Could Urban Engineers Learn from Dance Reading Answers

Feb 1, 2023

Could Urban Engineers Learn from Dance Reading Answers is an academic reading topic discussing in detail about urban engineers. The given IELTS topic has originated from the book named “Cambridge IELTS 10 Student's Book with Answers”. The topic named Could Urban Engineers Learn from Dance Reading Answers has a total of 13 wide range of questions. The topic consists of two sorts of questions, such as, choose the correct letter, and complete the following sentences. The candidates should thoroughly read the IELTS reading passage to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers can be taken into consideration by the candidates in order to score a good score in the reading section in which similar topics like Could Urban Engineers Learn from Dance Reading Answers has been included.

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Section 1

Read the passage to answer the following questions

Could Urban Engineers Learn from Dance Reading Answers

The way we travel around cities has a major impact on whether they are sustainable. Transportation is estimated to account for 30% of energy consumption in most of the world's most developed nations, so lowering the need for energy-using vehicles is essential for decreasing the environmental impact of mobility. But as more and more people move to cities, it is important to think about other kinds of sustainable travel too. The ways we travel affect our physical and mental health, our social lives, our access to work and culture, and the air we breathe. Engineers are tasked with changing how we travel around cities through urban design, but the engineering industry still works on the assumptions that led to the creation of the energy-consuming transport systems we have now: the emphasis placed solely on efficiency, speed, and quantitative data. We need radical changes, to make it healthier, more enjoyable, and less environmentally damaging to travel around cities.

Dance might hold some of the answers. That is not to suggest everyone should dance their way to work, however healthy and happy it might make us, but rather that the techniques used by choreographers to experiment with and design movement in dance could provide engineers with tools to stimulate new ideas in city-making. Richard Sennett, an influential urbanist and sociologist who has transformed ideas about the way cities are made, argues that urban design has suffered from a separation between mind and body since the introduction of the architectural blueprint.

Whereas medieval builders improvised and adapted construction through their intimate knowledge of materials and personal experience of the conditions on a site, building designs are now conceived and stored in media technologies that detach the designer from the physical and social realities they are creating. While the design practices created by these new technologies are essential for managing the technical complexity of the modern city, they have the drawback of simplifying reality in the process.

To illustrate, Sennett discusses the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, USA, a development typical of the modernist approach to urban planning prevalent in the 1970s. Peachtree created a grid of streets and towers intended as a new pedestrian-friendly downtown for Atlanta. According to Sennett, this failed because its designers had invested too much faith in computer-aided design to tell them how it would operate. They failed to take into account that purpose-built street cafés could not operate in the hot sun without the protective awnings common in older buildings, and would need energy-consuming air conditioning instead, or that its giant car park would feel so unwelcoming that it would put people off getting out of their cars. What seems entirely predictable and controllable on screen has unexpected results when translated into reality.

The same is true in transport engineering, which uses models to predict and shape the way people move through the city. Again, these models are necessary, but they are built on specific world views in which certain forms of efficiency and safety are considered and other experience of the city ignored. Designs that seem logical in models appear counter-intuitive in the actual experience of their users. The guard rails that will be familiar to anyone who has attempted to cross a British road, for example, were an engineering solution to pedestrian safety based on models that prioritise the smooth flow of traffic. On wide major roads, they often guide pedestrians to specific crossing points and slow down their progress across the road by using staggered access points divide the crossing into two - one for each carriageway. In doing so they make crossings feel longer, introducing psychological barriers greatly impacting those that are the least mobile, and encouraging others to make dangerous crossings to get around the guard rails. These barriers don't just make it harder to cross the road: they divide communities and decrease opportunities for healthy transport. As a result, many are now being removed, causing disruption, cost, and waste.

If their designers had had the tools to think with their bodies - like dancers - and imagine how these barriers would feel, there might have been a better solution. In order to bring about fundamental changes to the ways we use our cities, engineering will need to develop a richer understanding of why people move in certain ways, and how this movement affects them. Choreography may not seem an obvious choice for tackling this problem. Yet it shares with engineering the aim of designing patterns of movement within limitations of space. It is an art form developed almost entirely by trying out ideas with the body, and gaining instant feedback on how the results feel. Choreographers have a deep understanding of the psychological, aesthetic, and physical implications of different ways of moving.

Observing the choreographer Wayne McGregor, cognitive scientist David Kirsh described how he 'thinks with the body, Kirsh argues that by using the body to simulate outcomes, McGregor is able to imagine solutions that would not be possible using purely abstract thought. This kind of physical knowledge is valued in many areas of expertise, but currently has no place in formal engineering design processes. A suggested method for transport engineers is to improvise design solutions and instant feedback about how they would work from their own experience of them, or model designs at full scale in the way choreographers experiment with groups of dancers. Above all, perhaps, they might learn to design for emotional as well as functional effects.

Section 2

Questions 1-6

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

Question 1. reference to an appealing way of using dance that the writer is not proposing

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: That is not to suggest everyone should dance their way to work
Keyword : suggest, everyone, dance, work
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 1-2
Explanation: The first two lines of paragraph B implies that dance may contain some of the answers. That is not to say that everyone should dance their way to work, however joyful and healthy it may make us. However, rather that engineers may be able to employ some of the methods used by choreographers to experiment with and develop movement in dance.

Question 2. an example of a contrast between past and present approaches to building

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: Whereas medieval builders improvised and adapted construction through their intimate knowledge of materials
Keyword : medieval, builders, construction, intimate knowledge of materials
Keyword location: paragraph C, lines 1-2
Explanation: The first two lines of paragraph C explains that building designs are now created and stored in media technologies. The technologies that distance the designer from the physical and social realities they are creating. Whereas mediaeval builders improvised and adapted construction through their intimate knowledge of materials and firsthand experience of the conditions.

