London Swaying Footbridge - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation

The IELTS Reading section contains three passages and 40 questions. IELTS reading passages are based on different topics like science, technology, arts, humanities. The IELTS reading sample article - London Swaying Footbridge consists of passages along with the answers and explanations. This will help candidates to get an idea of how the questions will appear in the examination.

The following passage contains following types of questions:

• Choose the correct sentences
• Complete the summary by choosing from the passage
• Complete the table by choosing from the passage

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

London Swaying Footbridge IELTS Reading Sample

1. In September 1996 a competition was organized by the Financial Times in association with the London Borough of Southwark to design a new footbridge across the Thames. The competition attracted over 200 entries and was won by a team comprising Amp (engineers), Foster and Partners (architects) and the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro.
2. The bridge opened to the public on 10 June 2000. Up to 100,000 people crossed it that day with up to 2000 people on the bridge at any one time. At first, the bridge was still. Then it began to sway, just slightly. Then, almost from one moment to the next, when large groups of people were crossing, the wobble intensified. This movement became sufficiently large for people to stop walking to retain their balance and sometimes to hold onto the hand rails for support. It was decided immediately to limit the number of people on the bridge, but even so the deck movement was sufficient to be uncomfortable and to raise concern for public safety so that on 12 June the bridge was closed until the problem could be solved.
3. The embarrassed engineers found the videotape that day which showed the center span swaying about 3 inches side to side every second. The engineers first thought that winds might be exerting excessive force on the many large flags and banners bedecking the bridge for its gala premiere. What’s more, they also discovered that the pedestrians also played a key role. Human activities, such as walking, running, dumping, swaying, etc. could cause horizontal forces which in turn could cause excessive dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in the bridge. As the structure began moving, pedestrians adjusted their gait to the same lateral rhythm as the bridge. The adjusted footsteps magnified the motion – just like when four people all stand up in a small boat at the same time. As more pedestrians locked into the same rhythm, the increasing oscillations led to the dramatic swaying captured on film.
4. In order to design a method of reducing the movements, the force exerted by the pedestrians had to be quantified and related to the motion of the bridge. Although there are some descriptions of this phenomenon in existing literature, none of these actually quantifies the force. So there was no quantitative analytical way to design the bridge against this effect. An immediate research program was launched by the bridge’s engineering designers Ove Arup, supported by a number of universities and research organizations.
5. The tests at the University of Southampton involved a person walking on the spot’ on a small shake table. The tests at Imperial College involved persons walking along a specially built, 7.2m-long platform which could be driven laterally at different frequencies and amplitudes. Each type of test had its limitations. The Imperial College tests were only able to capture 7-8 footsteps, and the walking on the spot tests, although monitoring many footsteps, could not investigate normal forward walking. Neither test could investigate any influence of other people in a crowd on the behavior of the individual being tested.
6. The results of the laboratory tests provided information which enabled the initial design of a retro-fit to be progressed. However, the limitations of these tests were clear and it was felt that the only way to replicate properly the precise conditions of the Millennium Bridge was to carry out crowd tests on the bridge deck itself. These tests done by the Arup engineers could incorporate factors not possible in the laboratory tests. The first of these was carried out with 100 people in July 2000. The results of these tests were used to refine the load model for the pedestrians. A second series of crowd tests was carried out on the bridge in December 2000. The purpose of these tests was to further validate the design assumptions and to load test a prototype danger installation. The test was carried out with 275 people.
7. Unless the usage of the bridge was to be greatly restricted, only two generic options to improve its performance were considered feasible. The first was to increase the stiffness of the bridge to move all its lateral natural frequencies out of the range that could be excited by the lateral footfall forces, and the second was to increase the damping of the bridge to reduce the resonant response.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 14 - 17

The reading passage has 7 paragraphs A-H
Choose the suitable 4 sentences which were witnessed in the opening ceremony of the bridge
Write the appropriate letters A-H in the boxes 14-17

List of situations/ sentences

1. The frequency of oscillation increased after some time.
2. All the engineers went to see the ceremony that day.
3. The design of the bridge astonished the people.
4. Unexpected sideway movement of the bridge occurred.
5. Pedestrians had difficulty walking on the deck.
6. The bridge fell down when people tried to retain their balance.
7. Vibration could be detected on the deck by the pedestrians.
8. It was raining when the ceremony began.

Question 14.

Answer- A

Supporting Sentence - At first, the bridge was still. Then it began to sway just slightly. Then, almost from one moment to the next, when large groups of people were crossing, the wobble intensified.

Keyword- wobble intensified

Keyword Location- Passage B, 2nd line

Explanation – The Bridge was still and normal at the beginning. Then it began to shake a little. The oscillation became so intense when a large group of people crossed the bridge. These are conveyed in sentence A.

Question 15.

Answer- D

Supporting Sentence – Human activities, such as walking, running, jumping, swaying, etc. could cause horizontal force which in turn could cause excessive dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in the bridge.

Keyword- walking, running, jumping, swaying

Keyword Location – Passage C 5th line

Explanation – The human activities like walking, running and jumping made horizontal force which caused the bridge to move sideways. These are conveyed in the sentence D.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Read More IELTS Reading Related Articles

Question 16.

Answer- E

Supporting Sentence – This movement became sufficiently large for people to stop walking to retain their balance and sometimes to hold onto the hand rails for support.

Keyword- retain their balance

Keyword Location – Passage B 4th line

Explanation – The pedestrians found it difficult to walk on the deck as the movement was huge. They also had to hold on to the hand rails for balance and stop walking in order to reduce the movement. These are conveyed in the sentence E.

