TERTLARY COMPARISON GUIDE
After purchasing a house and a cat, the next major life
expenditure is almost certainly the cost
of tertiary education. The question is: are prospective university
students getting value for money?
Paying up to $25,000 for a university education, they need reliable
information in order to
compare institutions and courses.
There are now two official guides comparing universities, but
not courses. As a result, academic
controversy has arisen over their adequacy, and because of concerns
about comparability and
accuracy of data. When comparing universities, one should be aware
of what exactly is being
measured, and whether the information is useful. Professor Brian
Smith, Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Western Sydney, says: " There is as much
variation within one university as between
universities: no university has all the best activities, and no
university is without its strengths."
It makes little sense for prospective students to choose to go
to a university simply because it
has an excellent reputation. It is wiser to look first at the
overall characteristics and reputation of a
university, and then at the faculty or discipline desired. To do
this one must have access to quality
data for each discipline.
Let us look at three ways we can now rank university. A
government-appointed Quality Review
Committee made the first ranking of university in 1993. It divided
the 35 university in Australia
into six quality bands based mainly on research and teaching
outcomes. In the top hand, only two
universities were represented one from NSW (the University of NSW)
and the other from the
ACT (the Australian National University).
Sydney and Wollongong universities were both in the second
ranking. Wollongong was the only
newer university to make such a high grade. Macquarie and the
University of Technology, Sydney,
were in band four: Charles Sturt, Canberra, New England, and
Newcastle were in band five. In
band six were the Australian Catholic University and the University
of Western Sydney.
This ranking has drawn much criticism, since it was based on
what universities spent on
research, and not on the quality of teaching. However, it should be
stated that this was the first
year of a continuing quality review. Next, the Quality Review
Committee will assess the teaching
record of universities.
The Department of Education Employment and Training (DEET) has
published 50 indicators of
diversity and performance of Australian universities. This lists
comparative data on everything
from academic staff ratio and percentage of staff with PhDs, to
expenditure on library grants. The
document says it does not rank universities, and is designed to
assist students to make informed
comparisons. But the universities can be ranked be each measure
using a key indicator of success
- positive graduate outcomes - which combines the percentage of
recent graduates in full-time
work and/or full-time study.
Here, the University of Technology, Sydney, emerges as the
leader in NSW, with 83.2% of its
graduates in work and/or study, just behind the ANU with 83.5%,
Sydney has 79.8%, Charles
Sturt 75.5%, Wollongong 74.1%, Macquarie 73.2%,UNSW 73.1%, Newcastle
72.5%, New
England/Southern Cross 72%, and Western Sydney 69.7%.
Professor Gannicort, Professor of Education at wollongong
University, has developed his own
"performance table", ranking Australian universities using
some of the DEET data -including the
number of government research grants and grants from industry, as
well as the number of recent
graduates in full-time work or study. This time the University of
Queensland tops the league.
Sydney is third, UNSW fifth, ANU sixth, Macquarie 10th, Newcastle
well down in the rankings.
He says this shows that the key factors which determine better
university performance are what
has always been supposed: that is, high quality students, numerous
well-qualified staff, and
non-proliferation of courses.
Interestingly, Ms. Barbara Bell, National Recruitment Manager
for the Institute of Chartered
Accountants, claims employers are not so much interested in the
university as in the skills and
all-round quality of graduates. Those graduates who lack
communication skills, for example, are
at a big disadvantage. Ms. Bell quotes a recent survey that found a
quarter of employers of
graduates chose not to rank universities "because they said
there was no correlation between the
university and performance".
Dr. Michael Dack, Public Affairs Director of the Institution
of Engineers, has commented that
the prestige of a university does not count. The smaller
universities are tailoring courses and
products to marketplace better than the large universities. They are
acceptable to industry-linked.
He argues strongly the case for more broadly educated graduates. For
example, the trend in
engineering was to produce graduates with a broader education,
communication and financial
skills, and knowledge of the environmental and political context.
Engineers with other skills were
able to weather times of economic recession much better.
Questions 1-8
You are advised to spend about 10 minutes on Questions 1-8.
Refer to Reading Passage 1 headed "TERTLARY COMPARISON
GUIDE", and look at the statements below. Write your answers in
boxes 1-8 on your Answer Sheet.