Question 3. mention of an objective of both dance and engineering

Answer: F
Supporting sentence: In order to bring about fundamental changes to the ways we use our cities, engineering will need to develop a richer understanding
Keyword : fundamental, cities, engineering, richer understanding
Keyword location: paragraph F, lines 2-4
Explanation: The second to fourth lines of paragraph F implies that there might have been a better answer. It states that f their designers had been given the tools to think with their body, like dancers, and imagine how these barriers would feel. Engineering will need to have a deeper knowledge of why people move in specific ways. They should also know that how this mobility affects them in order to make substantial changes to how we use our cities.

Question 4. reference to an unforeseen problem arising from ignoring the climate

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: They failed to take into account that purpose-built street cafés could not operate in the hot sun
Keyword : failed, account, street cafés, hot sun
Keyword location: paragraph D, lines 5-6
Explanation: The fifth to sixth lines of paragraph D suggests that the designers failed to consider that purpose-built street cafés could not operate in the blazing sun. Without the protecting awnings typical of older buildings, these could not function and would require energy-intensive air conditioning. Additionally, its enormous parking lot would appear so unwelcoming that it would discourage people from stepping out of their vehicles.

Question 5. why some measures intended to help people are being reversed

Answer: E
Supporting sentence: The same is true in transport engineering, which uses models to predict and shape the way people move through the city.
Keyword : true, transport engineering, models, city
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 1-2
Explanation: The first two lines of paragraph E says that the same can be said for transportation engineering. This use models to forecast and shape how people move around cities. Again, these models are essential. However, they are based on particular worldviews that neglect other aspects of urban experience in favour of certain types of efficiency and safety.

Question 6. reference to how transport has an impact on human lives

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: The ways we travel our physical and mental health, our social lives, our access to work and culture, and the air we breathe.
Keyword : ways, travel, affect, breathe
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 5-7
Explanation: Lines 5-7 of paragraph A explains that about out health. Our physical and emotional health, social life, access to jobs and culture, and the air we breathe are all affected by how we travel. With urban design, engineers are tasked with transforming how we move through cities.

Questions 7-13

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

Guard rails

Guard rails were introduced on British roads to improve the 7.............................of pedestrians while ensuring that the movement of 8………… is not disrupted. Pedestrians are led to access points and encouraged to cross one 9…………. at a time.

An unintended effect is to create psychological difficulties in crossing the road, particularly for less 10..............people. Another result is that some people cross the road in a 11 ......................way. The guard rails separate 12....................., and make it more difficult to introduce forms of transport that are 13.................... .

Question 7:

Answer: safety
Supporting sentence: certain forms of efficiency and safety are considered and other experience of the city ignored
Keyword : certain, efficiency, safety, experience
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph E explains that the same is true in transportation engineering, which use models to forecast and shape how people move across cities. Again, these models are essential. Although, they are based on particular worldviews that neglect other aspects of urban experience in favour of certain types of efficiency and safety.

Question 8:

Answer: traffic
Supporting sentence: engineering solution to pedestrian safety based on models that prioritize the smooth flow of traffic.
Keyword : engineering, pedestrian, prioritize, traffic
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 6-7
Explanation: The sixth to seventh lines of paragraph E explains that anyone that has ever attempted to cross a British road will recognise the guard rails. For instance, a traffic engineering approach that prioritises traffic flow was developed to address pedestrian safety.

Question 9:

Answer: carraigeway
Supporting sentence: In doing so they make crossings feel longer, introducing psychological barriers greatly impacting those that are the least mobile
Keyword : crossings, feel longer, psychological, mobile
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 9-12
Explanation: Lines 9-12 of paragraph E implies that those make crossings feel longer by implementing a method. It establishes psychological barriers that disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. It also encourages others to conduct hazardous crossings to avoid the guard rails. These obstructions make it more difficult to cross the road.

Question 10:

Answer: mobile
Supporting sentence: and encouraging others to make dangerous crossings to get around the guard rails.
Keyword : encouraging, dangerous, crossings, rails
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 11-12
Explanation: Lines 11-12 of paragraph E says that by developing a mechanism, those make crossings feel longer. The most vulnerably affected people are disproportionately affected by the psychological obstacles it erects. Additionally, it encourages others to use risky crossings in order to get around the guard rails. It is more challenging to cross the road due to these impediments.

Question 11:

Answer: dangerous
Supporting sentence: and encouraging others to make dangerous crossings to get around the guard rails
Keyword : encouraging, dangerous, crossings, guard rails
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 11-12
Explanation: Lines 11-12 implies that those can encourage others to try perilous crossings to avoid the guard rails. These obstacles do more than just make crossing the street more difficult; they also split communities and limit options for active transportation.

Question 12:

Answer: communities
Supporting sentence: These barriers don't just make it harder to cross the road.
Keyword : barriers, harder, cross, road
Keyword location: paragraph E, line 12
Explanation: The twelfth lines of paragraph E describes that those who do so may incite others to take risky shortcuts to avoid the guard rails. These obstacles do more than just make crossing the street more difficult; they also split communities and limit options for active transportation.

Question 13:

Answer: healthy
Supporting sentence: they divide communities and decrease opportunities for healthy transport.
Keyword : divide, communities, opportunities, healthy transport
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 12-13
Explanation: Lines 12-13 of paragraph E clarifies that people who do this can encourage others to use dangerous detours to get around the guardrails. These barriers divide neighbourhoods and restrict possibilities for active transportation in addition to making crossing the roadway more challenging. As a result, many are already being removed, which causes inconvenience, expense, and waste.