BUD COURSE

READING LESSON 2: T/F/NG – Y/N/NG; Multiple Choice

Topic vocabulary: Test skills:
- Unusual sport - Identify keywords, scanning for details & specific
information
Reading: True, False, Not Given - Yes, No, Not Given;
Multiple Choice Questions

❶ Revision
a. Ôn tập - Xác định từ khóa:
Keywords are divided into three groups

● Unchangable (khó thay thế): names, numbers (tên riêng, con số nổi bật, hầu như
không bao giờ bị thay thế trong bài đọc)

● Content word (dễ thay thế): nouns, verbs, adjectives bao gồm các danh từ, động
từ, tính từ và có thể bị thay thế bằng cách diễn đạt khác trong bài đọc.

● Extreme word (từ khóa chìm): Comparison, superlatives, adverbs. Sử

dụng loại từ khóa này để hiểu nội dung chính của đề bài.

Order of priority: Unchangeable words → content words → extreme words

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 Áp dụng kỹ năng chuyển động mắt (Eye
movement)

Tăng tốc tìm keyword để xác định

Ghi nhớ các từ khóa cần tìm (ghi nhớ ý

nghĩa từ)

Đánh dấu từ khóa tìm được (gạch chân, khoanh tròn)

Tiết kiệm thời gian cho lần tiếp theo sử dụng từ khóa
(kiểm tra đáp án, trả lời câu hỏi khác)
b. Ôn tập - Phương pháp Scan hiệu quả:
Practice:

1. A sport which is trying to get into the Olympic games.

2. A sport which has been played for more than a thousand years and is based on an activity
most of us know

3. A sport influenced by two very popular sports

4. A sport which may involve repeating a word

5. A sport which involves two activities which are very unlike each other

❷ Skill sets:

Để hoàn thành tốt bài thi Reading, dạng bài T/F/NG - Y/N/NG, học viên cần nắm vững 2
dạng kỹ năng trên:

Identify
True/ False/ Not

Given
Scanning (specific

Với dạng câu hỏi T/F/NG và Y/N/NG trong IELTS Reading:

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 ➡ Bạn cần xác định các thành phần của câu hỏi và sau đó so sánh chúng với thông tin
được đưa ra trong văn bản để trả lời câu hỏi một cách chính xác.

➡ True/ False/ Not Given yêu cầu: nhận diện những thông tin thực tế

➡ Yes/ No/ Not Given yêu cầu: hiểu được ý kiến người tác giả.

❸ Skills and technique application – Reading practice

Steps

Scan Compare the Choose the

Analyse information information correct answers
questions (Phân (Tìm thông (So sánh thông (Chọn đáp án

➡ Lưu ý:
● Hãy scan các bài văn nhanh nhất có thể, dành thời gian cho việc đọc hiểu
để so sánh.

❹ Practice Reading exercises & skill

Before reading, in groups of 3 or 4 students, discuss Pre-reading exercise 1,2,3 in 12-15

minutes.

✍Pre-reading 1: Work in groups

● Discuss & name the sports you see.

● Each answer: What sport do you watch/ play? (It can be in the picture or not)

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 ✍Pre-reading 2: In groups, match the sports with descriptions

1 hockey

2 tennis

3 volleyball

4 football

5 rugby

6 baseball

7 table tennis

8 martial arts

9 basketball

✍Pre-reading 3: Read the text as quickly as you can in 02 minutes. Tell the class what do
you remember?

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 Suggest: You can start with….
1. There was something about ...
2. I don't remember the details, but it involved ...
3. There's a game which is a bit like . . .

Reading Text

Unusual Sports

A. Do you ever get bored with the same old sports? If you're tired of tennis, fed up with
football, or bored of basketball, don't worry. There are plenty of new and unusual sports out
there for you to try. Many of these are a mix of existing sports, sometimes with a local
element added. Bossaball, for example, is a mix of football and volleyball, played on an
inflatable pitch with a trampoline in the middle. To make it more exciting, it also has
elements of Brazilian martial arts!

B. If you are very good at horse riding, you

could try the national sport of Afghanistan,
buzkashi. Many versions have been played
in the Central Asian region for hundreds of
years. The game involves players on
horseback trying to get hold of a dead goat.
The Afghan Buzkashi Federation wants the
game to spread throughout the world and has finally written down the rules because they
hope to get Olympic status for the sport.