Write A if the statement is Accurate.
I if the statement is Inaccurate
N if the information is Not Given in the text
The first one has been done for you as an example.
Example: There are now two official university comparison guides
available.
(A) I N
Q1. Prospective students should consider the reputation of the
university before choosing the faculty.
A I N
Q2. The university ranking system by the Quality Review Committee
was well-received by students.
A I N
Q3. The Quality Review Committee's basis for determining the ranking
was the quality of tuition.
A I N
Q4. The Committee will next review the amount universities spend on
research.
A I N
Q5. The DEET study was conducted to assist students to compare
information about universities.
A I N
Q6. More than a third of the universities in the DEET study have 75%
or more of their recent graduates in work and/or study.
A I N
Q7. According to employers, the ranking of universities does not
assist in the determination of performance.
A I N
Questions 9-13
You are advised to spend about 10 minutes on Questions 9-13
Complete the sentences below with words or phrases from
Reading Passage 1 headed "TERTLARY COMPARISON GUIDE".
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your Answer Sheet.
The first one has been done for you as an example.
Note that each answer requires a maximum of three words.
Example: The cost of tertiary education is a major life
expenditure..
Q9. University courses were not compared, which was one reason
why the two official comparison guides caused_____________
Q10. The government-appointed Quality Review Committee ranked
Australia's universities within______________
Q11. In order to rank universities some of the DEET data was used by
Professor Gannicort to produce a_____________
Q12. The ANU scored highest when positive_____________ were used as
the key indicators success.
Q13. Employers are unlikely employ graduates who_____________
Answers
1. A
2. NG
3. I
4. I
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. (academic) controversy
10. six quality bands
11. performance table
12. graduate outcomes
13. lack communication skills
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Reading Passage 3
THE MELBOURNE OLYMOIAD
History now records that in 1949 Melbourne beat six other
countries, in the closest ballot ever, for
the right to host the 1956 Olympic Games, the first Games ever to be
held in the Southern
Hemisphere. The political significance of Melbourne hosting the
Games in mid-fifties effectively
put Australia on the world economic map.
Australia in the late forties was a very different country to
the Australia of today. A few years
before, the nation had endured the economic rigours of war, and
trade with Europe had been
seriously affected. There was an urgent need to increase the wealth
of the nation by investing in
infrastructure projects such as the dams, bridges, and roadways now
taken for granted. Political
leaders recognized the need for a large intake of migrant workers
from overseas. But, in1949, this
influx of people and other cultures was many years away. Australia
was essentially a monoculture
consisting of with Caucasians who were, for the most part, loyal to
the mother country Great Britain.
By present standards, popular entertainment was severely
limited; television, for example, did not
arrive in Australia until the late fifties. For Melbournians, the
choice of things to do at night on the
weekend was restricted to little more than a visit to the local
cinema, the dance hall, or perhaps a
Chinese meal in one of the few small Chinese restaurants. It was a
land of vast but unrealised
potential. There were no wars: the economy, though stable, was
essentially stagnant, Melbourne
was staid, dull, and in the doldrums. The former Lord Mayor of
Melbourne (1945-1948), Sir
Raymond Connelly, was quoted as saying, " The City of Melbourne
was losing its civic pride for
want of life-giving inspiration." With another former Lord
Mayer of Melbourne, Sir Frank
Beaurepaire, he worked ceaselessly to secure the Games, believing
fervently that the Games world
provide this inspiration. Their efforts were entirely self-funded.
Australia had several points in its favour. The Games had
never been held in the Southern
Hemisphere. Also, Australia was one of only four nations that had
competed in every Games since
1894, and with improvements in modern aviation, Australia had become
less isolated.
Melbourne's major competitors were Detroit, Los Angeles, and Buenos
Aires. There was,
however, " overwhelming sentiment" for the two small
nations of the Southern Hemisphere,
Australia and Argentina. Australians felt this victory was a grand
opportunity to show Britain that
they were capable of conducing the world's greatest sporting event
without its help.
Yet such was the pro-British sentiment of the day that
Australia still wanted Britain's King George
VI to open the Games. Australians were still proudly attached to the
British Empire. They
celebrated Empire Day; they sand " God Save the King " at
official events, and followed British
traditions in government, education, and the professions. This
unquestioning loyalty is difficult for
many to appreciate today. Many old and new Australians are now
clamouring for Australia to cut
free from British ties and become a republic. There is everywhere a
clearer sense of national
identity, of self-reliance.
