Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 497
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 497 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 497
READING PASSAGE – 2
The Metric System
A global measurement solution
The metric system is the standard measurement system based on multiples of ten that began in France in the 1790s. It now covers every form of measurement known in the physical world, including length, weight, energy, density, temperature and pressure, and its formal name is the International System of Units (SI).
At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, scientists around the world began publishing their findings and working together to advance further discoveries. As there were different measuring systems in the various countries and regions, comparison of data in the international world of science now needed standard measurements. Though there had been some call for this in Britain, what would later be called the imperial system of measurement was used by all across the nation, with feet, miles, gallons and pounds well established.
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French scientists came up with the beginnings of their metric system around the time of the Revolution, deciding to base their new measurements on decimal numbers. Before that, like in much of Europe, measurements were different all over the country with multiple names and ratios for heights, weights and distances that could change completely from one town to the next. As French was the international language of communication at the time, the metric system gained momentum in other countries, particularly during the period of the Napoleonic wars.
The simplicity of the metric system having all its measurements based on multiples of ten was its greatest strength. The metre was originally one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, measured along the Paris meridian, and the kilogram was the mass of one cubic decimetre, or litre, of water. This was to ensure that these unit definitions could be reproduced anywhere on the planet with accuracy.
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Like all changes to established structures, it did take some time for the metric system to be completely accepted in France. Even Napoleon accused it of ‘tormenting the people with trivia’. By the end of Napoleon’s reign in 1815, the system had become associated with petty bureaucracy and government control, which are exactly what it had been originally designed to be against. Nonetheless, the various French governments persisted, and the metrication of France was accepted by the middle of the century. By the end of the century, the metric system had become the official measurement system of most of the countries in continental Europe.
The English-speaking world was much slower to take it on, partially because of its hostility to a system that arose from the regimes of the French Revolution and Napoleon. However, it was impossible to ignore the great utility of the metric system in science and international commerce, and in 1875 the metric system was given its first official recognition as an international standard of measurement when the major world powers, including the United States, signed the Treaty of the Metre.
Official metre and kilogram examples made of platinum were given to the participating countries so that they had a standard measure, and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, or the BIPM, was set up to make sure standards were adhered to.
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Because English-speaking countries were slow to use the metric measure as its primary system, many of its advantages were lost. Instead, they used the traditional English units, which were standardized in 1824 and called the imperial system. Even more confusingly, the USA did not adopt these standardized imperial foot- pound units and continued to use measurements that were current at the time of their independence, with particular differences in measures of volume, such as the gallon. Even in these countries, however, metric units were adopted in the fields of scientific research due to its international nature.
The International System of Units (SI), which was created in 1960, finally replaced the various systems of customary units that were still in use in different countries, particularly in the English-speaking world. The Commonwealth countries each began to introduce the system after that, including the decimalization of currencies. By using national education programmes and TV advertising, the transition was smooth and quite painless. In the USA though it was met with opposition, and even though the Metric Conversion Act was passed in 1975, it was never promoted or implemented, and the Americans just ignored it. The USA still uses gallons, pounds, feet, miles and degrees Fahrenheit, much to the confusion of many foreign visitors to the country.
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The UK announced metrification in 1965, and six years later the British currency was metrified into 100 pence in a pound. In the 1970s, fields such as medicine, engineering, education and manufacturing also made the transition to the new system.
However, there was no attempt to change the units in common use, and the traditional measurements continued to be used for human height and weight, for weighing shopping items, and for talking about distances travelled. To this day, British road signs remain in miles. Many shopkeepers refused to sell goods using metric weights and measures, even after European legislation compelled it in the year 2000. This enforced change became one of the reasons behind the push for Britain’s exit from the European Union.
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The idea that the metric system is fundamentally foreign to the English-speaking world is not really true. The original prototypes of the metre and kilogram were housed in Paris, but they were manufactured in Britain. British engineers and scientists played a great part in the establishment of the metric system, and many of the metric units are named after them. They are Newton, Faraday, Joule, Watt and Kelvin. The SI is now firmly established as the standard system of measurement, and it is only a matter of time before the last few non-conformers make the switchover.
Questions 14-17
Choose no more than THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
14. What is the unofficial name of the International System of Units?
15. What was the eventual name of the system of measurement in Britain?
16. What was happening in France when the metric system was introduced?
17. What is the name of the line from the North Pole to the equator from which the metre was calculated?
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Questions 18-21
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
A slow start to acceptance
When the metric system was introduced in 18……………… though it took some time for the people to get used to it, it was eventually completely accepted. By 1900 most countries in Europe had also started using it.
19………… countries were not keen to take it on, and among the reasons for this was its association with the leadership of 20……………….. Nonetheless, all the leading world powers signed the Treaty of the Metre in 1875.
Both Britain and the USA continued with their own systems of measurement, except in fields of 21……… as different nationalities needed to work together.
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Questions 22-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Passage 2?
In boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet 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
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22 Americans were taught to start using metric measures using TV advertising.
23 Before the 1970s, the British pound was not a decimal currency.
24 People in the UK considered the metric system a motivation for leaving the European Union.
25 No scientists from the USA were part of the evolution of the metric system.
26 The author concludes that the metric system will eventually become completely universal.
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ANSWERS
14. (THE) METRIC SYSTEM
15. IMPERIAL
16. REVOLUTION
17. (THE) PARIS MERIDIAN
18. FRANCE
19. ENGLISH-SPEAKING
20. NAPOLEON
21. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
22. FALSE
23. TRUE
24. TRUE
25. NOT GIVEN
26. TRUE
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