C. Sport that is more likely to become famous is kabaddi. It is

popular in India and other parts of South Asia. It is similar in
some ways to the game called 'tag' or 'it' which school children
play. One person is 'it' and has to catch the others. In kabaddi,
a 'raider' from one team tries to tag a player from the other
team and then returns to their own half of the field without
getting caught. In some versions of the game, the raider must

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 chant the word 'kabaddi' as he returns to his place. Kabaddi is good fun, good exercise, and
doesn't need any equipment. It is played at the Asian Games.

D. There is an unusual sport which describes itself as a 'classic mix of brains and brawn'. The
game, called 'chess boxing', involves a round of chess and then a round of boxing, then
another of chess, and so on. There is one minute between rounds. The first chess boxing
world championship took place in 2003 in Amsterdam and was won by a Dutchman, lepe
Rubingh. Since then, it has become more popular, particularly in Germany, the UK, India,
and Russia. It is a difficult sport, as players need to be very good• at two very different
activities and be able to switch quickly between the two.

E. Finally, an unusual sport that will be familiar to most of us is

roshambo, which began in China about 2000 years ago and spread
gradually to the rest of the world. Played by young and old, in the
UK it is known as 'rock-paper scissors'. It is surprising that it is called
a sport and taken so seriously: there's a World Rock Paper Scissors
Society and a league which holds championships every year. So,
whatever kinds of sport you like, there is something new and
interesting for you to try.

✍Reading 4: Quickly scan the text to find the paragraph which

contains information about these sports as quickly as you can.

1. A sport which is trying to get into the Olympic games.

2. A sport which has been played for more than a thousand years
and is based on an activity most of us know - ROSHAMBO
3. A sport influenced by two very popular sports - BOSSABALL
4. A sport which may involve repeating a word - KABADDI
5. A sport which involves two activities which are very unlike each
other - CHESS BOXING

✍Reading 5: The following questions relate to the sections you just

found.
Decide if they are True or False. In groups of 3-4. You have 5 minutes to find the answer.

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 1. Players of chess boxing only need to reach a high level in one of the activities.- FALSE

2. Buzkashi got written rules long after the game first started. - TRUE

3. Roshambo can be played by anyone, even children and the elderly. - TRUE

4. Bossaball is played on grass. - FALSE

5. It could be quite expensive to play kabaddi. - FALSE

✍ Reading 6: Does this statement agree with the information in the passage?
Write True, False or Not Given.

“Kabaddi is only played by men.”

● Hint: You ONLY need to read the paragraph about kabaddi, which is paragraphC.

You will already know from your initial skim reading that information about kabaddi

is not found anywhere else in the text.

➡ Lưu ý:
● Hạn chế dành nhiều thời gian đọc cả 1 đoạn văn. Câu Not Given sẽ chỉ
xuất hiện ở 1 phần của đoạn. Một khi đã tìm được phần đó, hãy chắc
chắn rằng bạn tìm được/ hoặc không tìm được thông tin để đưa ra đáp
án.
● Chú ý những từ như “some, often, occasionally” có thể thay đổi nghĩa
của câu. Ví dụ, “some sports” không có cùng nghĩa với “many sports”.

✍ Reading 7: Read only the relevant paragraphs.

Is this information True (write T) or Not Given (write NG)?

1. Bossaball is only played in Brazil. - NOT GIVEN

2. Buzkashi is sometimes played with a sheep instead of a goat. - NOT GIVEN
3. There are different versions of the game kabaddi. TRUE
4. Chess boxing is played in several different countries. - TRUE
5. The roshambo world champion is from China. - NOT GIVEN

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 ✍ Reading 8:Answer True, False or Not Given to these questions about the text.

