Academic/General Training Module by Adam Smith First Published in 2015

 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
38 
Exercise 25: Read the following paragraph about the ozone layer and answer the 
questions. 
The ozone layer is a layer of the upper atmosphere about 20 to 25 km above the 
earth’s surface. It is so named because the unstable form of oxygen called ozone 
is concentrated in this layer. The ozone layer strongly absorbs ultraviolet 
radiation from the sun. if this radiation reached the earth’s surface at 
unprotected levels, it would be deleterious to all forms of life. For example, it 
would raise the incidence of human skin cancers and cataracts, as well as 
reducing food production in general. 
 
Questions: 
1.
Ozone is a form oxygen.
True False Not Given
2.
This paragraph presents … 
A
a general description of the ozone layer. 
B
an account of a recent problem involving the ozone layer. 
C
a recommendation of how to solve the ozone problem. 
D
a classification of the different types of oxygen. 
3.
What do the following words mean? 
A
deleterious 
……………………….. 
B
incidence 
………………………….. 
 
 
 

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 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
39 
Understanding what writers are doing 
If you are able to see what the writers are doing, it will be much easier to understand 
what they are saying. Learning this technique will help you with almost all question 
types of the reading module. Broadly speaking, writers do the following: 
1
Writers describe. They present information. They describe processes. They 
describe what happened. They define and label things. They classify things into 
different types. This kind of writing is called ‘descriptive writing’. A user manual 
for a microwave oven, a library catalogue, a news article about a car accident, a 
children’s story and a laboratory report are all examples of descriptive texts.