted.Common trap: Two-stage confusion trap — the passage names both an intermediate 'film' stage and a following 'negative' stage for the same part of the process.
- 35. aluminium printing plates
- The film is used to produce aluminium printing plates, which are then used in the presses.Common trap: Material-vs-product trap — 'aluminium' describes the plates themselves, not the film or negatives used to make them.
- 36. programmed
- Once the day's paper size and publishing order are set, the LGVs are 'programmed' by computer to carry out their work.Common trap: Synonym trap — 'alerted' is used elsewhere in the passage (for when a press needs another reel) and is a tempting but wrong near-miss here.
- 37. tough wrapping
- At the stripping station, the tough wrapping protecting the reel is removed, and any damaged paper is peeled off — either answer is accepted.Common trap: Sequence trap — two things are removed in order (wrapping, then damaged paper); both directly precede the reel being weighed.
- 38. weighed
- After the wrapping and any damaged paper are removed, the reel is weighed.Common trap: Final-step trap — weighing is the last action at the stripping station, easy to confuse with the earlier 'peeled off' step.
- 39. paster robot
- A paster-robot trims the paper neatly and prepares the reel for the press.Common trap: Machine-name trap — 'LGV' is the generic robot name used throughout the passage, but this specific trimming task is done by a distinct machine, the paster-robot.
- 40. storage area
- If a reel is not needed immediately, an LGV takes it to the storage area instead of loading it straight onto the press.Common trap: Branching-path trap — a reel goes to the press only if needed immediately; otherwise it is taken to the storage area, and the two outcomes are easy to swap.
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