اختبار آيلتس تجريبي.. Test C

اختبار آيلتس أكاديمي تجريبي كامل ومجاني من دليلك (Test C): القراءة (3 نصوص، 40 سؤالًا) والاستماع (4 أجزاء، 40 سؤالًا) والكتابة (مهمتان) والمحادثة (3 أجزاء). الإجابة الصحيحة والشرح تحت كل سؤال بضغطة على «اعرض الإجابة»، لمن يستعد للآيلتس ويريد يتدرّب ويراجع أخطاءه.

حل الأسئلة أولًا ثم افتح الإجابة، أو ابدأ الاختبار التفاعلي بالوقت ليُصحَّح تلقائيًا مع باند تقديري. أصوات الاستماع تعمل في الاختبار التفاعلي، ونصها هنا تحت كل جزء.

القراءة الأكاديمية.. Reading

3 نصوص و40 سؤالًا في 60 دقيقة.

ابدأ الاختبار التفاعلي بالوقت

Passage 1: The History of Mechanical Timekeeping

ABefore any mechanism existed to measure the passage of time mechanically, human societies relied on the movement of the sun and on substances that changed at a roughly predictable rate. Sundials tracked the sun's shadow across a marked surface, a method precise enough by day but useless after dusk or under cloud. Water clocks, known to the ancient Egyptians and refined by the Greeks and Chinese, measured time by the steady flow of water from one vessel into another marked with graduated lines; candle clocks and knotted ropes offered rougher alternatives for households and travellers. Each of these devices shared the same underlying weakness: none could keep an even rate regardless of weather, temperature or the vessel's own wear, so none could be trusted to synchronise activity across any distance greater than a single town. It was against this backdrop of approximate, locally kept time that the first mechanical escapement emerged.

BThe earliest mechanical clocks are generally traced to European monasteries of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, where monks needed a reliable means of waking the community for prayer at fixed canonical hours through the night. These early machines had no dial and no hands; they existed solely to strike a bell at the correct interval, regulated by a device called the verge-and-foliot escapement, in which a swinging bar alternately caught and released a toothed wheel driven by a slowly descending weight. The escapement's rate depended on the bar's moment of inertia rather than on any fixed physical constant, which made these clocks notoriously difficult to regulate consistently; a clock might gain or lose as much as fifteen minutes in a single day, an error that mattered little for waking monks but would later prove a serious obstacle wherever finer timekeeping was required. Even so, the invention marked a decisive break from every earlier method, since it converted stored mechanical energy into a steady, repeating tick for the first time.

COnce the basic mechanism existed, it quickly moved beyond monastery walls into the public life of European towns. Civic authorities began installing clocks in prominent towers from the mid-fourteenth century onward, and these public machines were soon fitted with a face and a single hour hand, allowing anyone within sight of the tower to read the time rather than merely hear a bell. A working clock became a mark of civic wealth and ambition, and towns competed to commission increasingly elaborate mechanisms, some incorporating astronomical dials that tracked the phases of the moon or the position of the sun within the zodiac. Ownership of a public clock signalled that a town could organise commerce, court sessions and labour around a shared, externally verified schedule rather than the older, looser rhythms of daylight and church bells, a shift that historians have linked to the gradual standardisation of the working day in medieval commerce.

DAccuracy remained a persistent limitation until the mid-seventeenth century, when the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens applied an insight first noted decades earlier by Galileo Galilei: a swinging pendulum of a given length takes very nearly the same time to complete each swing, regardless of how wide the swing itself is. Huygens patented a working pendulum clock in 1657, replacing the erratic verge-and-foliot escapement with a mechanism regulated by this near-constant swing. The improvement in accuracy was dramatic, cutting daily error from tens of minutes to a matter of seconds, and the pendulum clock rapidly became the standard for any application where precision mattered, from astronomical observatories to the regulation of other clocks. Huygens is also credited with an early spiral balance spring, adapted for portable clocks and watches that could not rely on a swinging weight, extending the same underlying principle beyond fixed installations.

EPrecision on land, however, did nothing to solve one of the most costly navigational problems of the age: determining a ship's longitude at sea. Without an accurate clock that could survive a rolling deck, changing temperature and salt air, sailors had no reliable way of comparing local time to time at a known reference point, and errors in longitude estimation caused numerous shipwrecks. The British government's Board of Longitude offered a substantial cash prize for a workable solution, eventually won by the self-taught carpenter and clockmaker John Harrison, whose series of marine chronometers, refined across four decades from the 1730s onward, kept time accurately enough at sea to calculate longitude within a few nautical miles. Harrison's final and most compact design, tested on a transatlantic voyage in 1761, lost only a few seconds over more than two months at sea, a level of performance that transformed the safety of long-distance ocean navigation and cemented the mechanical clock's role well beyond the tower or the monastery.

FThe mechanical clock's dominance did not survive the technological revolutions of the twentieth century. Quartz clocks, which regulate time using the extremely stable vibration of an electrically stimulated crystal, were developed from the 1920s and became cheap enough for mass production by the 1970s, offering an accuracy that no purely mechanical escapement could match at a fraction of the manufacturing cost. Atomic clocks pushed precision further still, becoming the basis for international timekeeping standards. Mechanical movements have not disappeared, but their surviving market lies chiefly in luxury watchmaking, where the intricate craftsmanship of gears, springs and escapements is prized as an object of engineering heritage rather than relied upon as the most accurate means of telling the time.

escapement:
the mechanism in a mechanical clock that regulates the release of energy from a driven wheel at a steady rate
chronometer:
a portable clock or watch built to keep highly accurate time despite motion, temperature change and other disturbances

أسئلة النص 1

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

  1. 1Sundials could be used to tell the time regardless of weather conditions.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    FALSE

    "'Sundials tracked the sun's shadow across a marked surface, a method precise enough by day but useless after dusk or under cloud' (Paragraph A)"

    ليش صحيح: النص ينفي صراحة أن المزولة تعمل بغض النظر عن الطقس.. عديمة الفائدة تحت الغيوم.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست TRUE بسبب التناقض الصريح، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن القيد مذكور بوضوح.

  2. 2The earliest mechanical clocks had no dial or hands.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    TRUE

    "'These early machines had no dial and no hands; they existed solely to strike a bell' (Paragraph B)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لحقيقة مذكورة صراحة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست FALSE لعدم وجود تناقض، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن الحقيقة مذكورة بوضوح.

  3. 3The verge-and-foliot escapement could keep time to within a few seconds each day.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    FALSE

    "'a clock might gain or lose as much as fifteen minutes in a single day' (Paragraph B)"

    ليش صحيح: النص يذكر خطأ يصل إلى خمس عشرة دقيقة يوميًا لا ثوانٍ قليلة.. تناقض مباشر.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست TRUE بسبب التناقض الصريح، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن مقدار الخطأ مذكور بوضوح.

  4. 4Some medieval public clocks displayed astronomical information such as the phases of the moon.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    TRUE

    "'some incorporating astronomical dials that tracked the phases of the moon or the position of the sun within the zodiac' (Paragraph C)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لحقيقة مذكورة صراحة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست FALSE لعدم وجود تناقض، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن الحقيقة مذكورة بوضوح.

  5. 5Christiaan Huygens was the first person to observe that a pendulum's swing takes a constant time regardless of its width.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    FALSE

    "'Christiaan Huygens applied an insight first noted decades earlier by Galileo Galilei' (Paragraph D)"

    ليش صحيح: غاليليو لاحظ الفكرة قبل هويجنز بعقود.. تناقض مباشر في نسبة الاكتشاف.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست TRUE بسبب التناقض الصريح، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن من لاحظ الفكرة أولًا مذكور بوضوح.

  6. 6John Harrison's most compact marine chronometer lost only a few seconds over a two-month sea voyage.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    TRUE

    "'tested on a transatlantic voyage in 1761, lost only a few seconds over more than two months at sea' (Paragraph E)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لحقيقة مذكورة صراحة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست FALSE لعدم وجود تناقض، وليست NOT GIVEN لأن الحقيقة مذكورة بوضوح.

  7. 7Atomic clocks are more expensive to produce than quartz clocks.

    TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    NOT GIVEN

    "'Atomic clocks pushed precision further still, becoming the basis for international timekeeping standards' (Paragraph F)"

    ليش صحيح: النص يذكر الساعتين الذرية والكوارتزية في نفس الفقرة لكنه لا يقارن بينهما من حيث التكلفة.. سمة مجاورة غير مذكورة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست TRUE لعدم وجود مقارنة صريحة في التكلفة، وليست FALSE لعدم وجود نفي صريح لها أيضًا.

Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Ancient methods: sundials and water clocks, plus candle clocks and knotted ropes

Late 13th-14th century: earliest mechanical clocks built in monasteries, regulated by the verge-and-foliot (8) ________

Mid-14th century onward: clocks move into public (9) ________, gaining faces and hands

1657: Huygens patents a clock regulated by a swinging (10) ________

1761: Harrison's chronometer loses only a few seconds on a transatlantic (11) ________

1920s-1970s: (12) ________ clocks become cheap enough for mass production

Today: mechanical movements survive chiefly in luxury (13) ________

  1. 8Question 8

    اعرض الإجابة

    escapement

    "'regulated by a device called the verge-and-foliot escapement' (Paragraph B)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة المستخدمة حرفيًا لوصف آلية التنظيم.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: أي كلمة أخرى ليست الكلمة الحرفية المستخدمة في هذا الموضع.

  2. 9Question 9

    اعرض الإجابة

    towers

    "'Civic authorities began installing clocks in prominent towers from the mid-fourteenth century onward' (Paragraph C)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة التي تصف أين انتقلت الساعات.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى غير مذكورة في هذا السياق.

  3. 10Question 10

    اعرض الإجابة

    pendulum

    "'Huygens patented a working pendulum clock in 1657' (Paragraph D)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة التي تصف الجزء المتأرجح الجديد.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: أي كلمة أخرى غير مذكورة حرفيًا في هذا الموضع.

