BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 527

BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 527

IELTS Academic Reading Test

Web-based Communication

 A. The origins of the internet reach back to the 1960s when the US government undertook research to develop robust, fault-tolerant computer networks. Short for ‘internetwork’, the internet is free of any kind of centralised governance. This means that networks are free to develop and set their own policies regarding access and usage.

B. The only two guiding policies which govern all internet users are those regarding protocols for naming spaces on the internet. These policies specify that websites hosted in New Zealand will include the suffix ‘.nz’, for example, and that ‘.com’ sites are for commercial, or business, purposes.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

C. The terms ‘internet’ and ‘world wide web’ are often used interchangeably in everyday speech. However, in reality the internet refers to the global computer network that connects millions of computers across the globe. The World Wide Web is just one (although probably the most used) of the many services that run on the internet. It refers to content, though, rather than hardware. Most internet users will be familiar with the abbreviated ‘www’ typically used at the start of website addresses. However, today it is becoming increasingly more common for websites not to require ‘www’ when users are connecting to sites (try it with Google!).

D. Probably the most used form of communication on the internet is email. The concept of email predates the internet, although early systems existed only within corporations and had limited usability. Today email forms one of the most common types of daily communication worldwide. It allows users to send information across the globe instantly at the click of a button. Emails enable users to share documents, pictures and other media by sending attachments. It also has the added benefit of allowing messages to be sent to multiple users at the same time.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

E. Since it became popular in the late 1990s, internet usage has seen tremendous growth, experiencing a surge in popularity during the first decade of the new millennium. During this period, the number of internet users globally rose from 394 million to 1.86 billion. By 2010, 22 per cent of the world’s population had access to computers. There were 1 billion Google searches every day and 2 billion videos viewed daily on YouTube.

F. Globally, over 50 per cent of people now use the internet, and that figure is over 80 per cent for people in the developed world. English is clearly the dominant language of information on the internet, with over 50 per cent of website content in English. While this may not seem that dominant, the second most popular language for web content, German, makes up under seven per cent of content, and all other languages account for no more than five per cent of content each.

English is also the most used language in emails and other social interaction on the web, making up 27 per cent of communication. However, the second most popular language, Chinese, already accounts for 23 per cent of communication and is rapidly closing the gap on English.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

G. Interestingly, men spend more time online than women, and their user habits also differed. Men were more likely to pay bills online or download music, whereas women tended to email or communicate on social network sites more. Surprisingly, men and women were equally likely to use the internet for shopping and banking.

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

14. Internet policies are governed by

A. the US government.

B. two different groups.

C. websites in New Zealand.

D. the internet networks.

15. ‘The world wide web’

A. means exactly the same as ‘the internet’.

B. refers to the documents and information on the internet.

C. is a type of hardware.

D. is not used by Google.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

16. Email is

A. not as popular today as in the past.

B. a more recent invention than the internet.

C. widely used worldwide.

D. common in companies with limited usability.

17. Between 2000 and 2010 the number of internet users

A. climbed slightly.

B. grew to over two billion.

C. rose by 22 per cent.

D. more than tripled.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

18. More than half of the people around the world

A. watch YouTube daily.

B. have access to the internet.

C. regularly use the Google search engine.

D. send emails in English.

19. Most of the communication on the web

A. is in German, not English.

B. is from men, not women.

C. may soon be in Chinese.

D. is for things like shopping and banking.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

20. Men and women are just as likely to use the internet for

A. banking.

B. paying bills.

C. downloading music.

D. chatting online.

The passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

21. Top three languages

22. Massive rise in usage

23. How it got its name

24. Connectivity through mail

25. Web or net?

26. Different gender, different use

27. What you can call a site

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 527

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IELTS Academic Reading Test

14. D

15. B

16. C

17. D

18. B

19. C

20. A

21. F

22. E

23. A

24. D

25. C

26. G

27. B

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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