Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 467
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 467 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 467
READING PASSAGE – 2
FOOD CULTURE IN SWITZERLAND
Switzerland’s culinary traditions developed out of necessity. Every single town has their own delicious specialty. Swiss cuisine combines influences from the German, French and North Italian cuisine. However, it varies greatly from region to region with the language divisions constituting a rough boundary outline.
Cheese fondue- The bread cubes are picked up on the fork and swivelled in the melted cheese, which is served in a traditional ceramic fondue pot called ‘caquelon’.
IELTS General Reading Test
Raclette- Melted cheese served with “Gschwellti” (jacket potatoes), cocktail gherkins and onions as well as pickled fruit.
Birchermüesli- Developed around about 1900 by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Oskar Bircher- Brenner, it contains oat flakes, lemon juice, condensed milk, grated apples, hazelnuts or almonds.
Swiss chocolate- Chocolate came to Europe in the course of the 16th century. In the second half of the 19th century Swiss chocolate started to gain a reputation abroad. The invention of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter as well as the development of conching (fondant chocolate) by Rodolphe Lindt was closely connected with the rise of Swiss chocolate’s renown.
IELTS General Reading Test
But Switzerland not only exported chocolate, its chocolatiers went abroad as well and their names remain well-known to this day- the Josty brothers, who opened their famous chocolate shop in Berlin. The Cloetta brothers opened chocolate factories in Scandinavia. Karl Fazer established the first confectionary shop in Helsinki which later developed into the Cloetta-Fazer brand. Even Belgian chocolate has Swiss roots as Jean Neuhaus opened a confectionary shop in Brussels and his son Frédéric in 1912 invented the praline chocolate.
Swiss cheese- One could quite easily explore Switzerland travelling from cheese dairy to cheese dairy. Each area of the country, each region has its own types of cheese. The diversity of products created from one single base ingredient, ‘good Swiss milk’, is quite astonishing! Such as the soft and melting Vacherin cheese; The aromatic Appenzeller; The full-flavoured Sbrinz; The Emmentaler – famous for its big holes; The world-famous Gruyère; the Tete de Moine which is shaved into decorative rosettes.
IELTS General Reading Test
All of these and their 450 other cheese siblings make a fondue, a raclette, a culinary experience. The stalls of farmers and cheese merchants at the weekly markets are a true treasure trove. Many of the cheeses sold there come straight from the Alpine pastures and are cut from the wheel. The many demonstration cheese dairies and Alpine cheese cellars are also well worth a visit.
Questions 14-20
Look at the information given in the above text and the names marked with letters A-G.
Match the description given below appropriately to the names of letters A-G.
Write the appropriate letter from A-G in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
A. Caquelon
B. Frederic
C. The Cloetta brothers
D. Daniel Peter
E. Cheese fondue
F. Appenzeller
G. Emmentaler
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14. Bread cubes with cheese
15. Cheese famous for its big holes
16. Traditional ceramic pot
17. Chocolate factories in Scandinavia
18. Aromatic cheese
19. Inventor of milk chocolate
20. Inventor of praline chocolate
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 21-27.
HOW BIRDS HATCH, NEST AND LOOK AFTER THE YOUNG
All 9000 species of birds have the same approach to motherhood. Every one lays eggs. No bird gives birth to live young. The large size of an egg makes it difficult for the female to retain more than a single one egg at a time – carrying eggs would make flying harder and require more energy. Bird eggs vary in size from the tiny 0.2 grams eggs of hummingbird to the enormous 9 kilogram eggs of the extinct elephant bird.
And because the egg is such a protein-rich high-nutrition prize to all sorts of predators, birds must find a secure place to hatch their eggs. Although birds’ eggs appear to be fragile, they are in fact extremely robust. The oval shape applies the same rules of engineering as an arched bridge and the convex surface can withstand considerable pressure without breaking.
IELTS General Reading Test
Finding a place to safely place and hatch their eggs and raise their young to the point of independence is a challenge birds have solved in many clever ways. They use artistry, intricate design and complex engineering. The diversity of nest architecture has no equal in the animal kingdom. In many species the male bird’s skill at nest building is a sign of his suitability as a mate, so he invests huge effort in the task.
He will continue to build new nests until a female is happy with the construction. Ovenbirds are some of the finest nest building craftsmen. In many species females will carefully peruse the design and quality of the nest the male has build. If she likes it, she will move in. If not, the nest may be discarded or destroyed by the male. Some birds actively cooperate with other species. One ploy is to employ insects as ‘guard dogs’.
IELTS General Reading Test
Birds employ the most astonishing strategies to conceal their young from predators. Many birds build isolated, inconspicuous nests, hidden away inside the vegetation to avoid detection by predators. Birds which never build their own nests lay their eggs in the nest of another species, leaving those parents to care for its young. The cuckoo is the best known brood parasite, an expert in the art of cruel deception. The mother removes one egg laid by the host mother, lays her own and flies off with the host egg in her bill. The whole process takes barely ten seconds.
Questions 21-27
Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the above passage.
21. Name the birds which are known as the finest nest builders?
22. Which is the other species than birds that birds employ as ‘guard dogs’?
23. Name the best known brood parasite in birds?
24. Name the extinct species of birds having the largest egg size?
25. In what time does the Cuckoo executes its cruel deceptiveness?
26. Name the bird which has the egg weight of 0.2 grams?
27. To which shape are certain rules of engineering applicable in case of eggs?
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
15. G
16. A
17. C
18. F
19. D
20. B
21. OVENBIRDS
22. INSECTS
23. CUCKOO
24. ELEPHANT BIRD
25. TEN SECONDS
26. HUMMINGBIRD
27. OVAL