IELTS Practice Test 07 Reading Ac

IELTS PRACTICE TESTS
READING
TEST 07
Practice Test / Reading
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Reading Academic
Test 07

SECTION 1
Questions 1 - 13
A diverging media
Joe Swanberg makes films about the romantic lives of young urbanites. He shoots quickly with a digital
camera and asks actors to wear their own clothes. His films, which tend to cost between $30,000 and
$50,000 to make, are almost never shown in cinemas. Instead they are available on pay-television as
video-on-demand, as downloads from iTunes (Apple's digital store) or as DVDs. By keeping his costs down
and distributing digitally, Mr Swanberg is making a living.
Technology was expected to help young artists like Mr Swanberg. In 2006 Chris Anderson, the author of
"The Long Tail", predicted that the internet would vastly increase the supply of niche media products and
bring audiences to them. That has certainly happened. But so has the opposite. In film, music, television and
books, blockbusters are tightening their grip on audiences and advertisers. The growth of obscure products
has come at the expense of things that are merely quite popular. The loser in a world of almost limitless
entertainment choice is not the hit, but the near-miss.
There are several reasons for this. Some are as old as Charles Dickens (or perhaps even Homer). People still
want to have something to talk about with their friends. Thus "American Idol" and "The X-Factor" do pretty
much as well as TV hits did ten years ago, "New Moon" set a new record at the box office and bestselling
books sell better than ever. Research shows that people enjoy hits more than they do obscure stuff, often
because they are the only thing that many people try in that genre: lucky Dan Brown and Katie Price.
But some things are new. All that technology that has made niche content so much more accessible has also
proved handy for pushing blockbusters. Missed "Twilight", the predecessor of "New Moon"? There will be
other chances to catch it, in a wide variety of formats. Technology helps hits zip around the world, too-even
in the art market.
Blockbusters are doing well not in spite of the fact that people have more choice in entertainment, but
because of it. Imagine walking into a music shop containing 4m songs (the number available on We7, a free
music-streaming service in Britain) or more than 10m (the choice on iTunes), all of them arranged
alphabetically in plain boxes. The choice would be overwhelming. It is far easier to grab the thing everybody
is talking about or that you heard on the radio that morning.
Is this increasing polarisation into blockbusters and niches good or bad? It certainly makes life harder for
media companies. In a world of growing entertainment options it is more important than ever to make a
splash. Miss the top of the chart, even by a little, and your product ends up fighting for attention along with
thousands-perhaps millions-of other offerings. That prospect makes for jitters and, sometimes,
conservatism. Broadcast television programmes must succeed quickly or they will be cancelled. It is
becoming even harder to talk studio bosses into approving some kinds of film. Want to make a complicated
political drama, based on an original screenplay, with expensive actors in exotic locations? Good luck with
that.
Yet the challenge for the moguls is a boon to consumers. In the past firms made a lot of money supplying
content that was not too objectionable to people who did not have much of a choice. In a world of hugely
expanded options they cannot get away with this. These days there is rarely nothing good on television. So
media companies must raise their game.

Creative types who are accustomed to lavishing money on moderately appealing projects will have to do
more with less. Or they must learn how to move between big-budget blockbusters and niche, small-budget
fare, observing the different genre and budget constraints that apply in these worlds. A few forward-looking
folk, such as Steven Soderbergh, a film-maker, are already doing this. Some will find shelter. Premium
television channels such as HBO, which are built on passion more than popularity, offer some protection
from chill market winds. So do state broadcasters like the BBC.
Thinking people naturally deplore the rise of lowest-common-denominator blockbusters, and wish that
more money were available to produce the kind of music, films and television programmes they like. The
problem is that everybody has different ideas about exactly what they want to see. Some may thrill to a
documentary about Leica cameras; others may want to spend an hour being told how to cook a better
bouillabaisse. But not many want to do either of these things, which explains why such programmes are
niche products. There are only a few things that can be guaranteed to delight large numbers of people. They
are known as blockbusters.

Questions 1 - 5
Write True, False or Not Given.
1 Joe Swanberg makes romantic films for the cinema.