  4. 11Question 11

    اعرض الإجابة

    voyage

    "'tested on a transatlantic voyage in 1761' (Paragraph E)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة المستخدمة لوصف الرحلة البحرية.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى مثل journey ليست الكلمة الحرفية المستخدمة.

  5. 12Question 12

    اعرض الإجابة

    Quartz / quartz

    "'Quartz clocks... were developed from the 1920s and became cheap enough for mass production by the 1970s' (Paragraph F)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة لنوع الساعات التي أصبحت رخيصة في هذه الفترة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمة Atomic غير مذكورة كنوع أصبح رخيصًا في هذه الفترة تحديدًا.

  6. 13Question 13

    اعرض الإجابة

    watchmaking

    "'their surviving market lies chiefly in luxury watchmaking' (Paragraph F)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة المستخدمة حرفيًا لوصف السوق الباقي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى مثل manufacturing ليست الكلمة الحرفية المستخدمة.

Passage 2: The Rise and Limits of Vertical Farming

AVertical farming describes the practice of growing crops in stacked layers, typically indoors, under carefully controlled conditions of light, temperature, humidity and nutrient supply, rather than in open fields exposed to weather and seasonal variation. Although isolated experiments with indoor cultivation date back further, the concept entered mainstream policy and business discussion largely through a proposal put forward in the early 2000s by the microbiologist Dickson Despommier, who argued that repurposing urban buildings for large-scale crop production could feed growing city populations without requiring further conversion of rural land. His original vision imagined dedicated multi-storey farm buildings; in practice, most operating vertical farms today occupy converted warehouses, shipping containers or disused industrial units on the edges of cities, where floor space is cheaper than in the urban core but transport distances to the eventual market remain short. Most rely on hydroponic or aeroponic systems, in which plant roots are suspended in a nutrient-rich water solution or fine mist rather than planted in soil, and on light-emitting diode arrays tuned to the wavelengths plants use most efficiently for photosynthesis.

BThe technology attracted early enthusiasm chiefly because of the resources it appeared to save. Because water in a hydroponic system is recirculated rather than lost to runoff or evaporation, vertical farms typically report water use reductions of ninety percent or more compared with equivalent field-grown produce. The enclosed growing environment also excludes the insects and soil-borne pathogens that field crops must be sprayed against, so many vertical farms grow entirely without pesticides, a claim that has proved attractive to health-conscious urban consumers willing to pay a premium for it. Because a stacked indoor facility can occupy a fraction of the land footprint of an equivalent field operation, proponents argued that vertical farming could allow food production to move back into or near cities, sharply cutting the distance produce travels between harvest and plate and, by extension, the fuel burned and the spoilage incurred in transport.

CSet against these apparent gains is a cost that early advocates tended to underplay: electricity. Sunlight is free and abundant across an open field, but an indoor facility must replace it entirely with artificial lighting powerful enough to drive photosynthesis at commercial scale, and that lighting, together with the climate-control systems needed to hold temperature and humidity constant, can consume enormous amounts of power around the clock. Several independent life-cycle assessments have found that, unless a vertical farm draws its electricity from a low-carbon source, its total carbon footprint per kilogram of produce can equal or even exceed that of conventionally grown crops trucked in from distant farms, because the emissions saved on transport are outweighed by the emissions generated in the power plant supplying the lights. This finding has complicated the simple environmental narrative that first drove media and investor interest in the sector, and has pushed serious operators toward sites with access to renewable electricity or waste heat from other industrial processes.

DA further constraint concerns which crops make economic sense to grow this way. Leafy greens, herbs and some strawberry varieties dominate commercial vertical farming because they are fast-growing, lightweight, sold at a high price relative to their weight, and tolerant of the shallow root systems that hydroponic trays allow. Staple crops such as wheat, rice or potatoes present a far less favourable case: they require deep or extensive root systems, take far longer to mature, and sell at a low price per unit of weight, meaning that the electricity and capital costs of growing them indoors dwarf any premium the market would pay. The capital outlay required to fit out a facility with growing racks, lighting and climate-control equipment is itself substantial, and many early ventures have struggled to recover this investment quickly enough to remain financially viable, with a number of high-profile vertical-farming companies filing for bankruptcy or scaling back operations sharply after their initial expansion.

ETaken together, the evidence suggests a more modest role for vertical farming than its earliest promoters imagined. It is unlikely to replace the vast majority of field agriculture, which remains far cheaper for staple crops grown at scale, but it may continue to expand as a supplementary source of high-value, perishable produce for nearby urban markets, particularly as the cost of LED lighting continues to fall and renewable electricity becomes more widely available to site operators. Some analysts see its clearest future not in feeding whole cities but in reducing a specific category of food waste and transport emissions associated with delicate salad crops that currently travel long distances before reaching supermarket shelves. A realistic assessment, then, treats vertical farming neither as a solved problem nor as a discredited fad, but as one useful tool among several for reshaping how cities are fed, whose ultimate scale will depend heavily on the price of electricity in the decades ahead.

hydroponic:
relating to a method of growing plants in a nutrient-rich water solution rather than in soil
life-cycle assessment:
a method of evaluating the total environmental impact of a product from production through to disposal

أسئلة النص 2

Reading Passage 2 has five sections, A-E. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-vii, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

  • iA concept whose origins lie in an academic proposal
  • iiThe industry's response to public criticism
  • iiiWhich crops are worth growing indoors
  • ivWhy energy costs undercut the environmental promise
  • vThe resource savings that first attracted advocates
  • viA qualified verdict on the technology's future role
  • viiThe falling cost of a key technology

  1. 14Section A

    اعرض الإجابة

    i.. A concept whose origins lie in an academic proposal

    "'the concept entered mainstream policy and business discussion largely through a proposal put forward in the early 2000s by the microbiologist Dickson Despommier' (Section A)"

    ليش صحيح: الفقرة تشرح أصل المفهوم عبر اقتراح أكاديمي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ii تخص استجابة الصناعة للانتقادات؛ باقي العناوين تخص فقرات لاحقة.

  2. 15Section B

    اعرض الإجابة

    v.. The resource savings that first attracted advocates

    "'The technology attracted early enthusiasm chiefly because of the resources it appeared to save' (Section B)"

    ليش صحيح: الفقرة تسرد وفورات الموارد التي جذبت المؤيدين أولًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: i تخص أصل المفهوم (A)؛ iv تخص تكاليف الطاقة (C)؛ باقي العناوين لا تطابق.

  3. 16Section C

    اعرض الإجابة

    iv.. Why energy costs undercut the environmental promise

    "'Set against these apparent gains is a cost that early advocates tended to underplay: electricity' (Section C)"

    ليش صحيح: الفقرة تشرح كيف تقوّض تكاليف الطاقة الوعد البيئي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: v تخص وفورات الموارد (B، عكس الفكرة هنا)؛ vii غير مطابقة؛ باقي العناوين لا تطابق.

  4. 17Section D

    اعرض الإجابة

    iii.. Which crops are worth growing indoors

    "'A further constraint concerns which crops make economic sense to grow this way' (Section D)"

    ليش صحيح: الفقرة تناقش أي المحاصيل يستحق زراعتها داخليًا اقتصاديًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: iv تخص تكاليف الطاقة (C)؛ vi تخص الحكم الختامي (E)؛ باقي العناوين لا تطابق.

  5. 18Section E

    اعرض الإجابة

    vi.. A qualified verdict on the technology's future role

    "'Taken together, the evidence suggests a more modest role for vertical farming than its earliest promoters imagined' (Section E)"

    ليش صحيح: الفقرة تقدم حكمًا مشروطًا ومتوازنًا على المستقبل.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: i غير مناسبة لفقرة ختامية؛ vii تخص تفصيلًا جزئيًا فقط؛ باقي العناوين تخص فقرات أخرى.

Complete the summary below. Choose the correct letter, A-G, from the box below. Write the correct letter in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.

  • Arecirculated
  • Bfertilizers
  • Cartificial
  • Dpesticides
  • Eelectricity
  • Fnatural
  • Gsoil

Vertical farms save water because the system is (19) ________ rather than lost to runoff.

Because pests and disease are largely excluded, many operations avoid the use of (20) ________ altogether.

However, this environmental promise is undercut by heavy reliance on (21) ________ lighting, whose carbon impact depends on the source of (22) ________ used to power it.

  1. 19Question 19

    اعرض الإجابة

    A.. recirculated

    "'Because water in a hydroponic system is recirculated rather than lost to runoff or evaporation' (Section B)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة مطابقة حرفيًا لسبب توفير المياه.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: F وG لا تصف عملية إعادة تدوير الماء؛ باقي الخيارات لا تلائم السياق.

  2. 20Question 20

    اعرض الإجابة

    D.. pesticides

    "'many vertical farms grow entirely without pesticides' (Section B)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة لما تتجنب المزارع استخدامه.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: B مادة مختلفة غير مذكورة كمتجنَّبة؛ باقي الخيارات لا تصف موادًا تُستبعد.

  3. 21Question 21

    اعرض الإجابة

    C.. artificial

    "'an indoor facility must replace it entirely with artificial lighting' (Section C)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة لنوع الإضاءة التي تحل محل الشمس.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: F عكس المعنى المطلوب تمامًا؛ باقي الخيارات لا تصف نوع الإضاءة.

  4. 22Question 22

    اعرض الإجابة

    E.. electricity

    "'unless a vertical farm draws its electricity from a low-carbon source' (Section C)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة لمصدر الطاقة الذي يحدد الأثر الكربوني.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: باقي الخيارات تخص الماء أو المبيدات أو الإضاءة نفسها لا مصدر الطاقة.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.

