Quiet Roads Ahead Reading Answers

Dec 15, 2022

Quiet Roads Ahead Reading Answers deals with a write-up that highlights about the noise pollution that modern era is dealing with. This IELTS reading topic comprises of a total of 14 questions. The time allocated to the IELTS reading topic; Quiet Roads Ahead Reading Answers is of 20 minutes. The types of questions included in this IELTS reading topic are; choose the correct letter and no more than one word. Questions included in the topic Quiet Roads Ahead Reading Answers like choose the correct letter requires candidates to answer questions based on a given cue. Moreover, the word limit mentioned in the questions must be ensured by the candidates. To gain proficiency, candidates can undertake practice from IELTS Practice Papers. Candidates can discover this topic and other relevant topics in the book Cambridge IELTS 3.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Quiet Roads Ahead Reading Answers

The noise produced by busy roads is a growing problem. While vehicle designers have worked hard to quieten engines, they have been less successful elsewhere. The sound created by the tyres on the surface of the road now accounts for more than half the noise that vehicles create, and as road building and car sales continue to boom - particularly in Asia and the US - this is turning into a global issue.
According to the World Health Organization, exposure to noise from road traffic over long periods can lead to stress-related health problems. And where traffic noise exceeds a certain threshold, road builders have to spend money erecting sound barriers and installing double glazing in blighted homes. Houses become harder to sell where environmental noise is high, and people are not as efficient or productive at work.
Already, researchers in the Netherlands - one of the most densely populated countries in the world - are working to develop techniques for silencing the roads. In the next five years the Dutch government aims to have reduced noise levels from the country's road surfaces by six decibels overall. Dutch mechanical engineer Ard Kuijpers has come up with one of the most promising, and radical, ideas. He set out to tackle the three most important factors: surface texture, hardness and ability to absorb sound.
The rougher the surface, the more likely it is that a tyre will vibrate and create noise. Road builders usually eliminate bumps on freshly laid asphalt with heavy rollers, but Kuijpers has developed a method of road building that he thinks can create the ultimate quiet road. His secret is a special mold 3 meters wide and 50 meters long. Hot asphalt, mixed with small stones, is spread into the mold by a rail mounted machine which flattens the asphalt mix with a roller. When it sets, the 10-millimeter-thick sheet has a surface smoother than anything that can be achieved by conventional methods.
To optimize the performance of his road surface - to make it hard wearing yet soft enough to snuff out vibrations - he then adds another layer below the asphalt. This consists of a 30-millimeter-thick layer of rubber, mixed with stones which are larger than those in the layer above. 'It's like a giant mouse mat, making the road softer,' says Kuijpers.
The size of the stones used in the two layers is important, since they create pores of a specific size in the road surface. Those used in the top layer are just 4 or 5 millimeters across, while the ones below are approximately twice that size - about 9 millimeters. Kuijpers says the surface can absorb any air that is passing through a tyre's tread (the indentations or ridges on the surface of a tyre), damping oscillations that would otherwise create noise. And in addition they make it easier for the water to drain away, which can make the road safer in wet weather.
Compared with the complex manufacturing process, laying the surface is quite simple. It emerges from the factory rolled, like a carpet, onto a drum 1.5 meters in diameter. On site, it is unrolled and stuck onto its foundation with bitumen. Even the white lines are applied in the factory.
The foundation itself uses an even more sophisticated technique to reduce noise further. It consists of a sound-absorbing concrete base containing flask-shaped slots up to 10 millimeters wide and 30 millimeters deep that are open at the top and sealed at the lower end. These cavities act like Helmholtz resonators - when sound waves of specific frequencies enter the top of a flask, they set up resonances inside and the energy of the sound dissipates into the concrete as heat. The cavities play another important role: they help to drain water that seeps through from the upper surface. This flow will help flush out waste material and keep the pores in the outer layers clear.
Kuijpers can even control the sounds that his resonators absorb, simply by altering their dimensions. This could prove especially useful since different vehicles produce noise at different frequencies. Car tyres peak at around 1000 hertz, for example, but trucks generate lower-frequency noise at around 600 hertz. By varying the size of the Kuijpers resonators, it is possible to control which frequencies the concrete absorbs. On large highways, trucks tend to use the inside lane, so resonators here could be tuned to absorb sounds at around 600 hertz while those in other lanes could deal with higher frequency noise from cars.
Kuijpers believes he can cut noise by five decibels compared to the quietest of today's roads. He has already tested a l00-meter-long section of his road on a motorway near Apeldoorn, and Dutch construction company Heijmans is discussing the location of the next roll-out road with the country's government. The success of Kuijpers' design will depend on how much it eventually costs. But for those affected by traffic noise there is hope of quieter times ahead.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-6:
Reading Passage has ten paragraphs labeled A-J
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

a description of the form in which Kuijpers' road surface is taken to its destination

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: It emerges from the factory rolled, like a carpet, onto a drum 1.5 meters in diameter. On-site, it is unrolled and stuck onto its foundation with bitumen.
Keywords: unrolled, foundation
Keyword Location: Para G, lines 3-4
Explanation: It is taken to be unrolled onto its foundation with bitumen after leaving the plant in the shape of a carpet (1.5 metres in diameter).

an explanation of how Kuijpers makes a smooth road surface

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Hot asphalt, mixed with small stones, is spread into the mold by a rail-mounted machine that flattens the asphalt mix with a roller.
Keywords: smoother, quiet road
Keyword Location: Para D, lines 3-4
Explanation: The secret of Kujipers' flawless road surface is a unique mould that is 50 metres long and 3 metres broad. Small stones are combined with hot asphalt, which is then placed into the mould by a rail-mounted machine that rolls the asphalt mixture into a flat surface.

