IELTS General Reading Practice Test 19
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Section 1 — Questions 1–14
Text A: Harbour Arts Community Centre — Membership and Workshop Guide
A — Joining and booking
Harbour Arts Centre offers classes to residents aged sixteen and over. Annual membership costs £24 and runs for twelve months from the date of purchase. Members receive priority booking for workshops but must still reserve each place separately through the online portal. Bookings open at 09:00 four weeks before a course begins. A member may reserve no more than three workshops in a single transaction. Places cannot be transferred to another person.
B — Materials and equipment
Basic tools are included in the workshop fee. Pottery students receive clay for practice pieces, while specialist glazes are charged separately. Painting students must bring their own brushes; paper, easels and water-based paints are supplied. Participants using the photography studio may borrow lighting equipment after completing a twenty-minute safety demonstration. Personal electrical equipment may be used only after inspection by a technician.
C — Cancellations and waiting lists
A full refund is available when cancellation is made at least seven calendar days before the first session. Later cancellations receive a credit only if the place is filled from the waiting list. If the centre cancels a workshop, participants may choose a full refund or transfer to another course. People on waiting lists are contacted by text message and have twelve hours to accept an offered place.
D — Access and conduct
The main entrance and all teaching rooms are wheelchair accessible. Anyone needing an adjustable workbench or hearing loop should notify reception at least three working days beforehand. Closed-toe footwear is compulsory in woodwork and sculpture rooms. Food and drinks are prohibited in studios, although sealed water bottles may be kept in designated storage areas. Abusive conduct towards staff or other learners may lead to immediate suspension.
E — Open Studio
Members who have completed an introductory course may use the Open Studio on Fridays between 18:00 and 21:00. No tutor is present, so users must work only with techniques for which they have been trained. The fee is £6 per evening and includes use of shared tools but not consumable materials. Everyone must clean their work area and leave the building by 21:15.
Text B: SkyPort Left-Luggage and Locker Service
SkyPort operates staffed luggage counters in Terminals 1 and 3 from 05:30 until 23:30 daily. Self-service lockers in Terminal 2 are accessible whenever the terminal is open. Lockers are available in small, medium and large sizes and are charged by each complete or partial 24-hour period. Payment is by debit or credit card; the machines do not accept cash.
Depositing items
At staffed counters, customers must present a boarding pass or government-issued photo identification. Staff attach a numbered security tag to each item and issue a matching collection receipt. Locker users create a six-digit access code and should photograph the locker number. For security reasons, staff cannot retrieve a forgotten code by telephone.
Restrictions
Explosives, fuel, weapons, perishable food and live animals are prohibited. Medicines may be stored, but SkyPort cannot guarantee refrigerated conditions. Individual items must weigh no more than 30 kilograms. Oversized sports equipment is accepted only at the Terminal 3 counter and may attract an additional handling charge.
Collection and delays
Counter items are released only when the original receipt is produced. A customer who loses it must show photo identification and accurately describe the contents. Locker doors can be reopened during a paid period without starting a new charge. After 72 hours, uncollected locker contents are transferred to the Terminal 1 counter, where storage charges continue to accumulate.
Damage and lost property
Customers should report visible damage before leaving the collection area. Claims must be submitted online within 48 hours and include photographs and the receipt number. The service is not responsible for fragile items that were inadequately packed. Property found elsewhere in the airport is handled by Airport Lost Property, not by SkyPort.
Section 1 — Questions 1–14
Section 2 — Questions 15–27
Text C: Secure Remote-Working Procedures
Section A
These procedures apply whenever employees access company systems away from an approved office. Staff must use a company-managed laptop; personal computers are not permitted. Before travel, employees should install pending security updates and confirm that the encrypted drive, screen lock and approved antivirus software are functioning. Suspected faults must be reported before confidential work begins.
Section B
Connections to company services must pass through the corporate virtual private network (VPN). Public Wi-Fi in cafés, airports and hotels may be used only with the VPN active. Where the network requests installation of unfamiliar software or disables encryption, employees must disconnect and use a company mobile hotspot. Home routers should use a unique administrator password and current security settings.
Section C
Confidential conversations should not take place where they can be overheard. Screens must be positioned away from windows and other people, and an approved privacy filter is required in shared spaces. Paper records should not normally leave the office. If removal is authorised, documents must remain in a locked case and must never be left in a vehicle overnight.