  1. 23According to the passage, independent assessments have found that a vertical farm's carbon footprint can be higher than that of field-grown produce because

    1. A. hydroponic systems consume more water than open-field irrigation.
    2. B. transport emissions from vertical farms are unusually high.
    3. C. the electricity used for lighting can outweigh the emissions saved on transport.
    4. D. vertical farms require far more land than field agriculture.
    اعرض الإجابة

    C. the electricity used for lighting can outweigh the emissions saved on transport.

    "'the emissions saved on transport are outweighed by the emissions generated in the power plant supplying the lights' (Section C)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة للسبب المذكور.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A يناقض النص؛ B يعكس الفكرة؛ D معلومة غير مذكورة في هذا السياق.

  2. 24Leafy greens dominate commercial vertical farming chiefly because they

    1. A. require deep, extensive root systems.
    2. B. are slow-growing but highly profitable.
    3. C. are heavy relative to their sale price.
    4. D. are fast-growing, lightweight and sell at a high price relative to weight.
    اعرض الإجابة

    D. are fast-growing, lightweight and sell at a high price relative to weight.

    "'they are fast-growing, lightweight... and sold at a high price relative to their weight' (Section D)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لأسباب الهيمنة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A يصف المحاصيل الأساسية؛ B وC يناقضان النص صراحة.

  3. 25The passage states that a number of prominent vertical-farming companies have

    1. A. successfully replaced most field agriculture in their region.
    2. B. scaled back or gone bankrupt after early expansion.
    3. C. switched entirely to growing staple crops.
    4. D. abandoned hydroponic systems in favour of soil.
    اعرض الإجابة

    B. scaled back or gone bankrupt after early expansion.

    "'a number of high-profile vertical-farming companies filing for bankruptcy or scaling back operations sharply after their initial expansion' (Section D)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لما ذكره النص.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وC وD معلومات غير مذكورة في النص إطلاقًا.

  4. 26In the writer's assessment, the future scale of vertical farming will depend heavily on

    1. A. the willingness of consumers to pay a premium for pesticide-free produce.
    2. B. the price of electricity in the coming decades.
    3. C. government subsidies for staple-crop production.
    4. D. the availability of urban warehouse space.
    اعرض الإجابة

    B. the price of electricity in the coming decades.

    "'whose ultimate scale will depend heavily on the price of electricity in the decades ahead' (Section E)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لخاتمة الكاتب.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وC وD معلومات غير مذكورة كعامل حاسم للمستقبل.

Passage 3: The Debate Over Animal Consciousness

For much of the history of Western philosophy, the question of whether non-human animals possess any form of inner experience was answered with striking confidence in the negative. The seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes argued that animals were essentially complex automata, biological machines whose cries and movements resembled expressions of pain or pleasure without any accompanying subjective feeling behind them. On this view, an animal that yelped after being struck was reacting mechanically, in the same way that a bell rings when struck, rather than suffering in any sense a human being would recognise. The Cartesian position was never universally accepted even in its own time, but it shaped centuries of scientific practice, providing philosophical cover for forms of animal experimentation and treatment that would trouble many observers today, and its influence persisted in more muted form well into the twentieth century among researchers wary of attributing mental states they could not directly observe or measure.

The publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection introduced a serious intellectual challenge to this strict separation between human and animal minds. If humans had evolved gradually from earlier species, Darwin reasoned, it seemed implausible that consciousness, along with emotion and rudimentary reasoning, had appeared abruptly and exclusively in one branch of the resulting tree; instead, mental capacities, like physical traits, were more plausibly distributed along a continuum shaped by evolutionary pressure and shared ancestry. Darwin devoted an entire later work to cataloguing what he took to be expressions of emotion in animals, drawing explicit parallels between human facial expressions and analogous behaviour in other species. His argument did not settle the question empirically, since behavioural resemblance alone cannot prove the presence of subjective experience, but it reframed the debate: from that point onward, denying animal consciousness required an explicit justification for treating humans as an exception, rather than being the default assumption.

Empirical support for something closer to Darwin's continuum has accumulated steadily from neuroscience over the past several decades. Researchers have identified neural structures in a wide range of species, including birds and octopuses despite their considerable evolutionary distance from mammals, that appear to support functions associated with subjective experience in humans, even where the underlying brain architecture differs substantially from the mammalian cortex. This growing body of evidence culminated in 2012 in the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, a statement signed by a group of prominent neuroscientists asserting that the neurological substrates that generate consciousness are not uniquely human, and that non-human animals, including all mammals, birds, and many other creatures such as octopuses, possess these neurological substrates. The declaration did not claim to prove conclusively that any particular species is conscious in the way a human is, but it represented a formal scientific rejection of the assumption that consciousness requires a specifically human-like brain.

Not every researcher accepts that the evidence justifies such confident conclusions, however, and a persistent minority urges considerably greater caution. Critics of the consensus position point to the risk of anthropomorphism: because humans are strongly disposed to interpret animal behaviour in terms familiar from their own experience, a dog's whimper or an octopus's colour change may be read as evidence of suffering or curiosity when a more cautious interpretation would treat it as an unconscious behavioural reflex shaped by evolution to achieve a particular outcome, without any accompanying subjective feeling at all. A related objection is that consciousness, unlike a measurable physiological quantity such as heart rate, cannot currently be directly observed or falsified in any organism other than oneself, which some philosophers argue makes claims about animal consciousness fundamentally different in kind from ordinary scientific hypotheses, however plausible they may seem. These critics do not necessarily deny that animals feel anything; rather, they insist that the current evidence cannot settle the question with anything like scientific certainty.

Where does this leave a reasonable observer attempting to weigh the two positions? The strongest response to the sceptical challenge is not to claim certainty where none is available, but to note that the same in-principle uncertainty about other minds applies, with equal logical force, to other human beings; no person can directly access another human's subjective experience either, and yet the assumption that other humans are conscious is treated as entirely reasonable rather than scientifically unfounded. Given the convergent behavioural, neurological and evolutionary evidence now available, it seems considerably more demanding to insist that a chimpanzee, a crow or an octopus lacks any inner life at all than to accept that some form of subjective experience, however different from our own, is the more probable explanation for their behaviour. This asymmetry in the burden of proof, once acknowledged, argues strongly for what might be called a precautionary stance: treating credible evidence of animal suffering as sufficient grounds for action, even in the continued absence of the kind of absolute proof that critics correctly note remains unavailable.

The practical consequences of adopting this precautionary stance are already visible in shifting policy across a number of jurisdictions. Several governments have extended legal recognition of sentience, the capacity to have subjective experiences including pain, to a widening circle of species, including, in some recent legislation, decapod crustaceans and cephalopods that were until recently excluded from animal-welfare protections altogether on the assumption that their nervous systems were too simple to support anything resembling suffering. Such changes remain contested, and enforcement varies considerably between countries, but they mark a tangible shift away from the Cartesian default with which this discussion began. Whatever the ultimate philosophical resolution of the question, the direction of travel across the sciences and, increasingly, the law, has been consistently toward taking the possibility of animal consciousness more seriously rather than less, a trajectory this essay has argued is amply justified by the evidence now available.

sentience:
the capacity to have subjective experiences, including sensations such as pain or pleasure
anthropomorphism:
the attribution of human characteristics, emotions or intentions to non-human beings

أسئلة النص 3

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3? Write YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer, NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer, NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

  1. 27Descartes believed that animals experienced pain in essentially the same way as human beings.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    NO

    "'animals were essentially complex automata... without any accompanying subjective feeling behind them' (Paragraph 1)"

    ليش صحيح: ديكارت ينفي الشعور الذاتي المصاحب لردود أفعال الحيوانات، ما يناقض العبارة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست YES بسبب النفي الصريح؛ وليست NOT GIVEN لأن رأي ديكارت مذكور بوضوح.

  2. 28Darwin's work on animal emotion provided conclusive proof that animals are conscious.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    NO

    "'His argument did not settle the question empirically, since behavioural resemblance alone cannot prove the presence of subjective experience' (Paragraph 2)"

    ليش صحيح: الكاتب ينفي صراحة أن عمل داروين قدّم إثباتًا قاطعًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست YES بسبب النفي الصريح؛ وليست NOT GIVEN لأن الموقف واضح تمامًا.

  3. 29The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness was signed exclusively by researchers who study mammalian species.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    NOT GIVEN

    "'a statement signed by a group of prominent neuroscientists' (Paragraph 3)"

    ليش صحيح: النص يذكر أن الموقعين علماء أعصاب بارزون دون ذكر تخصصهم الدقيق بالثدييات فقط.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست YES لعدم وجود تأكيد لهذا التخصيص؛ وليست NO لعدم وجود نفي صريح له.

  4. 30Critics of the scientific consensus worry that humans may misinterpret animal behaviour through anthropomorphism.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    YES

    "'Critics of the consensus position point to the risk of anthropomorphism' (Paragraph 4)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لمخاوف النقاد كما يعرضها الكاتب.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست NO لأن الكاتب يذكر هذا الرأي دون نفيه؛ وليست NOT GIVEN لأنه مفصّل بوضوح.

  5. 31The writer regards the absence of absolute proof as sufficient reason to reject claims of animal consciousness.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    NO

    "'treating credible evidence of animal suffering as sufficient grounds for action, even in the continued absence of the kind of absolute proof' (Paragraph 5)"

    ليش صحيح: الكاتب يؤكد أن غياب الإثبات المطلق لا يمنع اتخاذ إجراء، ما يناقض العبارة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست YES بسبب التناقض المباشر؛ وليست NOT GIVEN لأن موقف الكاتب مذكور بوضوح.

  6. 32Legal recognition of sentience has been extended to cephalopods in some recent legislation.

    YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

    اعرض الإجابة

    YES

    "'including, in some recent legislation, decapod crustaceans and cephalopods' (Paragraph 6)"

    ليش صحيح: إعادة صياغة مباشرة لحقيقة مذكورة صراحة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: ليست NO لعدم وجود تناقض؛ وليست NOT GIVEN لأن الحقيقة مذكورة بوضوح.