The Australian mentality has changed, too. Forty-four years
ago, official matters were "done by
the book", and there was little flexibility. In 1956 the
Olympic equestrian events were held in
Sweden because of strict quarantine requirements. These regulations
will be relaxed for the 2000
Games. Instead of a six-month period, horses will be quarantined for
only two weeks. The position
taken by the Olympic movement itself on a number of issues had
changed dramatically in recent
years. In the past, if it could be proved that athletes or officials
had benefited financially at some
time from a sport, they were almost certain to be banned from the
Olympic movement. These days
both amateur and professional sportspersons can partake in the
Games.
The Olympics woke the entire nation up. Before 1956, there was
virtually no tourism to speak of
in Australia. The Olympics ended Australia's isolation and boosted
the Australian economy.
Australian-made products gained world-wide exposure almost
overnight. In the world of the arts,
too, international audiences reacted favourably to offerings of
everything from opera to sculpture.
And, of course, Australian sporting prowess became legendary. There
was no doubt that far-flung
Australia had become one of the great sporting nations of the world,
finishing an astonishing third
in the final medal tally.
The competition for Sydney in September 1993 for the right to
host the 2000 Olympics was just as
formidable as it was for Melbourne 44 years ago. This time there
were five rivals. Sydney's most
feared opponents was Beijing, with many believing the political
aspects involved, at a time when
China was emerging as a world economic power, would spell defeat for
the rest. In addition, the
lobbying process is far more sophisticated than it used to be. Vast
sums of money are required to
be spent to provide evidence to the I.O.C. (International Olympic
Committee) that the Games will
succeed in the city vying for host status. As the Games will be held
in the all-important year of
2000. Sydney as the choice of venue is expected to carry even
greater political weight than before.
Sydney in 1993 bore little resemblance to Melbourne in 1949. Sydney
was and is widely
acknowledged as one of the great cities of the world - an exciting,
unpredictable and challenging
place to visit. The two cities' methods of snaring the Games were
equally different. While the
Melbourne bid rested largely on the shoulders of two men, the Sydney
bid was borne by a full
committee of 45 persons. Melbourne's bid was largely financed by the
pair of Lord Mayors.
Sydney's bid had a budget of $24 million, and this did not include
over $300 million set aside for
various facilities. It remains to be seen, though, whether the
Sydney Olympic Games will prove as
important to the nation as the Melbourne Games of 1956.
Questions 37-42
You are advised to spend about 8 minutes on Questions 37-42.
Refer to Reading Passage 3 title "The Melbourne Olympiad",
and complete the sentences below
from the choices available (A-G). Write the appropriate letters in
boxes 37-42 on your Answer
Sheet. The first one has been done for you as an example.
Example: The Olympiad of 1956 …
Answer
D
Q37 The Melbourne Olympics were important to Australia …
Q38 After the war, large-scale building works were required …
Q39 Australian culture in the late 1940s …
Q40 The overwhelming loyalty shown to Britain in the past …
Q41 In 1956 Olympic sporting events on horseback …
Q42 The process of influencing the I.O.C …
_____________________________________________________________________
A. …was essentially that white Australians fiercely loyal to
Britain.
B. …is much more complex nowadays.
C. …because the rest of the world finally realized the nation's
economic importance.
D. …was the first ever held in the Southern Hemisphere.
E. …but little thought is given now as to how and why they were
conceived.
F. …is hard to comprehend in today's more independent nation
G. …could not be held in Australia due to quarantine restrictions.
ANSWERS
37-42: CEAFGB
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You are advised to spend 20 minutes on Question 1-14. First, read
the text below and answer Questions 1-8
YOUR MOULEX IRON
A Filling the reservoir
Your iron is designed to function using tap water.
However, it will last longer if you use distilled water.
- Always unplug the iron before filling the reservoir.
- Always empty the reservoir after use.
B Temperature and steam control
Your Moulex iron had two buttons which control the intensity of heat
produced by the iron. You can, therefore, adjust the temperature of
the iron and the amount of steam being given off depending upon the
type of fabric being ironed.
