IELTS 5.

0- Unit 5: Consumerism

Lesson 18: IN-CLASS HANDOUT

Part 1. IELTS Reading: Identify the topic sentence, main and supporting ideas

Practice: Read the passage and answer the questions

IELTS 5.0- Unit 5: Consumerism

A. Skim the first paragraph. Circle the sentence that describes the main ideas.
a. Many facts about your body are surprising.
b. Your body is mostly made of water.
B. Skim the rest of the paragraphs. Circle the main idea for each paragraph.
Paragraph 2
a. Your body is very complicated, like a machine.
b. Your body can develop many different problems.
Paragraph 3
a. Stress can cause many health problems.
b. We do many things that can damage our bodies.
Paragraph 4
a. Doctors can treat many health problems that come with old age.
b. Modern medicine helps people live much longer than in the past.
Paragraph 5
a. The most important habit for good health is regular exercise.
b. We can do many things to take care of our bodies.
C. Read the passage carefully. Answer the questions below.
1. The writer lists facts about our body in paragraph 1 to ________.
a. show us how amazing our bodies are
b. test our knowledge about the body
c. remind us to take care of our body
2. Why does the writer say that we are ‘unaware of what is happening in our bodies’ (line 13)?
a. We still don’t know much about how our bodies work.
b. Our body works so smoothly that we don’t notice it.
c. We don’t really care about what happens in our body.
3. Doctors who study gerontology focus on ________.
a. doing research on the population of elderly people
b. creating technology for bones and joints
c. improving the health of older people
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Part 2. IELTS Reading: Matching headings

Example: Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A & B from the list of headings (i-vi).
The greenhouse effect
A. A greenhouse is a house made of glass. It has glass walls and a glass roof. People grow
tomatoes and flowers and other plants in them. A greenhouse stays warm inside, even during
winter. Sunlight shines in and warms the plants and air inside. But the heat is trapped by the
glass and cannot escape. So during the daylight hours, it gets warmer and warmer inside a
greenhouse, and stays quite warm at night too.
B. Earth’s atmosphere does the same thing as the greenhouse. Gases in the atmosphere such
as carbon dioxide do what the roof of a greenhouse does. During the day, the Sun shines
through the atmosphere. Earth’s surface warms up in the sunlight. At night, Earth’s surface
cools, releasing the heat back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped by the greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. That is what keeps our Earth a warm and comfortable 59 degrees
Fahrenheit, on average.

List of headings

i. Temperatures on earth
ii. What is a greenhouse
1. Paragraph A ___ii____
iii. How is earth a greenhouse
2. Paragraph B ___v____
iv. Plants that grow in a greenhouse
v. Earth’s atmosphere

Exercise 1. Read the passage and answer the questions.

A Although the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico is a
desert, it does rain there. In fact, for a desert, it is fairly wet, with 3 to 16 inches of rain a year. It
is also one of the hotter deserts of North America. The average high temperature is 86 degrees,
although temperatures can reach well over 100 degrees in some southern areas. On the other
hand, nighttime temperatures can fall to freezing in other parts of the desert.
B The magnificent saguaro cactus, which can grow as high as fifty feet tall, lives only in the
Sonoran Desert, and then only in those parts of the desert where conditions are right. It is
found only in elevations below 3,500 feet as it cannot withstand freezing temperatures. This
mighty plant is well-adapted to the dry Sonoran climate. In addition to the large taproot, which
helps hold it up, it also has a system of roots that spread out just below the surface of the
ground, ready to soak up the rain when it does fall. The spines that cover the cactus stem point
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downward, directing the raindrops toward the base of the plant where the roots are. The stems
can absorb and store large amounts of water. The pores of the cactus open only at night,
closing up during the sunny daytime to prevent moisture loss.
C The saguaro provides shelter for a variety of desert birds. Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers
hollow out holes in the sides of the cactus to make their nests. After they abandon their cactus
homes, other birds move in and nest in the hollows the woodpeckers created. Screech owls,
purple martins, and house finches are among the birds that call the saguaro home.
D In addition to shelter, the saguaro is also a source of food for many animals. When the cactus
reaches sixty or seventy years old, it is finally ready to flower. Each flower blooms for only a day
and, during that short time, animals swoop in to take advantage. Long-nosed bats suck up the
sweet nectar. Bees, wasps, ants, and butterflies all enjoy a sweet meal from the flower. Later in
the season, the fruit and seeds provide nourishment for birds, mice, rats, squirrels, skunks, and
foxes. Just about any animal can find something good to eat on a saguaro cactus.
Vocabulary required:

 elevation (n): độ cao so với mặt nước biển

 taproot (n): rễ cái
 soak up (v): hấp thụ, hút
 shelter (n): nơi ở, chỗ trú ngụ
 swoop in (v): nhào vào, sà vào

Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings, and write the correct
number next to the corresponding letter below.

