BEST IELTS General Reading Test 492

Table of Contents

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 492 – PASSAGE – 2

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 492

READING PASSAGE – 2

CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROCESS

Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to mitigate or defer global warming. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical and physical processes. Artificial processes have been devised to produce similar effects including large-scale artificial capture and sequestration of industrially produced CO2 using subsurface saline aquifers, reservoirs, ocean water, aging oil fields or other carbon sinks.

Carbon sequestration may refer specifically to:

– The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir. When carried out deliberately, this may also be referred to as carbon dioxide removal which is a form of geo-engineering.

IELTS General Reading Test

– Carbon capture and storage, where carbon dioxide is removed from flue gases (e.g., at power stations) before being stored in underground reservoirs.

– Natural biogeochemical cycling of carbon between the atmosphere and reservoirs such as by chemical weathering of rocks.

There are three ways that this sequestration can be carried out; post-combustion capture, pre- combustion capture and oxy-combustion. A wide variety of separation techniques are being pursued, including gas phase separation, absorption into a liquid and adsorption on a solid, as well as hybrid processes, such as adsorption/membrane systems. These above processes basically will capture carbon emitted from power plants, factories, fuel burning industries and so on.

IELTS General Reading Test

Biological Sequestration is typically accomplished through conservation practices that enhance the storage of carbon (such as restoring forests, wetlands, and grasslands) or reduce CO2 emissions (such as reducing agricultural tillage and suppressing wildfires). Soil carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere by plants accumulating organic matter in soil. For example, when plant materials and roots are decomposed by microbial action (microbes and macro fauna, such as worms), stable forms of carbon in soil are created.

In agriculture, soil carbon sequestration can be achieved by land management practices, such as planting cover crops, and incorporating crop residues into the soil. However, the amount of carbon sequestered at a site depends on a balance between incorporation and release mechanisms. Land use, disease, tillage, erosion and disturbances magnified by climate pressures such as wildfires and droughts can release biologically sequestered CO2 back into the atmosphere. Therefore, efforts to increase biological sequestration are focused on increasing carbon storage, while simultaneously avoiding disturbances that cause CO2 emissions.

IELTS General Reading Test

Questions 15-17

Choose the appropriate letter from A-D for the following questions.

Write the answers in the boxes 15-17 on your answer sheet.

15. Which of the following options is not a method used for carbon sequestration?

A. air-combustion

B. post-combustion capture

C. oxy-combustion

D. pre-combustion capture

16. Which of the following practices help accomplish biological sequestration?

A. reducing agricultural tillage

B. suppressing wildfires

C. restoring forests, wetlands and grasslands

D. all of the above

IELTS General Reading Test

17. Which carbon sink is not used to sequester industrially produced CO2?

A. subsurface saline aquifers

B. plants and soil.

C. reservoirs and ocean water

D. aging oil fields

Questions 18-21

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text above?

In boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet, write

YES – if the statement agrees with the information

NO – if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this

IELTS General Reading Test

18. Carbon sequestration slows the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases which are released by burning fossil fuels.

19. Natural biogeochemical cycling of carbon occurs between the atmosphere and reservoirs such as by chemical weathering of rocks.

20. Carbon sequestration leads to long term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon.

21. The amount of carbon sequestered at a site does not depend on a balance between incorporation and release mechanisms.

IELTS General Reading Test

Read the text below and answer Questions 22-26.

CONCORDE FLIGHT

Concorde is the first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial airplane or supersonic transport (SST) built jointly by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France. Fifty years ago, the first Concorde supersonic transport took to the skies over Toulouse, France. Hailed in its day as a technological achievement to rival the first manned Moon landing, it not only set an aeronautical standard that we cannot match even today, it also stood as a prime example of the way in which engineering and sheer beauty can be melded into a single package.

The Concorde made its first transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973 and it inaugurated the world’s first scheduled supersonic passenger service on January 21, 1976 with British Airways initially flying the aircraft from London to Bahrain and Air France flying it from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. Both airlines added regular service to Washington, D.C., in May 1976 and to New York City in November 1977.

IELTS General Reading Test

Other routes were added temporarily or seasonally and the Concorde was flown on chartered flights to destinations all over the world. However, the aircraft’s noise and operating expense limited its service. Financial losses led both airlines to cut routes, eventually leaving New York City as their only regular destination. Concorde operations were finally ceased by Air France in May 2003 and by British Airways in October 2003. Only 14 of the aircraft actually went into service.

The Concorde was the first major cooperative venture of European countries to design and build an aircraft. On November 29, 1962, Britain and France signed a treaty to share costs and risks in producing an SST. British Aerospace and the French firm Aérospatiale were responsible for the airframe, while Britain’s Rolls-Royce and France’s SNECMA developed the jet engines. The result was a technological masterpiece, the delta-wing Concorde, which made its first flight on March 2, 1969.

IELTS General Reading Test

The Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km (1,354 miles) per hour, or Mach 2.04 (more than twice the speed of sound), allowing the aircraft to reduce the flight time between London and New York to about three hours. The development costs of the Concorde were so great that they could never be recovered from operations and the aircraft was never financially profitable. Nevertheless, it proved that European governments and manufacturers could cooperate in complex ventures and it helped to ensure that Europe would remain at the technical forefront of aerospace development.

Questions 22-26

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

YEAR	EVENT
May 2003	Concorde operations were finally ceased by 22…………..
March 1969	The delta-wing Concorde made its first 23…………..
November 1962	Britain and France signed a 24………….. to share costs and risks.
September 1973	The Concorde made its first transatlantic 25…………..
November 1977	Both airlines added 26………….. service to New York city.