BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 463

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BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 463

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 463 – PASSAGE – 1

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 463

READING PASSAGE – 1

London wins Olympics 2012 event will be secure, pledges capital’s mayor

By Paul Kelso

When he arrived in Singapore to give his speech for London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games last week Sebastian Coe brought with him a secret weapon: 30 children. Where rival bids filled their 100 allotted seats in the Raffles hotel auditorium with suits, London presented the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a grinning multiracial example of the city’s potential.

It was to prove inspired, although Lord Coe and his team had to wait six hours before they knew it. London’s victory was announced only after a presentation ceremony that scaled new heights of kitsch. Two Singaporean sopranos and a tenor subjected the Olympic anthem, a tune whose primary virtue is to be heard only once every four years, to a fearful mauling.

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Eventually the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, recovered his composure and requested the envelope bearing the name of the winning city. It was brought to him on a silk pillow by a 15- year-old sailor cadet in the Singaporean navy. An excruciating preamble ensued, followed by one sweet word: “London”. Coe and Co had secured 54 votes to 50 for the favourite, Paris, in the final run-off.

At the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Tony Blair found the build-up unbearable. He was attempting to calm his nerves with a walk in the hotel grounds when the announcement was made. Downing Street broke the news to him on his mobile. “We have won! We have won!” the official screamed. According to his own account, the prime minister punched the air, did a jig and embraced his startled chief of staff, Jonathan Powell.

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Mr Blair, who had helped to lay the groundwork for victory during three days of intense one-toone lobbying of IOC members, said hard work had paid off: “We had the right message that we wanted, a strong message for the Olympic mood.” Where Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris had sought to reassure and flatter the IOC with presidential promises and high-budget tourism videos, Lord Coe set out a challenge to a movement sometimes more concerned with its internal politics than its mission. “Some might say your decision today is between five similar bids. That would be to undervalue the opportunity before you,” he said. “In the past you have made bold decisions.

This is a decision about which city will help us show a new generation why sport matters. On behalf of the youth of today, the athletes of tomorrow and the Olympians of the future, we humbly submit the bid of London 2012.” London’s mayor Ken Livingstone and the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, insisted that the London 2012 Olympics would be secure despite last week’s terrorist attacks. “We have reassured the IOC that we have the security to handle the games,” said Mr Livingstone, adding that the Metropolitan Police had been involved in the advisory group for the Athens games.

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“The IOC know, through the experience of the 1972 Munich Olympics, that there is nowhere that can ever be completely safe but there is nowhere that will be safer than London,” he said.

Questions 1-3

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading Passage 1.

1. The 30 children were Coe’s ___________.

2. The seats of London’s competitors were filled with ___________.

3. The IOC was shown an example of London’s __________.

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Questions 4-7

Do the following statements agree with the writer’s opinion in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 4-7 on your answer sheet write:

YES – if the statement agrees with the writer’s opinion

NO – if the statement contradicts the writer’s opinion

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information about the writer’s opinion in the Passage.

4. London’s presentation turned out brilliantly.

5. The Olympic anthem was performed well.

6. More members of the IOC should have voted for London in the final vote.

7. Tony Blair over-reacted to the announcement of London’s successful bid.

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Questions 8-14

Choose One Word Only from the text.

According to Mr Blair, London had a persuasive 8__________, which was in keeping with the Olympic mood. While the respective presidents for Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris made 9__________ to the IOC and used expensive videos to make them confident about their bids and also to 10__________ them, Coe aimed to challenge the Committee. The IOC is at times more 11__________ with its own politics rather than with what it is supposed to do. Mr Coe told the Committee that their 12__________ was about which city would help show young people why 13__________ is important. He then presented the 14__________ on behalf of the youth of today, the athletes of tomorrow and the Olympians of the future.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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