2 Chris Anderson's prediction in 2006 proved to be incorrect.
3 Blockbusters are not suffering despite the range of entertainment now available.
4 We7 and iTunes are beginning to make life harder for blockbusters.
5 Studio heads are less willing to make expensive films.
Questions 6 - 13
Complete the summary with NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the text.
Hitting the number two spot these days mean that your production has to compete with an abundance of
6 ............... from other media companies. For this reason, 7............... is the approach favoured by some
publishers. This 8 ...............for media bosses could however be a benefit for consumers. The choice now
available to us means they must 9 ............... their standards. 10 ............... people will need to be more flexible
and able to work with a range of 11 ............... . Still people who make up the 12 ............... markets will not be
happy as many companies strive to produce something 13 ............... to please the mass market.

SECTION 2
Questions 14 - 26
Mind-altering media
Plenty of surveys and studies have linked poor media habits with rising violence, childhood depression,
attention deficit disorders and declining educational standards. Yet we also hear entirely the opposite: IQ
scores are rising, and have been since at least the 1950s, when television was becoming common in our
homes. What's more, regular gamers seem to perform better at tests of visual attention and spatial awareness.
So what are the effects of modern media on the brain - especially young, developing brains? Are TV and
computers boosting our mental and social networking skills, or making us stupid, isolated and aggressive,
with the attention spans of gnats?
One thing researchers concur on is that any technology we use will change the brain. There's nothing
surprising or sinister about this, says Martin Westwell at the University of Oxford's Institute for the Future
of the Mind. "You are who you are largely because of the way the brain cells wire up in response to the
environment and the things you do," he says. "If you change the wiring you will change how we think." So
how is the wiring changing?
Some say we're getting smarter. Steven Johnson, author of the book Everything Bad is Good for You, argues
that the increasing complexity of media presentations and games, with their multiple plots and sophisticated
layers, calls for more complex pre-planning and problem solving than ever. Far from dumbing us down,
popular culture is stretching us, Johnson claims, and the rising IQ scores are a testament to that. There is
some evidence to support such claims. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester in
New York have shown that regular computer gamers have improved visual attention and can take in more
information. They are better able to pay attention to things that are further apart or more rapidly changing,
and can switch attention more quickly. Even short-term play produces immediate improvements.
Jonathan Roberts of Virginia Polytechnic Institute found that women, who usually fare worse than men at
spatial rotation tests, improve when exposed to 3D video games.
When it comes to TV, however, there's no getting away from the fact that the bad news outweighs the good.
One of the biggest studies was done by Jeffrey Johnson and colleagues at Columbia University in New York,
who followed more than 700 families for 17 years, recording their viewing habits, health, backgrounds and
various behavioural tendencies. Their findings confirm those of previous, smaller studies showing that the
amount of TV watched during childhood and teens correlates with changes in attention and sleep patterns,
among other things. The group's latest analysis will be published next month, so Johnson can't reveal details
yet, but says: "High levels of TV viewing may contribute to elevated risk for a type of syndrome which is
often characterised by two or more of the following types of problems: elevated levels of verbal and physical
aggression; difficulties with sleep; obesity and long-term risk for obesity-related health problems from a lack
of physical exercise; and attention or learning difficulties."
One of the smaller studies, by Dimitri Christakis at the University of Washington in Seattle, found that
young children watching double the average TV viewing hours (which were 2.2 per day at age 1 and 3.6 at
age 3) were 25 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder at age 7.
Some research even hints at a link with autism, although this is very far from proven.
The overwhelming majority of studies about modern media and the mind, however, have focused on

