IELTS General Reading Test 87

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-7.

Lanscombe Farm

We’ve been growing and selling organic fruit and vegetables on our farm now for twenty years and we offer a home delivery of vegetables and/or fruit to your doorstep. You can set up regular delivery of our selections and/or you can order bespoke selections delivered when and where you want them. Deliveries are free within a certain distance of our farm A modest delivery fee is charged after that. Customers should go to our website and put their postcode into our rangefinder to see how much it is to get our products to them.

In order to organist deliveries, you need to set up an account with us. Go to our website and clock on the icon OPEN AN ACCOUNT. All you need to give us is your email address and of course a password. You don’t pay anything until you order something. Payment is done with worldpayrnents.corn, a large online payment system. We at Lanscombe will never see or keep any of your sensitive financial details.

Although you are welcome to telephone us at any time to discuss our products and hear what’s seasonal, payment is done only by card on our website. In this way, your payments are always secure. Credit cards are subject to a small fee dependent on the type of card, but debit cards are free.

For customers of our weekly delivery, boxes are sent out every Friday, so you have all your fruit and vegetables ready for the weekend. In your box, you’ll have a selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables, which are guaranteed to be fresh and organic.

If you are as serious about your fresh fruit and vegetables as we are, we would expect that you might want to visit us and see where and how your food is produced. We have open days twice a year and you can wander around our fields, greenhouse and packing rooms and men all of our team who prepare your food.

We don’t only deliver organic fruit and vegetables, but we also have regular deliveries of fresh dairy products and eggs from local organic farms. Furthermore, our nearest bakery supplies us with an amazing range of bread, rolls, cakes, pies and tarts that you should try.

Check our website out now.

Questions 1-7
Answer the questions below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER from the passage.

1. For how long has Lanscombe Farm been in the organic food business?
2. What information will potential customers need to find out the Lanscombe Farm delivery charge?
3. What do people have to provide with their email address in order to set up an account?
4. For what payment method does Lanscombe farm not charge extra?
5. When will customers receive their weekly box deliveries?
6. How often are the Lanscombe Farm’s open days?
7. What is the source of Lanscombe Farm’s cheese?

Read the text below and answer questions 8-11.

Cut your energy bills – Solar power

Are you fed up with excessive electricity bills? Well, look no further than solar energy systems.

Did you know that you could cut your electrical costs and show off your environmental savvy by installing solar panels? Last year, 792 megawatts of new residential solar systems were put online in the U.S., which is enough to power the equivalent of more than 130,000 homes.

Think you might want to give solar panels a try? Thank about these four key points: Quality Products. Solar panels are a long-term investment in your home; you want them to last. A quality system should last for at least 25 years.

Experienced Installation. A qualified, experienced installer not only designs your solar panels, but can also save you money by guiding you through the process of securing tax rebates and financing options.

Intelligent Design. Your residential solar system must be designed to produce the right amount of power for your home and lifestyle. A good installer will review your previous year’s energy bills and analyze the orientation and shading of your roof to determine the best design. Check your installer’s credentials and ensure they are an authorized installer.

Guaranteed Performance. Be sure to choose solar panels that have gone through a factory tested process called ‘plus sorting’, which ensures the panels have met or exceeded their nameplate power rating. Panels that don’t undergo this process are as much as 5 percent less efficient than advertised. And don’t forget the warranty – solar panels are constantly exposed to the elements and can degrade if not of sufficient quality; you need to ensure your protection.

Questions 8-11
Complete the summary below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text.

Using solar energy can drastically cut your bills and help the environment. Enough solar panels were Installed last year to power 130,000 homes. Those interested should consider four points:
A A quality solar energy system is a (8)…………..
B A good installation company can help with opportunities in obtaining (9)……………….and explaining funding possibilities.
C Your solar system should suit your home, needs and sun exposure – inspect all your installer’s (10)………….
D Your solar panels should have been tested to be equal or better than the panels’ nameplate power rating to ensure they are good as they should be. Check too on your potential system’s (11)……………..in case there’s a future problem.

Read the text below and answer questions 12-14.

Brelford Town Hall Fire Practices

We are required by the district fire services to perform two fire evacuation practices every year. We must tell the fire services two weeks in advance when these fire evacuation practices will be, and they might come and observe how they are being conducted. The fire services can direct us to do more if they are not satisfied with our performance. Employees will not be notified about the dates and times of the fire evacuation practices. Mandatory fire training will be held twice a year.

Employees should be aware of and follow the following instructions:
• All employees must be aware of the evacuation procedures that are posted in every room and they should be aware of all the evacuation exits that can be used in the case of an emergency.
• Visitors to the building must sign in and out when they arrive.
• All employees should let their department secretary know when they leave the building.
• All employees must gather quietly at a muster point after evacuating the building.
• Heads of department must perform a roll call of their staff and report anyone missing to the building manager.
• The building manager will check to see that all visitors are out of the building.
• All windows and doors should be shut (but not locked) when people are evacuating the building.

