Underground Cities- Japan’s Answer to Crowding- IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation
The IELTS reading section consists of a passage based on which questions are made and the student needs to answer the question reading the comprehension. The IELTS reading section basically is conducted to understand the ability of the candidate. This particular IELTS reading topic - Underground Cities- Japan’s Answer to Crowding is an IELTS General training topic and has three types of questions:
- Matching Characteristics
- No more than three words
- Fill in the blanks
Candidates can practice similar topics from IELTS reading practice papers.
IELTS Reading Sample-
A nation running out of room seeks a down-to-earth solution
The Japanese may find a solution to the nation’s space shortage right beneath their feet. Some of Japan’s largest construction companies are planning underground cities that would not only ease urban crowding but also provide protection against earthquakes and increase energy efficiency.
Japan’s soaring real-estate prices provide reason enough. In a country with nearly half as many people as the United States, but squeezed onto an archipelago which is only one hundredth the size, land shortages have led to construction becoming prohibitively expensive.
Another plus for subterranean construction is that the underground earth’s movement during an earthquake is far less than the surface’s—a big consideration in earthquake-prone Japan. The devastation caused by recent earthquakes in Japan could to some extent have been avoided if much of the cities affected were largely located underground.
In addition, the near-constant temperature would reduce the fuel costs for subterranean cities. Underground areas would need much less heating in winter and much less cooling in summer.
Taisei Corporation of Tokyo is planning a network of ‘Alice Cities’, named after the fictional Lewis Carroll heroine who fell down a rabbit hole into a wonderland. Taisei proposes turning cramped downtowns into airy underground spaces connected by subway trains and subterranean roads. The cities will be designed for self-sufficiency, but could be linked to sister cities by underground railway. Although some buildings and roads would remain above ground, much surface space would be freed up for trees and public parks.
Each Alice City would be divided into three sectors. The first sector, Town Space, would comprise verdant underground boulevards and open-air and atrium-type plazas—all free of automobile traffic. These boulevards and plazas will include shopping malls, entertainment complexes and fitness centres. Secondly, the Office Space sector will house business operations, hotels and parking lots. A solar dome above each office complex will ease feelings of claustrophobia. Express elevators or an extension of the underground railway system will run to the bottom level. Some workers will ride to work vertically horn residential areas within the sector, while others will commute from the suburbs. Isolated from the town and office sectors will be the third sector. Infrastructure Space. This will contain facilities for power generation. regional heating and air-conditioning, waste recycling, and sewage treatment.
Existing cities could be redeveloped beneath the surface using the Alice system. The downtown areas could be retained above ground in a slightly modified form and most of the future growth of the cities could be accommodated underground.
An alternative to the Alice City concept is the Shimizu Corporation’s proposed Urban GeoGrid, a vast network of smaller subterranean city spaces linked by tunnels. The $80.2 billion project would cover 485 square miles and accommodate a half-million people.
The Urban Geo Grid provides for a much more complicated interaction of many underground spaces over a larger area. Each ‘grid station’—a complex of underground offices, shopping malls and hotels—would be connected to several smaller ‘grid points’, which would provide local services such as public baths and convenience stores. The Grid would provide a network for road and rail transportation, communication, and energy supply both within a city and between cities. Individual facilities for various services such as power generation and waste treatment will be on a smaller scale, but more numerous.
Whichever concept is ultimately applied, one obstacle that will need to be overcome before Japanese cities have real ‘downtowns’ involves the nation’s geology. Japan’s densely populated lowlands are mostly founded on loose geologic strata, making underground construction particularly difficult. Thus, Japanese construction firms are conducting extensive research and development on technologies for drilling, excavation and underground construction.
Some of the technology is already available. Robots similar to those that built the Channel Tunnel between France and England could be used for excavation and construction in some areas. It is anticipated that within 10 to 15 years most of the remaining technological obstacles will be overcome.
Underground city spaces in Japan are therefore coming much closer to reality. It may be difficult to imagine people adapting to life underground, but in Japan it may be one of the most practical solutions to the problem of limited living space. The next century may see many similar developments in other countries.
