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Flawed Beauty Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

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Updated on Jul 15, 2024, 10:29

The IELTS Reading test is designed to evaluate your ability to comprehend and interpret academic texts. It consists of three passages of increasing complexity, covering a wide range of topics. This section requires you to locate specific information, identify main ideas, and understand implied meanings within a strict time frame of 60 minutes.


 

To better prepare for the IELTS Reading section, you can take an IELTS practice test, which provides a realistic experience of the types of texts and questions you will face in the actual exam.


 

The passage titled "Flawed Beauty" explores the concept of perfection and its impact on societal standards. It delves into how perceptions of flawlessness affect individuals and societies, drawing insights from cultural, historical, and psychological perspectives. This thought-provoking text encourages reflection on the nature of beauty and its significance across different cultures.

 

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1. Flawed Beauty Reading Passage

You should spend approximately 20 minutes answering Questions 1 - 13 based on the Reading Passage below. This approach can help manage time effectively during a reading comprehension activity or exam. 

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2. Flawed Beauty Reading Question & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about flawed beauty Reading Answers

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1.

Flawed Beauty Reading Passage

General Information

  • Read Instructions: Understand each question before answering.
  • Manage Time: Spend about 20 minutes per passage.
  • Skim and Scan: Quickly get the main idea and find specific information.
  • Highlight Key Info: Underline essential words or phrases.
  • Answer All Questions: Attempt every question; no penalty for wrong answers.
  • Stay Focused: Avoid distractions and keep your attention on the task.
  • Check Spelling: Ensure correct spelling and grammar.
  • Transfer Answers Clearly: Write answers neatly on the answer sheet.
  • Don’t Dwell: Move on if stuck and return later.
  • Review: If time allows, review your answers.

 

 

 

 

Flawed Beauty Reading Passage

 

Paragraph A

 

A large pane of toughened glass in the roof of a shopping centre at Bishop's Walk in the British town of Cirencester shattered and fell from its frame without warning on a particularly hot day on August 2, 1999.

 

Paragraph B

 

Experts from the global glass manufacturer Pilkington. which produced the shattered pane, analysed the pieces and concluded that tiny crystals of nickel sulphide trapped inside the glass resulted in failure.

 

Paragraph C

 

The glass industry is aware of the problem,' says Brian Waldron, chairman of the Glass and Glazing Federation's standards committee and standards development officer at Pilkington. However, he maintains that cases are few and far between. 'It's a very rare occurrence,' he says.

 

Paragraph D

 

While some may disagree, others may not. According to consultant engineer Barrie Josie, who is part of the Bishops Walk investigation, "on average, I see about one or two buildings a month suffering from nickel sulphide-related failures." Other authorities have made similar accounts. According to Tony Wilmott, one of the London-based consulting engineers Sandberg, and Simon Armstrong, one of the Hampshire-based CladTech Associates, each of them has heard of hundreds of such cases. What you're hearing is just the tip of the iceberg. Queensland. He thinks it's because 'no one wants bad press.'

 

Paragraph E

 

Toughened glass can be found in a wide variety of applications, from automobiles and bus stops to the windows, walls, and roofs of tens of thousands of buildings around the world. Why this would be the case is obvious. This glass is five times as strong as regular glass, and when it does break, the fragments are small and harmless rather than long and sharp. It is highly regarded by architects because large panels can be bolted together to create see-through walls, and it is almost as simple to transform into ceilings and floors.

 

Paragraph F

 

The process involves softening a sheet of regular glass to about 620°C, allowing its structure to expand, and then rapidly cooling the glass with jets of cold air to create the desired shape. This results in the outer layer of the window pane contracting and solidifying before the interior. A tensile force is generated within the glass when the interior solidifies and contracts, pulling on the exterior and permanently compressing it. While cracks spread more easily in materials that are under tension, the compressive force acting on the surface of the glass needs to be overcome before the pane will break.

