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UNIT 8: CULTURE
A. READING
Exercise 1. Read the information. Then choose the 11 task types that are used in the IELTS
Reading test.

Exercise 2. Read the information. Then complete the sentences. Use the prepositions and
relative pronouns in the box.

Exercise 3. Read the information. Then read the sentences. Can the words in bold be removed?
Choose the correct answers. The first one has been done for you.

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Exercise 4. Read the information. An international group of students who are preparing for
the IELTS test recently sat an IELTS Academic Reading practice test under test conditions.
Read what they said afterwards about their experiences. Match the problems the students
faced with the students. There is one extra problem.

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Exercise 5. Read the advice. Choose the correct advice, A–G, for the above students. There is
one extra piece of advice.
Advice

A Remember that IELTS tests your language skills, not your knowledge of specialist subjects like
zoology. The tasks are all carefully designed so that they are of the same level of difficulty for
everyone. So, don’t worry if you see a passage about a subject that you know nothing about. The
task will always test you on your understanding of the passage, not on facts that some people might
already know.

B Always keep your eye on the time, as 60 minutes will pass very quickly. Never leave answers
blank, as you definitely won’t get any marks for these unanswered questions. But if you take a

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guess at an answer, you have a reasonable chance of being lucky and picking up extra marks.
Remember, with a multiple-choice question (A, B, C or D), you have a 25% chance of guessing the
answer correctly!

C Aim to spend a maximum of 20 minutes on each section. And remember that you need to work
quickly in order to read approximately a thousand words of text and answer 13 or 14 questions, so
never spend too much time on any one section or on any one question.

D As a general rule, just write one word if you can in a gap-fill answer. You may need to write more
than this if the answer is a compound, such as bus station. But if you write more words in a gap than
the limit, your answer will be marked wrong.

E There are many different kinds of questions in the IELTS Reading test, and it is essential that you
get used to answering them all. Do lots of practice tests in the months before your real IELTS test.
Many IELTS candidates find the ‘Not Given’ questions challenging, so remember that ‘Not Given’
means that we can’t tell if a statement is correct or not, because there isn’t enough information. ‘Not
Given’ is different from ‘False’; with a false statement, we know that it isn’t true.

F Always make sure that you read the instruction carefully and do exactly what the task asks.
Although you’re expected to find the language in the reading passage paraphrased in the questions,
you aren’t expected to think of additional paraphrases when you write a word as an answer in a
text completion or summary completion task. It is always safer to write the exact word from the
passage, as the paraphrase may have a slightly different meaning. For example, an academic doesn’t
necessarily have the same professional qualifications as a professor, so while these words are similar,
they are not exact synonyms.

G Read the passage and questions in the order that they are presented. Most of the time, the
passage is presented before the questions. Also, it is a good idea to quickly skim read the whole
passage first, to get a general idea of what it is about.