Questions 26-30: Indicate whether the following characteristics apply to Alice Cities or Urban Geo Grids or both or neither by writing:
AC if it applies to Alice Cities
UGG if it applies to Urban Geo Grids
BOTH if it applies to both
NEITHER if it applies to neither Alice Cities nor Urban Geo Grids
in boxes 26-30 on your answer sheet. The first one has been done as an example.
Example Answer: named after a storybook character AC
Questions 26-30
- cities linked by underground railways
Answer: BOTH
Supporting sentence: “An alternative to the Alice City concept is the Shimizu Corporation’s proposed Urban Geo Grid, a vast network of smaller subterranean city spaces linked by tunnels.”
Keywords: alternative, city, linked, tunnels
Keyword location: paragraph 8, 1st line
Explanation: The given sentence highlights that similar to Alice city, the Urban geogrid is also a city based on the same concept as Alice city, that is linked by underground railways
Also check:
- a large number of separate underground spaces linked together
Answer: UGG
Supporting sentence: “The Urban Geo Grid provides for a much more complicated interaction of many underground spaces over a larger area.”
Keyword: interaction, many underground spaces, larger area
Keyword location: paragraph 9, 1st line
Explanation: the Urban geogrid has an interaction of various cities that are separated and spread over a large area.
- one large space for city facilities such as waste treatment
Answer: AC
Supporting sentence: “This will contain facilities for power generation. regional heating and air-conditioning, waste recycling, and sewage treatment.”
Keywords: sewage treatment, waste recycling
Keyword location: paragraph 6, 7th line
Explanation: Alice city will have a dedicated space for sewage and waste treatment. Since the keywords are present in the supporting sentence, thus, the answer is justified.
- cities largely independent
Answer: AC
Supporting sentence: “The cities will be designed for self-sufficiency but could be linked to sister cities by underground railway.”
Keyword: self-sufficiency
Keyword location: paragraph 5, 3rd line
Explanation: the Alice city is designed to be self-sufficient and thus, is largely independent. The cities will be divided into three sectors and will be linked by underground railways.
- construction has already started
Answer: NEITHER
Supporting sentence: “ Whichever concept is ultimately applied, one obstacle that will need to be overcome before Japanese cities have real ‘downtowns’ involves the nation’s geology.”
Keyword: concept, ultimately applied, real downtown
Keyword location: paragraph 10, 1st line
Explanation: The construction for the cities has not yet started as the concepts have not yet been applied due to the obstacles that the country, Japan has to overcome in order to bring the concepts into reality and start the construction.
Questions 31-35
Using information from the reading passage, complete the sentences below IN NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
- Real estate is expensive in Japan because __________________________
Answer: of land shortages
Supporting sentence: “Japan’s soaring real-estate prices provide reason enough. In a country with nearly half as many people as the United States but squeezed onto an archipelago which is only one hundredth the size, land shortages have led to construction becoming prohibitively expensive.”
Keywords: squeezed, land shortages
Keyword location: paragraph 2, 1st line
Explanation: Japan has expensive real estate due to the shortage of land. Since the keywords shortages of land are there in the supporting sentence, the answer ‘of land shortages’ is justified.
- By moving many buildings and roads underground, surface land in Alice Cities could be used for _____________________________
Answer: trees and parks
Supporting sentence: “Although some buildings and roads would remain above ground, much surface space would be freed up for trees and public parks.”
Keywords: trees, public parks
Keyword location: paragraph 5, 4th line
Explanation: According to the question, moving the buildings and roads underground would create sufficient space for trees and parks. Since the words in the given options match with the keywords, hence, the answer is justified.
- In Alice Cities, some people will live in the sector called ______________________
Answer: office space
Supporting sentence: “Secondly, the Office Space sector will house business operations, hotels and parking lots. A solar dome above each office complex will ease feelings of claustrophobia. Express elevators or an extension of the underground railway system will run to the bottom level. Some workers will ride to work vertically horn residential areas within the sector, while others will commute from the suburbs.”
Keywords: office space, residential areas
Keyword location: paragraph 6, 3rd line
Explanation: The paragraph highlights that the office space sector will accommodate housing, business offices, hotels, and parking spaces. Since the supporting sentence has the keyword residential areas in association with the office space sector, thus, the answer is justified.