 

Paragraph G

 

The issue arises when the glass has impurities of nickel sulphide. In addition to the usual presence of sulphur and nickel in the raw materials, nickel can also be introduced into the molten glass if fragments of nickel alloys happen to fall in. These atoms react with one another as the glass is heated, forming minuscule crystals of nickel sulphide. Up to 50,000 crystals can be produced from as little as a tenth of a gramme of nickel in a furnace.

 

Paragraph H

 

The alpha phase, in which the crystals are extremely dense, is stable at high temperatures, while the beta phase, in which the crystals are relatively loosely packed, is stable at room temperature. All the crystals are altered to the compact alpha form by the high temperatures used in the toughening process. However, the crystals are unable to revert to the beta phase because of the rapid cooling that follows. That leaves alpha crystals in the glass in an unstable state, ready to snap back to beta at any moment.

 

Paragraph I

 

This causes the crystals to expand by up to 4%. And if they are in the pane's central, tensile region, the stress that results can shatter the entire sheet. The time elapsed before failure is unpredictable. It could happen months after manufacture or decades later, though if the glass is heated - for example, by sunlight - the process is accelerated. The oldest pane of toughened glass known to have failed due to nickel sulphide inclusions, according to Graham Dodd of consulting engineers Arup in London, was in Pilkington's glass research building in Lathom, Lancashire. The pane had been in use for 27 years.

 

Paragraph J

 

The extent of the nickel sulphide issue data: Try as you might, but you won't be able to locate it. The fact that these crystals form in clusters further complicates the picture. If one pane of glass fails due to nickel sulphide, it's likely that more than one pane is affected, even if the average rate of inclusions is 1 per 7 metric tonnes of glass. According to Josie, he has worked on more than 15 failed buildings in the last decade.

 

Paragraph K

 

Waterfront Place, which was built in 1990, is a particularly bad example of this. The 40-story Brisbane building experienced a series of failures over the subsequent decade. Before professionals were called in, eighty panes of its toughened glass shattered due to inclusions. Each pane of glass in the structure was examined by John Barry, a specialist in nickel sulphide contamination from the University of Queensland. A photographer rode up in a cradle with a studio camera to capture images of each pane. Nickel sulphide crystals were searched for by running them through a customised microfiche reader. "We found at least another 120 panes with potentially dangerous inclusions," says Barry. It took about six months to complete and was very costly and time-consuming.

 

Paragraph L

 

The total cost of the project was A$1.6 million (nearly £700,000), but the cost of recladding the entire building would have been at least ten times that.

 

Read more about 350+ Vocabulary words for IELTS: Difficult & New English Words List For 2024

2.

Flawed Beauty Reading Question & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about flawed beauty

Questions and Answers 1-3
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet, write:

  • TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
  • FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
  • NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

 

  1. The cause of the accident on Bishops Walk was widely accepted as being a careless pedestrian.
  2. Toughened glass can be mistaken for regular glass because of how similar the two look.
  3. Numerous reports detail the frequency of nickel sulphide failure.

 

Flawed Beauty Reading Answers with Explanations (1-3)

 

Type of question: Yes/No/Not Given(True/False/Not Given)

 

In this question type, you are required to determine whether the statements provided agree with, contradict, or are not mentioned in the reading passage. 

 

How to best answer: 
 

  • Understand what information is being presented and what is being asked.
  • Find relevant information in the reading passage that relates to the statement.
  • Determine if the statement agrees with, contradicts, or is not mentioned in the passage.
  • If the information is not explicitly provided in the passage, select 'Not Given' rather than making assumptions.
  • Base your answers solely on the information presented in the passage, avoiding personal opinions or outside knowledge.


 

1. True

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph B: “Experts from the global glass manufacturer Pilkington. which produced the shattered pane, analysed the pieces and concluded that tiny crystals of nickel sulphide trapped inside the glass resulted in failure”.

 

Explanation

 

The statement is accurate because experts from Pilkington analysed the shattered glass and found that the failure was due to tiny crystals of nickel sulphide trapped inside the glass. This indicates that the cause of the accident at Bishop's Walk was the presence of nickel sulphide crystals in the glass, supporting the statement's claim.

 

2. Not given


 Reference:

 

From paragraph:  N.A.

