IELTS Academic Reading Test 4

Katherine Mansfield was a modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in New Zealand

Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was born in 1888, into a prominent family in Wellington, New Zealand. She became one of New Zealand's best-known writers, using the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. The daughter of a banker, and born into a middle-class family, she was also a first cousin of Countess Elizabeth von Arnim, a distinguished novelist in her time. Mansfield had two older sisters and a younger brother. Her father, Harold Beauchamp, went on to become the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand. In 1893, the Mansfield family moved to Karori, a suburb of Wellington, where Mansfield would spend the happiest years of her childhood; she later used her memories of this time as an inspiration for her Prelude story.

Her first published stories appeared in the High School Reporter and the Wellington Girls' High School magazine in 1898 and 1899. In 1902, she developed strong feelings for a musician who played the cello, Arnold Trowell, although her feelings were not, for the most past, returned. Mansfield herself was an accomplished cellist, having received lesion from Trowell's father. Mansfied wrote in her journals of feeling isolated to some extent in New Zealand, and, in general terms of her interest in the Maori people ( New Zealand's native people), who were often portrayed in a sympathetic light in her later stories, such as How Pearl Button was Kidnapped.

She moved to London in 1903, where she attended Queen's college, along with her two sisters. Manfield recommenced playing the cello, an occupation that she believed, during her time at Queen's, she would take up professionally. She also began contributing to the college newspaper, with such a dedication to it that she eventually became its editor. She was particularly interested in the works of the French writers of this period and on the 19th- century British writer, Oscar Wilde, and she was appreciated amongst fellow students at Queen's for her lively and charismatic approach to life and work. She met follow writer Ida Baker, a South African, at the college, and the pair became lifelong friends. Mansfield did not actively support the suffragette movement in the Uk. Women in New Zeland had gained the right to vote in 1893.

Mansfield first began journeying into the other parts of Europe in the period 1903-1906, mainly to Belgium and Germany. After finishing her schooling in England, she returned to her New Zealand home in 1906, only then beginning to write short stories in a serious way. She had several works published in Australia in a magazine called Native Comparison, which was her first paid writing work, and by this time she had her mind set on becoming a professional writer. It was also the first occasion on which she used the pseudonym "k.Mansfied".

Mansfield rapidly grew discontented with the provincial New Zealand lifestyle, and with her family. Two years later she headed again in London. Her father sent her an annual subsidy of €100 for the rest of her life. In later years, she would express both admiration and disdain for New Zealand in her journals.

In 1911, Mansfield met John Middleton Murry, the Oxford scholar and editor of the literary magazine Rhythm. They were later to marry in 1918. Mansfield became a co-editor of Rhythm, which was subsequently called The Blue Review, in which more of her works were published. She and Murry lived in various houses in England and briefly in Paris. The Blue Review failed to gain enough readers and was no longer published. Their attempt to set up as writers in Paris was cut short by Murry's bankruptcy, which resulted from the failure of this and other journals. Life back in England meant frequently changed addresses and very limited funds.

Between 1915 and 1918, Mansfield moved between England and Bandoi, France. She and Murry developed close contact with other well-known writers of the time such as DH Lawrence, Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley. By October 1918 Mansfield had become seriously ill; she had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and was advised to enter a sanatorium. She could no longer spend time with writers in London. In the autumn of 1918 she was so ill that she decided to go to Ospedale in Italy. It was the publication of Bliss and Other Stories in 1920 that was to solidify Mansfield's reputation as a writer.

Mansfied also spent time in Menton, France, as the tenant of her father's cousin at "The Villa Isola Bella". There she wrote she pronounced to be "...the only story that satisfies me to any extent".

Mansfield produced a great deal of work in the final years of her life, and much of her prose and poetry remained unpublished at her death in 1923. After her death, her husband, Murry, took on the task of editing and publishing her works. His efforts resulted in two additional volumes of short stories. The Doves' Nest and Something Childish, published in 1923 and 1924 respectively, the publication of her Poems as well as a collection of critical writings (Novels and Novelist) and a number of editions of Mansfield's previously unpublished letters and journals.

