IELTS READING

LESSON 3: SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

I. Giới thiệu dạng bài.

Với dạng bài Short answer, học sinh được yêu cầu tìm những từ phù hợp trong bài đọc để trả lời các
câu hỏi của đề bài.
Ví dụ:

II. Hướng dẫn làm bài

- Bước 1: Đọc kĩ đề bài và xác định word limit (giới hạn từ) trong mỗi bài.
- Bước 2: Đọc kĩ câu hỏi và gạch chân các keywords.
- Bước 3: Lần lượt tìm kiếm các keywords vừa gạch chân được trong bài đọc.
- Bước 4: Sau khi đã xác định được đoạn thông tin chứa keywords, đọc kĩ và đối chiếu để đảm
bảo chúng có liên quan đến câu hỏi.
- Bước 5: Chọn đáp án phù hợp với thông tin trong đoạn.

III. Lưu ý khi làm bài

- Thứ tự của câu trả lời sẽ giống với trật tự của thông tin xuất hiện trong bài đọc.
- Các từ cần điền phải được lấy trực tiếp trong bài đọc. Không được thay đổi dạng từ của đáp
án.
- Không vượt quá word limit.

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 IV. Practice
Exercise 1
From the earliest times, people have devised highly ingenious methods for conserving
water where it is scarce. In the Sahara in Africa, where two-thirds of the sparse population
live in permanent settlements, many of the oases that provide natural supplies of water have
been enlarged by human industry. In some places, gently sloping channels called foggaras
run below the surface, collecting ground water that flows to a central oasis. In other places,
artesian wells are used to irrigate date palms and other crops that grow in the shade they
provide. In Egypt, only one per cent of all water enters the domestic supply. The remainder is
used to irrigate farm crops.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE.

1. Where do many people in the Sahara have their homes?
……………………………………………………………………….
2. What water sources in the Sahara have people developed?
……………………………………………………………………….
3. What land constructions are used for irrigation purposes in the Sahara?
……………………………………………………………………….
4. Which African crop is mentioned?
……………………………………………………………………….
5. How much of the water in Egypt in used by people in their homes?
……………………………………………………………………….

Exercise 2

OUT OF THE WILD, INTO OUR HOMES

Many of the earth’s creatures die because of choices humans make. These choices have
nothing to do with food or shelter or anything else that helps humans survive. What kills
these millions of animals from all over the world is human greed – the desire for money.
People use parts of animals for everything from hats to handbags, from ornamental
jewellery and ashtrays to powders that supposedly improve a person’s life. Declaring a

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species endangered and protecting it by laws is not always enough. Poachers, people who kill
wildlife illegally, rarely get caught.
During the late 1980s, saving elephants became popular. Wildlife protection groups
made sure everyone saw pictures or films of elephants with their faces sawed off for their
ivory tusks. These groups also proved that certain populations of elephants were dwindling.
As a result, most people stopped buying objects made of ivory. Laws against poaching
were strengthened. Many countries made bringing ivory in from other countries illegal.
Killing elephants for their ivory became riskier and less profitable.
However, concern for a certain species tends to fade after a while. In the late 1970s, people
protested against the slaughter of seal pups. Everyone was shocked at the sight of pups being
clubbed to death in their icy habitat. The brutality came to a halt. But ten years later, the
number of seal pups killed was higher than ever.
Other animal protection movements have come and gone, such as saving the whales
and protecting dolphins from the tuna fishermen. The whale population appears to have
increased for now. And the laws are finally changing in the U.S to protect the dolphins that
swim with tuna fish in parts of the Pacific Ocean.
In the 2010s, the protests and the publicity will probably turn to some other dangered species.
Plenty of them urgently need attention. During this time, will the elephants by forgotten?

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for
each answer.
1. What do people use to make things that people think can improve their lives?
……………………………………………………………………….
2. What do people kill elephants and cut their faces off for?
……………………………………………………………………….
3. What animal is mentioned after elephants as a victim of humans?
……………………………………………………………………….
4. Whom do some animal protection movements want to protect dolphins from?
……………………………………………………………………….

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 The History of the Circus, from Ancient Rome to cirque du Solell

Circuses were first popularised in ancient Rome, where the Latin word ‘circus' meant 'circle'
and referred to a building that was used for events like chariot races. The circus in a
permanent location disappeared after the fall of the Roman Empire, but during much of the
medieval period, travelling entertainers moved around Europe performing at local fairs. A
new form of circus emerged in the 18th century with Philip Astley's outdoor horse-riding
school, where visitors could watch horse-riding tricks. Astley added acts by strongmen,
jugglers, and acrobats to these tricks. In 1773, he opened the first theatre for circus
performances in London, Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre, and it was here that the modern
circus was born.

In America, the circus reached its most famous form in the 19th century with the 'big top', a
circus performed inside a massive tent made of canvas. Soon, this became the standard
American circus and remained so for the next century. The biggest circus company of that
era was Ringling Bros, and

Barnum & Bailey's Circus, which popularised the use of clowns as performers and even
founded its own clown college to train them.

In recent decades, demand for traditional circuses has waned, while more theatrical
productions such as Cirque du Soleil have gathered large followings globally. Having been
inspired by the Moscow Circus, the Cirque du Soleil founders designed a show in which
various circus styles from around the world were integrated into a single story. They avoided
using a ring or animals, feeling that this model was outdated. The formula worked as Cirque
du Soleil has established itself across the globe, generating more than S800 million in annual
revenue.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

11. Which events in Europe did travelling entertainers perform at during medieval times?

……………………………………………………………………….

12. What was the name of the first circus theatre In London?

……………………………………………………………………….

13. What were 'big top' tents made out of?

……………………………………………………………………….

14. What did Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey's Circus establish to train performers?

……………………………………………………………………….

15. From where did the founders of Cirque du Soleil get their inspiration?
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