Section D
A lost device must be reported to the IT security hotline immediately, even if it is switched off or protected by a password. The employee should provide the asset number, last known location and approximate time of loss. IT may remotely lock or erase the equipment. Staff must not attempt to recover a stolen device personally. Any suspected disclosure of customer data must also be reported through the incident portal within one hour.
Text D: Learning Support and Tuition-Reimbursement Scheme
The scheme helps permanent employees develop skills relevant to their present role or a realistic internal career path. Applicants must have completed probation and must not be subject to a formal performance warning. Courses leading to recognised qualifications are eligible; recreational classes and programmes required simply to obtain an employee's existing job are excluded.
Approval
Employees must discuss the proposal with their line manager and submit the online application before enrolling or paying any fee. The application requires a course outline, total cost, timetable and explanation of business relevance. The Learning Panel meets monthly. Approval is not retrospective and depends on available departmental funds.
Funding and study time
The company reimburses 80 per cent of tuition fees, up to £1,500 in each financial year. Examination and compulsory registration fees may be included within that limit; travel, accommodation and optional books are not covered. Up to two paid study days may be granted for final examinations, subject to operational requirements. Ordinary classes should normally be attended outside working hours.
Completion and repayment
Payment is made after the employee submits proof of payment and evidence of successful completion. Anyone who withdraws without an accepted medical or compassionate reason receives no reimbursement. An employee who voluntarily leaves the company within six months of reimbursement must repay the full amount; departure between six and twelve months requires repayment of half. Redundancy does not trigger repayment.
Section 2 — Questions 15–27
Section 3 — Questions 28–40
Text E: Rethinking the City After Dark
Paragraph A
For much of the twentieth century, brighter streets were treated as an unquestioned sign of progress. Municipal authorities installed increasingly powerful lamps to support traffic, commerce and night-time recreation. Because the immediate benefits were visible while many costs were dispersed, few planners asked whether every surface needed continuous illumination. The result was often a uniform blanket of light rather than lighting designed for particular tasks.
Paragraph B
Artificial light that escapes above the horizon is scattered by particles in the atmosphere, producing the luminous dome known as skyglow. This effect can obscure stars far beyond the district where the light originated. Astronomers first documented the problem around observatories, but it is no longer solely a scientific concern. Residents who have never seen the Milky Way are increasingly questioning what is lost when darkness disappears from ordinary experience.
Paragraph C
Ecologists have also shown that darkness is an environmental resource. Many insects navigate using natural light sources and can become trapped around lamps. Migrating birds may be drawn away from established routes, while some bats avoid brightly lit feeding areas. These responses vary by species, colour of light and season, so replacing every lamp with a single supposedly wildlife-friendly design is unlikely to solve the problem.
Paragraph D
Human effects are harder to isolate because people encounter light alongside noise, shift work and screen use. Nevertheless, exposure to bright or blue-rich light late at night can delay biological signals associated with sleep. Researchers therefore distinguish useful, well-directed street lighting from unnecessary light entering bedroom windows. The issue is not simply the number of lamps but their intensity, timing, colour and direction.
Paragraph E
Dark-sky policies attempt to control those characteristics without leaving communities unlit. Shielded fittings direct light downwards; warmer lamps reduce short-wavelength emissions; dimming systems lower output when streets are empty. Some towns establish curfews for decorative façades and illuminated advertising. Trials often begin in parks or residential streets, where officials can measure energy use and collect reports before expanding the programme.
Paragraph F
Opponents sometimes assume that reduced illumination must increase crime and road accidents. Evidence is more complicated. Poorly designed glare can make deep shadows harder to see, and extremely bright lights do not automatically improve recognition. Yet darkness can create genuine hazards where pedestrians and vehicles interact. Successful schemes therefore conduct local risk assessments instead of imposing identical reductions everywhere.
Paragraph G
The strongest argument for reform may be that several objectives can be achieved together. Better-controlled lighting can reduce electricity consumption, protect nocturnal habitats and restore views of the night sky while maintaining illumination where it performs a clear function. Dark-sky planning is consequently not a campaign to abolish urban light. It is an attempt to treat light as infrastructure that should be delivered precisely, evaluated regularly and switched off when it serves no useful purpose.
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