Questions 12-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text below? In boxes 12-14 write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

12. Employees will be notified of any fire evacuation practices two weeks before they take place.
13. Visitors to the building must always wear a visible, plastic ID on a cord around their necks.
14. Locks must never be used on windows or doors during a fire evacuation practice.

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-20.

Bowman’s Building – Opportunities for Apprentices

Bowman’s Building (or Bowman’s as we are known) is a nationwide company that is involved in the building of housing estates, business parks and government projects. We employ hundreds of people at any one time and we also contract in various other businesses when needed. In order to sustain the supply of skilled craftsmen, the government has offered Bowman’s subsidies in order to train apprentices. Successful apprentices might find a permanent lob with us or maybe they will go out and start their own business.

Our apprenticeships are carried out in partnership with local colleges and your training will include classroom as well as building site time. If successful, you will end the apprenticeship with practical trade skills and a nationally recognized qualification.

In the classroom component, you will work under the close supervision of class teachers. You will follow the timetable provided and a poor attendance record or extremely poor grades can result in your apprenticeship being stopped.

In the workplace component, you’ll be placed in a normal working situation. You will gain skills and use the actual tools, equipment and materials that you’ll be using when you’re fully trained. Each apprentice will be allocated a qualified tradesperson. He/she will be responsible for making sure you acquire the skills needed to pass the practical part of your apprenticeship. All these tradespeople will have had company training on how to teach young people and how to assess you critically, helpfully and fairly.

As an apprentice, you’ll be paid a weekly wage and your college fees and any registration costs will be paid by Bowman’s and/or the government. The amount you are paid will depend on the type of apprenticeship that you choose.

In order to apply for an apprenticeship with us, you will need to visit our website (www.bownsansbuilding.corn). Click on the APPRENTICESHIPS icon and follow the on-screen instructions.

Questions 15-20
Complete the notes below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

APPRENTICESHIPS WITH BOWMAN’S BUILDING

Bowman’s caries out a variety of building projects and is a large employer. The government has created (15)…………..to help Bowman’s train a steady supply of skilled craftsmen through apprenticeships that could lead to a (16)……………or the charge to go into business. Classwork in (17)…………….combined with workplace time wall teach apprentices trade skills and give them the chance of acquiring ab(18)………………

Apprenticeship Components
Classroom
• Supervised by teachers
• A bad (19)………………..or bad results can mean the end of the apprenticeship

Workplace
• A normal working satiation
• Apprentices gain skills and experience
• Each apprentice assigned to a (20)…………………(fully trained to instruct and assess young people)

Apprentices will be paid a wage (the amount n dependent on the apprenticeship) and any costs will be met. Application for an apprenticeship is to be done on Bowman’s (21)………………….

Read the text below and answer questions 22-27.

Dismissal – Notes for UK employers and employees

Dismissal is when an employer ends an employee’s contract. There are five types of dismissal in UK law:

Fair
Employers are required to have a valid reason to dismiss employees. This can be if they’re incapable of doing their job to the required standard, they’re capable, but unwilling to do their job property or if they’ve committed some form of misconduct. There’s no reason for employers to go through the courts, as long as they act fairly.

Unfair Dismissal
If employers dismiss an employee, the employee can still claim unfair dismissal. This could be because of a variety of reasons, including the cause the employer gave for the dismissal wasn’t the real one, the reason the employer gave was unfair or the employer was unreasonable in their actions, e.g. by failing to give them plenty of warning about the dismissal.

Constructive Dismissal
This is when an employee resigns because an employer breached the employment contract This could be a single serious event or a series of less serious events. An employee could claim constructive dismissal if an employer cuts their wages, demotes them, allows harassment, increases workload unfairly or makes them work in hazardous surroundings. A constructive dismissal isn’t necessarily unfair, but it would be difficult for an employer to show that a breach of contract was fair.

Wrongful Dismissal
This is where an employer doesn’t follow correct procedures during the dismissal process. If an employee thinks an employer has dismissed them unfairly, constructively or wrongfully, the employee might take the employer to an employment tribunal.

Summary Dismissal
This is when an employer dismisses someone instantly without notice or pay in lieu of notice, usually because of gross misconduct. A fair procedure must still be followed.

Questions 22-27
Complete the notes below with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text.

Type of dismissal

Fair
• Employers mustn’t dismiss people without a (22)………………… – there are various
• Court procedure unnecessary

Unfair
• Can be claimed for any dismissal
• Example reasons: the employers lied over the cause of the dismissal the cause was unfair and the employer’s behaviour was (23)………………

Constructive
• Because an employer breaks the (24)………………..
• Example reasons: wage cuts, demotion, harassments, overworking or dangerous conditions
• This isn’t automatically (25)………………….., but hard for an employer to prove otherwise

Wrongful
• When an employer acts improperly in the dismissal process
• An employee might claim unlit dismissal at an (26)……………

Summary
• When an employee is dismissed immediately without benefits normally due to (27)……………..