something that has to be considered when evaluating Kuijpers' proposal

Answer: J
Supporting Sentence: The success of Kujiper’s design will depend on how much it eventually costs.
Keywords: success, depend
Keyword Location: Para J, Lines 4-5
Explanation: The success of Kujipers' concept will depend on how much it ultimately costs, even if he claims to be able to reduce noise by five decibels compared to the quietest of today's roadways.

various economic reasons for reducing road noise

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: And where traffic noise exceeds a certain threshold, road builders have to spend money erecting sound barriers and installing double glazing in blighted homes
Keywords: spend, money
Keyword Location: Para B, lines 3-4
Explanation: The numerous economic factors for lowering road noise include stress-related health issues, the cost of creating sound barriers and installing double glazing in run-down dwellings, and the need to save money. Additionally, it is more difficult to sell residences, and employees are less effective and productive at work.

a generalization about the patterns of use of vehicles on major roads

Answer: I
Supporting Sentence: On large highways, trucks tend to use the inside lane, so resonators here could be tuned to absorb sounds at around 600 hertz while those in other lanes could deal with higher frequency noise from cars.
Keywords: large, highways
Keyword Location: Para I, lines 5-7
Explanation: Generalizations regarding the various factors affecting noise levels on major roads include the fact that trucks tend to utilise the inside lanes, where resonators could be designed to absorb noises at roughly 600 hertz while dealing with higher frequency noise from cars in other lanes.

a summary of the different things affecting levels of noise on roads

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: He set out to tackle the three most important factors: surface texture, hardness, and ability to absorb sound.
Keywords: three, important factors
Keyword Location: Para C, lines 5-6
Explanation: The surface roughness, hardness, and ability to absorb sound are three independent factors that determine how loud roads are, according to research by Dutch mechanical engineer Ard Kujipers.

Questions 7-9:
Label the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet.

Question 7.

Answer: Asphalt
Supporting Sentence: To optimize the performance of his road surface - to make it hard wearing yet soft enough to snuff out vibrations - he then adds another layer below the asphalt.
Keywords: Hot Asphalt, small stones
Keyword Location: Para D, Line 4
Explanation: As stated in Paragraph D, Hot asphalt mixed with small stones is spread into the mold by a rail mounted machine which flattens the asphalt mix with a roller.

Question 8.

Answer: 9
Supporting Sentence: The size of the stones used in the two layers is important, since they create pores of a specific size in the road surface. The ones below are approximately twice that size - about 9 millimeters
Keywords: 4 or 5 millimeters across
Keyword Location: Para F, Line 2
Explanation: It has been mentioned the reading passage within paragraph F, that use of top layers are just 4 or 5 milimeters in comparison to the ones that are approximately twice that size, majorly of 9 milimeters.

Question 9.

Answer: Concrete
Supporting Sentence: By varying the size of the Kuijpers resonators, it is possible to control which frequencies the concrete absorbs.
Keywords: sound-absorbing, concrete
Keyword Location: Para H, line 2
Explanation: The foundation itself employs an even more complex method to further decrease noise, as mentioned in Paragraph H. Flask-shaped slots up to 10 millimetres wide and 30 millimetres deep that are open at the top and sealed at the bottom make up the basis of this sound-absorbing concrete structure.

Questions 10-14:
Complete the table below using the list of words (A-K) from the box below.
Write the correct letters in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.
Kujipers’ noise-reducing road: components and function

Layer	Component	Function
upper and lower	stones	• reduce oscillations caused by (10) • create pores which help (11)
foundation	slots	• convert to heat. (12) • help to remove (13) • can be adapted to absorb different (14)

Question 10.

Answer: E (air flow)
Supporting sentence: Kujipers says the surface can absorb any air that is passing through a tyre’s tread (the indentations or ridges on the surface of a tyre), damping oscillations that would otherwise create noise.
Keywords: damping, oscillations
Keyword Location: Para F, lines 5-6
Explanation: According to Kujipers, the upper and lower surfaces can absorb any air that would otherwise produce noise and can lessen vibrations brought on by air movement if they are filled with the proper size of stones.

Question 11.

Answer: J (drainage)
Supporting sentence: The size of the stones used in the two layers is important since they create pores of a specific size in the road surface…….And in addition, they make it easier for the water to drain away, which can make the road safer in wet weather.
Keywords: pores, drain
Keyword Location: Para F, lines 1-2
Explanation: The size of the stones in the upper and lower stones is crucial because it determines the size of the pores that are created in the road surface, which makes it easier for water to drain away and perhaps safer for driving in rainy conditions.

Question 12.

Answer: G (sound energy)
Supporting sentence: These cavities act like Helmholtz resonators - when sound waves of specific frequencies enter the top of a flask, they set up resonances inside and the energy of the sound dissipates into the concrete as heat.
Keywords: sound, heat
Keyword Location: Para H, lines 5-6
Explanation: The energy of the sound is dispersed into the concrete and transformed into heat by the slots in the upper layer's foundation, acting as Helmholtz resonators.

Question 13.

Answer: C (rubbish)
Supporting sentence: This flow will help flush out waste material and keep the pores in the outer layers clear.
Keywords: flush, waste
Keyword Location: Para H, line 7
Explanation: Water that seeps through from the upper surface is drained via the pores in the foundation of the layers, and this flow helps flush out waste and maintains the cleanliness of the pores in the outer layers.

Question 14.

Answer: A (frequencies)
Supporting sentence: It consists of a sound-absorbing concrete base containing flask-shaped slots up to 10 millimeters wide and 30 millimeters deep that are open at the top and sealed at the lower end.
Keywords: sound-absorbing, slots
Keyword Location: Para H, line 2-3
Explanation: When the foundation is built with the right size stones, a concrete base with flask-shaped slots that can be adjusted to absorb different waves at different frequencies is created.

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