Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2 là một bài tập không quá khó nhưng vẫn đủ thử thách để luyện tập cho phần thi IELTS Reading. Để cùng vận dụng hết những từ vựng mà bài có thì hãy cùng ISE giải đề và phân tích đáp án nhé!

1. Phần thi Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2 là gì?

 1.1. Thông tin bộ sách Cambridge IELTS 18

Cambridge IELTS là một bộ sách được xuất bản bởi Cambridge với mục đích luyện đề thi IELTS và được ra mắt vào tháng 5 hàng năm.

Các đề từ Cambridge IELTS nhìn chung bám khá sát với đề thi thực tế và đã được thí sinh trên toàn thế giới thêm vào danh sách các bộ đề luyện thi IELTS uy tín.

Nội dung sách bao gồm các phần thi của cả 4 kỹ năng trong bài thi IELTS Academic bao gồm: Reading, Listening, Speaking và Writing.

1.2. Tổng quan Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2

Bài đọc Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2 nói về ứng dụng của công nghệ hơi nước vào những năm 1800. Trong một giai đoạn, các xe hơi nước dần dần bị lãng quên. Tuy nhiên, anh em nhà Doble đã tìm ra phương pháp ứng dụng kỹ thuật hơi nước vào sản xuất xe hơi. Tác giả hi vọng rằng trong tương lai, với sự ứng dụng công nghệ và khoa học có thể cải tạo để sản xuất xe hơi hơi nước.

Phần Passage 2 sẽ bao gồm 13 câu hỏi từ câu 14 đến 26 của phần Reading Test 3.

2. Bài đọc Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 – 26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

The steam car

The successes and failures of the Doble brothers and their steam cars

A. When primitive automobiles first began to appear in the 1800s, their engines were based on steam power. (Q14) Steam had already enjoyed a long and successful career in the railways, so it was only natural that the technology evolved into a miniaturized version which was separate from the trains. But these early cars inherited steam’s weaknesses along with its strengths. The boilers had to be lit by hand, and they required about twenty minutes to build up pressure before they could be driven. Furthermore, their water reservoirs only lasted for about thirty miles before needing replenishment. Despite such shortcomings, these newly designed self-propelled carriages offered quick transportation, and by the early 1900s it was not uncommon to see such machines shuttling wealthy citizens around town.

B. (Q21) But the glory days of steam cars were few. A new technology called the Internal Combustion Engine soon appeared, which offered the ability to drive down the road just moments after starting up. At first, these noisy gasoline cars were unpopular because they were more complicated to operate and they had difficult hand-crank starters, which were known to break arms when the engines backfired. (Q15) But in 1912 General Motors introduced the electric starter, and over the following few years steam power was gradually phased out.

C. Even as the market was declining, four brothers made one last effort to rekindle the technology. Between 1906 and 1909, while still attending high school, Abner Doble and his three brothers built their first steam car in their parents’ basement. (Q22) It comprised parts taken from a wrecked early steam car but reconfigured to drive an engine of their own design. Though it did not run well, the Doble brothers went on to build a second and third prototype in the following years. Though the Doble boys’ third prototype, nicknamed the Model B, still lacked the convenience of an internal combustion engine, it drew the attention of automobile trade magazines due to its numerous improvements over previous steam cars. The Model B proved to be superior to gasoline automobiles in many ways. Its high-pressure steam drove the engine pistons in virtual silence, in contrast to clattering gas engines which emitted the aroma of burned hydrocarbons. (Q16) Perhaps most impressively, the Model B was amazingly swift. It could accelerate from zero to sixty miles per hour in just fifteen seconds, a feat described as ‘remarkable acceleration’ by Automobile magazine in 1914.

D. (Q23) The following year Abner Doble drove the Model B from Massachusetts to Detroit in order to seek investment in his automobile design, which he used to open the General Engineering Company. He and his brothers immediately began working on the Model C, which was intended to expand upon the innovations of the Model B. The brothers added features such as a key-based ignition in the cabin, eliminating the need for the operator to manually ignite the boiler. (Q17) With these enhancements, the Dobles’ new car company promised a steam vehicle which would provide all of the convenience of a gasoline car, but with much greater speed, much simpler driving controls, and a virtually silent powerplant. By the following April, the General Engineering Company had received 5,390 deposits for Doble Detroits, which were scheduled for delivery in early 1918.

E. Later that year Abner Doble delivered unhappy news to those eagerly awaiting the deliveryof their modern new cars. (Q18) Those buyers who received the handful of completed cars complained that the vehicles were sluggish and erratic, sometimes going in reverse when they should go forward. The new engine design, though innovative, was still plagued with serious glitches.