Section 3

Water stress and scarcity

Water stress and scarcity occur when there is an imbalance between the availability of water and the demand for water. When we hear people talking about water stress and scarcity, we often think of drought but this is only one of several causes. Alex Karpov, a representative from the WHO explains some of the other issues that also impact the availability of fresh water, “The deterioration of ground water and surface water quality, competition for water between different segments of society, for example, between agricultural, industrial, and domestic users, and even social and financial barriers, are all causes of water stress and scarcity today”.

While approximately three quarters of the earth are covered with water only a small proportion of it is available as fresh water. Of the available fresh water supplies, nearly 70% is withdrawn and used for irrigation to produce food, and the demand just keep growing. Although there is currently no global scarcity of water, more and more regions of the world are chronically short of water. At present, 1.1 billion people have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water, and 2.6 billion people, which is around half the developing world, lack access to adequate sanitation. As Kathie Coles, an executive from the charity World of Water, describes, the situation will deteriorate. “Over the next 20 years, an estimated 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with an absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population may be under pressure conditions. This situation will only worsen, as rapidly growing urban areas place heavy pressure on water supplies”.

Of course, there have been different initiatives put into place around the world to help with water stress and scarcity. With larger scale projects, such as the construction of piper water systems, remain important objectives of many development agencies, a shortage of time and finances will leave hundreds of millions of people without access to safe water in the foreseeable future. Georgina Ronaldson, a spokesperson for the World Bank, recently announced a way to deal with the current difficulties. “To help developing countries, various concerned organisations have developed the Safe Water System (SWS), which is an adaptable and flexible intervention that employs scientific methods appropriate for the developing world”.

The SWS has been criticised in various corners as being too amateurish, but Ronaldson continues to justify the approach. “The use of relevant technologies is important, an in many places around the world, water provision efforts suffer from a lack of technical knowledge to effectively manage or adapt a system to a community’s changing needs”. The SWS is a community-based, integrative approach to improving health and quality of life through increased access to improve water, sanitation and hygiene. Darren Stanford, a water quality engineer, explains the important three step methodology. “The first is an assessment of water delivery system from catchment to consumer. The second is implementing appropriate interventions, which can include protection of source waters, improvements to the water deliver systems, introduction of SWS, improved sanitation and hygiene education. The third is the evaluation of the impact of the intervention of the health and quality of life of the consumers”.

One example of how poor water access can affect local populations is the problems of guinea worms in remote parts of Africa. This is a preventable parasitic infection that affects poor communities that lack safe drinking water. The infection is transmitted to people who drink water containing copepods (tiny water fleas) that are infected with the larvae of guinea worms. Once ingested these larvae take up to one year to grow into adult worms; the female worms then emerge from the skin anywhere on the body. Will Goodman, a doctor with WHO, says that this can affect communities in different ways. “The emergence of the adult female worm can be very painful, slow and disabling and prevents people from working in their fields, tending their animals, going to school, and caring for their families”.

Currently many organisations are helping the last nine endemic countries (all in Sub-Saharan Africa) to eradicate guinea worm. Since the Guinea Worm Eradication programme began, the incidence of guinea worm has declined from 1.5 million cases per year in 20 endemic countries to 25,018 reported cases in 2008 from the nine remaining endemic countries. The eradication efforts make use of simple intervention for providing safe drinking water including using cloth filters and pipe filters to strain the infected copepods from water, applying chemicals to the water supplies to kill the larvae, and preventing infected people from entering and contaminating the water supplies, as the worms emerge from their skins. Providing borehole wells and other supplies of water in endemic village is another important component of the eradication efforts.

The provision of borehole well is one of the principal aims of SWS. Many existing dug wells in communities only pierce the topsoil, do not reach deep enough and are therefore readily affected by drought or by the natural declines from summer to autumn in the water table. SWS borehole wells can pierce the bedrock and access a deeper aquifer with water that is not affected by surface drought. These are also unaffected by guinea worm infestation and water is much safer for human consumption.

Questions 28-34
Look at the following statements and the list of people below. Match each statement with correct person’s initials.

28. Local water demands around the world can sometimes change too much for the local infrastructure to cope with effectively.
29. The fast growth of towns will create more areas around the world suffering from water scarcity or water stress.
30. A measurement of the success of the implemented water intervention strategies is a key step in the SWS.
31. A lack of money is one of the potential causes of water scarcity.
32. In the future, more than half of the world’s population will live in an area suffering from water stress.
33. Poor water sanitation can lead indirectly to fewer workers being active in agriculture.
34. There is a current initiative today to use suitable technologies to deal with people affected by water difficulties around the world.

AK Alex Karpov
KC Kathie Coles
GR Georgina Ronaldson
DS Darren Stanford
WG Will Goodman

Questions 35-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text below? In boxes 35-40 write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

35. The SWS has been appreciated worldwide.
36. SWS has been implemented in more than 30 countries.
37. Guinea worms in only found in Arica.
38. SWS focuses on providing boreholes to eradicate the problem of guinea worms.
39. One of main reasons behind declining availability of water is demand from different working segments of society.
40. Majority of water available on earth is drinkable.