1. People play bossaball on a soft surface. - TRUE

2. Buzkashj is an Olympic sport. - FALSE
3. Kabaddi is often played in schools. - FALSE
4. lepe Rubingh invented chess boxing. - NOT GIVEN
5. lepe Rubingh is from Germany.- FALSE
6. People consider roshambo a serious sport. - TRUE

❺ Further Practice: True/ False/ Not Given - Yes/ No/ Not Given

Exercise 1:
GAMING: GOOD OR BAD
Many parents are concerned about the fact that their children play many video and
computer games. Perhaps the best way to address concerns over the effects of video games
is to emphasize their vast potential to educate. Even games with no educational intentions
require players to learn a great deal. Games are complex, adaptive and force players to
make a huge number of decisions. Gamers must learn rules through trials and errors, solve
problems and puzzles, develop strategies and get help from other players via the Internet
when they get stuck. The problem solving mechanism that underlies most games is like the
90% of an iceberg below the waterline— invisible to non-gamers. It is the pleasure of this
problem-solving, not the violence which is sometimes included in games, that can make
gaming such a satisfying experience. Nobody is using violent games in schools, of course,
but other off-the-shelf games such as “Sim City”, which contain model economies, are used
in education. By playing them it is possible to understand how such models work. In “Sim
City”, for example, in which the player assumes the role of a city mayor, no amount of
spending on health care is ever enough to satisfy patients, and the fastest route to
popularity is to cut taxes.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the paragraph?

TRUE if the statement agrees with the text

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 FALSE if the statement contradicts the text
NOT GIVEN if no information is given

1. The writer believes that video games which are not designed to be educational can still
encourage children to learn. - TRUE
2. The writer believes that decision-making in video games is educational. - NOT GIVEN
3. According to the writer, people who do not play video games know the games are
educational but choose to ignore this fact. - FALSE
4. The writer believes that, for gamers, violent games are not the most attractive ones. -
TRUE
5. According to the writer, “Sim City” is unrealistic because the amount of money a player
spends on health care is never high enough. - FALSE
Exercise 2:
GLOBAL WARMING
It seems as if every time you turn on the television news, you hear one or the other of the
following catchphrases of the 1990s: global warming, greenhouse effect, climate change. As
it often is with catchphrases, hardly anyone knows what these terms really mean or how
they relate to each other.
In the past 100 years, in our effort to make the Earth a more civilized place, industrial
production has increased by fifty times. Four fifths of that growth has come since 1950. This
production - most of it based on the burning of wood, and of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and
natural gas - has greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When
fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon into the air in the form of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide allows heat that would normally escape from the Earth's atmosphere to
remain trapped, as it would in a greenhouse - thus the greenhouse effect.
When do you burn fossil fuels? When you turn on a light, or run an air conditioner, or take a
hot shower, or make toast, you contribute to the greenhouse effect. It is a by-product of the
use of energy- electricity, gasoline, or oil.
But how can carbon dioxide be bad when human beings exhale it every time they breathe?
Plants need carbon dioxide; they use it to grow. Oceans absorb it. And forests drink it in.
Without carbon dioxide, the average surface temperature on Earth would be 0 degrees
Fahrenheit, instead of 59 degrees Fahrenheit. In nature, carbon dioxide is necessary and

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 harmless. Here is the problem: in our effort to make the world a more comfortable place,
people have produced far too much of it.
By drilling holes into glaciers and testing the air bubbles trapped in ancient ice, by looking at
the fossilised plant tissues, even by looking at the air sealed in old telescopes, scientists
have calculated that the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution contained about 280
parts per million of carbon dioxide - the highest level recorded in the past 160,000 years.
The current reading is near 360 parts per million. In the next 140 years, the carbon dioxide
level should reach at least 560 parts per million.
We have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by 25 percent in the past
century. Carbon dioxide is not exclusively responsible for the greenhouse problem,
however. Other greenhouse gases include chlorofluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides and
methane.

VOCABULARY
absorb (v): hấp thu

by-product (n): sản phẩm phụ, phụ phẩm

calculate (v): tính toán

catchphrase (n): câu nói nổi tiếng, khẩu hiệu

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts with the writer
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage
1. People usually do not understand what catchphrases really mean. - TRUE
2. Most of the growth in industrial production in the past 100 years came before 1950. -
TRUE
3. Carbon dioxide allows heat to be trapped in the Earth's atmosphere. - TRUE
4. People burn more fossil fuels when they take a hot shower than when they make toast. -
FALSE
5. People who use electricity help to produce the greenhouse effect. - NOT GIVEN

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 6. The carbon dioxide level in the next 140 years will increase at least by two times what it
was before the Industrial Revolution. - TRUE
7. Carbon dioxide causes more problems than the other greenhouse gases do.