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below. Write the correct letter in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

  • Aalong a continuum shaped by evolutionary pressure and shared ancestry.
  • Bevidence of genuine suffering or curiosity.
  • Care not unique to human beings.
  • Dmechanical reactions rather than genuine subjective feeling.
  • Eimpossible to detect using any current scientific method.
  • Fconfined to species with a mammalian brain structure.

  1. 33Descartes argued that animals' cries and movements were signs of

    اعرض الإجابة

    D.. mechanical reactions rather than genuine subjective feeling.

    "'animals were essentially complex automata... whose cries and movements resembled expressions of pain or pleasure without any accompanying subjective feeling' (Paragraph 1)"

    ليش صحيح: إتمام مباشر يطابق رأي ديكارت حرفيًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: B تصف موقف النقاد المعاصرين لا ديكارت؛ باقي الخيارات لا تتعلق برأيه.

  2. 34Darwin's evolutionary argument implied that consciousness was most plausibly distributed

    اعرض الإجابة

    A.. along a continuum shaped by evolutionary pressure and shared ancestry.

    "'mental capacities... were more plausibly distributed along a continuum shaped by evolutionary pressure and shared ancestry' (Paragraph 2)"

    ليش صحيح: إتمام مباشر مطابق حرفيًا لحجة داروين.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: F تناقض فكرة الاستمرارية؛ باقي الخيارات لا تتعلق بحجة داروين.

  3. 35The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness asserted that neurological substrates for consciousness

    اعرض الإجابة

    C.. are not unique to human beings.

    "'the neurological substrates that generate consciousness are not uniquely human' (Paragraph 3)"

    ليش صحيح: إتمام مباشر يطابق حرفيًا نص الإعلان.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: F تناقض الإعلان صراحة؛ باقي الخيارات لا تتعلق بمضمونه.

  4. 36Critics warn that anthropomorphism may lead observers to mistake unconscious behavioural reflexes for

    اعرض الإجابة

    B.. evidence of genuine suffering or curiosity.

    "'may be read as evidence of suffering or curiosity when a more cautious interpretation would treat it as an unconscious behavioural reflex' (Paragraph 4)"

    ليش صحيح: إتمام مباشر يطابق حرفيًا تحذير النقاد.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: D تصف رأي ديكارت لا تحذير النقاد المعاصرين؛ باقي الخيارات لا تتعلق بالأنثروبومورفيزم.

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Descartes described animals as essentially complex (37) ________, comparing their reactions to a bell being struck.

In 2012, a group of neuroscientists signed the Cambridge Declaration on (38) ________, asserting that consciousness is not unique to humans.

According to the writer, no person can directly access another human's (39) ________ experience, yet this is not treated as scientifically unfounded.

Some governments have extended legal recognition of (40) ________ to a wider range of species, including certain crustaceans and cephalopods.

  1. 37Question 37

    اعرض الإجابة

    automata

    "'animals were essentially complex automata, biological machines' (Paragraph 1)"

    ليش صحيح: الفراغ يأتي مباشرة بعد 'complex'، والكلمة الوحيدة التي تتبعها حرفيًا في النص هي 'automata'.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى مثل robots ليست الكلمة المستخدمة حرفيًا في هذا الموضع؛ وكلمة machines تتبع 'biological' لا 'complex'، لذا حُذفت 'biological' من صياغة السؤال لضمان تفرّد الإجابة.

  2. 38Question 38

    اعرض الإجابة

    Consciousness / consciousness

    "'the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness' (Paragraph 3)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة التي تكمل اسم الإعلان كما ورد حرفيًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: أي كلمة أخرى ليست جزءًا من الاسم الرسمي للإعلان.

  3. 39Question 39

    اعرض الإجابة

    subjective

    "'no person can directly access another human's subjective experience either' (Paragraph 5)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة المستخدمة حرفيًا لوصف نوع التجربة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى مثل personal ليست الكلمة المستخدمة حرفيًا.

  4. 40Question 40

    اعرض الإجابة

    sentience

    "'Several governments have extended legal recognition of sentience' (Paragraph 6)"

    ليش صحيح: الكلمة الدقيقة المستخدمة حرفيًا لوصف ما مُنح الاعتراف القانوني به.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: كلمات أخرى مثل rights ليست الكلمة المستخدمة حرفيًا.

الاستماع.. Listening

4 أجزاء و40 سؤالًا في 32 دقيقة تقريبًا. في الاختبار التفاعلي يُشغَّل الصوت مرة واحدة فقط.

ابدأ الاختبار التفاعلي بالوقت

Part 1

A customer phones Clearway Home Removals to book a house move.

Example.. Type of move → Three-bedroom house move

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Clearway Home Removals.. Booking Form

Type of move: Three-bedroom house move (Example)

Customer's first name: (1) ________

Surname: (2) ________

Contact number: (3) ________

Date of move: (4) ________

Items needing extra care: (5) ________

Size of van required: (6) ________

Requirement at new address: (7) ________

  1. 1Question 1

    اعرض الإجابة

    Ryan

    "Yeah, it's Ryan."

    ليش صحيح: الاسم الأول مذكور بشكل واضح ومباشر مباشرة بعد سؤال الوكيلة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا يوجد خيارات أخرى في هذا السؤال (إكمال فراغ حر).

  2. 2Question 2

    اعرض الإجابة

    Doherty

    "It's Doherty... D-O-H-E-R-T-Y."

    ليش صحيح: الاسم يُهجّى حرفًا بحرف مع تأكيد الوكيلة عليه.. علامة الإجابة المضمونة حسب تكنيكة 12.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ يجب كتابة التهجئة الدقيقة كما سُمعت.

  3. 3Question 3

    اعرض الإجابة

    07845 213690

    "it's oh-seven-eight-four-five, two-one-three, six-nine-oh.. OK so that's 07845 213690?.. That's the one."

    ليش صحيح: الرقم الثاني هو الرقم الصحيح والمؤكَّد من الطرفين.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: الرقم الأول فخ تصحيح فوري.. العميل يوقف نفسه قبل إكماله لأنه رقمه القديم.

  4. 4Question 4

    اعرض الإجابة

    Wednesday 20th / Wednesday the 20th

    "Tuesday's already got a clash with a lift booking... We'd need to move you to Wednesday the 20th instead."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو التاريخ النهائي بعد التصحيح.. فخ تغيير الرأي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: Tuesday the 19th هو التاريخ الأول الذي طلبه العميل ثم أُلغي صراحة.

  5. 5Question 5

    اعرض الإجابة

    piano and wardrobe

    "we've got a piano and a wardrobe that both need extra care."

    ليش صحيح: العنصران مذكوران معًا صراحة كأغراض تحتاج عناية خاصة، ضمن حد الثلاث كلمات.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل غير هذين العنصرين؛ ذكر عنصر واحد فقط يكون إجابة ناقصة.

  6. 6Question 6

    اعرض الإجابة

    large / large van

    "we'll need to send a large van instead, just to be safe."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو المقاس النهائي المطلوب بعد ذكر البيانو.. فخ تغيير الرأي من medium إلى large.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: medium هو المقاس الافتراضي لجوب بهذا الحجم لكنه أُلغي صراحة بسبب البيانو.

  7. 7Question 7

    اعرض الإجابة

    parking permit

    "I'd recommend arranging a parking permit with the local council in advance... I've written 'parking permit needed.'"

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الترتيب الذي اتفق عليه الطرفان فعليًا لحل مشكلة الشارع الضيق.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ narrow street وصف للمشكلة وليس الإجابة المطلوبة.

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

  1. 8What is the total price Ryan will pay for the move, including the packing service?

    1. A. £150
    2. B. £195
    3. C. £220
    اعرض الإجابة

    B. £195

    "the standard rate... is 150 pounds.. extra 45 pounds.. that's the standard rate plus the packing service add-on, then.. the standard-plus-packing option sounds perfect for us, we don't need all that."

    ليش صحيح: الرقم النهائي (195) غير مسموع في الصوت إطلاقًا.. يُحسب من جمع السعرين المذكورين صراحة (150 + 45 = 195)، وقد طلب العميل خدمة التغليف فعليًا وأكّد صراحة رفضه لباقة الـVIP الأغلى؛ فخ حسابي حقيقي لأن أحدًا لا يذكر الرقم 195.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A (150) هو السعر الأساسي فقط دون خدمة التغليف؛ C (220) هو سعر باقة الـVIP المذكورة صراحة في الصوت لكن العميل يرفضها بوضوح.

  2. 9What will the company do if the removal van is delayed by traffic on the day?

    1. A. Push the move back to later that same day
    2. B. Offer the customer a ten percent discount
    3. C. Send out a backup van from another depot
    اعرض الإجابة

    C. Send out a backup van from another depot

    "send out a second backup van from our other depot to keep things on schedule. Most customers actually prefer the backup van option... that's become our standard approach for traffic delays."

    ليش صحيح: هذه هي السياسة المعلنة صراحة والمعتمدة فعليًا للتأخير بسبب الزحام.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وB مذكوران كخيارات متاحة لكن يُستبعدان لأن الوكيلة تحدد أن الخيار الفعلي المعتمد هو C.

  3. 10How much deposit does the company ask customers to pay in advance?

    1. A. The full price of the move
    2. B. £30
    3. C. No deposit is required
    اعرض الإجابة

    B. £30

    "We take 30 pounds now by card, and the rest is settled in cash on moving day."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو مبلغ العربون الفعلي المطلوب من العميل.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وC ممارسات تتبعها شركات أخرى وتم استبعادهما صراحة (but we've found the small deposit works best).

نص الاستماع (Transcript).. Part 1

Booking Agent (Isla): Good afternoon, Clearway Home Removals, this is Isla speaking, how can I help you today?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Hi there, yeah, I'd like to book a removal for my house move, if you've got availability.