violence on and off the screen. Although there has been more than 50 years' worth of research, most people
seem to have the idea that, while these studies suggest there might be a small link, the jury is still out. Wrong,
says John Murray, a developmental psychologist from Kansas State University, one of the editors of the
book Children and Television: Fifty years of research and author of US government-sponsored reports in
1972 and 1982. Murray is exasperated by this kind of ambivalence. He says it is impossible to conclude
anything other than that violence on TV has raised the level of violence and aggression in our society - and
while research on computer games has begun only recently, what there is suggests violent games have an
even stronger effect."Video games are more worrisome than TV because they are interactive," says Murray.
Children learn best by demonstration and then imitation, with rewards for getting things right. That's
exactly what video games do," he says.
Not everyone is affected, and we are not all affected in same way, but overall, media violence does affect
viewers' attitudes, values and behaviour, Murray says. Hundreds of studies demonstrate this, so why the
doubt?
One reason is that media reports tend to give equal prominence to the naysayers. The debate also has its
hired guns, with industry organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America sponsoring
prominent books arguing against any links. And whatever their motives, it is easy for critics to highlight the
limitations of the science. The ideal experiment would be to divide a large number of children into groups,
expose the different groups to different types or varying amounts of TV or computer games for several years
while keeping all other experiences identical, and then to follow their progress for life. This will never be
possible or ethical. Instead, researchers have to rely on long-term surveys that don't prove causality, and lab
experiments that do not demonstrate long-term effects. Nevertheless, the results from all these different
types of studies add up to a compelling case.

Questions 14 - 19
Which paragraph contains the following information?
14 proof that playing media games has beneficial effects

15 four worrying problems caused as a result of over-exposure to one form of media
16 the perfect research design
17 a summary of the pros and cons of new media
18 an immoral suggestion
19 a point that researchers agree on
Questions 20 - 26
Match each name to the sentences below.
John Murray
Jeffrey Johnson
C
Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier
Steven Johnson
Dimitri Christakis
Jonathan Roberts
Martin Westwell
20 believes children learn by watching and copying

21 believes that media games require more planning and skills than previously
22 discovered that women could benefit from video games
23 found a link weight problems and TV viewing
24 believes there is a strong link between violent games and violent behaviour
25 explains briefly how our minds shape our personality
26 demonstrated that frequent gamers can absorb more information

SECTION 3
Questions 27 40
Toy stories for grown-ups

THE increasingly stunning animation emerging from the United States (in films like A Bugs Life and Toy
Story 2) is, quite literally, childs play alongside the full-length animated films that have been pouring out of
Japan since the early 1980s. Nothing could be farther from the comforting world of Bambi, where formulaic
characters and storylines are never allowed to frighten or offend, than Japans edgy, provocative,
documentary-like anime. One is eye-candy for kids; the other a demanding rollercoaster of a ride for
people of all ages willing to explore the outer limits of their fears and longings.
Until recently, anime (a Japanese abbreviation of the borrowed English word) had little more than a cult
following outside Japan. However, animation epics such as Hayao Miyazakis Nausicaa of the Valley of the
Winds (1984), Gisaburo Sugiis Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985), and Katsuhiro Otomos Akira
(1988) have been an inspiration for a younger generation of film makers in the West. Luc Besson, the
influential French director of The Big Blue, ranks Mr Otomos nervy Akira alongside the very best
live-action films from the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
Recently, a wider audience has begun to appreciate the efforts of such groups as Studio Ghibli, Production
I.G. and others within Tokyos talented anime community. Much of the credit goes to Disneys art-film unit,
Miramax, for translating Mr Miyazakis Princess Mononoke and releasing it in a selected number of
theatres in America last November. The filmwhich pits a medieval people with their greed and
thoughtlessness against the forces of nature in an epic confrontation that leaves both sides in ruinis the
biggest domestic box-office success of all time in Japan.
In America, Princess Mononoke opened to rave reviews but less-than-spectacular receipts. Families,
expecting typical Disney fare, may well have been shocked by the films mature themes. Of all Mr Miyazakis
work, this is his darkest and most disturbing film, with a generous share of brutality, death and even
sexuality, as well as a conclusion that seemingly resolves nothing. Disney has, to its credit, followed up with
another of Mr Miyazakis masterpieces. His animated classic, Laputa, Castle in the Sky (1986), which is
loosely based on a passage from Gullivers Travels, is expected to go on limited release this spring, though
probably not at its original three-hour length.
Half a century ago, it was the rich imagery and psychological insights of Japans live-action cinema that
astonished and captivated the West. Films such as Mr Kurosawas Rashomon (1951) and Seven Samurai
(1954), and Yasujiro Ozus Tokyo Story (1953) set new standards for film makers everywhere. For the past
couple of decades, however, Japans mainstream cinema has been in decline, at the same time as the
countrys avant-garde animators have been reaching new artistic heights. It appears that anime is taking
centre stage in the Japanese film industry, pushing live-action movies to the wings, says the author Kenji
Sato.
Why should this be so? Cost is certainly part of the answer. Hollywood has raised the ante in live action to a
point where no one else can match the sums that go into making films like Titanic. Though not cheap,
animation offers a way of making stylish films without spending anything like as much.
Another factor is the help that anime has had from its close cousin, manga, the Japanese comic books that
have become pervasive since the 1970s. A number of successful full-length animations, including Mr