Questions 1–6

• The name Katherine Mansfield, that appears on the writer’s book, was exactly the same as her original name.
• Mansfield won a prize for a story she wrote for the High School Reporter.
• How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped portrayed Maori people in a favorable way.
• When Mansfield was at Queen’s College, she planned to be a professional writer.
• Mansfield was unpopular with the other students at Queen’s College.
• In London, Mansfield showed little interest in politics.

Questions 7–13

• Complete the notes below using ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage. Katherine Mansfield’s Adult Years Moved from England back to ___ First paid writing work was in a publication based in Her and the New Zealand way of life made her feel dissatisfied 1908 Returned to London 1911–1919 Met John Middleton Murry in 1911 prevented Mansfield and Murry from staying together in Paris Spent time with distinguished From 1916, tuberculosis restricted the time she spent in London 1920 Her was consolidated when Bliss and Other Stories was published Wrote several stories at Villa Isola Bella 1923–1924 Mansfield’s published more of her works after her death

Satellite technology is helping farmers boost crop yields

A For farmers, working out the optimal amount of seed, fertiliser, pesticide and water to scatter on a field can make, or break, the subsequent harvest. Regular laboratory analyses of soil and plant samples from various parts of the field can help – but such expertise is costly, and often unavailable. However, a new and cheaper method of doing this analysis is now on offer. Precise prescriptions for growing crops can be obtained quickly, and less expensively, by calculating the amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from agricultural land. The data is collected by orbiting satellites.

B Examining the wavelength of the radiation that is reflected can reveal, with surprising precision, the properties of the soil, the quantity of crop being grown, and the levels in those crops of chlorophyll , various minerals, moisture and other indicators of their quality. If recent and forecast weather data is added to the mix, detailed maps can be produced indicating exactly how, where and when crops should be grown. The service usually costs less than US $15 per hectare for a handful of readings a year, and can increase yields by as much as 10%.

C Such precision farming using satellite-based intelligence is a relatively new technique. Even so, it is catching on quickly. Five times a year, for example, a French cereal-growers' co-operative called Sevépi purchases satellite data and makes it available to its members in the form of maps of their fields, divided into three or four colour-coded zones per hectare. For each zone, one of about 50 fertiliser formulas is recommended. On top of this, if the wheat in the field has already grown quite high early in the season, and heavy showers are expected, an appropriate dose of growth regulator is recommended for each zone. (Long, fragile stems break more easily in downpours.) Then, farm vehicles equipped with global-positioning system locators automatically mix and apply the prescribed dose to each area.

D France is the pioneer in this sort of surveillance. More farmland is analysed by satellite there than in any other country, according to Infoterra (a subsidiary of EADS Astrium), the firm that is France's largest provider of such information, supplying data to companies such as Sevépi. Moreover, Henri Douche, head of Infoterra's agriculture sales in Toulouse, reckons the amount of monitored farmland will increase as weather patterns change and farmers can no longer rely on the past as a guide to the future. When confounded by the yield variations that these new weather patterns will bring, even farmers who are afraid of new technology will sign up, he says.

E Inexpensive data on the productivity of land is advantageous to governments, too. Areas where fertilisers and pesticides are being applied excessively can be pinpointed, studied and regulated by environmental and land-use agencies. Guy Lafond, an agronomist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, a government agency, says the satellite data it purchases is proving useful for the study of fields with declining productivity in the province of Saskatchewan. Overkill with nitrate fertilisers (which are also a source of greenhouse gases) appears partly responsible. And according to RapidEye, a German satellite operator, insurance companies are also studying satellite data with a view to selling insurance policies to governments of famine-prone countries that might be threatened by crop failure.