Booking Agent (Isla): Of course, we'd be happy to help. What sort of move are we talking about.. flat, house?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): It's a house move actually, three bedrooms, so a decent-sized job.

Booking Agent (Isla): Right, a three-bedroom house move, noted. Let me just pull up a booking form. Could I get your first name, please?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Yeah, it's Ryan.

Booking Agent (Isla): Lovely, and your surname?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): It's Doherty.

Booking Agent (Isla): Sorry, could you spell that for me?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Sure.. D-O-H-E-R-T-Y.

Booking Agent (Isla): D-O-H-E-R-T-Y... is that with one "H" or two?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Just the one, in the middle.. D, O, H, E, R, T, Y.

Booking Agent (Isla): Got it, Ryan Doherty. And a contact number for you?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Yep, it's oh-seven-eight-four-five... actually, sorry, hang on, that's my old number, let me give you the right one.. it's oh-seven-eight-four-five, two-one-three, six-nine-oh.

Booking Agent (Isla): OK so that's 07845 213690?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): That's the one.

Booking Agent (Isla): Great. Now, for the moving date.. we've got Tuesday the 19th or Wednesday the 20th free that week. Did you have a preference?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Tuesday the 19th would be ideal for us, if that works.

Booking Agent (Isla): Let me just check... actually, hold on, sorry, I can see Tuesday's already got a clash with a lift booking at your building, so we wouldn't be able to get the van in until later in the day. We'd need to move you to Wednesday the 20th instead. Would that still work?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Oh, yeah, Wednesday's fine too, no problem.

Booking Agent (Isla): Brilliant, I'll book you in for Wednesday the 20th then. Now, are there any large or delicate items we should know about?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Yeah, actually, we've got a piano and a wardrobe that both need extra care.

Booking Agent (Isla): OK, piano and wardrobe, noted.. that actually changes things a bit. For a job like this we'd normally send a medium van, but with a piano on the list we'll need to send a large van instead, just to be safe.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Ah, OK, that makes sense.

Booking Agent (Isla): Right, large van, got that down. And where's the new address.. will there be anywhere easy to park?

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Honestly, I'm not sure, it's a pretty narrow street.

Booking Agent (Isla): In that case I'd recommend arranging a parking permit with the local council in advance, so the van's got a guaranteed space when we arrive.. that's usually the easiest option for narrow streets.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): OK, I'll sort out a parking permit then.

Booking Agent (Isla): Great, I've written "parking permit needed."

Booking Agent (Isla): Now, let's talk about pricing. The standard rate for a three-bedroom house move is 150 pounds.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): OK.

Booking Agent (Isla): That covers the van, the driver and one loader, but if you'd like our packing service, where we pack all your boxes for you, that's an extra 45 pounds.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Oh yeah, we'd love that, we really don't have time to pack ourselves.

Booking Agent (Isla): Great, so that's the standard rate plus the packing service add-on, then.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Got it, standard rate plus packing.

Booking Agent (Isla): We also offer a full VIP move with two extra loaders and same-day unpacking at the other end, but that one comes to 220 pounds.. probably more than you need for a job this size.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): No, the standard-plus-packing option sounds perfect, we don't need all that.

Booking Agent (Isla): Now, just a couple more things before I finish up. If the van happens to get delayed by traffic on the day, we have a policy in place.. we could either push your slot back to later that same day, offer a ten percent discount for the inconvenience, or send out a second backup van from our other depot to keep things on schedule. Most customers actually prefer the backup van option, since it means no real delay at all, so that's become our standard approach for traffic delays.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): OK, that sounds good.

Booking Agent (Isla): And there's a small deposit to secure the booking. We take 30 pounds now by card, and the rest is settled in cash on moving day. Some companies ask for the full amount upfront, or don't take a deposit at all, but we've found the small deposit works best.. it just confirms people are committed.

Customer (Ryan Doherty): Makes sense, I'll pay that now.

Booking Agent (Isla): Lovely, let me just take your card details…

Part 2

The manager of Hartley Central Library explains the renovated facilities and then announces the new weekly events programme.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Hartley Central Library.. Renovation Notes

Reading room

New reading desks now number (11) ________

New (12) ________ area added next to it, separated by a soundproof glass wall

Children's area

Expanded into the former (13) ________

New picture-book shelving now holds up to (14) ________ titles

Technology

Both (15) ________ suites upgraded

Old microfiche room converted into a (16) ________ room

Café

Relocated to a space overlooking the (17) ________

  1. 11Question 11

    اعرض الإجابة

    forty / 40

    "we've extended the floor space and installed forty new reading desks, so it's now got a proper forty-desk reading room."

    ليش صحيح: العدد الجديد مذكور صراحة ومكرر مرتين.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  2. 12Question 12

    اعرض الإجابة

    study pod

    "we've also added a quiet study pod area right next to it, separated by a soundproof glass wall."

    ليش صحيح: study pod هي التسمية الأساسية للمنطقة الجديدة، ضمن حد الكلمتين المسموح به بالضبط.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: quiet study pod تتجاوز حد الكلمتين فتُعتبر إجابة خاطئة رغم صحة مضمونها؛ لا توجد تسمية بديلة.

  3. 13Question 13

    اعرض الإجابة

    storage room

    "We've knocked through into the old storage room next door."

    ليش صحيح: هذه هي الغرفة التي تم ضمها لتوسعة منطقة الأطفال.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل مذكورة لهذا التوسع بالذات.

  4. 14Question 14

    اعرض الإجابة

    two thousand / 2000

    "holding up to two thousand titles now, whereas before we only had space for about eight hundred."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو العدد الأقصى الجديد.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: eight hundred هو العدد القديم قبل التوسعة.. فخ رقمي مباشر.

  5. 15Question 15

    اعرض الإجابة

    computer

    "we've upgraded both computer suites."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو النوع المذكور صراحة للأجنحة التي تم ترقيتها.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  6. 16Question 16

    اعرض الإجابة

    digital archive

    "we converted the old microfiche room into a multi-purpose digital archive room."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الاسم الأساسي للغرفة الجديدة، ضمن حد الكلمتين.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: microfiche هو الاستخدام القديم؛ multi-purpose digital archive يتجاوز حد الكلمتين.

  7. 17Question 17

    اعرض الإجابة

    courtyard garden / courtyard

    "it's got its own space overlooking the courtyard garden."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو المكان الذي أصبح المقهى يطل عليه بعد النقل.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: the entrance هو الموقع القديم الذي انتقل منه المقهى.

Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Book ClubMonday6 pmDaniel(18) ________
Coding ClubWednesday4 pm(19) ________Free
Poetry EveningThursday7 pmMarcus£5
Family StorytimeSaturday(20) ________DanielFree

  1. 18Question 18

    اعرض الإجابة

    three pounds / £3

    "free of charge.. actually, sorry, that's the old arrangement, it's now three pounds per session as of this month."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو السعر الحالي والمصحَّح بعد أن صححت المديرة نفسها فورًا.. فخ تغيير الرأي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: free of charge هو الترتيب القديم الذي صرّحت المديرة بأنه غير صحيح الآن.

  2. 19Question 19

    اعرض الإجابة

    Priya

    "the Coding Club for kids, that's on Wednesdays at four in the afternoon, hosted by Priya."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو اسم المضيفة المسؤولة عن هذا النادي تحديدًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: Daniel وMarcus يستضيفان فعاليات أخرى وليس هذه الفعالية.

  3. 20Question 20

    اعرض الإجابة

    10 am / ten am

    "the Family Storytime runs on Saturdays at ten am."

    ليش صحيح: الوقت مسموع حرفيًا كما هو مطلوب وضمن حد كلمتين/رقم المسموح به.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ الأوقات الأخرى تخص فعاليات مختلفة.

نص الاستماع (Transcript).. Part 2

Library Manager (Fiona): Good morning everyone, thank you all for coming along today. I'm Fiona, I'm the library manager here at Hartley Central Library, and I wanted to give you a quick tour of what's changed since we reopened last month after the renovation.

Library Manager (Fiona): So, let's start with the reading room. It's been completely redesigned.. we've extended the floor space and installed forty new reading desks, so it's now got a proper forty-desk reading room, which means we can seat a lot more visitors at once during exam season. We've also added a quiet study pod area right next to it, separated by a soundproof glass wall, so students can actually work in silence without disturbing anyone else, which people have loved.

Library Manager (Fiona): Now, the children's area.. that's had probably the biggest change. We've knocked through into the old storage room next door and basically doubled the floor space. All the furniture is brand new, and, this is the bit parents ask about most, we've added a proper picture-book corner with a full set of low shelving, holding up to two thousand titles now, whereas before we only had space for about eight hundred.

Library Manager (Fiona): Moving on to the technology side.. we've upgraded both computer suites, and, actually, we converted the old microfiche room into a multi-purpose digital archive room, so now it can be used for local history research, genealogy sessions, or digital scanning, just by booking the right slot. That's proved really popular with the local history society.

Library Manager (Fiona): One more thing before I move on to the schedule.. the café. It's been relocated. It used to be tucked away near the entrance, but now it's got its own space overlooking the courtyard garden, so you can actually sit outside and read while you have a coffee, which is nice.

Library Manager (Fiona): Right, now let's talk about the new weekly events programme, because that's changed quite a bit too.

Library Manager (Fiona): Right, we'll start with the Book Club. That runs on Mondays at six in the evening.. quite a popular slot, we find. It's hosted by Daniel, and it's currently, let me just check... free of charge.. actually, sorry, that's the old arrangement, it's now three pounds per session as of this month, just to cover refreshments.

Library Manager (Fiona): Next we've got the Coding Club for kids, that's on Wednesdays at four in the afternoon, hosted by Priya, and that one's free.. no charge at all, since it's funded by a local grant.

Library Manager (Fiona): Then there's the Poetry Evening, for adults, that runs Thursdays at seven in the evening, hosted by our writer-in-residence, Marcus, and that's five pounds per session, which includes a glass of wine.

