IELTS PRACTICE TESTS READING & WRITING QUARTER II, 2021 (April June)

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i | HALO IELTS 6.5+ - ĐẢM BẢO ĐẦU RA & BAO THI IDP VÀ BC

IELTS PRACTICE TESTS

READING & WRITING

QUARTER II, 2021

(April – June)

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ii | HALO IELTS 6.5+ - ĐẢM BẢO ĐẦU RA & BAO THI IDP VÀ BC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRACTICE TEST 1 .............................................................................. 1

PRACTICE TEST 2 .............................................................................. 9

PRACTICE TEST 3 ............................................................................. 17

PRACTICE TEST 4 ............................................................................. 25

ANSWER KEY ................................................................................ 36

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1 | HALO IELTS 6.5+ - ĐẢM BẢO ĐẦU RA & BAO THI IDP VÀ BC

PRACTICE TEST 1

READING Reading Passage 1

SHEDDING LIGHT ON IT

There are three main types of light bulb for lighting a room: incandescent, fluorescent and, more recently, the light emitting diode (LED) bulb. All three bulbs have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to purchase price, running costs and environmental impact.

The traditional incandescent bulb has been in use for more than 100 years. It is made by suspending a fine coil of tungsten wire between two electrodes. When a current flows through the wire it reaches a temperature of more than 2,000°C and glows white hot. The bulb is filled with argon, an inert gas, to prevent the wire from evaporating. Traditional light bulbs are not very efficient, converting less than 10% of the energy into light with the rest as heat, making them too hot to handle. Most household light bulbs are rated at 40, 60 or 100 Watts.

Mass production of fluorescent lights began in the 1940s. The standard size is 1.2 m in length and 2.5 cm in diameter. The tube contains a small amount of mercury and the inside surface of the glass has a phosphor coating. There are two electrodes, one at each end of the tube, but there is no wire in between. Instead, mercury atoms absorb the electrical energy and emit ultraviolet (UV); this light is invisible until it hits the phosphor coating on the glass, which emits a visible white light. Fluorescent lights are about five times more efficient than incandescent light bulbs. A 20 Watt fluorescent tube will produce a similar amount of light to a 100 Watt bulb and runs much cooler, which helps to give it 10 times the life expectancy of a bulb.

The bright light produced by standard fluorescent lights makes them an ideal choice for offices and factories, rather than homes, where the incandescent bulb has traditionally reigned supreme. However, the newer compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) look likely to make the old bulbs extinct. Global warming is the main reason. Compared with an incandescent bulb, a single energy-saving fluorescent lamp will save about one tonne of carbon-dioxide emissions over its lifetime, as well as reduce the consumer's electricity costs.

Not everybody likes the new CFLs, which have the following disadvantages: they are ten times the price of the traditional bulbs; flickering can occur with dimmer switches; they need to warm up to give full brightness; and they emit a bluish, less natural light that can strain the eye. Traditional bulbs are safer to dispose of because they are free from mercury, which is a neurotoxin. The mercury is safe inside a sealed CFL but it is released into the atmosphere if the bulb is broken. Mercury can accumulate in the body to attack the brain and central nervous system.

The reduced carbon footprint of CFLs in comparison with traditional bulbs may have been overstated. Whilst it is true that traditional bulbs …