Question 17.

Answer- G

Supporting Sentence – As the structure began moving, pedestrians adjusted their gait to the same lateral rhythm as the bridge. The adjusted footsteps magnified the motion – just like when four people all stand up in a small boat at the same time.

Keyword- footsteps magnified

Keyword Location – Passage C 7th line

Explanation – The pedestrians found the movement of the bridge. They adjusted their way of walking to the rhythm of the bridge. These are conveyed in the sentence G.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Questions 18-22

Complete the summary of the paragraph using no more than three words from the reading passage for each answer. Write the appropriate answer in boxes 18 -22

After the opening ceremony, the embarrassed engineers tried to find out the reason for the bridge’s wobbling. Judged from the videotape, they thought that 18……………………. and 19……………………. might create excessive force on the bridge. The distribution of 20……………………. resulted from human activities that could cause 21……………………. throughout the structure. This swaying prompted people to start adjusting the way they walk, which in turn reinforced the

22…………………….

Question 18.

Answer- Winds

Supporting Sentence-The embarrassed engineers found the videotape that day which showed the center span swaying about 3 inches side to side every second. The engineers first thought that winds might be exerting excessive force on the many large flags and banners bedecking the bridge for its gala premiere.

Keyword- exerting excessive force

Keyword Location – Passage C 2nd line

Explanation – The engineers assumed that the wind might be applying force on the flags and banners that were kept for the gala premiere.

Question 19.

Answer- The Pedestrians

Supporting Sentence - The engineers first thought that winds might be exerting excessive force on the many large flags and banners bedecking the bridge for its gala premiere. What’s more, they also discovered that the pedestrians also played a key role.

Keyword- large flags and banners

Keyword Location – Passage C 4th line

Explanation – The engineers found that both wind and pedestrians made an influence in applying excessive force on the flags and banners that were kept for the gala premiere.

Question 20.

Answer- Horizontal Forces

Supporting Sentence - Human activities, such as walking, running, jumping, swaying, etc. could cause horizontal force which in turn could cause excessive dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in the bridge.

Keyword- excessive dynamic vibration

Keyword Location – Passage C, 5th line

Explanation – Human activities like walking, running and jumping made horizontal force which cause intense dynamic vibration in the bridge.

Question 21.

Answer- Excessive Dynamic Vibration

Supporting Sentence - Human activities, such as walking, running, jumping, swaying, etc. could cause horizontal force which in turn could cause excessive dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in the bridge.

Keyword- lateral direction

Keyword Location – Passage C, 5th line

Explanation - Human activities like walking, running and jumping made horizontal force which cause intense dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in the bridge.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers

Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Question 22.

Answer- Motion

Supporting Sentence - In order to design a method of reducing the movements, the force exerted by the pedestrians had to be quantified and related to the motion of the bridge.

Keyword-pedestrians, motion

Keyword Location – Passage D, 1st line

Explanation -The pedestrian had to adjust the way they walk in order to find a method to reduce the movement of the bridge.

Questions 23 -26

Complete the table below
Choose no more than three words from the reading passage
Write appropriate answers in boxes 23 -26
Research programs launched by universities and organizations

Question 23.

Answer- Imperial College

Supporting Sentence - The tests at Imperial College involved persons walking along a specially built, 7.2m-long platform which could be driven laterally at different frequencies (n and amplitudes. Each type of test had its limitations. The Imperial College tests were only able to capture 7-8 footsteps.

Keyword- Imperial College

Keyword Location – Passage E, 4th line

Explanation – The Imperial college test could record only 7-8 footsteps. The answer to the question is given directly in this line. As per the hints i.e. (Test at, and Limited ability to have 7-8 footsteps), the correct answer is Imperial College.

Question 24.

Answer- Normal Forward Walking

Supporting Sentence - The Imperial College tests were only able to capture 7-8 footsteps, and the ‘walking on the spot’ tests, although monitoring many footsteps, could not investigate normal forward walking.

Keyword- monitoring many footsteps

Keyword Location – Passage E, 4th line

Explanation - The University of Southampton conducted the Walking on the spot tests. Even though they had collected a large number of footprints, it was not enough to study the normal forward walking. Since the given hints i.e. (‘walking on the spot’ at Southampton, and Not enough data on) match the passage, the correct answer is Normal Forward Walking.

Question 25.

Answer- The Arup Engineers

Supporting Sentence - The limitations of these tests were clear and it was felt that the only way to replicate properly the precise conditions of the Millennium Bridge was to carry out crowd tests on the bridge deck itself. These tests done by the Arup engineers could incorporate factors not possible in the laboratory tests.

Keyword- Millennium Bridge

Keyword Location – Passage F, 4th line

Explanation – To replicate the precise conditions of the millennium bridge, the only way was to conduct the crowd test. These tests were conducted by the Arup Engineers. The term these tests denotes the Crowd test. Hence, the correct answer as per the given hint i.e. (crowd test conducted by) is Arup Engineers.

Question 26.

Answer- The Design Assumptions

Supporting Sentence - A second series of crowd tests was carried out on the bridge in December 2000. The purpose of these tests was to further validate the design assumptions and to load test a prototype damper installation.

Keyword- design, prototype damper installation

Keyword Location – Passage F, 8th Line

Explanation – They conducted a second series of crowd tests and the purpose was to evaluate the design assumptions. This matches with the hint given i.e. (Aim to verify). Therefore the correct answer is Design Assumptions.