Below you will find the answers to the reading lesson about Carnivorous Plants which focused on matching paragraph information questions.

If you have not completed this lesson, please do so before you look at the answers. To complete the lesson, click here: Reading Practice Lesson.

Answers

1. D
   1. Question Statement: The plant preys on animals that live in water.
   2. Passage: “the waterwheel plant, is a fascinating rootless, carnivorous, aquatic plant. It generally feeds on small aquatic vertebrates,”.
2. C
   1. Question Statement: The plant is able to tell the difference between prey and inedible items.
   2. Passage: “The plant is so advanced that it can tell the difference between live stimulus and non-living stimulus.”
   3. Remember, this isn’t about only matching word for word. This is about matching meaning. This whole passage is about how plants trap their prey (food). This means that “non-living stimulus” refers to something inedible.
3. B
   1. Question Statement: Prey is known to die through submersion in liquid.
   2. Passage: “The trap contains fluid, produced by the plant, which is used to drown and digest the insects.”
4. A
   1. Question Statement: Prey is drawn to the plant by its appearance.
   2. Passage: “Insects are attracted by colour, smell and a nectar-like secretion”
5. D
   1. Question Statement: The plant is known for its speed in trapping prey.
   2. Passage: “The trap closes in only 10 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest examples of plant movement in the animal kingdom.”
6. A
   1. Question Statement: The soporific effect of the nectar can cause prey to tumble into the plant’s trap.
   2. Passage: Slippery footings, aided in at least one species, by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside where they die and are digested.
7. B
   1. Question Statement: The plant is capable of trapping creatures large than an average insect.
   2. Passage: “….some larger species, such as Nepenthes Rafflesiana and Nepenthes Rajah, have been documented to catch small mammals like rats.”

More Reading Practice Lessons

For tips and more reading lessons, click here: IELTS Reading Tips & Lessons

I hope you found this lesson useful.

All the best, Liz 🙂

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Below are the answers and explanation for the lesson about using the article “the” when referring to countries and nationalities.

If you have not completed the test already, please do so now. To complete the test, click here: Articles & Countries Grammar Test

Country Names and THE

Almost all country names do not require the article “the”. We refer to France, England, Britain, Vietnam, Canada, China, India – all without “the”.

However, there are exceptions. Countries that are made up of a group of states or islands use “the”, such as the Philippines and the US. Any country that uses the words “states” or “united” or “republic” also use “the”, for example the UK, the US, the Republic of China.

Please note, the word “Britain” is not a synonym for England. Britain means the UK. Britain refers to the group of countries that make up the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The word “Britain” actually means “Great Britain”.

Nationalities

We need to use the article “the” when referring to nationalities as a group of people: the British, the Americans, the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the English.

Do not confuse the rule of nationalities, above, with a different rule about using similar words as part of a noun phrase where it does not form the main noun. For example, the words “a British car” is a noun phrase and in that noun phrase the word “car” is the main noun, not the word “British”. So, the rule about using “the” with nationalities is only when referring to a group of people under the umbrella of their nationality – not when using the nationality as an adjective to another noun. One more example: “the hard-working British” is a noun phrase referring to the whole group of British people as a nationality and requires “the”. But we could say “a hard-working British man” – in this noun phrase, the word “man” is the main noun and can use any article depending on how the noun is used. To learn more about this, refer to two chapters in my Grammar E-book: the chapter on Articles and the chapter on Noun Phrases. Also note that when referring to “Americans”, it is possible to drop the article “Americans are friendly” and it is also possible to use “the” – “The Americans are friendly”.

I hope you found this useful. Rules about articles (a / an / the) can feel confusing. But you can learn them all simply and easily in my new Grammar E-book 🙂

Answers for the Grammar Test:

Number 3 “the America” is wrong. Number 4 “the Britain” is wrong. Number 8 “the England” is wrong.

Correct: the British, the UK, the English, the US, the Americans. Note it is also possible to say “Americans” without an article as noted on the page above.