Miyazakis Nausicaa, have been based on popular manga stories, and many of todays animators honed
their skills in publishing.
But is this enough to account for the Japanese partiality for animation over live action? Why should they feel
more comfortable with a reality that is decidedly two-dimensional? Could it beas Mr Sato wrote in a
Japanese magazine, Echo, shortly after Princess Mononoke was releasedthat the Japanese moviegoers
flight to anime is part of the ethnic abstinence that has suffused Japanese society, particularly since the end
of the second world war?
Bent on achieving the twin goals of modernisation and westernisation, Mr Sato claims that the Japanese
have rejected their own history and traditions and sought to become Nihonjin-banare (de-Japanised)a
generally complimentary term implying that one looks and acts more like a westerner than the average. As
Mr Sato points out, an enduring feature of anime as well as manga is the way that the characters, the females
especially, are drawn with a blend of Japanese and Caucasian features. In short, says Mr Sato, the
characters of anime show the Japanese as they would like to see themselves.
This may be going too far. What is for sure, however, is that in their haste to catch up with and overtake the
West, the Japanese have allowed their delicate framework for dramatic expression to disintegrate. Most
people in Japan today find it perfectly normal for western actors to express emotions in a direct and forceful
way. But if Japanese actors do the same, the result comes across as corny. Ironically, for many Japanese the
thin, insubstantial reality of animated film may well appear more alivemore animated, literallythan the
flesh-and-blood reality of their own live-action films.

Questions 27 - 32
Write Yes, No or Not Given.
27 Luc Besson was inspired by some of Mr Otomo's work.

28 "Princess Mononoke" was a huge hit in America after it had been translated.
29 Kenji Sato believes that Japanese animation films can never replace live-action movies.
30 The main reason Japanese animation has grown is because production costs are much lower.
31 Kenji Sato thinks that the popularity of anime in Japan is connected to a self-denial which exists in
Japanese culture.
32 The term 'de-Japanised' is not considered derogatory in Japanese society.
Questions 33 - 40
Complete the summary with words from the box below.
The manga comic books have of course had an influence on anime. In fact, some 33.............. artists perfected
their trade in the comic book industry. However we probably have to look further than this to understand
the 34 .............. the Japanese seem to have for animation. Mr Sato believes that the anime 35 .............. , which
are usually a 36 .............. between Caucasians and Japanese, help the Japanese to 37.............. themselves in the
way they 38 .............. . 39 .............. , live action films may seem less 40 .............. than anime.
actually, films, paradoxically, believe, cartoons, animate, characters, animation, combination,
preference, understand, visualise, prefer, imagine, animate, understandably, cross, exciting

Answers

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
False
False
True
False
True
offerings
conservatism
challenge
raise
Creative
genre
niche
guaranteed
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
C
D
H
A
H
B
A
D
F
B
A
G
C
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Not Given
No
Not Given
No
Yes
Yes
animation
preference
characters
cross
visualise
prefer
Paradoxically
animate


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1 Joe Swanberg makes romantic films for the cinema.

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14 proof that playing media games has beneficial effects

Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier

20 believes children learn by watching and copying

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Toy stories for grown-ups

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27 Luc Besson was inspired by some of Mr Otomo's work.

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