READING LESSON: Multiple Choice Questions

Câu hỏi trắc nghiệm bắt đầu bằng một câu hỏi trực tiếp và sau đó có bốn câu trả
lời có thể. Một số bắt đầu bằng một câu chưa hoàn chỉnh và sau đó có bốn kết
thúc có thể xảy ra. Bạn có thể thấy cả hai loại trong bài kiểm tra. Các câu trả lời
theo thứ tự đoạn văn.

Bước 1: Analyse questions (phân tích

câu hỏi) Bước 2: Scan information
(Tìm thông tin)
Bước 3: Choose the correct answers (Chọn đáp án đúng)

SNOW MELTING ON MOUNT KILIMANJARO

A new study says ancient snow on top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone in
about twenty years. Huge layers of ice formed on the African mountain during a wet period
about eleven-thousand years ago. But scientists say the ice on top of the mountain is
melting because of rising temperatures in recent years.
Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio led the study. It was published
in Science magazine. The scientists used maps, modern navigational satellites and markers
placed on the mountain to measure the ice. They found that the ice on Mount Kilimanjaro
has shrunk from about twelve square kilometers in nineteen-twelve to about two square
kilometers today. That is about an eighty percent reduction in the ice. Scientists say the ice
will be gone by two-thousand-twenty if it continues to melt at its current rate.
Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. It is almost five-thousand-nine-hundred
meters high. The top part of the mountain is covered with snow. The mountain rises above
flat land called the savannah. The land is home to many different kinds of animals.
Many stories have been written about the famous mountain. The most famous is Ernest
Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." Some ancient beliefs in Africa consider the
mountain to be a holy place.

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 About twenty thousand people visit Mount Kilimanjaro every year to see the famous snow-
topped mountain. It even has its own international airport. The government of Tanzania
fears that the melting ice will affect tourism and weaken the economy. The decreasing ice
already has reduced the amount of water flowing from the mountain to some Tanzanian
rivers. Water from the mountain supplies many villages.
Scientists are working to save pieces of the shrinking ice for more study. The frozen layers
tell about Africa's weather in ancient times. The ice also provides information about the
world's climate. Experts say other ice glaciers around the world are melting because of
climate change caused by human activities. But they say natural climate change could be the
cause of Mount Kilimanjaro's problems.

1. Mount Kilimanjaro is in __C___

A. Zambia
B. Kenya
C. Tanzania
2. The ice on top of the mountain is melting because of ___A____
A. increasing temperatures
B. increasing population
C. increasing tourism
3. Mount Kilimanjaro rises above flat land, which is called the _____A_____
A. savannah
B. top
C. glacier
4. About ___B____ people visit Mount Kilimanjaro every year.
A. 80,000
B. 20,000
C. 12,000
5. The government of Tanzania fears that __A____ will affect tourism.
A. the melting ice
B. the rising temperatures
C. the amount of water flowing from the mountain
6. Scientists are saving pieces of the ice ____B___
A. to supply water to villages
B. for more study
C. for souvenirs

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 Homework:

Exercise 1:
Physical activity
The evidence is crystal clear: Physical activity is great for children. Researchers around the
world agree that young people who are active have better brain function, higher self-
esteem, more motivation and better school performance.
During the school day, children do not need to exercise for long periods of time. A review of
studies published in 2011 found that short bursts of physical activity - 10 minutes or less -
increased pupils’ attention in the classroom. Children who took short breaks for physical
activity also performed better in school and displayed lower stress levels and better moods.
What about linking physical activity with teaching? A review published in 2015 found that
when children learn while moving their bodies, they perform significantly better on
standardized tests. There are all sorts of examples of how to make this happen, such as
doing jumping jacks while spelling words.
(Adapted from this article on the Psychology Today website)
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts with the writer
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage
1. Physical exercise can make children feel better about themselves. - YES
2. The optimal amount of physical activity for children is 10 minutes. - NO
3. Children can benefit when tasks provide both mental and physical stimulation. - NOT
GIVEN

Exercise 2:
OUT OF THE WILD, INTO OUR HOMES

Many of the earth's creatures die because of choices humans make. These choices have
nothing to do with food or shelter or anything else that helps humans survive. What kills
these millions of animals from all over the world is human greed - the desire for money.

