Collins IELTS 3 General Training Reading Test 1

[A] If you're moving in or moving out of your student accommodation, you might need a helping hand. At BoxIt we're here to help you move and store your stuff wherever you are, box by box. Because you just pay by the box, you don't pay more than you have to. Whether you're making room for a new purchase, need somewhere to store your things over the holidays, taking a year out or just need more space at home, we'd love to help.

[B] We store suitcases, cycles, sacks and stacks of other stuff in our secure sites. If you need packing materials, tell us and we'll send them to you. You can upload photos of the things in each box to your own BoxIt account to remind yourself what is where, and then download our app to track your belongings as they move. We'll take your things to our secure warehouse until you're ready for us to bring them back to you. When you're ready to move, give BoxIt a call and we'll deliver your things to your desired location the next day.

[C] When you're ready, book the delivery of your boxes online. Just let us know what you need to be stored and we'll send one of our friendly staff to pick your things up for free, but remember that if the address we are delivering your boxes to is further than 25 miles from where we picked them up, there is an additional charge. Collections are free from Monday to Friday if we collect between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. If you'd like a precise time or a weekend collection, these cost a bit more.

[D] Think about what you're going to put in your boxes and how you're going to put them in before you start. Go through your things and decide what you want to store, give away, throw away or donate to charity. Make sure you've got all you need to move your things - you can order everything from us. You'll need strong boxes - don't use old supermarket boxes - they could let you down. Line your box with bubble wrap all along the inside and then put the softer items like clothes at the bottom and top of the box and your most valuable things in the middle. Don't leave any empty space in your box - this makes your box weaker and it could get squashed and damage the things inside, and not filling the box also means you need more boxes so it costs you money. And don't put too much into your box - keep it under 25 kilos in weight; if you can't lift it, we probably won't be able to either.

[E] If you pack the following items in your boxes, we can't be responsible for any damage to your things when we're moving them:

• Knives and sharp objects not suitably covered up and wrapped • Musical instruments in soft cases • Food, including sauces (e.g. soy sauce and ketchup) • Antiques (breakable and fragile) • Pets or any other living creature • Any item that emits fumes or odours • Mirrors or large glass items

[F] Make sure the driver can easily get into your place and that you or someone you trust is at your address for the full duration of the collection time, with your boxes and other items on the ground floor ready to be picked up. And remember: there are also other things you need to do before you go. Leave your room tidy and clean for the inventory checkout; report any faults like the lights not working so that you don't get charged for them; remember to return your keys and leave a forwarding address for any letters.

Questions 1–5

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Questions 6–14

The text has six paragraphs, A-F. For which paragraph are the following statements true? Write the correct letter, A-F. NB You may use any letter more than once.

[[READ: 15–21]]

TAKING CARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

[A] Everyone at some point can feel worried or anxious, homesick or isolated because they don't fit in. This often happens when you change your location or when changes happen to you, and the truth is that this happens to lots of people; it's a normal part of life. It's been recognised that around one third of students will experience poor mental health during their studies. Studying with us is no different but we recognise that taking care of your mental health and physical well-being is necessary for a successful college experience.

[B] College counselling services can help you maintain a healthy psychological outlook when things get difficult. We offer individual support and face-to-face counselling sessions, individual drop-in sessions, as well as workshops and short courses. There's lots of support for you at the college and this brief guide gives you advice on looking after your mental health and where you can get support if you need it. So, what can you do to look after your mental health when you're facing difficulties?

[C] People need people and a network of friends and family is extremely important. Your studies will take up a lot of your time and it's easy to become too focused on your academic work to the exclusion of normal life and other people, particularly around exam and assessment periods. Put aside time to talk to family and friends and identify ways to make new friends, but don't forget to take an interest in your old friends and ask them how they are and what they're doing.

[D] Physical fitness is closely connected to well-being. Exercise releases chemicals in your brain that can positively change your mood. Having goals or challenges linked to physical activity can also improve your mental well-being by enhancing feelings of control, self-esteem and efficiency. Do some physical activity that suits you and that you enjoy but if you don't go to the gym or do a sport, at least you could use the stairs when you go upstairs, go for a walk at lunchtime or get off the bus one stop before your usual one and walk the rest of the way.

[E] Greater awareness of what's happening at the moment can improve your mental well-being. This involves taking notice of your thoughts and feelings, your body and other things around you. Taking up a free-time activity like music, yoga, walking or hiking can relax and calm you and focus you on what's happening now.

[F] Doing something kind for someone is also a great way to increase your feelings of well-being. Research shows that doing something for another person once a week for six weeks is associated with an increase in happiness. Try doing something for a friend or relative, volunteer to help with something and tell people around you that you appreciate them. They might say the same thing back to you!

[G] Research shows that learning new skills improves your self-esteem, gives you a sense of direction and helps you to connect with others. Like doing physical activity, learning new things gives you a challenge and a focus away from the things you're doing day to day. Make sure your new skill is broken down stage by stage and that these stages are easily achieved so that you feel a sense of accomplishment. How about learning to play a new sport, taking up a hobby like cooking, or helping someone with their interest?

[[READ: 22–28]]

HOW STRESS CAN AFFECT US

It is quite normal to feel under pressure, and pressure can sometimes be a positive force: it can make us feel energised, take action and get results. But if the pressure becomes too much and we tip over into feeling stressed, then it can have a negative impact on us and our health. We refer to this state as stress. However, because stress is a very subjective phenomenon, it lacks a precise medical definition and can mean different things in different contexts. We might talk about stressful situations when we have lots to do or worry about and don't have any control over what is happening. Alternatively, we might talk about how we feel when we are anxious or under pressure.