1. Xinjie, 24, from China: A/ B/ C/ D/ E/ G

The state of the Welsh language

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A Just over 3 million of the UK’s 63 million inhabitants live in Wales, the landmass that juts off the
west coast of Britain into the Irish Sea. And while, as in the whole of the British Isles, English is
unsurprisingly seen everywhere there, Welsh is in evidence throughout the country, from bilingual
road markings warning ‘SLOW / ARAF’ to the name of Wales’s national political party, ‘Plaid
Cymru’ (literally, ‘the Party of Wales’). Welsh is one of Europe’s strongest minority languages, and
the fact that it has endured throughout the centuries alongside one of the world’s most dominant
languages, English, is clear proof of the determination and commitment of its speakers to keep it
alive. Nevertheless, the status of Welsh remains fragile.
B The results of the census of the UK’s population conducted in 2001 revealed that there were
582,400 people in Wales, or 20.8% of the population, who were able to converse in Welsh. This was
up from the figure published in the 1991 census, both as a percentage and as a total. But these figures
need to be treated with caution. A large portion of these were pupils learning Welsh as a second
language. As such, their proficiency is likely to be limited, at least compared to pupils receiving
Welsh-medium education across the curriculum.
C According to the 2012 government report One Language for All, Welsh language tuition should be
given a higher status in schools and ranked alongside other core subjects such as maths and English.
Yet, this recommendation proved controversial, with many commentators saying that forcing people
to accept Welsh is ‘forcing the language down people’s throats’ and describing it as ‘social
engineering’.
D Since being set up under the Welsh Language Act of 1993, the Welsh Language Board has held
both the role of regulator, overseeing public organisations’ schemes for using the Welsh language,
and, at the same time, language champion, promoting the broader use of Welsh. This role is seen as
being particularly vital given the fall in the number of Welsh speakers identified in the 2011 census.
E One cause for concern is the sustainability of the language in the Welsh-speaking heartlands. Rural
areas of northern and western Wales have a much higher proportion of Welsh speakers than the more
heavily industrialised and densely populated southern region, including the capital, Cardiff, and the
major cities of Swansea and Newport. Areas such as Anglesey, Caernarvon, Conwy and Gwynedd
have particularly high percentages of Welsh speakers in their populations. Nevertheless, the number
of communities where over 70% of the population was able to speak Welsh dropped from 92 in 1991
to 54 in 2001. It has for many years been argued by the Welsh government and others that such a
density of speakers will be an essential condition for Welsh to thrive and succeed in the coming
decades. The Welsh government believes that between 1,200 and 2,200 Welsh speakers are being
lost each year, which accounts for the overall downward trend. This results predominantly from the
difference between the number of fluent Welsh speakers who migrate out of Wales, as compared
with the numbers returning.
F Of course, fluency and frequency of use of the language are intrinsically linked. Research
commissioned by the Welsh Language Board found that 58% of those who said they could speak
Welsh considered themselves to be fluent. And the greater part of those (87%) described themselves
as daily speakers of the language.
G Polls consistently suggest a strong degree of support for the promotion of the Welsh language,
among both speakers and non-speakers of Welsh. For example, in a poll commissioned by the Welsh
Language Board in 2008, over 80% of those questioned said that they considered Welsh as
‘something to be proud of’. Around three-quarters felt it was ‘something belonging to everyone in
Wales’.

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H The last 50 years have seen a wide range of measures to promote the Welsh language, such as the
establishment of the Welsh Books Council in 1961, the Welsh language radio station BBC Radio
Cymru in 1977 and the UK’s first Welsh language TV station, S4C, in 1984. Other measures include
substantial budgeting for the translation of public documents into Welsh. Within Wales itself, there
has been support from across the political parties for many initiatives, including 550 Welsh language
schemes at community level.
I Clearly, the long-term survival of Welsh will depend on the actions of those young enough to be
going through the education system at the moment. Professor Sioned Davies of Cardiff University, in
her introduction to the report One Language for All, says of the compulsory Welsh classes in schools
that there are ‘some individual examples of exemplary teaching’, but that children’s ‘attainment
levels are lower than in any other subject’. She concludes that a change of direction in educational
policy is needed urgently before it is too late.
J The report cites one interviewee who reported that having a working proficiency in Welsh ‘opens
doors’. ‘No door is shut to you if you can speak Welsh,’ they said. Some people choose to pursue the
formal route of Welsh language qualifications, others just hope to pick it up informally or learn it as
one would a foreign language whose culture appeals. At any rate, the challenge is to find a common
path to ensure that the language remains viable and robust.

Exercise 7. Read the first part of the passage again (paragraphs A-G). Then read the
statements. Choose True, False or Not Given.

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Exercise 8. Read the final part of the passage again. Choose the correct answers to the
questions.

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B. WRITING
Exercise 1. Read the information. Then choose the four statements that accurately describe
features of the diagram.

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Exercise 2. Match the more extended and better developed sentences in the box with the simple
sentences.

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Exercise 3. Read the information. Then match the sequencing words in the box with the
definitions.

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Exercise 4. Choose the correct sequencing words to complete the model answer.
The diagram illustrates the process of recycling plastic bottles. This is a circular process which
begins and ends with a plastic product. In the diagram, we can see how the bottles go through stages
of being collected, cleaned, reshaped and before/ ultimately reformed into a new plastic product. In
the beginning/ Immediately, empty used plastic bottles are collected and placed in a recycling bin.
These bottles are directly/ then classified by their colour and put into different boxes before/
immediately going further into the process. As soon as/ Instantly, they are sorted, the bottles are
compressed together by a crushing machine into a bundle.
After/ Following on from this, the crushed bottles are fed into a machine where they are sliced up
into individual plastic pieces. The chopped-up plastic is in turn/ right after rinsed with water. The
clean plastic is scooped up by a worker, who filters the water using a special tool following this/
prior to putting the plastic into a heating machine. A heating process boils the plastic pieces into
pellets. Afterwards/ Following on, these pellets are put into another machine where a screw mashes
them into a mould for new bottles. A new bottle is at last/ then ready for use in the packaging of
liquids such as soft drinks, cosmetics and detergents.
Exercise 5. WRITING TASK 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The diagram below shows the process of  producing wood for commercial use.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words

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Exercise 6. Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question. Then read the sentences. Do the
sentences express opinions that support or are against the statement shown in the Task 2
question? Choose Support or Against.