F. The brothers made one final attempt to produce a viable steam automobile. In early 1924, the Doble brothers shipped a Model E to New York City to be road-tested by the Automobile Club of America. (Q19) After sitting overnight in freezing temperatures, the car was pushed out into the road and left to sit for over an hour in the frosty morning air. At the turn of the key, the boiler lit and reached its operating pressure inside of forty seconds. As they drove the test vehicle further, they found that its evenly distributed weight lent it surprisingly good handling, even though it was so heavy. (Q24) As the new Doble steamer was further developed and tested, its maximum speed was pushed to over a hundred miles per hour, and it achleved about fifteen miles per gallon of kerosene with negligible emissions.

G. Sadly, the Dobles’ brilliant steam car never was a financial success. Priced at around $18,000 in 1924, it was popular only among the very wealthy. Plus, it is said that no two Model Es were quite the same, because Abner Doble tinkered endlessly with the design. (Q25) By the time the company folded in 1931, fewer than fifty of the amazing Model E steam cars had been produced. For his whole career, until his death in 1961, Abner Doble remained adamant that steam-powered automobiles were at least equal to gasoline cars, if not superior. Given the evidence, he may have been right. Many of the Model E Dobles which have survived are still in good working condition, some having been driven over half a million miles with only normal maintenance. (Q20+26) Astonishingly, an unmodified Doble Model E runs clean enough to pass the emissions laws in California today, and they are pretty strict. It is true that the technology poses some difficult problems, but you cannot help but wonder how efficient a steam car might be with the benefit of modem materials and computers. Under the current pressure to improve automotive performance and reduce emissions, it is not unthinkable that the steam car may rise again.

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A—G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14—20 on your answer sheet.

Paragraph A

Paragraph B

Paragraph C

Paragraph D

Paragraph E

Paragraph F

Paragraph G

Questions 21—23

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 21—23 on your answer sheet.

21. What point does the writer make about the steam car in Paragraph B?

1. Its success was short-lived.
2. Not enough cars were made.
3. Car companies found them hard to sell.
4. People found them hard to drive.

22. When building their first steam car, the Doble brothers

1. constructed all the parts themselves.
2. made written notes at each stage of the construction.
3. needed several attempts to achieve a competitive model.
4. sought the advice of experienced people in the car industry.

23. In order to produce the Model C, the Doble brothers

1. moved production to a different city.
2. raised financial capital.
3. employed an additional worker.
4. abandoned their earlier designs.

Questions 24—26

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 24—26 on your answer sheet.

3. Đáp án và giải thích chi tiết

3.1. Câu 14 – 20 – Matching Headings.

Trong câu 14 – 20, thí sinh cần nắm được thông tin, keywords trong phần thông tin của câu hỏi. Thí sinh cần nắm được đại ý của các phân đoạn trong bài đọc, và so sánh các thông tin chính để so với phần tiêu đề được cho. Cần tránh chọn những đoạn chỉ là ý phụ, ý không quan trọng.

3.2. Câu 20 – 23 – Multiple Choice.

Trong câu 21 – 23, thí sinh cần nắm được thông tin, keywords trong phần thông tin của câu hỏi, sau đó tìm những thông tin đó trong các đoạn của bài đọc, cần để ý kỹ paraphrase, số liệu để không bị nhầm lẫn.

3.3. Câu 24 – 26 – Summary Completion. 

Trong câu 24 – 26, thí sinh cần nắm được đoạn thông tin phù hợp trong bài tóm tắt, cần để ý các keywords trong bài, sau khi đã tìm được đoạn chứa thông tin thì ứng dụng kỹ năng scanning để tìm từ phù hợp.

TỔNG KẾT VỀ CAMBRIDGE IELTS 18 TEST 3 READING PASSAGE 2

Vậy là chúng ta đã cùng nhau đi qua những câu hỏi tuy không quá khó nhưng cũng có thể dễ dàng đánh lừa thí sinh. Bài đọc này được ISE đánh giá là vừa sức với các bạn thi IELTS do chủ đề không quá hàn lâm và từ vựng cũng không quá cao cấp. Vì vậy, việc đạt được điểm tối đa ở bài đọc Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Reading Passage 2 là hoàn toàn có thể nếu bạn có một chiến thuật làm bài hợp lý. Các thí sinh cũng có thể mua sách Cambridge IELTS 18 để tham khảo và tự thực hành các bài tại nhà nhé.

Bạn có thể liên hệ ISE để đăng ký tư vấn lộ trình học IELTS phù hợp tại:

Chi nhánh 1: 02 Nguyễn Huy Lượng, Phường 14, Quận Bình Thạnh, TP.HCM

Chi nhánh 2: 393 Điện Biên Phủ, Phường 4, Quận 3, TP.HCM

Chi Nhánh 3: 15 Hoàng Trọng Mậu, Phường Tân Hưng, quận 7, TP.HCM

Hotline:

(+84) 898 898 646

Facebook: facebook.com/iseistudyenglish

Website: https://ise.edu.vn/lien-he/#content-kh