Library Manager (Fiona): And finally, the Family Storytime runs on Saturdays at ten am, hosted by Daniel again, and that's free of charge.

Library Manager (Fiona): That's everything for today.. if anyone has questions about membership or the new facilities, please do come and find me at the front desk afterwards.

Part 3

Two geography students, Leo and Naomi, meet to finalise the research methods for their coastal-erosion field-trip report.

What did the students decide about each research method below? Choose the correct letter, A, B or C, next to Questions 21–25. You may choose any letter more than once.

  • AWill be used in full, without piloting first
  • BWill be tested first as a pilot
  • CWill not be used

  1. 21Beach profiling survey

    اعرض الإجابة

    A.. Will be used in full, without piloting first

    "I think we should just go ahead and do the full survey along all three transects... no need to test it first."

    ليش صحيح: كلا الطالبين يتفقان صراحة على استخدامها بشكل كامل مباشرة دون تجربة أولية.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: B مستبعد لأن Naomi تنص صراحة (no need to test it first)؛ C غير منطقي لأنهما اتفقا على استخدامها فعليًا.

  2. 22Resident interviews

    اعرض الإجابة

    B.. Will be tested first as a pilot

    "let's pilot that one on a smaller scale first.. so that's a pilot then, not the full study yet."

    ليش صحيح: القرار النهائي بعد التردد الأولي هو التجربة على نطاق صغير أولًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A مستبعد لأن الحوار يوضح صراحة (not the full study yet)؛ C مستبعد لأنهما لم يقررا استبعادها بل تأجيل استخدامها الكامل فقط.

  3. 23Historical map comparison

    اعرض الإجابة

    C.. Will not be used

    "let's just drop it, it doesn't really fit our timeline.. so the map comparison is out."

    ليش صحيح: القرار النهائي الصريح هو التخلي عن هذه الطريقة تمامًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وB مستبعدان لأن ليو يغيّر رأيه من الإعجاب الأولي إلى الرفض الكامل.. فخ تغيير الرأي.

  4. 24Sediment sampling

    اعرض الإجابة

    A.. Will be used in full, without piloting first

    "let's commit to doing it properly... let's put that in as one of our main methods."

    ليش صحيح: كلا الطالبين يلتزمان صراحة باستخدامها كإحدى الطرق الرئيسية رغم التردد الأولي.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: B مستبعد لأنها وُصفت بـ(one of our main methods) وليس تجربة أولية؛ C مستبعد لأنهما يقرران المضي بها.

  5. 25Drone footage

    اعرض الإجابة

    C.. Will not be used

    "we ended up deciding against it... we're not going ahead with that one at all."

    ليش صحيح: قرار صريح ونهائي باستبعادها تمامًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: A وB مستبعدان لأن (not going ahead with that one at all) تنفي أي استخدام حتى كتجربة أولية.

Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The students are aiming to survey at least (26) ________ of coastline.

The pilot interviews will take place (27) ________.

The students will carry out the beach profiling along (28) ________.

Leo predicts that (29) ________ will be the strongest factor driving the erosion.

The students' field trip risk assessment is being supervised by (30) ________.

  1. 26Question 26

    اعرض الإجابة

    500 metres / 500

    "We're aiming to survey at least 500 metres of coastline."

    ليش صحيح: المسافة مذكورة صراحة كهدف طول الساحل المطلوب مسحه.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  2. 27Question 27

    اعرض الإجابة

    next Tuesday

    "We're planning to run the pilot interviews next Tuesday."

    ليش صحيح: التوقيت مذكور صراحة للمقابلات التجريبية تحديدًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: the following week تخص العمل الميداني الكامل، وليس التجربة الأولية.

  3. 28Question 28

    اعرض الإجابة

    Marsh Bay

    "We've got permission to work along Marsh Bay, the stretch of coast just past the old lighthouse."

    ليش صحيح: اسم الموقع مذكور صراحة كمكان إجراء المسح.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ the old lighthouse معلم يصف موقع Marsh Bay وليس الاسم المطلوب نفسه.

  4. 29Question 29

    اعرض الإجابة

    wave energy

    "We think wave energy, so basically storm frequency, will turn out to be the strongest factor, more than the geology."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو العامل الذي يتوقع ليو أنه الأقوى تأثيرًا.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: cliff geology وhuman coastal defences عوامل ضمن سؤال البحث وليست الفرضية المطلوبة.

  5. 30Question 30

    اعرض الإجابة

    Dr Whitfield / Dr. Whitfield / Whitfield

    "That's Dr Whitfield in the geography office, she's already reviewed our site plan."

    ليش صحيح: الاسم مذكور صراحة كمسؤولة تقييم المخاطر للرحلة الميدانية.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

نص الاستماع (Transcript).. Part 3

Student (Leo): So, we need to finalise our methods for the coastal erosion report before Friday.

Student (Naomi): Yeah, definitely. Let's go through the list. First one.. the beach profiling survey, using the ranging poles and clinometer.

Student (Leo): I'm actually pretty confident about that one.. I think we should just go ahead and do the full survey along all three transects, it's straightforward and we know exactly what we're measuring.

Student (Naomi): Yeah, I agree, let's use that one properly across the whole site, no need to test it first.

Student (Leo): Great, that's decided then. What about the resident interviews?

Student (Naomi): Hmm, I'm honestly not sure about that one. I worry people along the seafront won't want to stop and talk to two students with clipboards.

Student (Leo): That's a fair concern.

Student (Naomi): Maybe we should just try it with a small number first, see how people respond, before committing to it properly.

Student (Leo): Yeah, actually, that makes sense.. let's pilot that one on a smaller scale first, with maybe five or six residents.

Student (Naomi): OK, good, so that's a pilot then, not the full study yet. What about the historical map comparison you mentioned?

Student (Leo): Right, the idea was to overlay the old Ordnance Survey maps from the 1960s onto the current coastline to measure how far it's retreated.

Student (Naomi): I did like that idea at first, but, actually, thinking about it more, I don't think we can get accurate enough digital copies of the older maps in time, the archive said it could take weeks.

Student (Leo): Yeah, I'm with you on that one now.. let's just drop it, it doesn't really fit our timeline.

Student (Naomi): OK, so the map comparison is out. Anything else on your list?

Student (Leo): We were also considering sediment sampling, collecting samples from the beach to analyse grain size.

Student (Naomi): And how confident are you about that one?

Student (Leo): I'll admit I was hesitant to start with, because it needs lab access, but after speaking to the department yesterday I think we're both on board.. let's commit to doing it properly, it should give us some really solid data.

Student (Naomi): Yeah, definitely, let's put that in as one of our main methods.

Student (Leo): Great, and finally you mentioned drone footage in your notes.

Student (Naomi): Oh.. right, yeah, we did think about that, but, honestly, we ended up deciding against it. The department said we'd need a certified pilot and it's just not realistic for this project.

Student (Leo): Yeah, we're not going ahead with that one at all.

Student (Naomi): OK, that all sounds like a solid plan.

Student (Naomi): Now let's think about the practical side.. site, dates, that kind of thing.

Student (Leo): We're aiming to survey at least 500 metres of coastline, since that gives us a decent sample of the whole bay.

Student (Naomi): Good distance. And what about our timeline?

Student (Leo): We're planning to run the pilot interviews next Tuesday, and then the full fieldwork the following week after that.

Student (Naomi): And where exactly will we be doing the beach profiling?

Student (Leo): We've got permission to work along Marsh Bay, the stretch of coast just past the old lighthouse.. the ranger was actually really supportive when we called.

Student (Naomi): That's great access to have. Now, in terms of writing it up, what's our main research question again?

Student (Leo): We want to find out what's driving the rate of erosion along that stretch.. so things like wave energy, cliff geology, or human coastal defences.

Student (Naomi): And do you have a hypothesis already?

Student (Leo): We think wave energy, so basically storm frequency, will turn out to be the strongest factor, more than the geology.

Student (Naomi): Interesting prediction.. we'll see if the data supports that. One last thing.. who's supervising our field trip risk assessment?

Student (Leo): That's Dr Whitfield in the geography office, she's already reviewed our site plan.

Part 4

A university lecturer introduces the origins, benefits, challenges and development timeline of the urban public park movement.

Answer the questions below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

  1. 31From approximately what year did the public park movement begin to increase?

    اعرض الإجابة

    1850

    "the movement really only took off from around 1850 onwards."

    ليش صحيح: السنة مذكورة صراحة كنقطة انطلاق الزيادة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل رقمية أخرى مذكورة في هذا السياق.

  2. 32According to the lecturer, what did early parks bring together more than most other public spaces of the period?

    اعرض الإجابة

    social classes

    "some historians have found that early parks actually did more to bring social classes together than most other public spaces of the period."

    ليش صحيح: هذه هي المقارنة الصريحة بين الحدائق العامة المبكرة والأماكن العامة الأخرى.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ paid membership جزء من الشرح وليس الإجابة نفسها.

  3. 33What is the common form of municipal tax mentioned for funding park maintenance?

    اعرض الإجابة

    property levy / a property levy / small property levy

    "some required a dedicated municipal tax.. commonly a small property levy."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الشكل الشائع للضريبة البلدية المذكور صراحة لتمويل الصيانة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل أخرى مذكورة لهذا النوع من التمويل.

  4. 34What did later planners aim to give every neighbourhood, in terms of park access?

    اعرض الإجابة

    walking distance

    "later planners usually needed to distribute parks more evenly.. often, aiming for a park within walking distance of every neighbourhood."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الهدف الذي سعى إليه المخططون لاحقًا لحل مشكلة الوصول.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: one large central park هو النموذج القديم الذي تم التخلي عنه لصالح التوزيع الأوسع.

  5. 35What do some cities advertise themselves as in tourism materials, as a result of having a well-known park?