Social media and the virtual world are now more important than the real world in the
construction of young people’s cultural identity.
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Give your own opinion.

Exercise 7. Read the sentences. Are they relevant to the question? Choose Yes or No.

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Exercise 8. Read the sentences and choose the supporting statements that are clear and
relevant.

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Exercise 9. WRITING TASK 2

The advantages of robots doing the basic serving functions in the entertainment, leisure and retail
sectors of the economy outweigh the disadvantages.
To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Give your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your
knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
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C. LISTENING
Exercise 1. Read the information. Then read the headings. Listen and choose the correct
answers. (Track 8.1)

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Exercise 2. Listen again and complete the notes. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
(Track 8.1)

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Exercise 3. Read the information. Then listen and complete the summary. Write ONE WORD
ONLY for each answer. (Track 8.2)

Exercise 4. Listen and complete the notes. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each
answer. (Track 8.3)

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Exercise 5. Listen and complete the summary. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
(Track 8.4)

D. SPEAKING
Exercise 1. Read the information. Then look at the questions in the box. Do they come from
IELTS Speaking Part 1 or Part 3? Complete the table with the questions.

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Exercise 2. Watch the video of a native English speaker answering four IELTS Speaking Part 3
questions. Put the questions that the speaker answers in the correct order. (Video 8.1)

Exercise 3. Read the responses to the IELTS Speaking Part 3 question: Do you think extended
families will become more or less common in the future? Choose the correct examiner comments
for the responses.

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Exercise 4. Read the information. Then read the IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions. Put the
sentences in the correct order to complete the responses.

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Exercise 5. Read the information. Then complete the responses to IELTS Speaking Part 3
questions with the phrases in the box.

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Exercise 6. You are going to practise some IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions.
1. Can you tell me where you’re from?
2. Do you live in a city or in the countryside?
3. What do you like about living there?
4. Would you like to move somewhere else in the future?
5. Tell me about the most popular festival in your country?
6. What special food and activities are connected with this festival?
7. What do you enjoy most about it?
8. Are festivals important in your country?
E. GRAMMAR & VOCABULARY
Exercise 1. Match the phrases with the definitions.

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Exercise 2. Read the information. Then complete the sentences. Use the correct forms of the
words in brackets.

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Exercise 3. Read the information. Then complete the sentences using the words in the box. Pay
attention to whether the sentences should use defining or non-defining relative clauses.

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Exercise 4. Read the information. Then choose the correct relative pronouns to complete the
sentences.

1. He’s the professor which/ who/ whom gives lectures about local history and culture.
2. Mandarin is the dialect that/ where/ whom is most commonly spoken in China.
3. Blues is a style of music that/ which/ whose roots can be traced back to African American
musical traditions, especially in the South of the USA.
4. Thanksgiving is a North American festival in that/ when/ which people give thanks for the
previous year’s harvest.
5. That’s the woman which/ whom/ whose we saw giving a demonstration of folk dancing.
6. The Day of the Dead festival in Mexico is a time when/ which/ whom people traditionally
visit the graves of friends or family members.
7. Bonfire Night that/ when/ which is on 5 November every year, commemorates the capture of
Guy Fawkes and his failed attack on the British Houses of Parliament.
8. The UK is one of the few countries in the world where/ which/ who people drive on the left-
hand side of the road.
Exercise 5. Correct the underlined relative pronouns in the sentences
1. Halloween is an ancient Celtic festival when is now celebrated in many countries across the 
globe.
2. Yorkshire puddings, that are made with flour, eggs and milk, are a savoury food served with 
roast beef in the UK.
3. In Denmark, parents have to select baby names from a list of around 7,000 names who the 
government has approved.
4. Niue is an island nation in the South Pacific which coins feature characters from Disney and 
Star Wars movies.
5. In Sudan there are more than 200 pyramids, where is more than the number of pyramids 
found in Egypt.
6. According to Greek myth, the name ‘Europe’ came from the Phoenician princess Europa, 
which was the mother of King Minos of Crete.
7. Hawaii is the only place in the US which coffee is grown commercially.
8. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, who is located in Wales, has 
the longest name of any town in Europe.

