IELTS_Express_Intermediate_Coursebook_Unit_5

Building a mental map of the text

A Reading a text can be like going to a new city - it can be difficult to find your way around. A useful technique to help you navigate a text is to build a map of the passage, in your mind, as you are reading. When you read the first paragraph, you can see how the rest of the passage will develop. Paragraphs 1-4 are first paragraphs from different texts and tell us something about the development of the text they are taken from. Read them and then match them with the types of text maps (i-iv).

1.For thousands of years, humans have looked at the skies and dreamed of flying. Early

attempts to fly, using wings made from feathers, were unsuccessful and in many cases ended in disaster. The use of hot air and light gases eventually allowed humans to reach for the skies, but it was not until the early 1900s that gliders and then powered planes fully realized man's dream to fly.

2.How a road is built: Fact sheet

The following steps outline the stages involved in road building, some of which occur concurrently. First of all, it is necessary

3.There are many reasons put forward for not privatizing public transport, especially a country's

railway system. However, some people think privatization is a good idea and it improves individual freedom, increases efficiency, makes the railway management listen to the customer more, decreases public debt and also reduces the problems created by unions. Let us look at each of these arguments in turn.

4 Buying a train ticket in the UK can be more than a little confusing. There are many different ticket types and prices, and it is worth doing a little research, which could save you more than 50% on the cost of your travel_

Types of text maps Paragraph

i Categories (groups of things according to type)

ii Chronological order (time or historical order)

iii A process (first you do this, then you do that, etc.)

iv Building an argument (firstly, secondly, also, etc.)

B Paragraph 1 is the beginning of the passage on page 42. Read the passage and put the following inventions in historical order (1 = oldest, 7 = most modern). Because the passage follows a chronological map,

the text order and the historical order should be the same.

kites hot air balloon jet plane wings (for birdmen)

glider propeller planes ornithopter

Rebuilding the text

The passage 'Man's Passion for Flight' on page 42 follows a chronological map, but other passages may follow different types of maps - categories, a process or building an argument. Whichever type of map is used, it is essential to be clear about the main idea in each paragraph.

A Look at paragraphs A and

B on page 42. Which one of the following is the main idea of each paragraph?

Paragraph A Paragraph B

I The inventors were very clever. 1 Wax melts in the sun.

2 Powered planes were the most successful. 2 Ancient Greek legend tells of men flying

3 Flying has a Long history. using birds' wings.

3 Icarus made a mistake by flying too near to the sun.

B Work in pairs. Create a map of the text by thinking of headings for paragraphs C-H. Write your headings on a piece of paper.

C Work with a partner. Using your map and your answers from 2B, try to give an account of the passage without looking at it.

Man's passion for flight

For thousands of years, humans have looked at the skies and dreamed of flying. Early attempts to fly, using wings made from feathers, were unsuccessful and in many cases ended in disaster. The use of hot air and light gases eventually allowed humans to reach for the skies, but it was not until the early 1900s that gliders and then powered planes fully realized man's dream to fly.

One of the earliest tales of man's passion for flight comes from Greek mythology. According to legend, an inventor named Daedalus and his son Icarus escaped from a prison on the island of Crete by making wings of wax and feathers. Daedalus was successful in returning home, but Icarus flew too near to the sun, the wax on his wings melted, the feathers came out and he fell to his death in the sea.

Around 400 BC, the first kites were created by the Chinese, who used them for religious ceremonies and also for the testing of weather conditions. In many ways, this early invention paved the way for the introduction of balloons and gliders many years later.

Perhaps the most important early aviation pioneer was the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who in the 1480s produced over one hundred sketches to illustrate how humans might be able to fly. These included a drawing of a flying machine called an Ornithopter. Although never created, the design for da Vinci's machine included many concepts that were later incorporated into the modern-day helicopter.

The first successful air passengers were not actually humans at all. In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers sent a duck, a sheep and a rooster up in their new invention: the hot air balloon. The flight was a success. The balloon climbed to a height of 6,000 feet and travelled more than a mile. This was soon followed by the first manned flight, which took place in Paris on 21" November 1783.

Although hot air balloons enabled people to fly freely in the air, they did not allow much control

over direction. The man who first proposed an effective alternative to the balloon was George Cayley (1773-1857), who designed many different versions of gliders, including biplanes and gliders with tails. Cayley understood two important principles of flight: firstly, he was aware that air flow over the wings was crucial for producing flight, and therefore wing shape was an important factor; he also knew that any long flight would need an additional, essential ingredient --power.

In the early 1900s, two American brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, began to create their own version of the glider. Using the results of research carried out by Cayley and other pioneers, as well as their own experiments using wind tunnels, the brothers finally came up with a design for an engine-driven propeller system that would pull an airplane forward and create enough lift for it to fly. On 17" December 1903, at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, the first heavier-than-air flight took place, when Orville piloted the world's first airplane, The Flyer. The flight covered 20 feet and lasted 12 seconds.

This first powered flight led to several important technological developments during the twentieth century, including the invention of the jet engine, large passenger planes and supersonic flight. Just over a century after the Wright Brothers' flight, a new milestone was set on 21" June 2004, when a rocket plane called Space Ship One flew to the edge of space and returned safely to Earth. None of these achievements, however, would have been possible without the efforts of the early pioneers who dared to believe that one day man's dream to fly would become a reality.

Matching headings to paragraphs

Questions 1-8

The passage on page 42 has eight paragraphs A-H. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below Write the correct numbers i-x next to the paragraphs. The first one has been done as an example.

List of Headings

i The first powered flight

ii Pushing the limits of technology

iii The first international flight

iv Planes without engines

v How a hot air balloon works

vi Birdmen

vii The genius who saw the future

viii The first man-made things to fly

ix The flying farm

x The long history of flying

1 Paragraph A X 5 Paragraph E

2 Paragraph B 6 Paragraph F

3 Paragraph C 7 Paragraph G

4 Paragraph D 8 Paragraph H

Multiple-choice questions

A You can use your map to help you quickly find the answer to multiple-choice questions. Look at this example.

9 According to Greek legend, Icarus never got home because

A he was exhausted and fell into the sea.

B the wings became too hot and he crashed.

C the sun burnt him.

D he was recaptured and taken to prison.

Before you consider options A, B, C or D, think about the following;

^ What keywords in the question will help you identify the relevant section in the passage?

^ Which paragraph do you need to look at?

B Here are the first parts of Questions 10-14. Underline the keywords. Then use your map to help you find the paragraphs in the passage which will contain the answers.

Question Paragraph Question 10: The Chinese were very good at making ____________________ Question 11: Which modern flying machine is based on a 500-year-old design? _____________ Question 12: The first powered flight was performed by ____________ Questions 13-14: According to the information in the passage, which TWO factors

did George Cayley realize would be necessary for a long flight? __________

C Now answer Questions 10-14.

Questions 10-12

Choose the correct letter A-D.

10. The Chinese were very good at making

A weather balloons.

B sketches of flying machines.

C gliders.

D kites.

11. Which modern flying machine is based on a 50O-year-old design?

A helicopter

B plane

C hot air balloon

D kite

12 The first powered flight was performed by

A Leonardo da Vinci.

B the Montgolfier brothers.

C George Cayley. D. Orville Wright.

Questions 13-14

Choose TWO letters A-E.

According to the information in the passage, which TWO factors did George Cayley realize would be necessary for a long flight?

List of Factors

A Planes should be Light.

B Effective steering would make balloons more efficient.

C Planes required an engine.

D Tails enabled biplanes to travel further.

E There should be airflow over the wings of a plane.