Glass Capturing the Dance of Light - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation

In IELTS, Writing, Reading, and Speaking tests are there. The section of the IELTS Reading tests the candidates' reading skills by asking them 40 questions about a passage. The IELTS reading section measures the candidate's comprehension abilities.

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The candidate need to answer the following IELTS reading question types in this passage:

• Matching Headings
• Diagram Completion
• Fill in the Blanks

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Glass capturing the Dance of Light IELTS reading sample

1. Glass, in one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans. As one of the most widely used of manufactured materials, and certainly the most versatile, it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the width of a tennis court or as small and simple as a marble rolling across dirt. The uses of this adaptable material have been broadened dramatically by new technologies glass fibre optics — more than eight million miles — carrying telephone and television signals across nations, glass ceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific organs, even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispose of that unwanted material.
2. On the horizon are optical computers. These could store programs and process information by means of light - pulses from tiny lasers - rather than electrons. And the pulses would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire. These machines could function hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and hold vastly more information. Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of smaller and smaller objects than ever before - even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers) to building new plants to meet demand.
3. But it is not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons. The use of glass as art, a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and creating works of art. «I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,» Dale Chihuly said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th century. He now has a new commission - a glass sculpture for the headquarters building of a pizza company - for which his fee is half a million dollars.
4. But not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Consider the simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a nation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder that the machine has been called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four glassblowers.
5. The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it is rigid, and thus like a solid, the atoms are arranged in a random disordered fashion, characteristic of a liquid. In the melting process, the atoms in the raw materials are disturbed from their normal position in the molecular structure; before they can find their way back to crystalline arrangements the glass cools. This looseness in molecular structure gives the material what engineers call tremendous “formability” which allows technicians to tailor glass to whatever they need.
6. Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their imaginations with applications of special types of glass. A London architect, Mike Davies, sees even more dramatic buildings using molecular chemistry. “Glass is the great building material of the future, the «dynamic skin»,’ he said. “Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric currents going through it, glass that will change from clear to opaque at the push of a button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of how the tall buildings in New York could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in them is made to change colours instantly.” Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is exorbitant. As for the glass changing colours instantly, that may come true. Mike Davies’s vision may indeed be on the way to fulfilment.

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Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Answers to questions 1-5

There are six paragraphs in the Reading Passage (A-F).
Below are the headings that are suitable for each paragraph. Choose the most appropriate heading/paragraph.
Put the appropriate numbers (i-x) in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
As an example, here is paragraph A.
NB: There are more headings than paragraphs, so we won't use them all.

Paragraph A - Example
Location - Lines 4 and 5 of Paragraph A

(Guide: Candidates need to match the paragraphs A to F with the correct heading 1 to 10)

Question - 1

Answer - viii

Supporting Sentence -Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of smaller and smaller objects than ever before - even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers) to building new plants to meet demand

Keyword - Horizon, Electronic Computers

Keyword location - Paragraph B Lines 1, 3 and 4

Explanation - In the paragraph, A-lines 3 and 4, it says, “These machines could function hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and hold vastly more information.”

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Question - 2

Answer - i

Supporting Sentence - The use of glass as art, a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and creating works of art. «I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,» Dale Chihuly said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th century.

Keyword - Booming, Glass art

Keyword location - Paragraph C Lines 1 and 2

Explanation - In paragraph C, lines 1 and 2 it says, “The use of glass as art, a tradition spins back at least to Roman times, is also booming.”

Question - 3

Answer - ix

Supporting Sentence - “Consider the simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand-blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a nation.”

Keyword - Turn of the century, light bulbs

Keyword location - Paragraph D Line 2

Explanation - In paragraph D - line 2, it says, “Consider the simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand-blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a day’s pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a nation.”

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Question - 4

Answer - iii

Supporting Sentence - The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure

Keyword - Versatility of glass

Keyword location - Paragraph E Line 1

Explanation - In paragraph E - line 1, it says, “The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure.”

Question - 5

Answer - vi

Supporting Sentence - Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their imaginations with applications of special types of glass.

Keyword - New glass, Building designers, Types of glass

Keyword location - Paragraph F Lines 1 and 2

Explanation - In paragraph F - lines 1 and 2, it says, “Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their imaginations with applications of special types of glass.”

Answers to questions 6-8

Below you will find a diagram of Coming's ribbon machine.
Label the diagram by selecting THREE WORDS each from the Reading Passage to fill the spaces listed below.

The answers to your questions should go in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.

(Guide: Candidates need to complete the diagram by using correct words from the passage)

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Question - 6

Answer - Molten glass/ribbon of glass/molten glass ribbon

Supporting Sentence - Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four glassblowers.

Keyword - Molten Glass

Keyword Location - Paragraph D

Explanation - In paragraph D, it says that it is no wonder that the machine is regarded as one of the great mechanical achievements in history. However, what the machine does is very simple: It melts molten glass.

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples

Question - 7

Answer - the belt of steel/steel belt/moving belt

Supporting Sentence - Small wonder that the machine has been called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which there are holes.

Keyword - Moving Belt

Keyword Location - Paragraph D

Explanation - In paragraph D, it says that despite the complexity, it is incredibly simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel punctured with openings.

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Question - 8

Answer - (lightbulb) moulds

Supporting Sentence - The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the glass.

Keyword - Moulds

Keyword Location - Paragraph D

Explanation - In paragraph D, it says that as the glass sags through the holes, it occurs in the mold that's waiting.

Answers to questions 9-13

Take a look at the list below of the uses of glass.

As described in the passage, state whether these uses are current, will be present in the future, or are not mentioned.

(Guide: Candidates need to answer match the options A to C as answers with the questions)

Fill in boxes 9-13 with the following information

A - if they are currently in use
B - if they will be used in the future
C - if the author did not mention the use

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Question - 9

Answer - A

Supporting Sentence - carrying telephone and television signals across nations, glass ceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific organs, even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispose of that unwanted material.

Keyword - crowns for teeth

Keyword Location - Paragraph A

Explanation - In paragraph A, it says that by using new technologies, such as glass fiber optics, telephony, and television signals have been broadcast across several miles of glass besides being used as missile nose cones and as tooth crowns, glass ceramics also transmit radiation inside the body to particular organs, and can even be fashioned from nuclear waste as a disposal method.

Question - 10

Answer - B

Supporting Sentence - On the horizon are optical computers. These could store programs and process information by means of light - pulses from tiny lasers - rather than electrons. And the pulses would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire.

Keyword - optical computers

Keyword Location - Paragraph B

Explanation - In paragraph B, it says optical computers are on the horizon.

Question - 11

Answer - A

Supporting Sentence - He now has a new commission - a glass sculpture for the headquarters building of a pizza company - for which his fee is half a million dollars.

Keyword - sculpture

Keyword Location - Paragraph C

Explanation - In paragraph C, it says that the artist has been commissioned a glass sculpture for a pizza company and the fee for the sculpture is half a million dollars.

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Question - 12

Answer - C

Explanation - Not given / not mentioned by the writer.

Question - 13

Answer - A

Supporting Sentence - “Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric currents going through it, glass that will change from clear to opaque at the push of a button, that gives you instant curtains.

Keyword - curtains

Keyword Location - Paragraph F

Explanation - In paragraph F, it says that there are some glasses that can change from clear to opaque when electric currents pass through them, so you can make instant curtains by pressing a button.