People use parts of animals for everything from hats to handbags, from ornamental jewelry
and ashtrays to powders that supposedly improve a person's life. Declaring a species
endangered and protecting it by laws is not always enough. Poachers, people who kill
wildlife illegally, rarely get caught.

During the late 1980s, saving elephants became a popular cause. Wildlife protection groups
made sure everyone saw pictures or films of elephants with their faces sawed off for their

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 ivory tusks. These groups also proved that certain populations of elephants were dwindling.

As a result, most people stopped buying objects made of ivory. Laws against poaching were
strengthened. Many countries made bringing ivory in from other countries illegal. Killing
elephants for their ivory became more risky and less profitable.

However, concern for a certain species tends to fade after a while. In the late 1970s, people
protested against the slaughter of seal pups. Everyone was shocked at the sight of pups
being clubbed to death in their icy habitat. The brutality came to a halt. But ten years later,
the number of seal pups killed was higher than ever.

Other animal protection movements have come and gone, such as saving the whales and
protecting dolphins from the tuna fishermen. The whale population appears to have ·i
increased for now. And the laws are finally changing in the United States to protect the
dolphins that swim with tuna fish in parts of the Pacific Ocean.

In the 2010s, the protests and the publicity will probably turn to some other endangered
species. Plenty of them urgently need attention. During this time, will the elephants be ·
forgotten?

VOCABULARY:

ashtray (n): gạt tàn (thuốc lá)

brutality (n): tính hung ác, hành động hung ác

dwindle (v): thu nhỏ, teo lại, thoái hóa

slaughter (n): sự tàn sát

tusk: (n) ngà voi

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the paragraph?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the text
FALSE if the statement contradicts the text
NOT GIVEN if no information is given

6. Many of the animals on Earth die because humans have to survive. - TRUE

7. It is normally enough when an animal species is declared endangered and protected by

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 laws. - FALSE

8. People who kill animals illegally often get away without being caught. - FALSE

9. Wildlife protection groups proved that the number of some elephant species is
decreasing. - TRUE

10. Poachers are severely punished if they kill the endangered species such as elephants.
NOT GIVEN

11. In the late 1980s, people killed more seal pups than they did in the late 1970s. - NOT
GIVEN

12. The whale population is finally increasing because of stricter laws. - FALSE

13. In the 2010s, people may not be so concerned about elephants as before. - FALSE

Exercise 3:

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 Questions 1-8

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

1. You have to use a limited number of moves in parkour. - FALSE

2. Parkour is mainly done in the countryside. - NOT GIVEN

3. Parkour began in the twentieth century. - TRUE

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 4. The Yamakasi did not allow latecomers. - TRUE

5. When doing parkour, Raymond Belle recommends that you always choose

the easy route.- FALSE

6. There are many gyms in France where you can do parkour. - NOT GIVEN

7. The founder of parkour was a very good teacher of parkour. - FALSE

8. Freerunning and parkour are similar. - TRUE

Questions 9-15

Complete the summary of the text using ONE of the words below:

agrees - barriers - competition - conflicts - creativity - latecomers - move - moving -

personal - respect - team - tournaments - traceurs

Parkour is an activity that involves 9 _MOVING___ in many different ways through different
environments. People who practise parkour are called 10 __TRACEURS ___ . They believe
that parkour is not a sport and can never be part of a 11 __COMPETITION ____ . The values
of parkour are adaptability, 12 __CREATIVITY ___ and freedom. Parkour should not be
taught because it is about discovering your own way of moving and overcoming 13
_BARRIERS _ . Although there are gyms and other places where you can learn and practise
parkour, many feel that this 14_CONFLICTS ___ with the values of the discipline.
Freerunning is a type of parkour. However, it is more about 15 __PERSONAL ___
development than parkour, whichis often, but not always, done as part of a group.

Exercise 4:

The Pompidou Centre

More than three decades after it was built, the Pompidou Centre in Paris has survived its
moment at the edge of architectural fashion and proved itself to be one of the most
remarkable buildings of the 20th century.

It was the most outstanding building constructed in Paris for two generations. It looked like
an explosion of brightly coloured service pipes in the calm of the city centre. However, when
in 1977 the architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano stood among a large crowd of 5,000

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 at the opening of the Centre Culturel d'Art Georges Pompidou (known as the Pompidou), no
one was really aware of the significance of this unusual building.