F In March, RapidEye began selling data that helps forecast harvests. “Too often, farmers limit productivity by managing fields uniformly,” says Fredrick Jung-Rothenhausler, head of product development at the firm's headquarters in Brandenburg an der Havel. “Our satellites are the first commercial satellites to include the Red-Edge band of the light spectrum, which is sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content. More research will be necessary to realise the full potential of the Red-Edge band. However, this band can assist in monitoring vegetation health, improving species separation and also help in measuring protein and nitrogen content in biomass.” The company's data, which comes from both Europe and the Americas, breaks field productivity down into patches just five metres square.

G The advantages that satellite technology provides in terms of precision farming do not have to be restricted to rich countries. In Africa, where many soils have become badly depleted of nutrients, better fertiliser management would greatly improve the situation. As a consequence, the charitable trust World Agroforestry Centre, in the city of Nairobi, in Kenya, has begun to build up a catalogue of the radiation patterns derived from around 100,000 samples of African soils. The information is the key to understanding the potential of these soils to be more agriculturally productive. Once passed on to the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, based in Colombia, South America, it is intended that the information be used to build a database called the ‘Digital Soil Map’. When ready, this will provide farmers with free forecasts, developed with regularly updated satellite imagery, across farmland in a number of countries in Africa. This is information which will almost certainly assist in improving crop yields. For a hunger-ravaged continent, that is good news indeed.

Questions 14–20

• an example of how farmers in one country are now using satellite data to determine fertiliser use
• a reference to climate change and its effects
• a reference to the effect on the soil of using too much fertiliser
• an example of information that will be shared between different countries
• a mention of the country which is the leader in agricultural technology
• a description of an innovation in satellite imaging which requires further study
• Which TWO research activities were carried out by Scott's expedition team? A collecting samples of sea life B monitoring penguin behaviour C studying the effects of cold on the human body D keeping a record of Antarctic weather patterns E drawing pictures of plants and animals

Questions 21–22

• Which TWO statements are true about the conservation workers on Ross Island? A They lived in Scott's huts while carrying out the work. B They were in Antarctica for months at a time. C They had previously worked together in New Zealand. D They restored the contents as well as the buildings themselves. E They had no access to showers at all.

Questions 23–26

Paragraph A
We have had widespread drilling for oil and gas deposits for more than 100 years in the United States. Until the 1990's, most of this recovery has occurred from conventional wells that were drilled down to rock formations, from which hydrocarbons could be pumped to the surface. The discovery of hydraulic fracking in the late 1940's has long allowed companies to extract gas and oil from shale, but the perfection of these two techniques over the past few decades has allowed the process to become cost effective. There are numerous shale plays in the United States from which shale gas can be extracted, and firms are busy drilling wells in many areas of the country.

Paragraph B
Shale gas is natural methane in rock formations deep underground that, before fracking, was not feasible to extract. Its removal today depends on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Hydraulic fracturing is the use of pressure to force liquids containing proppants (often sand) into rock strata, so that hydrocarbons are available for extraction. Current technology uses water, sand, and miscellaneous fluids, all of which must be imported to the well site. A wellbore is drilled, and then the fracturing fluid is forced through holes in the casing into the plays. High pressures are used to create fissures where the proppants are deposited to hold fissures open, so that hydrocarbons can be released. Hydraulic fracturing occurs in a number of stages and the fracturing fluid is forced into a small portion of the wellbore at each stage. After the hydraulic fracturing is completed, some of the fracturing fluid comes back up the well. Because the flowback and wastewater from a well can be toxic, it must be disposed of in a manner that does not create any health, safety, or environmental problems. The underground areas from which the gas is extracted may be left with cavities, which in turn can sometimes cause ground subsidence.

Paragraph C
The development of American shale gas deposits has been accompanied by notable benefits and a significant impact on the American economy. Next year, it is estimated that the development of America's shale gas resources will employ 869,000 people. The shale gas industry will have capital expenditures of $48 billion and pay more than $28 billion in federal and state taxes this year. Due to shale gas, the US is using less coal and the country's electricity costs have been lowered by about ten per cent. Shale gas has also contributed to a decrease in imports of foreign natural gas.