 

Explanation

 

There is no information in the passage about whether toughened glass can be mistaken for regular glass due to its similar appearance. The passage discusses the properties and uses of toughened glass but does not compare its appearance to that of regular glass. Therefore, the statement cannot be confirmed or denied based on the given text.

 

3. False

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph D:  "What you're hearing is just the tip of the iceberg."

 

Explanation

The line mentions Suzanne Segerstrom's perspective, which emphasises the importance of behavioural habits in fostering optimism, offering an alternative to traditional positive thinking approaches.

 

Refer to tips and tricks for the IELTS Reading section to achieve a high band score.

Questions and Answers 4-7
  • Look at the following people and the list of statements below.

  • Match each person with the correct statement.
  • Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 4-7 on your answer sheet.

 

List of statements: 

 

  1. It appears that public awareness of the nickel sulphide failure has been stifled.
  2. Cases of nickel sulphide failure occur on a regular basis.
  3. All of the glass in one building was carefully examined.
  4. Bishops Walk was built with my assistance.
  5. Recommendation for waterfront reconstruction
  6. Thinks toughened glass benefits are exaggerated
  7. Claims that nickel sulphide failure is extremely rare
  8. The most extreme case of delayed failure.

 

      4.  Brian Waldron
      5.  Trevor Ford
      6.  Graham Dodd
      7.  John Barry

 

Flawed Beauty Reading Answers with Explanations (4-7)

 

Type of question: Matching information

 

In this question type, you will be asked to match specific pieces of information, often dates, names, or events, from the reading passage with corresponding options provided in the question.

 

How to best answer: 

 

  • Read each statement carefully to understand the specific information being asked for.
  • Scan the passage for relevant dates or events in the reading passage that corresponds to each statement.
  • Eliminate incorrect options that do not match the information found in the passage.
  • Match the remaining options based on the information provided in the passage.
  • Verify your answers to ensure they match the information in the passage before finalising them.

 

4. G

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph C: "However, he maintains that cases are few and far between. 'It's a very rare occurrence,' he says."

 

Explanation

Brian Waldron, in Paragraph C, asserts that cases of nickel sulphide failure are exceptionally rare in toughened glass. This statement underscores his belief that such incidents are infrequent occurrences within the industry, emphasising the rarity of these failures.

 

5. A

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph D:  "He thinks it's because 'no one wants bad press.'"

 

Explanation

 

In Paragraph D, Trevor Ford suggests that the public awareness of nickel sulphide failures has been deliberately suppressed. He attributes this suppression to a desire among stakeholders to avoid negative publicity, indicating a deliberate effort to downplay the prevalence of these failures.

 

6. H

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph I: "The oldest pane of toughened glass known to have failed due to nickel sulphide inclusions, according to Graham Dodd of consulting engineers Arup in London, was in Pilkington's glass research building in Lathom, Lancashire."

 

Explanation

 

According to Graham Dodd in Paragraph I, the oldest documented case of toughened glass failure due to nickel sulphide inclusions occurred after 27 years. This example illustrates the extreme potential for delayed failure associated with these inclusions, highlighting their significant impact over long periods.

 

7. C

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph K: "Each pane of glass in the structure was examined by John Barry, a specialist in nickel sulphide contamination from the University of Queensland."

 

Explanation

 

Paragraph K describes how John Barry meticulously examined every pane of glass in Waterfront Place for nickel sulphide inclusions. His specialised investigation underscores the thoroughness required when addressing the potential hazards posed by these microscopic contaminants in building materials.


To improve your vocabulary for the IELTS Reading section, read here.
 

Questions and Answers 8-13
  • Complete the summary with the list of words A-P below.
  • Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

 

Toughened Glass:

 

Toughened glass is preferred by architects because it is much stronger than ordinary glass and produces fewer fragments 8.__________ when it breaks. It does, however, have one drawback: it can shatter 9._________. This flaw is caused by the manufacturing process. Ordinary glass is heated first, then rapidly cooled 10.__________. The outer layer 11._________ before the inner layer, and the tension created between the two layers makes the glass stronger. However, if the glass contains nickel sulphide impurities, nickel sulphide crystals form. These are unstable and can quickly expand, especially if the weather is 12.__________. If this occurs, the pane of glass may shatter. The frequency of such problems is 13.___________ by glass experts. Furthermore, without sophisticated equipment, the crystals cannot be detected.

