Solution:
1
obscure
2
793
3
Northwest Africa
4
local populations
5
religious
6
F
7
D
8
E
9
A
10
G
11
B
12
C
13
H
14
D
15
YES
16
NO
17
YES
18
NOT GIVEN
19
NO
20
NOT GIVEN
page 14
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21
temperature
22
(molten) rock / ash
23
food
24
tidal wave
25
ice age
26
rockets
27
D
28
D
29
G
30
F
31
A
32
E
33
B
34
C
35
NOT GIVEN
36
FALSE
37
TRUE
38
TRUE
39
FALSE
40
NOT GIVEN
page 15
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page 16
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IELTS Mock Test 2023 February
IELTS Mock Test 2023
February
Reading Practice Test 1
HOW TO USE
You have 2 ways to access the test
1. Open this URL
http://link.intergreat.com/QtMeC
on your computer
2. Use your mobile device to scan the QR code attached
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13
Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage
1 below.
Satellite Technology
The space-age began with the launch of the Russian artificial satellite Sputnik in 1957 and
developed further with the race to the moon between the United States and Russia. This rivalry
was characterized by advanced technology and huge budgets. In this process, there were
spectacular successes, some failures, but also many spin-offs.
Europe, Japan, China, and India quickly joined this space club of the superpowers. With the
advent of relatively low-cost high-performance mini-satellites and launchers, the acquisition of
indigenous space capabilities by smaller nations in Asia has become possible. How, in what
manner, and for what purpose will these capabilities be realized?
page 1
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A
Rocket technology has progressed considerably since the days of ‘fire arrows’ (bamboo poles
filled with gunpowder) first used in China around 500 BC, and, during the Sung Dynasty, to
repel Mongol invaders at the battle of Kaifeng (Kai-fung fu) in AD 1232. These ancient rockets
stand in stark contrast to the present-day Chinese rocket launch vehicles, called the ‘Long
March’, intended to place a Chinese astronaut in space by 2005 and, perhaps, to achieve a
Chinese moon-landing by the end of the decade.
B
In the last decade, there has been a dramatic growth in space activities in Asia both in the
utilization of space-based services and the production of satellites and launchers. This rapid
expansion has led many commentators and analysts to predict that Asia will become a world
space power. The space-age has had dramatic effects worldwide with direct developments in
space technology influencing telecommunications, meteorological forecasting, earth resource
and environmental monitoring, and disaster mitigation (flood, forest fires, and oil spills). Asian
nations have been particularly eager to embrace these developments.
C
New and innovative uses for satellites are constantly being explored with potential
revolutionary effects, such as in the field of health and telemedicine, distance education, crime
prevention (piracy on the high seas), food and agricultural planning and production (rice crop
monitoring). Space in Asia is very much influenced by the competitive commercial space sector,
the emergence of low-cost mini-satellites, and the globalization of industrial and financial
markets. It is not evident how Asian space will develop in the coming decades in the face of
these trends. It is, however, important to understand and assess the factors and forces that
shape Asian space activities and development in determining its possible consequences for the
region.
D
At present, three Asian nations, Japan, China, and India, have comprehensive end-to-end space
capabilities and possess a complete space infrastructure: space technology, satellite
manufacturing, rockets, and spaceports. Already self-sufficient in terms of satellite design and
manufacturing, South Korea is currently attempting to join their ranks with its plans to develop
a launch site and spaceport. Additionally, nations in Southeast Asia as well as those bordering
the Indian subcontinent (Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), have, or are starting to develop
indigenous space programmes. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has, in
varying degrees, embraced space applications using foreign technology and over the past five
years or so its space activities have been expanding. Southeast Asia is predicted to become the
largest and fastest-growing market for commercial space products and applications, driven by
telecommunications (mobile and fixed services), the Internet, and remote sensing applications.
page 2
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In the development of this technology, many non-technical factors, such as economics, politics,
culture, and history, interact and play important roles, which in turn affect Asian technology.
E
Asia and Southeast Asia, in particular, suffers from a long list of recurrent large-scale
environmental problems including storms and flooding, forest fires and deforestation, and crop
failures. Thus the space application that has attracted the most attention in this region is
remote sensing. Remote sensing satellites equipped with instruments to take photographs of
the ground at different wavelengths provide essential information for natural resource
accounting, environmental management, disaster prevention and monitoring, land-use
mapping, and sustainable development planning. Progress in these applications has been rapid
and impressive. ASEAN members, unlike Japan, China, and India, do not have their own remote
sensing satellites, however, most of its member nations have facilities to receive, process, and
interpret such data from American and European satellites. In particular, Thailand, Malaysia,
and Singapore have world-class remote sensing processing facilities and research
programmes. ASEAN has plans to develop (and launch) its own satellites and in particular
remote sensing satellites. Japan is regarded as the dominant space power in Asia and its record
of successes and quality of technologies are equal to those of the West. In view of the
technological challenges and high risks involved in space activities, a very long, and expensive,
the learning curve has been followed to obtain those successes achieved. Japan, s satellite
manufacturing was based on the old and traditional defense and military procurement
methodologies as practiced in the US and Europe.
F
In recent years there have been fundamental changes in the way satellites are designed and
built to drastically reduce costs. The emergence of ‘small satellites’ and their quick adoption by
Asian countries as a way to develop low-cost satellite technology and rapidly establish a space
capability has given these countries the possibility to shorten their learning curve by a decade
or more. The global increase of technology transfer mechanisms and use of readily available
commercial technology to replace costly space and military-standard components may very
well result in a highly competitive Asian satellite manufacturing industry.
G
The laws of physics are the same in Tokyo as in Toulouse, and the principles of electronics and
mechanics know no political or cultural boundaries. However, no such immutability applies to
engineer practices and management; they are very much influenced by education, culture, and
history. These factors, in turn, have an effect on costs, lead times, product designs and,
eventually, international sales. Many Asian nations are sending their engineers to be trained in
the West. Highly experienced, they return to work in the growing Asian space industry. Will
this acquisition of technical expertise, coupled perhaps with the world-renowned Japanese
manufacturing and management techniques, be applied to build world-class satellites and
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reduce costs?
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