Paragraph D
Yet not everything is positive. The development of shale gas resources is associated with its toxic pollutants and environmental problems. It needs to be mentioned that the American federal and state governments were not prepared for the problems that accompany shale gas development. A lack of sufficient regulatory oversight in the US when the industry began allowed some unfortunate situations and instances of damage that could have been prevented.

Paragraph E
Sites where wells are drilled for extracting shale gas often cover about two hectares and involve increased traffic, noise, light, dangerous equipment, and toxic chemicals. The activities and conditions at a site therefore create a potential for contamination and environmental degradation. The major risk involves damage from the toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. The fracking fluid is approximately 99.5 per cent water and sand and 0.5 per cent additives used to enhance hydrocarbon recovery. An average of 5000 gallons of chemical additives may be used to frack a well and some of them are toxic. Since different chemicals and different amounts are used at each well, the toxicities may vary.

Paragraph F
Under US federal law, the chemicals used at a well are exempted from full reporting requirements. Under most state laws, the supplier or the service company of a fracturing operation must disclose information, unless the chemicals are claimed as a trade secret. Recently, it was estimated that in approximately two-thirds of the cases the complete chemical compositions were not reported. Chemical secrecy is a problem, because persons working at wells and persons who come into contact with chemicals used at a well do not have sufficient information to know whether they need medical attention. Without timely information of the chemicals involved in a spill or release, first responders to emergencies, health professionals, and property owners may lack key information for deciding what actions they should take.

Paragraph G
Issues are also being raised about the need for better management practices to reduce the risks that accompany shale gas development. Hundreds of best management practices have been identified to employ during energy development and extraction, but most of these are currently voluntary. In the absence of mandatory management practices covering all of the stages of shale gas development, there are not sufficient assurances that people and the environment are adequately protected against health and safety problems. By adopting more mandatory management practices, the industry may be able to reduce the risks and shale gas development would be beneficial overall.

Paragraph H
The American experiences can be helpful in discerning whether other countries might proceed with shale gas development. The activities connected with developing shale gas can be assessed to learn about the risks, dangers, and problems that need to be addressed. Then, existing laws and regulations can be evaluated to determine their probable success in addressing the risks. Additional regulations can be developed if they are needed and firms can be required to adopt best management practices. Governments can require disclosure of dangerous materials and establish funding mechanisms to pay for regulatory oversight and for collecting monies to be used to remedy future damages caused by fracking.

Glossary
Shale play – An underground formation of a type of rock containing natural gas.
Proppant – A solid material used in fracking to keep holes open during the fracking process.

Questions 27–34

• Not all chemicals used for fracking are poisonous.
• Shale gas is found deep under the ground.
• At present, recommended management practices for fracking companies are not compulsory.
• The US government did not initially enforce enough control on the fracking industry.
• Fracking techniques have been available since the 1940's.
• Finance should be set aside to pay for future problems that fracking might create.
• Some companies do not publicise the chemicals that they use for fracking.
• Using shale gas has reduced US expenditure on electricity generation.

Questions 35–39

• Which FIVE of the following describe disadvantages of shale gas fracking? A. Toxic liquid can flow up a drilling installation and potentially create pollution. B. Underground gas explosions can be a risk to local communities. C. The ground over the fracking areas can sometimes become unsafe. D. Oil deposits can sometimes be lost during gas fracking. E. Fracking installations generate additional traffic pollution. F. Excess light can be present at fracking installations. G. Sand used in fracking can pollute the water table. H. Workers contaminated during fracking operations can have correct treatment delayed. I. Tax dollars are taken out of the country by overseas extraction companies.

Questions 40–40

• What is the writer's purpose in Reading Passage 3?