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Exercise 6. Read the information. Then read the sentences and decide if the underlined relative
pronouns can be removed. Choose can be removed or cannot be removed.

1. In Japanese mythology, earthquakes were caused by Namazu, a giant catfish that lived
submerged in mud under the Japanese islands. (can be removed  / cannot be removed)
2. I wrote to that cultural festival organizer whom I met at the conference last month to ask for a
job. (can be removed  / cannot be removed)
3. The US constitution, which was signed in 1787, has been amended 17 times. (can be
removed  / cannot be removed)
4. The tour guide whom I spoke to yesterday told me that The Elephant House is the café where
J. K. Rowling wrote parts of the first Harry Potter book. (can be removed  / cannot be
removed)
5. I’ve booked tickets for the play that I read about in the newspaper. (can be removed  / cannot
be removed)
6. Many buildings in London have blue signs on them that give information about famous
people who lived there. (can be removed  / cannot be removed)
7. The Mayans of Mesoamerica had detailed knowledge of astronomy, which they used to
create calendars. (can be removed  / cannot be removed)
Exercise 7. Read the information. Then complete the sentences. Use the indefinite pronouns in
the box.

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Exercise 8. Match the sentence halves.

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Exercise 9. Read the comments made during a weekly team meeting by an auction house
director. Complete the sentences with the words in the box.

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LISTENING SCRIPT
Exercise 1.
Hello. I’m here today to talk to you about the history of graffiti and how it’s become a global
phenomenon. Whilst I’m sure many of you consider graffiti unique to modern-day society, it may
surprise you to know that it actually dates back millennia.
OK, so, first I’ll begin by telling you a bit about its origins. As I’ve touched on previously, some of
the first examples of wall art appeared in caves in prehistoric times. Later, Romans and Greeks wrote
poems and other writing and symbols on the walls of buildings to express emotions or political
views, and it can be argued that this is still the same today.
Right, now, moving to modern graffiti. As I said, street artists –  as they are sometimes called – still
use walls to spread their thoughts and ideas. The act, which is often carried out on our streets
illegally, is typically undertaken when the streets are deserted and in darkness. However, there are
subtle differences between the messages of the past and present, which we’ll consider next.
Of course, there have been significant changes in the materials and tools available to the artist – there
weren’t, for example, cans of spray paint available in Roman times. As a result, graffiti today must
be carefully considered and completed rapidly. Designs and artwork, which can be both detailed and
vibrant, are becoming extremely commercial.
These days, we find pieces being sold in galleries worldwide for increasingly large amounts. Indeed,
many cities regularly hold street art parties and even festivals, where famous artists are invited to
design and paint huge murals.
Moving on to the effects of an increase in world trade, the advent of the internet means messages are
spread at the touch of a button. New art, appearing, for example, in the UK, can be seen within
seconds anywhere in the world wherever there is either an internet connection or mobile coverage.
Finally, I’d like to talk about the controversy surrounding modern-day graffiti. Is it art or vandalism,
and who decides? What one person sees as an ugly, offensive and disrespectful act of vandalism,
carried out by an empty-headed criminal who has no thought for others, is a beautiful work of art in
the eyes of another, worthy of becoming a tourist attraction or being sold in a gallery.
OK, so, we’ve covered the main areas I wanted to discuss. Are there any questions?
Exercise 2.
Hello. I’m here today to talk to you about the history of graffiti and how it’s become a global
phenomenon. Whilst I’m sure many of you consider graffiti unique to modern-day society, it may
surprise you to know that it actually dates back millennia.
OK, so, first I’ll begin by telling you a bit about its origins. As I’ve touched on previously, some of
the first examples of wall art appeared in caves in prehistoric times. Later, Romans and Greeks wrote
poems and other writing and symbols on the walls of buildings to express emotions or political
views, and it can be argued that this is still the same today.
Right, now, moving to modern graffiti. As I said, street artists –  as they are sometimes called – still
use walls to spread their thoughts and ideas. The act, which is often carried out on our streets
illegally, is typically undertaken when the streets are deserted and in darkness. However, there are
subtle differences between the messages of the past and present, which we’ll consider next.
Of course, there have been significant changes in the materials and tools available to the artist – there
weren’t, for example, cans of spray paint available in Roman times. As a result, graffiti today must
be carefully considered and completed rapidly. Designs and artwork, which can be both detailed and
vibrant, are becoming extremely commercial.