Grammar E-book

My Grammar E-book is now available in my online store. There is a comprehensive chapter on Articles as well as over 200 pages of other grammar to push your English to a higher level. You will find content and details of the e-book given in my store. See below:

CLICK HERE: VISIT STORE

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Many people make mistakes using “the” when referring to countries. For example, we say “the Philippines” but we also say “France” without “the”. This can be confusing for many people. In IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic test it is common to have a chart that represented different countries. Use the correct articles (a,the, zero article) is essential.

Grammar Test: Using “the” for Countries

Below is a short test to see if you can use the defined article “the” correctly in relation to countries and nationalities.

Question: Which of the following are wrong?

1. the British
2. the UK
3. the America
4. the Britain
5. the English
6. the US
7. the Americans
8. the England

Answers

You can find the answers by clicking below:

CLICK HERE: ANSWERS TO THIS TEST

All the best,

Liz

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Dear Friends,

Below are some details of my new Grammar E-book.

Aims of the Grammar E-book:

1. English Language Development – to take your English to a higher level by learning complex grammar in easy steps.
   • This e-book covers complex sentences, sentence structures, noun clauses, noun phrases, articles, prepositions, word order, passive voice, tenses, conditionals, intensifiers – in total about 30 chapters to help you develop range and accuracy.
2. Writing Task 2 – tips and specific focus pages to help you increase your score through grammar. This includes tips about grammar band scores, paragraphing and even paraphrasing tips.

There are over 300 pages of grammar tips, lessons, explanations and illustrations of complex grammar which also include a Workbook of exercises. This e-book is a great way to improve your English grammar and push your level up by learning complex grammar features. 

Do you want to know what is in this e-book?

Click below for a preview of the chapters and some extra details:

• Click here: PREVIEW FOR GRAMMAR E-BOOK

Would you like to get this e-book?

• CLICK HERE: Visit IELTS Liz Store

Payment

My online store accepts all major cards from almost all countries around the world and paypal as well.

All the best, 

Liz

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Below you will find some predicted IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions for the topic of Health & Coronavirus. As you know, IELTS like to use current world issues for their topics and this will no doubt appear at some time in one form or another.

Questions will probably be phrased carefully to avoid you having to talk about deeply emotional or disturbing aspects of the virus. They will also avoid political questions.

IELTS Speaking Part 3: Health & Coronavirus

Predicted questions for this new topic. I do not usually predict topics or questions because I feel it is not required due to the large number of known recycled topics. However, I do think now is the time to predict this topic and help you prepare.

1. Do you think health is important? Why?
2. What types of activities do you think help people stay healthy?
3. What is the difference between physical health and mental health?
4. What difficulties did some people face with social distancing and lockdown at the time of the Coronavirus outbreak?
5. What did some people do to stay positive at that time?
6. What useful technology helped us combat the Coronavirus?
7. During the Coronavirus crisis, some people did courageous deeds. Can you give an example of one from your country?
8. What do you think could have been done better to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak?

Model Answers: Health & Coronavirus Topic

Below you will find a link to model answers with list of useful vocabulary and an audio to help you with word pronunciation.

CLICK HERE: MODEL ANSWERS

All the best

Liz

Useful Coronavirus Vocabulary

CLICK HERE: CORONAVIRUS VOCABULARY

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Below are the questions and answers to the lesson I posted yesterday which focused on Articles (a /the) in English grammar.

Did you feel it was a difficult lesson? This might be because you need to learn more rules about using a and the. You also need to learn about using no article.

The other problem is that there are irregular nouns that never use articles when used in a particular way, such as prison, hospital etc. I’ve explained below. However, you should consider getting my New Grammar E-book which lists the rules very clearly. The e-book is written for you to learn on your own at home.