Rogers was only 38 when he and Piano won the competition to design a new cultural centre
for Paris in the old market site. Young, unknown architects, they had been chosen from a
field of nearly 700 to design one of the most prestigious buildings of its day. After six difficult
years, with 25,000 drawings, seven lawsuits, battles over budgets, and a desperate last-
minute scramble to finish the building, it had finally been done.

Yet the opening was a downbeat moment. The Pompidou Centre had been rubbished by the
critics while it was being built, there was no more work in prospect for the architects, and
their partnership had effectively broken down. But this was just a passing crisis. The Centre,
which combined the national museum of modern art, exhibition space, a public library and a
centre for modern music, proved an enormous success. It attracted six million visitors in its
first year, and with its success, the critics swiftly changed their tune.

The architects had been driven by the desire for ultimate flexibility, for a building that would
not limit the movement of its users. All the different parts were approached through the
same enormous entrance hall and served by the same escalator, which was free to anyone
to ride, whether they wanted to visit an exhibition or just admire the view. With all the
services at one end of the building, escalators and lifts at the other, and the floors hung on
giant steel beams providing uninterrupted space the size of two football pitches, their
dream had become a reality.

The image of the Pompidou pervaded popular culture in the 1970s, making appearances
everywhere - on record-album covers and a table lamp, and even acting as the set for a
James Bond 1 film. This did much to overcome the secretive nature of the architectural
culture of its time, as it enabled a wider audience to appreciate the style and content of the
building and so moved away from the strictly professional view.

The following year, Rogers was commissioned to design a new headquarters for Lloyd's
Bank in London and went on to create one of Britain's most dynamic architectural practices.
Piano is now among the world's most respected architects. But what of their shared
creation?

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 It was certainly like no previous museum, with its plans for a flexible interior that not only
had movable walls but floors that could also be adjusted up or down. This second feature
did not in the end survive when the competition drawings were turned into a real building.
In other ways, however, the finished building demonstrated a remarkable degree of
refinement of craftsmanship even - in the way the original diagram was transformed into a
superbly detailed structure. It was this quality which, according to some critics, suggested
that the Pompidou should be seen as closer to the 19th-century engineering tradition than
the space age.

Nevertheless, as a model for urban planning, it has proved immensely influential. The
Guggenheim in Bilbao* and the many other major landmark projects that were built in the
belief that innovatively designed cultural buildings can bring about urban renewal are all
following the lead of the Pompidou Centre.

Other buildings may now challenge it for the title of Europe's most outlandish work of
architecture. However, more than a quarter of a century later, this construction - it is hard
to call it a building when there is no façade, just a lattice of steel beams and pipes and a long
external escalator snaking up the outside - still seems extreme.

Today, the Pompidou Centre itself still looks much as it did when it opened. The shock value
of its colour-coded plumbing and its structure has not faded with the years. But while
traditionalists regarded it as an ugly attack on Paris when it was built, they now see it for
what it is - an enormous achievement, technically and conceptually.

Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
1. What does the writer say in the first paragraph about the opening of the Pompidou
Centre? - D
A. The elderly did not like it.
B. The architects were not present.
C. The atmosphere was very noisy.
D. The people did not realise its importance.
2. What does the writer say in the second paragraph about the construction of the
Pompidou? - C
A. There was a hurry to complete it.
B. It cost less than expected.
C. Other experts helped draw the plans.
D. The market location was criticised.

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1
 3. What was the architects’ ‘dream’, referred to in the fourth paragraph? - C
A. to become famous
B. to provide entertainment
C. to allow visitors to use it freely
D. to build the biggest museum in the world
Questions 9-14

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage?

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

9. The Pompidou has influenced the way cities are designed. - NOT GIVEN

10. The Guggenheim has been more popular than the Pompidou. - FALSE

11. The word building fits the Pompidou better than the word construction. - FALSE

12. The Pompidou’s appearance has changed considerably since it opened. - FALSE

13. Nowadays, the design of the Pompidou fails to shock people. - FALSE

14. The traditionalist view of the Pompidou has changed over the year. - TRUE

The Catalyst for English – 7 Nguyen Van Tuyet St., Dong Da Dist., Hanoi |Bud course Reading 1