Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 501
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 501 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 501
READING PASSAGE – 2
What Ails Our Education System?
A. A recent article in The Guardian’ on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to improving exam performance of school children discusses some research findings that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. The research was conducted by Durham University. The issues are worth considering because the research deals with problems that are universal. The main findings are as follows:
B. Reducing class sizes and setting homework for primary school children are among the least effective ways to raise standards. The benefits of reducing class sizes ‘are not particularly large or clear, until class size is reduced to under 20 or even below 15’
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C. Secondly, the benefits of homework are modest. The optimum time spent doing homework for secondary school children is 1 to 2 hours per school day, but the benefits tail off as the amount of time increases, and there is little benefit in primary school pupils doing homework.
D. Thirdly, one of the most effective uses of a teacher’s time is in giving good feedback which should be sparing, specific, and encouraging. It is ‘more important to give feedback about what is right is than what is wrong, researchers say. It is also best to praise a particular task that has been accomplished well rather than praise a pupil with phrases like ‘good girl’
E. Finally, students should be encouraged to develop independent ‘learning strategies’ and to learn from each other. Teachers should encourage pupils to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning.
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F. While this report focuses on schools, let me enlarge the context and include the parents’ role too, with a particular reference to India. Let’s recall the incontrovertible fact that education, like charity, begins at home. If parents mismanage the early childhood training of their offspring, it is difficult to undo the damage later.
G. Bringing up children is one of the most complex tasks humans perform. But a lot of parents have not the vaguest idea about how to go about it and, in fact, just sleepwalk through this onerous task. Let me share a personal experience. One afternoon, I was on a crowded public bus. A boy of about 10 in school uniform sat splay-legged on a seat. His mother stood by his side, although there was enough room for her to share the seat.
She was even carrying his bag! A little later, an elderly woman approached the boy and requested him to move aside and make room for her. The boy, however, did not budge, and his mother shouted, ‘It’s my seat. I have left it for him!’ This scene was repeated several times as new unsuspecting people – mostly women – got onto the bus and requested the child to move.
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H. Although such insensitivity is rare, the general standard of parenting is not much better. In my city, parents often enroll their children in presumably good schools far away from their homes. It is a common practice among young mothers to accompany the offspring to school, spend the entire school hours hanging around and gossiping with other moms, and return home in the evening. In the process, the child – s/he is more likely to be a single child – learns that s/he is the fulcrum around which the family revolves. Therefore, it can hardly be their fault when they grow up into selfish and cussed individuals.
I. If we may move over from ethical training to academic training, many Indian parents – from Kolkata to Kochi – would be scandalized if their secondary school children were not allowed to do more than ‘1 to 2 hours’ of homework. For us, the motto seems to be: the more the merrier. And what matters are grades, not education.
The goal is not learning, but enrolment in premier colleges. Almost complete dependence on ‘private tuition’, the most pernicious system invented to kill the student’s enthusiasm, follows naturally. Every evening, one sees children carrying heavy bags scurrying from one tuition centre to another, at a time when they ought to be in a playground. In the process, the child loses out on 2 important things.
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J. The Indian children in this 21st century do not know much about the fun and frolic of childhood, and as they grow up, their faculty to think independently atrophies through lack of use. Once I asked my first- year students at an engineering college to write down their personal strategies about how to improve their English. The first assignment that I read was by a student with limited English competency. But his usage of language in the assignment he wrote was impeccable because it had been written by his private tutor!
So much for students ‘planning, monitoring, and evaluating’ their own learning! You may say that one cannot generalize a specific experience. But if you talk with college teachers in India, you will realize that a majority of students just cannot ‘think. The situation is bad, and our planners and administrators do not seem to be aware of the problem. Therefore, there is no reason to hope that the situation will change for the better in the foreseeable future.
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K. Imagine a situation when secondary school students will not focus on solving innumerable problems of mathematics or physics in milliseconds, and instead will focus on the concepts behind the problems – when students, instead of ‘learning’ a language, will focus on ‘using’ the language creatively. Imagine a situation when the best of our graduate students who wish to do research are not selected through a test that asks inane multiple-choice questions, but based on evaluation of real merit. It may never happen, but if it did, a necessary precondition would be that students were ‘encouraged to develop independent learning strategies and to learn from each other’
L. As John Lennon had said you may say ‘I am a dreamer, but hopefully, I am not the only one’.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 15-20
Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.
15. The article referred to in the passage is regarding how to improve
A. the performance of students.
B. the academic achievements of school students.
C. academic standards.
16. The author believes that the Durham University report is worth studying because
A. the topic covered by the research is relevant to his country as well.
B. the research deals with problems that are fundamental to education.
C. the research deals with problems that have relevance everywhere.
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17. The report implies that
A. small class sizes have no advantage over larger ones.
B. if a large class of, say, 40 students is reduced to around 30, it will not result in significant benefit.
C. The government should take steps to ensure that all class sizes are small and preferably below 15.
18. With regard to homework, the report says:
A. if homework time is increased beyond 2 hours every day for secondary school students, it will not lead to proportionate benefit.
B. all the teachers in a school should coordinate so that more than 2 hours’ homework is not allotted to students per day.
C. homework can be useful at the primary level if it is planned well and given sparingly.
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19. Feedback from the teacher is important
A. and it should be given frequently to encourage students to work harder.
B. but negative feedback should be avoided.
C and teachers should focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual students and give feedback accordingly.
20. Regarding the teacher’s role, the study emphasizes that
A. she/he should provide a comprehensive roadmap to the students in line with the curriculum objectives.
B. students should be encouraged to become more autonomous about what they wish to focus on.
C. students interacting with each other during the class is a waste of time.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 21-24
Which paragraph has the following information? Write the relevant paragraph number (A-L) in boxes 21-24 of the sample reading answer sheet. (You can use a paragraph number more than once.)
21. Parents should begin guiding their children when they are small.
22. A significant number of parents have little idea about how to bring up their offspring
23. An example of a parent unconsciously teaching incorrect behaviour to her child
24. Indian parents’ lack of respect for the school education system
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 25-27
Do the following statements match the author’s claims? In boxes 25-27 of the sample reading 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.
25. Because of widespread dependence on private coaching, Indian students can think less independently now than they could earlier.
26. Nowadays, children in India do not get an opportunity to enjoy their childhood.
27. The author will be happy if the system of assessing the competency of the students relied more on conceptual questions.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
IELTS Academic Reading Test
ANSWERS
15. B
16. C
17. B
18. A
19. B
20. B
21. F
22. G
23. G
24. I
25. NOT GIVEN
26. TRUE
27. TRUE
IELTS Academic Reading Test