Model Essay: Click here to see a full model essay for this topic: Crime & Punishment Model Essay

Questions & Answers

• The reason for most first-time offenders committing crimes again, once they have been released from prison / the prison, is due to lack of / the lack of rehabilitation.
  • Answers: prison the lack of
  • Correct Sentence: The reason for most first-time offenders committing crimes again, once they have been released from prison, is due to the lack of rehabilitation.
  • Tips:
  • a) usually a singular countable noun would require an article (a / the). However, there are exceptions to this rule. Words such as “prison, hospital, school etc” are referring to a function. Such nouns never use an article (no “a / the”) when used in this way.
  • Example: He went to hospital.
  • In the above sentence, we are not referring to one particular hospital (a hospital or the hospital), we are referring to hospital as a function.
  • Here is a typical dialogue:
  • i) “My wife went into hospital last night.”
  • ii) “Really? Was she very seriously ill?”
  • i) “No, not very. But we didn’t want to take a chance.”
  • ii) “Which hospital did she go to?”
  • i) “Oh, you know, the hospital on the corner of Dower Street.”
  • In the dialogue above, you can see the first use of hospital is general and not specific. The second use of hospital is specific.
  • As I said, these words “hospital, prison etc” are irregular.
  • My new Grammar E-book gives you lists of irregular words and use of articles like this.
  • b) “lack” in this sentence is a noun. As explained above, nearly all singular countable nouns will require an article. We use “the lack of ” because we are referring to a specific lack. When we refer to something specific we use “the”. This is a common error with this noun.
  • “lack” is also a verb: “The NHS are currently lacking sufficient PPE in the UK.”

• Repeat offending is also owing to the difficulty that people / the people with a criminal record have of finding employment / the employment.
  • Answers: people / employment
  • Correct Sentence: Repeat offending is also owing to the difficulty that people with a criminal record have of finding employment.
  • Tips:
  • a) we only use “the” (as explained above) when we refer to something or someone specific. In this case, it is not a specific group of people. It is people in general. 
  • When we have a plural noun that is speaking in general, we do not use an article at all. 
  • Example: Cars are the most common form of transport.
  • In the above sentence, the word “cars” is plural and also non-specific (general). We are not talking about a particular group of cars, we are talking about cars in general. When we speak in general with a plural noun, we do not use an article.
  • b) employment is an uncountable noun and in this sentence, we are referring to employment in general (it is not specific). This means it does not require an article at all.

• Ensuring that people serving prison sentence / a prison sentence learn useful skills will help them find jobs / the jobs when they are released.
  • Answers: a prison sentence     jobs
  • Correct Sentence: Ensuring that people serving a prison sentence learn useful skills will help them find jobs when they are released.
  • Tips:
  • a) In this sentence, although we are referring to people, each person only serves one prison sentence at one time. This means we talking about people serving “a sentence”. It means one sentence that is not specific and this means we use “a”.
  • b) jobs is a plural noun referring to all jobs in general. This means we do not use an article at all. In this sentence, it would also be possible to have “a job”. This means a non-specific job – any job.

• When offenders are released from prison / the prison and can find employment / the employment, it helps them reintegrate back into society / the society.
  • Answer:  prison     employment    society
  • Correct Sentence: When offenders are released from prison and can find employment, it helps them reintegrate back into society.
  • Tips:
  • a & b) see above.
  • c) the word “society” is another irregular noun. When we write about society in general rather than one specific society, particular society, we never use an article. “Society should take care of the vulnerable.” In this case, we are referring to society as a whole – in general. Or you could also say “A society that does not take care of its vulnerable people is a bad society.” – we are referring to one society which is non-specific.

• Harsh prison sentences deter people / the people from considering crime / the crime.
  • Answers:    people     crime
  • Correct Sentence: Harsh prison sentences deter people from considering crime.
  • Tips
  • a) explained above.
  • b) the word “crime” is another irregular noun. Normally a singular countable noun would require an article. However, “crime” is irregular and does not require one when we are referring to crime in general rather than a specific crime.

I know this was difficult, but I hope you also found it a useful lesson. If you have problems in this area, now is the time to fixed those problems.

All the best

Liz

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