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These days, we find pieces being sold in galleries worldwide for increasingly large amounts. Indeed,
many cities regularly hold street art parties and even festivals, where famous artists are invited to
design and paint huge murals.
Moving on to the effects of an increase in world trade, the advent of the internet means messages are
spread at the touch of a button. New art, appearing, for example, in the UK, can be seen within
seconds anywhere in the world wherever there is either an internet connection or mobile coverage.
Finally, I’d like to talk about the controversy surrounding modern-day graffiti. Is it art or vandalism,
and who decides? What one person sees as an ugly, offensive and disrespectful act of vandalism,
carried out by an empty-headed criminal who has no thought for others, is a beautiful work of art in
the eyes of another, worthy of becoming a tourist attraction or being sold in a gallery.
OK, so, we’ve covered the main areas I wanted to discuss. Are there any questions?
Exercise 3.
So, I’ve talked a bit about the history of graffiti, which I hope has been of interest. But, before we
come to the end of the lecture, I’d like to talk about the idea of art and culture.
Through the ages, art and culture have coexisted. Artists, who are adept at expressing creativity and
imagination, are ‘fed’ by the culture by which they are surrounded, both globally and locally. What I
mean is, art takes inspiration from what’s happening in society at the time. Art, which I use to refer
to a diverse range of human activities (auditory, visual and performing), provides us with a historical
record. Without this, much of what happened before the introduction of the written word would have
been lost. We are aware, for example, that the knowledge gained about what life was like thousands
of years ago from the primitive drawings found in caves would simply not have been revealed
without art. Of course, art today is more technical and, as you’ve already heard me discuss,
commercial. However, it still manages to tell its stories in a way that can capture our attention and
fill us with wonder.
Exercise 4.
I’m here today to talk about the phenomenon that is the selfie. Loved by many and hated by some,
the rise of taking and sharing self-portraits on social media appears to be here to stay – at least for
now. But why are they so popular? Well, let’s start by defining what we mean by ‘selfie’. Put simply,
it is the taking of one’s own photograph, usually at arm’s-length, with a handheld mobile device. The
basic concept is to capture the moment in real time. Think of it as sharing memories immediately.
This takes me to the second point I’d like to make, and that is what we do with selfies. Well, the
usual idea is that they are shared with thousands of others, some of whom we may be unfamiliar
with, using social media via the internet.
Now, moving to the distortion of reality. Of course, the action or sharing generally occurs after our
looks have been digitally enhanced using a photo-editing tool. We’ve all taken a selfie and made
small changes, haven’t we? Perhaps our eyes were too small or we wanted to hide a spot. Maybe our
teeth needed to be a little whiter. And so, we may present a version of ourselves that is slightly false
– the person we would prefer to look like. This sounds perfectly innocent, but there are potential
risks, which I’ll discuss next.
Firstly, as we compare our selfies with those of others, we may question our self-image – from
which, we may see a drop in self-esteem. Secondly, we must ask ourselves why we feel the need to
present a slightly unreal version of ourselves to the world. And finally, whilst we stop and pose
momentarily, either as our dinner arrives or whilst walking around a museum, we might like to ask
ourselves if we are going to miss what is going on in the real world.

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IELTS FIGHTER
But enough of the dangers. Let’s end by focusing on the benefits, and there are many. As I
mentioned initially, the selfie allows us to record what is happening as it happens, and that really is
quite remarkable. Just think, we can keep safe a piece of our own personal history, which we can
choose to share with whomever we wish, whenever we want. Whether we get tired of selfies remains
to be seen, but they have found their place in our society – not to mention in our dictionaries!
Exercise 5.
So, assuming that selfies, as a cultural phenomenon, are here to stay, let’s end by giving some
consideration to selfie safety, by which I mean physical rather than mental.
People who have wished to take the ultimate selfie have sometimes found themselves in trouble.
When we think of people facing physical danger, there have been several instances when, in our
search for the perfect angle or the right light, the sheer act of taking a self-portrait has become life-
threatening – for example, leaning over a cliff edge or walking in the middle of the road. A number
of countries have even had to run campaigns, which both highlight these dangers and issue
recommendations on how to take selfies in a safe and non-life-threatening manner.
Therefore, whilst the association between self-admiration and selfies is more commonly criticised, it
may pay us to focus on examining the physical dangers and introduce guidelines on when and how to
take selfies. Then, they can continue to be enjoyed and thrive in our societies.

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