Although stress isn't a mental condition, it can lead to mental health problems or make existing problems deteriorate. If, for example, it is difficult for us to manage our stress, we could become anxious or depressed. The former is when we are worried, tense or afraid about things that could happen in the future and is a natural response when we believe that we are under threat. Depression is a mental state in which we feel isolated, are unable to relate to other people and, among other things, lack self-confidence. Then we find coping with daily life hard and may avoid communication with other people, which makes the problems of stress worse.

Tiredness, headaches or an upset stomach could be the first physical clues that we are stressed. We often find it hard to sleep or eat well, and a poor diet and lack of sleep can affect our physical health. When we are in poor health, this, in turn, can make us feel more stressed emotionally.

Stress is a natural response to a threat, often referred to as the fight, flight or freeze response. Humans, like other animals, have instinctive ways of reacting to physical dangers such as being chased by a wild animal, and when we are threatened, our bodies release the hormones cortisol, norepinephrine and adrenaline. These hormones make us more alert so that we can react faster either to fight for our lives or to run away from the danger, and they make our hearts beat more quickly so that blood is sent to where it is needed most. After the threat has passed, our bodies release other hormones to help our muscles relax. Cortisol, norepinephrine and adrenaline can also be produced when we feel emotionally threatened in stressful situations, but they may take a long time to return to normal levels. The long-term activation of the stress-response system and the overexposure to stress hormones that follows can disrupt almost all the body's processes and leave us at increased risk of many health problems. This can make us feel physically unwell and could affect our health in the longer term.

Questions 15–21

The text has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph mentions the following?

Questions 22–28

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

One of the most mysterious and endangered fish in Europe is the European eel. Eels live long and complex lives and during their lifetime will travel thousands of miles, transforming themselves as they go. They can grow up to one metre long and have long, snake-like bodies with one pair of small fins at the sides. They are secretive creatures; most of their early life at sea is a mystery and when they come inland during their adult lives, they are nocturnal, living under stones and burrowing into mud during the day. They can live between seven and 85 years, with an average lifespan of 55 years, and much of this time is spent out of sight.

The European eel is a 'catadromous' fish: it is born at sea and spawns or reproduces there; then it migrates to inland waters to eat and grow. European eels can be found from Russia and Finland to as far south as the coasts of Morocco, Egypt and the countries around the Black Sea. They spend most of their adult lives in freshwater rivers, streams and estuaries before returning to the open ocean to lay eggs. We know quite a lot about the eels' adult lives but big questions remain about their migration. It was only very recently that scientists following eels with electronic tracking devices along part of their route discovered that the adults do not migrate directly to their breeding grounds. Instead, they follow ocean currents far south of their destination and then catch another current to go north later. They are a solitary species for most of their life and do not join other eels in schools or groups.

In the course of their life, eels pass through a number of very different stages, marked by changes in size, shape and colour. The European eels' life begins near Bermuda in the deep waters of the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the North Atlantic, where the eggs hatch into transparent larvae called leptocephalus. The Sargasso is noted for its calm blue waters and the Sargassum seaweed that grows there, which the European eels use as cover, drifting with the Gulf Stream as it moves north-eastwards across the Atlantic. This 4,000-mile journey lasts over a year before the eels reach European and North African shores. They gather in the estuaries of rivers in the form of transparent miniature eels called glass eels to continue their migration inland. As glass eels leave the open ocean to enter the estuaries and ascend rivers, they gain colour and are known as elvers. Their migration occurs in late winter, early spring and through the summer months. For the next six to 20 years, the eels grow, putting on weight, becoming longer and developing yellow undersides. This is their yellow eel stage, when they travel continuously upstream toward lower temperatures and less salty waters, possibly also in reaction to crowded waters downstream. During their upriver journey, eels have been observed climbing obstacles such as dams to reach their breeding grounds and also leaving the water altogether and entering fields to eat slugs and worms. After migrating upstream, the male eels grow and feed for six to twelve years, the females for nine to 20 years, before returning to the sea to reproduce. Moving back to the sea, their stomachs dissolve, their skin turns silver and they are called silver eels. They seem to be stimulated to move downstream at night when there is a new moon or when the river is flooding.

Eels were once plentiful in Europe and were a source of food for many inhabitants. In the city of London, which is located on the river Thames, eel pie and jellied eels were a speciality in the poorer East End of the city. But now European eels are on the list of critically endangered species and their numbers have declined by around 90% since the 1970s. Researchers believe that this decrease happens at the glass eel stage, which is when the species is most at risk. In the past 40 years, the number of glass eels arriving in Europe has fallen by around 95%. Several reasons seem to be responsible for the decline. Artificial blocks to their natural migration routes, like weirs and dams, hydropower and water-pumping stations could be preventing the eels reaching their freshwater breeding grounds. Overfishing, pesticides and parasites are also believed to be part of the problem. Researchers in Portugal have found that rising temperatures and acidic waters are posing yet another threat. Dr Reinhold Hanel at the Thünen Institute in Germany also believes that climate change is harming eels by changing the ocean currents along their migration routes to and from the Sargasso Sea so that fewer glass eels are able to drift across to European shores. He stated that for fish that cross oceans and move between fresh and saltwater as eels do, climate change is yet another pressure. These vulnerable fish face so many dangers on their long journeys that the impact of man-made risks is proving too much for their survival.

Questions 29–30

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Questions 31–35

Complete the flow-chart below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

Questions 36–40

Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.