- Underground cities in Japan cannot yet be built because of two factors: loose geologic strata and __________________________
Answer: not available yet
Supporting sentence: “Japan’s densely populated lowlands are mostly founded on loose geologic strata, making underground construction particularly difficult. Thus, Japanese construction firms are conducting extensive research and development on technologies for drilling, excavation, and underground construction.”
Keyword: particularly difficult
Keyword location: paragraph 10, 2nd line
Explanation: the underground cities in Japan cannot be constructed due to certain obstacles that as the loose geologic strata.
- In the Urban GeoGrid, hotels would be located in the _______________________
Answer: grid station
Supporting sentence: “The Urban Geo Grid provides for a much more complicated interaction of many underground spaces over a larger area. Each ‘grid station’—a complex of underground offices, shopping malls, and hotels—would be connected to several smaller ‘grid points’, which would provide local services such as public baths and convenience stores.”
Keywords: grid station, hotels
Keyword location: paragraph 9, 1st line
Explanation: The Urban geogrid have hotels in the grid section. A grid section is a complex of an integration of many underground spaces with offices, malls, and hotels. Thus the answer grid station is justified.
Questions 36-40
The following is a brief summary of the reading passage. Complete each gap in the summary by choosing a word from the box below the summary. Write your answers in boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet.
Note: There are more words than gaps so you will not need to use them all. You may use any word more than once.
Summary
Example: Japan is planning underground cities to solve problems of living space, earthquakes and energy.
One Japanese company plans to develop large cities underneath existing (36) …………………… areas. Each of these cities would be divided into three sectors: for (37) …………………….. , office and infrastructure spaces. Another company plans a more spread out and complicated (38)……………………… based on smaller spaces. The main (39) ……………………….. to the construction of these cities is the unstable structure of the (40) …………………….. Itself. Thus, Japanese construction firms are conducting extensive research and development on various …………
| Obstacle | Network | ground | technology |
| robots | earthquakes | developing | leisure |
| downtown | private | rural | technologies |
36.
Answer: downtown
Supporting sentence: “Some of Japan’s largest construction companies are planning underground cities that would not only ease urban crowding but also provide protection against earthquakes and increase energy efficiency.”
Keywords: underground cities, Japan, companies
Keyword location: paragraph 1, 1st line
Explanation: Japanese companies have planned to construct underground or downtown cities beneath the existing urban cities. Since, downtown, and underground cities.
37.
Answer: leisure
Supporting sentence: “Each Alice City would be divided into three sectors. The first sector, Town Space, would comprise verdant underground boulevards and open-air and atrium-type plazas—all free of automobile traffic. These boulevards and plazas will include shopping malls, entertainment complexes, and fitness centers. Secondly, the Office Space sector will house business operations, hotels, and parking lots. ”
Keywords: office, entertainment, town space
Keyword location: paragraph 6, 2nd line
Explanation: Alice city has three sectors, each for the town space, office space, and entertainment spaces. Since the word shopping malls, entertainment complexes and fitness centers corresponds to leisure activities.
38.
Answer: network
Supporting sentence: “An alternative to the Alice City concept is the Shimizu Corporation’s proposed Urban Geo Grid, a vast network of smaller subterranean city spaces linked by tunnels.”
Keyword: network
Keyword location: paragraph 8, 1st line
Explanation: The urban geogrid is a huge network of smaller city spaces joined together by various tunnels. The keyword ‘network’ is appropriate in the supporting sentence.
39.
Answer: obstacle
Supporting sentence: “ Whichever concept is ultimately applied, one obstacle that will need to be overcome before Japanese cities have real ‘downtowns’ involves the nation’s geology “
Keyword: obstacle
Keyword location: paragraph 10, 1st line
Explanation: The concept of the underground cities, also referred to as downtown in the paragraph, is facing obstacles which are making the construction in the cities quite difficult.
40.
Answer: ground
Supporting sentence: “Japan’s densely populated lowlands are mostly founded on loose geologic strata, making underground construction particularly difficult.”
Keyword: geologic strata
Keyword location: paragraph 10, 3rd line
Explanation: The construction on the loose geological strata, which is similar to the word ground, is difficult. Since the keyword is synonymous with the word given in the question, hence the answer is justified.
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