List of Headings

i What Is a Desert?
ii Grocery Store of the Desert
1 Paragraph A _____v_ iii Animals of the Sonoran Desert
2 Paragraph B ____vii__ iv A Home for Birds
3 Paragraph C _____iv_ v Conditions in the Sonoran Desert
4 Paragraph D ___iii___ vi The Deserts of North America
vii Saguaro Adaptations
viii Fruits of the Desert
IELTS 5.0- Unit 5: Consumerism

Exercise 2. Read the passage and answer the questions.

A Daylight Saving Time – the practice of setting clocks ahead one hour every spring and back
one hour every fall – has been in effect in the United States in one form or another since 1918.
The establishment of this practice was based on the idea that a longer period of daylight in the
evening would lead to reduced electricity consumption. The original Daylight Saving Time
period was six months long. During the oil crisis of the 1970s, concerns about energy use
motivated the U.S. Congress to lengthen that period to ten months in 1974 and eight months in
1975. The result was a saving of 10,000 barrels of oil a day. However, these changes also meant
that people were getting up in the dark on autumn mornings. Therefore, in 1976 the country
reverted to an earlier system of beginning Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday in April. But,
this was not the end of efforts to increase energy savings by extending the length of Daylight
Saving Time. In 1986, the beginning date was moved to the first Sunday of April resulting in an
estimated savings of 300,000 barrels of oil a year. In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy
Policy Act, changing the beginning and end dates of Daylight Saving Time to the second Sunday
in March and the first Sunday in November. This change, creating an almost eight-month long
Daylight Saving Time period, has been in effect since 2007.
B A study done by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the 1970s showed that no matter
how many months Daylight Saving Time lasts, energy use is reduced by about one percent for
each day that it is in effect. This is because household energy use is directly related to the time
that people go to bed, since people turn off lights, TVs, and other appliances at bedtime. Since
household energy accounts for about 25 percent of the total energy use in the United States,
this is significant. More recent studies have cast some doubt on the importance of energy
savings stemming from Daylight Saving Time. Not everyone is in agreement, however, and
policies regarding Daylight Saving Time have not changed as a result.
C Reduced energy use has been the major motive for the establishment and continuance of
Daylight Saving Time. In addition to this, it has led to other positive results, as well, an
important one being improved traffic safety. Several studies have shown a reduction of about
one percent in traffic accidents and fatalities during Daylight Saving Time because it reduces the
likelihood that people will be driving in the dark. Daylight Saving Time may make our streets
safer in other ways, too. One study showed a thirteen percent reduction in violent crime during
this time of year. There are also benefits to the retail economy as people are more likely to go
out and shop during daylight hours.
D But there are other sides to the story, centering on issues of convenience, economy, and
safety. While some people find changing the clocks twice a year to be a nuisance, for businesses
this can represent a significant expense. For many school children and for those who work early
morning shifts, extended Daylight Saving Time means getting up in the dark during part of the
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year and being out on the streets when visibility is low. Nevertheless, the consensus seems to
be that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. People in approximately seventy countries
around the world use some form of the system.
Vocabulary required:

 revert (v): trở lại, quay lại

 cast doubt on something (phrase): reo rắc sự nghi ngờ vào điều gì
 continuance (n): sự tồn tại, lâu dài
 fatality (n): rủi ro, tai ương
 nuisance (n): mối phiền hà, phiền toái
 visibility (n): tầm nhìn, khả năng nhìn
 consensus (n): sự đồng lòng, nhất trí

Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings, and write the correct
number next to the corresponding letter below.

List of Headings

i The Reasons Behind Daylight Saving Time

ii Effects on Energy Consumption

1 Paragraph A ___vii___ iii Negative Aspects

2 Paragraph B ___ii___ iv Energy Use in the Home

3 Paragraph C ___vi___ v The Expansion of Daylight Saving Time
4 Paragraph D __v____ vi Effects on Traffic Safety
vii Advantages of Daylight Saving Time
viii Daylight Saving Time Around the World