    اعرض الإجابة

    green city

    "they can then advertise themselves as a "green city" in tourism materials, which visitors respond well to."

    ليش صحيح: هذه هي العبارة الدقيقة المُعلن عنها في المواد السياحية.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Urban Public Park Movement.. Development Timeline

1850s: (36) ________.. opening large landscaped parks to prove the concept worked

1870s: neighbourhood parks.. adding smaller green spaces, called (37) ________

1900s: main activity is (38) ________

1930s: (39) ________.. adding sports facilities and organised activities

Case study city: (40) ________, supported by a dedicated parks trust

  1. 36Question 36

    اعرض الإجابة

    first wave

    "In the 1850s, the main development was what's called the first wave, opening large landscaped parks in major cities to prove the concept worked."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الاسم الرسمي للمرحلة المذكورة صراحة لعقد 1850.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  2. 37Question 37

    اعرض الإجابة

    squares

    "adding smaller green spaces, called squares, to give residents access closer to home."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو المصطلح الدقيق المستخدم لهذه المساحات الأصغر.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: green spaces وصف عام؛ المصطلح التقني المطلوب هو squares.

  3. 38Question 38

    اعرض الإجابة

    playground provision

    "By the 1900s, the main activity became playground provision, and this is usually when most cities added dedicated play equipment for children for the first time."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو النشاط الرئيسي المذكور صراحة لعقد 1900.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  4. 39Question 39

    اعرض الإجابة

    recreation movement

    "the final major development was what's called the recreation movement, which involved adding sports facilities."

    ليش صحيح: هذا هو الاسم الرسمي للمرحلة المرتبطة بإضافة المرافق الرياضية في الثلاثينيات.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل.

  5. 40Question 40

    اعرض الإجابة

    Birmingham

    "the city of Birmingham is often cited as a leading example... the city council actively supports the network through a dedicated parks trust."

    ليش صحيح: المدينة مذكورة صراحة كدراسة الحالة المذكورة.

    ليش الباقي خطأ: لا بدائل؛ لم تُذكر أي مدينة أخرى كمثال في هذا السياق.

نص الاستماع (Transcript).. Part 4

Lecturer: Good afternoon, everyone. Today I want to talk about the history of a feature many of us take for granted in modern cities: the urban public park. That is, land set aside within a city specifically for public recreation and green space.

Lecturer: Let's start with a bit of background. Public parks as we understand them today are a relatively recent invention.. the movement really only took off from around 1850 onwards, when several major industrial cities began setting aside land specifically for public use, partly in response to overcrowding and pollution from rapid industrialisation.

Lecturer: So, why did cities begin building parks at all? Well, there are several reasons, and I'll go through the main ones. First, public health.. reformers argued that green space significantly improved air quality and gave working-class residents somewhere to exercise, which was seen as a way of reducing disease in overcrowded neighbourhoods. Second, there's a social benefit.. surprisingly, some historians have found that early parks actually did more to bring social classes together than most other public spaces of the period, because parks were often free to enter, whereas many other forms of recreation required paid membership. And third, there's an aesthetic angle.. city planners increasingly saw parks as a way of softening the harsh appearance of industrial cities, and this became a really valuable tool for civic pride and attracting wealthy residents.

Lecturer: Now, of course, it wasn't all straightforward, and I want to spend some time on the challenges too. The first major challenge was land cost. Unlike earlier royal gardens, city councils often had to purchase expensive land within already-built-up areas, so park sites had to be planned really carefully to avoid, for instance, displacing existing housing or businesses.

Lecturer: The second challenge was maintenance funding. Even where a park was successfully built, most cities still needed ongoing funding to maintain it, and some required a dedicated municipal tax.. commonly a small property levy, although this varied a lot by city.

Lecturer: Third, there's the issue of access. Because early parks were often located in wealthier districts, working-class residents in poorer neighbourhoods sometimes struggled to reach them, so later planners usually needed to distribute parks more evenly.. often, aiming for a park within walking distance of every neighbourhood rather than just one large central park.

Lecturer: Fourth.. and this is one people don't always expect.. there's a tourism benefit. A number of cities have found that a well-known park becomes a major draw for visitors, specifically because they can then advertise themselves as a "green city" in tourism materials, which visitors respond well to.

Lecturer: Now let's look at how the public park movement developed across the decades. In the 1850s, the main development was what's called the first wave, opening large landscaped parks in major cities to prove the concept worked. In the 1870s, planners focused on neighbourhood parks, which usually meant adding smaller green spaces, called squares, to give residents access closer to home. By the 1900s, the main activity became playground provision, and this is usually when most cities added dedicated play equipment for children for the first time. And then, going into the 1930s, the final major development was what's called the recreation movement, which involved adding sports facilities and making sure parks had organised activities to keep them in active use.

Lecturer: Finally, let's talk about a case study.. the city of Birmingham is often cited as a leading example. Birmingham now has several hundred hectares of public parkland, and the city council actively supports the network through a dedicated parks trust that funds ongoing improvements.

Lecturer: That brings us to the end of today's lecture.. next week we'll look at large-scale urban regeneration projects.

الكتابة.. Writing

مهمتان في 60 دقيقة: Task 1 (20 دقيقة، 150 كلمة على الأقل) وTask 2 (40 دقيقة، 250 كلمة على الأقل).

ابدأ الاختبار التفاعلي بالوقت

Writing Task 1

The charts below show the sources of household energy consumption in the United Kingdom in 1990 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Sources of household energy consumption, UK, 1990 vs 2020 (% of household energy)
Natural gasElectricityCoalOilRenewablesOther
19904522181023
2020383135194
اعرض الإجابة النموذجية (Band 9)

The two pie charts compare the proportion of household energy in the United Kingdom drawn from six different sources in 1990 and 2020. Overall, natural gas remained the leading source of household energy throughout the period, although its dominance weakened somewhat, while the most dramatic changes were the near-elimination of coal and the corresponding emergence of renewables as a major contributor. Electricity also strengthened its position considerably over the thirty years. In 1990, natural gas supplied almost half of household energy, at 45%, with electricity the next largest source at 22%, followed by coal at 18%, oil at 10%, renewables at a mere 2%, and other sources making up the remaining 3%. By 2020, the picture had shifted markedly: natural gas had fallen to 38%, still comfortably the largest share, but coal had collapsed to just 3%, a fall of fifteen percentage points that left it among the smallest categories. Renewables saw the opposite trajectory, climbing from 2% to 19% and effectively taking over the share that coal had lost. Electricity also rose steadily, from 22% to 31%, narrowing the gap with natural gas's declining lead and remaining clearly the second-largest source throughout. Oil fell modestly, from 10% to 5%, while the "other" category edged up slightly from 3% to 4%. Taken together, the charts depict a household energy mix that moved decisively away from coal and towards cleaner, more diversified sources over the three decades.

TA (Band 9): key features are fully covered and clearly highlighted - the response selects exactly the two data-licensed features (coal/renewables reversal + gas's narrowing lead alongside electricity's rise) and every comparative claim is supported using figures/data, staying inside the given data with no invented causes. CC (Band 9): four functionally distinct paragraphs give clear progression throughout, with varied cohesive devices (although, while, the opposite trajectory, taken together) replacing mechanical sequencers. LR (Band 9): precise, varied trend vocabulary (collapsed, near-elimination, climbing, narrowing, diversified) used with sophisticated control and no propagated template slips. GRA (Band 9): tense matches the visual's time frame throughout (simple past for each dated point, past perfect for the 2020 state relative to 1990), with a wide range of structures - comparative clauses, non-finite clauses, subordination - used with full flexibility and control.

قائمة الفحص للتقييم الذاتي
  • TAهل بدأت بفقرة overview منفصلة تلخص أبرز اتجاهين بدون أرقام تفصيلية فيها؟
  • TAهل كل جملة مقارنة في تقريري مدعومة بنسبة مئوية فعلية من الرسم؟
  • TAهل تجنبت ذكر أي سبب أو رأي شخصي من عندي غير موجود في الرسم (مثل تفسير سبب ارتفاع الطاقة المتجددة)؟
  • GRAهل استخدمت الزمن المناسب لكل فترة (ماضي بسيط لكل سنة، Past Perfect عند مقارنة 2020 بـ1990)؟
  • CCهل نوّعت أدوات الربط ولم أكرر نفس الكلمة (Firstly/So/Also) في كل فقرة؟
  • TAهل عدد كلماتي 150 كلمة على الأقل بدون حشو أو تكرار غير مفيد؟
  • TAهل وصفت فقط أبرز 2 اتجاهين بدلاً من سرد كل نسبة في الجدول (كل المصادر الستة لكل سنة)؟
  • LRهل نوّعت مفردات الاتجاه (fell/collapsed/declined مقابل rose/climbed/grew) بدل تكرار نفس الفعل في كل جملة؟

Writing Task 2

Write about the following topic: Some people believe that children today spend too much time using digital devices such as smartphones and tablets, and that this has a negative effect on their development. Others argue that digital devices offer children important educational and social benefits. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

اعرض الإجابة النموذجية (Band 9)

Children's growing use of smartphones and tablets has become a source of considerable debate. Some observers worry that excessive screen time damages young people's development, while others emphasise the genuine educational and social value that digital devices can offer. In this essay, I will examine both perspectives before explaining why I believe the benefits depend heavily on how, rather than whether, devices are used. Those who view digital devices negatively point to concerns such as reduced physical activity, disrupted sleep patterns, and shortened attention spans. A child who spends several hours a day scrolling through videos may have less time for outdoor play, face-to-face interaction, or reading, all of which are widely considered essential for healthy childhood development. There is also concern that constant exposure to fast-moving digital content makes sustained concentration on schoolwork more difficult, a worry frequently raised by teachers and parents alike. On the other hand, proponents of digital devices highlight their considerable educational potential. Interactive learning applications can adapt to a child's individual pace, offering personalised practice that a traditional classroom often cannot. Devices also enable children to communicate with family members abroad, collaborate on school projects, and access a vast range of educational resources instantly. Used thoughtfully, a tablet can be as much a learning tool as a distraction. In my view, the outcome depends less on the technology itself than on how it is managed. Children who use devices under reasonable time limits, with parental guidance towards educational rather than purely entertainment content, are likely to benefit rather than suffer. The real task for parents and educators is not to eliminate digital devices but to teach children to use them purposefully. In conclusion, while excessive, unsupervised screen time can genuinely harm children's development, digital devices also offer real educational and social advantages when used responsibly, and it is this balance, rather than blanket restriction, that should guide how children engage with technology.