 

  1. Numerous
  2. Detected
  3. Quickly
  4. Agreed
  5. Warm
  6. Sharp
  7. Expands
  8. Slowly
  9. Unexpectedly
  10. Removed
  11. Contracts
  12. Disputes 
  13. Cold
  14. Moved
  15. Small
  16. calculated


 

Flawed Beauty Reading Answers with Explanations (8-13)

 

Type of question: Summary completion

 

Under this task, you will be given a summary with incomplete sentences. However, you will not be given any list of words/phrases to choose the missing information. You must refer to the main passage to fill in the missing information. 

 

How to answer: 

 

  • Read the summary to understand what information it’s missing
  • Identify keywords and locate them in the main passage to find missing words 
  • Review the context of the words you’ve chosen to match the summary
  • Finalise your answers

 

8. F


 

Reference:

 

From paragraph E: "This glass is five times as strong as regular glass, and when it does break, the fragments are small and harmless rather than long and sharp."

 

Explanation

 

Toughened glass breaks into small, harmless fragments due to its structure, making it safer compared to regular glass, which breaks into larger, sharp pieces. This characteristic is valued by architects for its safety benefits in various applications.

 

9. I

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph I: "This causes the crystals to expand by up to 4%. And if they are in the pane's central, tensile region, the stress that results can shatter the entire sheet. The time elapsed before failure is unpredictable."

 

Explanation

 

The unpredictability of toughened glass shattering due to nickel sulphide inclusions is highlighted here. Despite its strength, the glass can fail unexpectedly under stress, posing a challenge in predicting its lifespan.

 

10. C

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph F: "The process involves softening a sheet of regular glass to about 620°C, allowing its structure to expand, and then rapidly cooling the glass with jets of cold air to create the desired shape."

 

Explanation

 

The rapid cooling with cold air after heating is crucial in the toughening process of glass. This process creates internal tensions that strengthen the outer layer of the glass, enhancing its durability and strength.

 

11. K

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph F: “This results in the outer layer of the window pane contracting and solidifying before the interior”.

 

Explanation

During the toughening process, the outer layer of glass contracts and solidifies faster than the inner layer when cooled rapidly. This creates tensile strength within the glass, making it stronger and more resistant to breakage.

 

12. E


 Reference:

 

From paragraph H: “ However, the crystals are unable to revert to the beta phase because of the rapid cooling that follows”.

 

Explanation

 

The crystals of nickel sulphide in toughened glass remain in an unstable alpha phase due to rapid cooling after heating. This instability causes the crystals to expand unpredictably when exposed to heat, potentially leading to glass failure.

 

13. L

 

Reference:

 

From paragraph I: “The time elapsed before failure is unpredictable”.

 

Explanation

 

The frequency of toughened glass failures due to nickel sulphide inclusions remains a subject of debate among experts. The unpredictable nature of these failures complicates efforts to mitigate the risk associated with such impurities in glass manufacturing.

 

Also Read:

 

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FAQs

Q. Is it necessary to answer the questions in order?

Ans. No, it's not necessary to answer the questions in order. You can skip difficult questions and return to them later if time permits. Managing your time effectively is key to completing the test within the allocated hour.

Q. What should I do if I run out of time?

Ans. If you run out of time during the IELTS Reading test, quickly guess the remaining questions rather than leaving them blank. It's better to have a chance at earning points than none at all. Prioritise answering questions you find easier or can quickly eliminate incorrect options.

Q. How can I practise effectively for the IELTS Reading test?

Ans. Effective practice for the IELTS Reading test involves using official practice materials, timing yourself to simulate test conditions, and reviewing your answers to understand mistakes. Focus on improving both speed and accuracy in comprehension.