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BEST IELTS General Reading Test 484
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 484 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 484
READING PASSAGE – 3
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris (meaning “Our Lady of Paris”), denoted to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral is one of the best examples of French Gothic architecture. Its revolutionary use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its huge and rose windows, as well as the naturalism and richness of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the previous Romanesque style. Main components that make Notre Dame stand out comprise one of the world’s chief organs and its enormous church bells.
The cathedral’s construction commenced in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely complete by 1260, though it was altered often in the subsequent centuries. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered violation during the French Revolution; much of its religious imagery was demolished. In the 19th century, the church was the location of the crowning of Napoleon I and the funerals of many Presidents of the French Republic.
IELTS General Reading Test
Popular interest in the cathedral bloomed soon after the publication, in 1831, of Victor Hugo’s narrative, Notre-Dame de Paris (better known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). This directed to a major refurbishment project between 1844 and 1864, managed by Eugène Viollet- le-Duc. The Allied liberation of Paris in 1944 was celebrated within Notre-Dame with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the cathedral’s facade was cleaned of centuries of dust and dirt. Another cleaning and restoration project were supported out between 1991 and 2000.
The cathedral is one of the most extensively familiar symbols of the city of Paris and the French nation. As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame covers the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris (Michel Aupetit). In 1805, Notre-Dame was given the symbolic status of a minor basilica. Approximately 12 million people visit Notre-Dame annually, making it the most visited monument in Paris. The cathedral was famous for its Lent sermons, founded by the Dominican Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire in the 1830s. In recent years, an increasing number have been given by foremost public figures and state-employed academics.
IELTS General Reading Test
The cathedral has been increasingly exposed of its original decoration and works of art. Several noteworthy examples of Gothic, Baroque, and 19th-century sculptures and a group of 17ths- and early 18th-century altarpieces endure in the cathedral’s collection. Some of the most important relics in Christendom, counting the Crown of Thorns, a sliver of the true cross and a nail from the true cross, are conserved at Notre-Dame.
While enduring renovation and restoration, the roof of Notre-Dame caught fire on the evening of 15 April 2019. Burning for around 15 hours, the cathedral continued serious damage, including the devastation of the fleche. Following the fire, many proposals were made for renovating the cathedral’s design. Though, on 16 July 2019, the French Parliament passed a law demanding that it will be reconstructed exactly as it seemed before the fire. Stabilising the structure against probable collapse is expected to endure until the end of 2020, with reconstruction start in 2021. The government of France hopes the reconstruction can be accomplished by Spring 2024, in time for the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
IELTS General Reading Test
It is supposed that before the arrival of Christianity in France, a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter stood on the site of Notre-Dame. Evidence for this is the Pillar of the Boatmen, discovered in 1710. This building was substituted with an Early Christian Basilica. It is doubtful whether this church, dedicated to Saint Stephen, was constructed in the late 4th century, and remodelled later, or if it was built in the 7th century from an older church, possibly the cathedral of Child Ebert I.
The basilica, later Cathedral of Saint-Étienne was located about 40 metres west of Notre-Dame’s location and was broader and lower and coarsely half its size. For its time, it was very large 70 metres long and parted into four aisles by marble columns, then decorated with mosaics.
Four churches prospered the Roman temple before Notre-Dame. The primary was the 4th century basilica of Saint-Étienne, then the Merovingian renovation of that church which was in turn remodelled in 857 under the Carolingians into a cathedral. The last church before the cathedral of Notre-Dame was a Romanesque remodelling of the previous structures that, though enlarged and remodelled, was found to be incompetent for the growing population of Paris. A baptistery, the Church of John the Baptist, built before 452, was positioned on the north side of the church of Saint-Étienne until the work of Jacques-Germain Soufflot in the 18th century.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 27-33
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE – If the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE – If the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN – If there is no information on this.
IELTS General Reading Test
27. Notre-Dame de Paris is an ideal illustration of Roman architecture.
28. The windows of Notre-Dame de Paris are finished in rose colour.
29. Notre-Dame de Paris was erected to entice vacationers from overseas.
30. The creation of the Cathedral was accomplished in 1160.
31. Throughout the French Revolution, a trivial portion of the cathedral’s spiritual descriptions was wrecked.
32. The completion of rebuilding of the church is anticipated by 2024.
33. Notre-Dame de Paris is good enough to cater for the swelling populace of Paris.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 34-40
Write no more than THREE WORDS and/or numbers for each answer.
34. In 1800s, the cathedral was the spot of the coronation of ……………………….
35. Cathedral became eminent when ………………………. wrote the novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
36. Eras of soot from the ………………………. of Cathedral was washed in a restoration drive.
37. During ………………………. the top of Notre-Dame was burnt.
38. Cathedral of Saint-Étienne was ………………………. the size of Notre-Dame.
39. Notre-Dame is segregated into ………………………. by marble columns.
40. Four cathedrals succeeded the ………………………. before Notre-Dame.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
27. FALSE
28. NOT GIVEN
29. NOT GIVEN
30. FALSE
31. FALSE
32. TRUE
33. FALSE
34. NAPOLEON I
35. VICTOR HUGO
36. FACADE
37. RENOVATION AND RESTORATION
38. HALF
39. FOUR AISLES
40. ROMAN TEMPLE
IELTS General Reading Test