Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 531
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 531 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 531
READING PASSAGE – 3
Vision of Lifelong Learning at the Heart of OECD Target
Governments must step up their efforts to encourage lifelong learning, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The conclusions of the latest edition of the organization’s Education Policy Analysis were on the agenda at this week’s meeting of OECD education ministers, for discussions on how citizens could benefit from opportunities to upgrade education and skills throughout their lives.
IELTS General Reading Test
The report reviews the achievements of OECD member states – the world’s 30 richest countries – since 1996, when ministers committed themselves to a “cradle-to-grave” vision of lifelong learning.
John Martin, Director for Education, Employment, Labor and Social Affairs, said investment in lifelong learning “must be a top priority for OECD countries in the years ahead.”
The consensus on education and training “shared by politicians from George W. Bush to Tony Blair” was based on “a belief that investing in high-quality education and training is the key determinant in globalizing the world economy, that education has a key role to play in fostering citizenship and social cohesions; and, in the context of ageing populations, there is growing pressure on individuals and firms to upgrade their competencies and skills.”
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Reviewing progress, the report finds “basis for optimism and basis for caution.” Though “many pieces of the lifelong learning jigsaw can already be widely observed in OECD countries… no country has yet put them together to complete the jigsaw,” it says.
It identifies education inequalities that are “compounded by inferior access among traditionally disadvantaged groups to computers and the Internet, especially at home,” though schools play an important part in reducing the unequal access to digital technologies.
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Increased public spending does not always produce good education systems, it says, though countries with strong all-round performances – in particular, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden – are high spenders.
Spending trends in tertiary education from 1990 to 1996 show that only Australia and Spain increased expenditure per student by more than 10 percent in the face of substantial student expansion. Extra students elsewhere were financed through flexible, cheaper options such as part-time courses, distance learning, or private colleges.
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The report presents six scenarios for the school of the future, setting out the policy issues and strategic choices that face ministers for shaping schooling in the long term. It places the possibilities in three categories:
● Status Quo: schools continue as they are, possibly with greater reliance on market approaches that could have positive effects by introducing innovation, or negative results such as increased risks of exclusion.
● Re-schooling: development of social links and community leadership could strengthen public recognition, support, and independence of schools, which could become “learning organizations” with a strong focus on knowledge and highly motivated teachers.
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● De-schooling: breaking up school institutions and systems and replacing them with non-formal learning networks driven by information and communications technologies could improve the quality of education. In the worst case, policies would fail to prevent severe teacher shortages (faced by many OECD countries), and conflict and falling standards would lead to more or less extensive “meltdown.”
Questions 28 – 33
Choose the appropriate letter, A–D, for each question and write your answers in boxes 28–32 on your answer sheet.
28 OECD stands for
A. Overseas Education for Community Development.
B. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
C. Overseas Economic Community Development.
D. Organization for Economic Community Development.
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29-30 What are TWO reasons for lifelong learning?
A. The puzzle urgently needs to be solved.
B. Work skills need to be continually improved.
C. The world economy is globalizing.
D. Life expectancy is increasing.
31. The unequal access to digital technology means differences in
A. mathematical ability.
B. quality of computers available in schools.
C. opportunity to make use of the Internet.
D. economic capacity to buy computers.
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32. Four Scandinavian countries are mentioned as examples of countries that
A. spend a lot on public education.
B. continually increase public spending.
C. provide modern technology in schools.
D. produce high-quality education systems with low investment.
33. Australia and Spain are mentioned as countries that
A. provide part-time courses for extra students.
B. spent 10% more in 1996 than in 1990.
C. increased funding per student by more than 10%.
D. faced substantial student expansion.
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Questions 34 – 35
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, name TWO more ways that are mentioned in the passage for governments to provide education more cheaply.
(34)………..
(35)…………
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Questions 36 – 40
Three categories for shaping schooling for the future are given in the reading passage “Vision of Learning at the Heart of OECD Target.” With which category is each of the following associated?
SQ Status Quo
RS Re-Schooling
DS De-Schooling
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Write the appropriate letters in boxes 36–40 on your answer sheet.
36. New ideas and methods
37. Shortage of teachers
38. Non-formal learning networks
39. Greater independence of institutions
40. Higher risks of neglect
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IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
28. B
29-30. B, C
31. C
32. A
33. C
34. PART-TIME COURSES
35. DISTANCE LEARNING
36. SQ
37. DS
38. DS
39. RS
40. SQ
IELTS General Reading Test