- Turn the steam control to be desired intensity.
- Turn the thermostat control to be desired temperature.
Important: if your iron produces droplets of water instead of giving
off steam, your temperature control is set too low.
C Spray button
This button activates a jet of cold water which allows you to iron
out any unintentional creases.
Press the button for one second.
D Pressing button
This button activates a super shot of steam which momentarily gives
you an additional 40g of steam, when needed.
Important: Do not use this more than five successive times.
E Suits etc.
It is possible to use this iron in a vertical position so that you
can remove creases from clothes on coathangers or from curtains.
Turning the thermostat control and the steam button to maximum, hold
the iron in a vertical position close to the fabric but without
touching it. Hold down the pressing button for a maximum of one
second. The steam produces is not always visible but is still able
to remove creases.
Important: Hold the iron at a sufficient distance form silk and
wool to avoid all risk of scorching. Do not attempt to remove
creases from an item of clothing that is being worn, always use a
coathanger.
F Auto-clean
In order that your iron does not become furred up. Moulex have
integrated an auto-clean system and we advise you to use it very
regularly (1-2 times per mouth).
- Turn the steam control to the off position.
- Fill the reservoir and turn the thermostat control to maximum.
- As soon as the indicator light goes out, unplug the iron and,
holding it over the sink, turn the steam control to auto-clean. Any
calcium deposits will be washed out by the steam. Continue the
procedure until the reservoir is empty.
Questions 1-4
Match the pictures below to the appropriate section in the
instructions. Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 1-4 on your
answer sheet.
Questions 5-8
Answer the following questions on the Moulex iron using NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS. Write your answers in boxes 5-8 on
your answer sheet.
5. What sort of water are you advised to use?
6. What factor makes you decide on the quantity of steam to use?
7. What should you do if your iron starts to drip water?
8. What could damage your iron if you do nor clean it?
Answers
1-4: DACE
5. distilled (water)
6. the (type of) fabric
7. turn up/increase temperature
8. calcium deposits/furring up
ielts_read_wqq_12_3
Road technology since the Romans
Important principles of road building were known to the Romans.
How has technology developed since then?
1 Between 43 AD and 81 AD Roman Britain acquired a 6000 km network
of technically, hard
wearing and straight highways linking towns of importance. Today
Britain's motorway system is
only half that length. The basic Roman philosophy of building a road
to cope with different types
and volumes of vehicles and using local materials where possible
still applies today.
2 Roman roads were cambered with ditches on either side and built on
embankments to give them
a properly drained base. A surfacing layer of small stones was used
over gravel or larger stones,
although some Roman roads were covered with large paving flags,
which is where the term
'pavement' originates.
3 Once the Romans left Britain, its roads fell into ruin through
lack of maintenance. They became
run down, dusty highways in the summer and quagmires in the winter.
It seems that the next
milestone in the history of roads was not until the 18th and 19th
centuries, with the advent of the
Turnpike Trust. This raised cash for necessary maintenance in local
areas to cope with the
increasing numbers of wheeled vehicles, coaches and carriages
wishing to travel at faster speeds.
4 In 1816 John McAdam observed that it was the native soil that
supported the weight of traffic
which, when dry, would carry any weight without sinking. He advised
that the native soil be made
dry and a covering impenetrable to rain be placed over it. However,
road maintenance was not
given much priority due to the popularity of the railways, until the
motor car superseded the horse
and cart. Cars, however, accentuated the problem of dust, described
by the medical journal 'The
Lancet' in 1907 as 'the greatest modern plague'.
5 Like so many other scientific advances, the solution came by
accident. Tar mixed with stone had
been used in footpaths in certain parts of Britain in 1832, and
tarred gravel was applied to roads in
Nottingham in 1869, but the biggest breakthrough came in 1901. a
surveyor called E. Purnell
Hooley was visiting Derby Iron Works near Derby when he noticed a
dust-free length of road
produces by a burst tar barrel. The resulting pool of tar had been
covered with ironworks slag.
Hooley experimented with blending hot slag and tar as a byproduct
from the coal industry and in
1902 patented the process produced by a company know as Tar Macadam
Syndicate Ltd. The
company's name was later changed to Tarmac.
