Cambridge 1 Academic Test 4 – Passage 01: Glass-Capturing the Dance of Light reading answers location, explanation and pdf summary. This reading paragraph has been taken from our huge collection of Academic & General Training (GT) Reading practice test PDF’s.
IELTS reading module focuses on evaluating a candidate’s comprehension skills and ability to understand English. This is done by testing the reading proficiency through questions based on different structures and paragraphs (500-950 words each). There are 40 questions in total and hence it becomes extremely important to practice each and every question structure before actually sitting for the exam.
This reading passage mainly consists of following types of questions:
- Match the headings
- Label the diagram
We are going to read about the fascinating facts about Glass. You must read the passage carefully and try to answer all questions correctly.
Glass-Capturing the Dance of Light
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-12 which are based on the reading passage.
A. Glass, in one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans. As one of the most widely used of manufactured materials, and certainly the most versatile, it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the width of a tennis court or as small and simple as a marble rolling across dirt. The uses of this adaptable material have been broadened dramatically by new technologies glass fibre optics — more than eight million miles — carrying telephone and television signals across nations, glass ceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific organs, even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispose of that unwanted material.
B. On the horizon are optical computers. These could store programs and process information by means of light – pulses from tiny lasers – rather than electrons. And the pulses would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire. These machines could function hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and hold vastly more information. Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of smaller and smaller objects than ever before – even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers) to building new plants to meet demand.
C. But it is not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons. The use of glass as art, a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and creating works of art. «I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,» Dale Chihuly said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th century. He now has a new commission – a glass sculpture for the headquarters building of a pizza company – for which his fee is half a million dollars.
D. But not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Consider the simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a nation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder that the machine has been called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four glassblowers.
E. The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it is rigid, and thus like a solid, the atoms are arranged in a random disordered fashion, characteristic of a liquid. In the melting process, the atoms in the raw materials are disturbed from their normal position in the molecular structure; before they can find their way back to crystalline arrangements the glass cools. This looseness in molecular structure gives the material what engineers call tremendous “formability” which allows technicians to tailor glass to whatever they need.
F. Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their imaginations with applications of special types of glass. A London architect, Mike Davies, sees even more dramatic buildings using molecular chemistry. “Glass is the great building material of the future, the «dynamic skin»,’ he said. “Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric currents going through it, glass that will change from clear to opaque at the push of a button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of how the tall buildings in New York could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in them is made to change colours instantly.” Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is exorbitant. As for the glass changing colours instantly, that may come true. Mike Davies’s vision may indeed be on the way to fulfilment.
Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs (A-F).
Choose the most suitable heading/or each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
Paragraph A has been done for you as an example.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any heading more at once.
| S.NO. | List of Headings |
|---|---|
| i. | Growth in the market for glass crafts |
| ii. | Computers and their dependence on glass |
| iii. | What makes glass so adaptable |
| iv. | Historical development of glass |
| v. | Scientists’ dreams cost millions |
| vi | Architectural experiments with glass |
| vii. | Glass art galleries flourish |
| viii | Exciting innovations in fiber optics |
| ix. | A former glass technology |
| x. | Everyday uses of glass |
- Paragraph B
- Paragraph C
- Paragraph D
- Paragraph E
- Paragraph F
Questions 6-8
The diagram below shows the principle of Coming’s ribbon machine.
Label the diagram by selecting NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage to fill each numbered space. Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.
Questions 9-13
Look at the list below of the uses of glass.
According to the passage, state whether these uses exist today, will exist in the future or are not mentioned by the writer. In boxes 9-13 write:
A) if the uses exist today
B) if the uses will exist in the future
C) if the uses are not mentioned by the writer
9. dental fittings
10. optical computers
11. sculptures
12. fashions
13. curtains
Answers/Explanation
Check out your Glass – Capturing the Dance of Light reading answers below with locations and explanations given in the text.
| Questions | Task | Skills tested |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | Paragraph headings | • reading for detail • identifying main ideas/themes/topics • understanding gist |
| 6-8 | Labelling a diagram | • following a description of a process |
| 9-13 | Classification | • skimming/scanning for specific information • understanding gist and paraphrase |
Questions 1-5
(Suggested approach)
• Read the task rubric carefully. You have to decide which heading best fits each paragraph in the passage.
• Read paragraph A and look at the example.
• Skim through the list of paragraph headings to familiarise yourself with them.
• Read the paragraph B and underline parts that are relevant to the main focus of the paragraph.
• Paragraph B begins “On the horizon” suggesting that it is going to discuss a future use of glass. It goes on to discuss fibre optics and how they could be used in the future to improve optical instruments. Phrases such as “could function hundreds of times faster” and “the surge in fibre optic use” all indicate that this paragraph is about “Exciting innovations in fibre optics”. So viii is the heading for paragraph B.
• Go on to paragraph C.
• When there is more than one possible heading for a paragraph, re-read the paragraph and try to decide which heading is most appropriate.
• If you cannot decide go on to the next paragraph — you can come back to any questions that you can’t do, later.
| Question | Answer | Focus of paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | viii | The future of fibre optics and the excitement felt about this. |
| 2 | i | The increase in trade for glass artists. |
| 3 | ix | The impact of a machine for glass objects made in 1920. |
| 4 | iii | Reasons why glass is so easy to shape. |
| 5 | vi | The future with glass for designers of buildings and homes. |
| Question | Answer |
| 6 | molten glass//ribbon of glass//molten glass ribbon |
| 7 | belt of steel//steel belt//moving belt |
| 8 | (lightbulb) moulds |
| 9 10 11 12 13 | A B A C A |
Have any doubts??? Discuss in the comments ...
PDF Summary
If you want the Glass – Capturing the Dance of Light reading pdf summary, please write your email in the comment section below. We’ll send it across at the speed of light.
or
You can buy the complete booklet here at discounted price.
All the best !
| Disclosure: We sometimes use affiliate links in our content. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, we’ll receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. These links help us to offset the costs of running this website. Thanks for understanding! |