Free ILAC Academic Reading Questions and Answers

Question 1

Marie Curie’s husband was a joint winner of both Marie’s Nobel Prizes.

Accepted Answer

False

Answer

True

Answer

Not Given

Question 2

Marie became interested in science when she was a child.

Accepted Answer

Not Given

Answer

True

Answer

False

Question 3

Marie was able to attend the Sorbonne because of her sister’s financial contribution.

Accepted Answer

True

Answer

False

Answer

Not Given

Question 4

The Physics of Traffic Behavior

Some years ago, when several theoretical physicists, principally Dirk Helbing and Boris Kerner of Stuttgart, Germany, began publishing papers on traffic flow in publications normally read by traffic engineers, they were clearly working outside their usual sphere of investigation. They had noticed that if they simulated the movement of vehicles on a highway, using the equations that describe how the molecules of a gas move, some very strange results emerged. Of course, vehicles do not behave exactly like gas molecules: for example, drivers try to avoid collisions by slowing down when they get too near another vehicle, whereas gas molecules have no such concern. However, the physicists modified the equations to take the differences into account, and the overall description of traffic as a flowing gas has proved to be a very good one; the moving-gas model of traffic reproduces many phenomena seen in real-world traffic.

The strangest thing that came out of these equations, however, was the implication that congestion can arise completely spontaneously; no external causes are necessary. Vehicles can be flowing freely along, at a density still well below what the road can handle, and then suddenly gel into a slow-moving ooze. Under the right conditions, a brief and local fluctuation in the speed or the distance between vehicles is all it takes to trigger a system-wide breakdown that persists for hours. In fact, the physicists’ analysis suggested such spontaneous breakdowns in traffic flow probably occur quite frequently on highways.

Reading the passage then choose the correct heading from the list of headings below:

Accepted Answer

How a concept from one field of study was applied in another

Answer

Dramatic effects can result from small changes in traffic just as in nature

Answer

How a maths experiment actually reduced traffic congestion

Answer

A lack of investment in driver training

Answer

Areas of doubt and disagreement between experts

Answer

How different countries have dealt with traffic congestion

Answer

The impact of driver behaviour on traffic speed

Answer

A proposal to take control away from the driver

Question 5

The Physics of Traffic Behavior

The physicists have challenged proposals to set a maximum capacity for vehicles on highways. They argue that it may not be enough simply to limit the rate at which vehicles are allowed to enter a highway, rather, it may be necessary to time each vehicle’s entry onto a highway precisely to coincide with a temporary drop in the density of vehicles along the road. The aim of doing this would be to smooth out any possible fluctuations in the road conditions that can trigger a change in traffic behavior and result in congestion. They further suggest that preventing breakdowns in the flow of traffic could ultimately require implementing the radical idea that has been suggested from time to time: directly regulating the speed and spacing of individual cars along a highway with central computers and sensors that communicate with each car’s engine and brake controls.

Reading the passage then choose the correct heading from the list of headings below:

Accepted Answer

A proposal to take control away from the driver

Answer

Dramatic effects can result from small changes in traffic just as in nature

Answer

How a maths experiment actually reduced traffic congestion

Answer

How a concept from one field of study was applied in another

Answer

A lack of investment in driver training

Answer

Areas of doubt and disagreement between experts

Answer

How different countries have dealt with traffic congestion

Answer

The impact of driver behaviour on traffic speed

Question 6

The Physics of Traffic Behavior

However, research into traffic control is generally centered in civil engineering departments and here the theories of the physicists have been greeted with some skepticism. Civil engineers favor a practical approach to problems and believe traffic congestion is the result of poor road construction (two lanes becoming one lane or dangerous curves), which constricts the flow of traffic. Engineers questioned how well the physicists’ theoretical results relate to traffic in the real world. Indeed, some engineering researchers questioned whether elaborate chaos-theory interpretations are needed at all, since at least some of the traffic phenomena the physicists’ theories predicted seemed to be similar to observations that had been appearing in traffic engineering literature under other names for years; observations which had straightforward cause-and-effect explanations.

Reading the passage then choose the correct heading from the list of headings below:

Accepted Answer

Areas of doubt and disagreement between experts

Answer

Dramatic effects can result from small changes in traffic just as in nature

Answer

How a maths experiment actually reduced traffic congestion

Answer

How a concept from one field of study was applied in another

Answer

A lack of investment in driver training

Answer

How different countries have dealt with traffic congestion

Answer

The impact of driver behaviour on traffic speed

Answer

A proposal to take control away from the driver

Question 7

The Physics of Traffic Behavior

James Banks, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at San Diego State University in the US, suggested that a sudden slowdown in traffic may have less to do with chaos theory than with driver psychology. As traffic gets heavier and the passing lane gets more crowded, aggressive drivers move to other lanes to try to pass, which also tends to even out the speed between lanes.He also felt that another leveling force is that when a driver in a fast lane brakes a little to maintain a safe distance between vehicles, the shock wave travels back much more rapidly than it would in the other slower lanes, because each following driver has to react more quickly. Consequently, as a road becomes congested, the faster-moving traffic is the first to slow down.

Reading the passage then choose the correct heading from the list of headings below:

Accepted Answer

The impact of driver behaviour on traffic speed

Answer

Dramatic effects can result from small changes in traffic just as in nature

Answer

How a maths experiment actually reduced traffic congestion

Answer

How a concept from one field of study was applied in another

Answer

A lack of investment in driver training

Answer

Areas of doubt and disagreement between experts

Answer

How different countries have dealt with traffic congestion

Answer

A proposal to take control away from the driver

Question 8

Which TWO advantages are mentioned by the writer of the text?

Accepted Answer

They can predict areas that may cause trouble in the future.

Answer

They are less likely to be involved in careless accidents.

Answer

They are able to train younger workers.

Answer

They can deal with unexpected problems.

Answer

They are more conscientious.

Answer

They are prepared to work for lower salaries.

Question 9

Which TWO disadvantages are mentioned by the writer of the text?

Accepted Answer

They do not stay with the same company for very long.

Answer

They are too confident of their own skills.

Answer

They may injure themselves.

Answer

Their training has been too theoretical.

Answer

They demand higher salaries.

Question 10

Skill Team is an example of a company which ________ :

Accepted Answer

allows the expertise of older workers to be put to use.

Answer

offers older workers increases in salary.

Answer

allows people to continue working for as long as they want.

Answer

treats older and younger workers equally.