6 Nowadays, blacktop materials are made up of bitumen from oil which
is blended with rock,
gravel or slag. A number of varieties have evolved for different
uses in road construction,
including hot-rolled asphalt for surfacing major roads, dense
bitumen macadam for lower layers of
a road and open-textured macadam. Modern surfaces are
bituminous-bound, graded stone supplied
as a premix. Binders themselves have undergone technical
developments. They are customised,
ranging from soft to very hard to suit the traffic flow.
7 To accommodate higher traffic levels, either the thickness of the
road must be increased or the
materials improved. Hence the introduction within the last 10 years
of heavy duty macadam in the
road base which is three times as stiff as the dense bitumen and
aggregate mix.
8 Alternatively, the structural design can be changed. For example,
on an experimental
reconstruction section of the M6 at Bescot, West Midlands, the heavy
duty 'upside-down design'
was introduced in the 1980s. Here, rolled asphalt overlays a thinner
than normal road-base
macadam, over a second rolled asphalt layer, all of which lie on a
sub-base which is again thinner
than normal. This structure is thought to perform well due to the
lower rolled asphalt layer being
more resistant to deformation and inhibiting cracking at the bottom
of the road base.
9 Another innovative idea is the use of geotextiles. In research
geotextiles are being places
between the sub-grade soil and a drainage layer beneath the
sub-base. The sub-grade material is
often clay and in the absence of the geotextile could, over time,
clog the sub-base and reduce its
efficiently as a drainage layer. But geotextiles can also have
structural uses, and could provide
improved resistance to cracking and rutting in roads.
2 Which diagram best illustrates Roman roads? Write A, B, C, or D
in the space provided.
Answer: A
ielts_read_wqq_12_4
CLASSIC TOURS -COACH BREAK INFORMATION
Luggage
We ask you to keep luggage down to one medium-sized suitcase per
person, but a small holdall can also be taken on board the coach.
Seat Allocation
Requests for particular seats can be made on most coach breaks when
booking, but since allocations are made on a first come first served
basis, early booking is advisable. When bookings are made with us
you will be offered the best seats that are available on the coach
at that time.
Travel Documents
When you have paid your deposit we will send to you all the
necessary documents and labels, so that you receive them in good
time before the coach break departure date. Certain courier will
then issue them to you at the relevant point.
Special Diets
If you require a special diet you must inform us at the time of
booking with a copy the diet. This will be notified to the hotel or
hotels on your coach break, but on certain coach breaks the hotels
used are tourist class and whilst offering value for money within
the price range, they may not have the full facilities to cope with
special diets. Any extra costs incurred must be paid to the hotel by
yourself before departure from the hotel.
Accommodation
Many of our coach breaks now include, within the price,
accommodation with private facilities, and this will be indicated on
the coach break page. Other coach breaks have a limited number of
rooms with private facilities which, subject to availability, can be
reserved and guaranteed at the time of booking - the supplementary
charge shown in the price panel will be added to your account.
On and coach break there are only a limited number of single rooms.
When a single room is available it may be subject to a supplementary
charge and this will be shown on the brochure page
Entertainment
Some of our hotels arrange additional entertainment which could
include music, dancing, film shows, etc. The nature and frequency of
the entertainment presented is at the discretion of the hotel and
therefore not guaranteed and could be withdrawn if there is a lack
of demand or insufficient numbers in the hotel.
Questions 9-14
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 9-14 on
your answer sheet.
9 If you want to sit at the front of the coach
A. ask when you get on the coach.
B. arrive early on the departure date.
C. book your seat well in advance.
D. avoid traveling at peak times.
10 Your air tickets
A. will be sent to your departure point.
B. must be collected before leaving.
C. will be enclosed with other documents.
D. may be held by your coach driver.
11 If you need a special diet you should
A. inform the hotel when you arrive.
B. pay extra with the booking.
C. tell the coach company.
D. book tourist class.
12 It may be necessary to pay extra for
A. a bathroom.
B. boat tickets.
C. additional luggage.
D. entertainment.
13 Entertainment is available
A. at all hotels.
B. if there is the demand.
C. upon request.
D. for an additional cost.
14 With every booking Classic Tours guarantee you will be able to
A. request high quality meals.
B. take hand luggage on the coach.
C. use your own personal bathroom.
D. see a file if you want to.
Answers:p125
9-14: CDCABB
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