TR (Band 9): both required views are discussed in full, dedicated paragraphs and the writer's own opinion is stated clearly and sustained into the conclusion, fully answering the discuss-both-views-and-give-your-own-opinion instruction; ideas are relevant, fully extended and well supported with concrete mechanisms on each side, avoiding the Band-7 cap of over-generalisation. CC (Band 9): five single-function paragraphs give clear overall progression with genuine logical shifts marked by devices (On the other hand, In my view, In conclusion), avoiding the Band-6 cap of illogical paragraphing. LR (Band 9): sophisticated, precise vocabulary (disrupted sleep patterns, personalised practice, blanket restriction) with no unvaried repetition of key nouns. GRA (Band 9): a wide range of complex structures - relative clauses, conditional/causal subordination, contrastive subordination - used with full flexibility and control and essentially error-free.

قائمة الفحص للتقييم الذاتي
  • TRهل ناقشت وجهتي النظر المذكورتين في السؤال (discuss both views) بفقرتين منفصلتين وواضحتين؟
  • TRهل ذكرت رأيي الشخصي بوضوح (give your own opinion) وليس فقط عرضت الرأيين دون موقف؟
  • TRهل كل فكرة رئيسية مدعومة بمثال أو تفصيل حقيقي وليست جملة عامة فقط؟
  • CCهل بدأت كل فقرة بجملة موضوع (topic sentence) واضحة؟
  • LRهل تجنبت تكرار نفس الكلمة (مثل children) بدون بدائل؟
  • GRAهل استخدمت جملاً معقدة متنوعة (شرطية، وصلية، صفة موصولة) وليس فقط جملاً بسيطة متتالية؟
  • TRهل عدد كلماتي 250 كلمة على الأقل بدون نسخ عبارات من نص السؤال؟
  • CCهل خاتمتي تلخص موقفي بوضوح دون تكرار حرفي للمقدمة؟

المحادثة.. Speaking

3 أجزاء في 14 دقيقة تقريبًا.

ابدأ الاختبار التفاعلي بالوقت

Part 1 (4-5 min)

Let's talk about your hometown.

  • Where is your hometown located?
  • What is your hometown best known for?
  • What do you like most about your hometown? (Why?)
  • Has your hometown changed much in recent years?

Let's move on to talk about how you spend your weekends.

  • What do you usually do at the weekend?
  • Do you prefer to spend your weekends at home or going out?
  • What's your favourite thing to do at the weekend? (Why?)
  • Did you spend your weekends differently as a child?

Part 2 (cue card)

Alright? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up.

Describe a person who taught you something important.

  • who this person is
  • what they taught you
  • how they taught you

and explain why what they taught you was important to you.

You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. · You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. · You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Rounding-off questions

  • Do you still keep in touch with this person?
  • Is there anything else you would like to learn from them?

Part 3

We've been talking about a person who taught you something important. I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions relating to this topic.

Let's consider first of all the role of teachers in society. 1. What qualities make someone a good teacher? 2. Has the role of teachers changed in recent years?

  • What qualities make someone a good teacher?
  • Has the role of teachers changed in recent years?
  • Is that a recent development, do you think?
  • Why do you think good teachers need those particular qualities?
  • Do you think the role of teachers will change even more in the future?

Finally, let's talk about how adults learn new skills today. 3. What are the best ways for adults to learn a new skill? 4. Do you think self-study will ever replace having a teacher?

  • What are the best ways for adults to learn a new skill?
  • Do you think self-study will ever replace having a teacher?
  • What do you think of self-study compared to learning from a teacher?
  • Can you tell me a little bit more about why having a teacher still matters?
  • Do you think fewer people will need human teachers one day?
اعرض الإجابة النموذجية.. Part 1 (Band 6)

Examiner: Where is your hometown located? Candidate: It's a small town in the north of England, um, about two hours from London by train. Examiner: What is your hometown best known for? Candidate: I think it's mostly known for its old castle, a lot of tourists come to see it, and also there's a big market every Saturday. Examiner: What do you like most about your hometown? Why? Candidate: Um, I like that everyone knows everyone, so it feels really safe, and also it's very close to the countryside so I can go walking easily. Examiner: Has your hometown changed much in recent years? Candidate: Yes, actually, a lot of new houses have been built, and, um, there's a new shopping centre too, so it's grown quite a bit.

(FC) يستمر المرشح في الإجابة دون توقفات طويلة، لكن الإكثار من and also... and also في إجابتي السؤالين الثاني والثالث نمط يميل نحو باند 5 في التماسك، وهو مقبول هنا فقط لأنه rarely impedes communication. (LR) المفردات كافية لمناقشة موضوع مألوف لكنها عامة وغير دقيقة أحيانا؛ لا توجد محاولة إعادة صياغة لأن الأسئلة لم تتطلبها. (GRA) مزيج من جمل بسيطة وجملة مركبة واحدة، تنوع محدود لكن بلا أخطاء جسيمة. (P) تقسيم الكلام إلى وحدات معنى واضح، لكن كثرة um تشير إلى إيقاع غير مستدام تماما، مطابق لوصف باند 6.

اعرض الإجابة النموذجية.. Part 2 (Band 8)

The person I'd like to talk about is my secondary school English teacher, Mrs. Harrison, who taught me something that's genuinely stayed with me ever since.. how to write with real clarity rather than just correctness. I was probably around fifteen when I first had her class, and what struck me was that she never simply corrected my essays; she'd sit down with me individually, once a week after school, and ask me to explain out loud what I was actually trying to say before we even looked at the grammar. She taught me mainly through that one-on-one questioning technique.. she'd read a sentence back to me and ask, 'Is that really what you mean, or is that just what you wrote?'.. which forced me to slow down and think about precision rather than just filling the page. It was difficult at first because I found it quite uncomfortable being questioned that closely about my own thinking, and I sometimes felt like I was being tested rather than taught, but I gradually came to see that the discomfort was exactly the point. What she taught me has turned out to be important far beyond school, honestly.. I use that same habit of questioning my own clarity in every report I write at work now, and I'd say it's the single skill that's most directly shaped how people perceive my competence professionally. So even though it seemed like a small classroom habit at the time, it's genuinely one of the most valuable things anyone has ever taught me.

(FC) الأداء fluent, rare repetition/self-correction.. السرد يتطور في خط واحد متصل بلا اعتماد على أدوات حشو. (LR) استخدام واسع ومرن لمفردات وتعابير أقل شيوعا وذات طابع اصطلاحي مثل stayed with me و filling the page و shaped how people perceive my competence. (GRA) تنوع نحوي واسع مع جمل شبه خالية من الأخطاء وتراكيب فرعية كثيفة. (P) سلاسل الجمل الطويلة غير المتقطعة توحي بإيقاع مستدام وتنويع في التنغيم عبر جمل طويلة.

اعرض الإجابة النموذجية.. Part 3 (Band 7)

Examiner: What qualities make someone a good teacher? Candidate: I'd say patience is probably the most important one, because not every student learns at the same pace, and a good teacher needs to explain things in different ways until it actually clicks for each person. Examiner: Why do you think good teachers need those particular qualities? Candidate: Well, if a teacher isn't patient, students who are struggling might just give up or feel embarrassed to ask questions again, so the whole class ends up learning less, even the ones who understood it the first time. Examiner: Do you think the role of teachers will change even more in the future? Candidate: I think so, yes, especially with all the new technology available now.. teachers might spend less time just giving information, since students can find that online, and more time helping with the things a computer can't really do, like motivation or emotional support.

(FC) المرشح keeps going and readily produces long turns without noticeable effort.. لا توجد توقفات ملحوظة، والربط بأدوات مرنة يتجاوز الربط المتكرر لباند 5/6. (LR) محاولة إعادة صياغة فعالة للسؤال مع بعض العبارات الاصطلاحية غير الشائعة تماما، لكن دون ثراء باند 8. (GRA) جمل معقدة متكررة بلا أخطاء مع بعض الأخطاء الأساسية المتبقية المتوقعة في هذا الباند. (P) الإجابات ممتدة وغير مجزأة، ما يوحي بامتلاك بعض ميزات باند 8 إلى جانب كل ميزات باند 6.

قائمة الفحص للتقييم الذاتي
  • FCهل تحدثت بشكل متواصل بدون توقفات طويلة تبحث فيها عن كلمة؟
  • FCهل وقعت في «الربط الزائد».. تكرار and then... and then أو and also... and also بدل روابط متنوعة؟
  • LRهل استخدمت إعادة الصياغة عندما لم تعرف الكلمة الدقيقة، بدل التوقف الصامت؟
  • LRهل تجنبت الكلمات العامة جدا مثل things like that واستبدلتها بمفردات أدق؟
  • GRAهل جربت جملا مركبة (subordinate clauses) بدل جمل قصيرة متكررة فقط؟
  • GRAراجع كثافة الأخطاء في جملك المعقدة تحديدا.. الجمل البسيطة قد تكون صحيحة لكن الجمل المعقدة هي الفارق بين باند 5/6 و 7/8
  • Pهل قسّمت كلامك إلى وحدات معنى واضحة (chunking) بدل كلام متصل بلا فواصل نطقية؟
  • Pهل حافظت على إيقاع ثابت دون تسريع الكلام بشكل يفقده وضوحه؟