Matching headings and paragraphs skills practice acupuncture

This is the next in my series of practice exercises for IELTS reading. The focus on this lesson is on the skills you need to answer the paragraph/headings matching type of
question. One of the est ways to de!elop these skills is to egin y focussing on shorter texts so that you can see how the questions work" then when you are confident of your
skills more on to longer texts. #ere you will find a one paragraph exercise to do online and a longer text to download.
Key skills
Avoid the trap
The most common trap here is the examiners try and catch people who try and match key words in the question with words in the paragraphs. The way to a!oid
this is$
read the whole paragraph
don%t &ust focus on key words
Look for the main point of each paragraph
Look at the first few sentences of the paragraph to try and find a 'topic sentence( that sums up the main idea of the para. )ou can only do this if you read the
*#OLE paragraph.
Focus on the whole heading do NOT use key words
)ou need to understand the meaning of the heading in the question as a sentence$ it is unlikely that the words in the question exactly match the words in the
paragraph. If you focus on key words you will make many mistakes y word matching and falling into the examiner traps.
Start with the paragraphs, not the headings
+ememer that some of the headings are only there to confuse you. ,o not try and match a heading to a paragraph" as there may e no matching paragraph.
+ather start with the paragraphs and try to find the matching heading.
nderstand how the te!t is organised
If you understand how the text is organised y skimming it first for general meaning" this will help you in predicting which paragraphs match which headings
"on#t guess, $e specific
E!en though you are looking for general meaning" there should always e something in the paragraph - normally a sentence - that gi!es you the answer.
.ll the questions in the qui/ along with their answers are shown elow. )our answers are olded. The correct answers ha!e a green ackground while the
incorrect ones ha!e a red ackground.
0hoose the correct heading for this paragraph
.. The dangers of acupuncture 1 its possile fatal consequences
2. . re!iew of acupuncture effecti!eness for pain relief
0. The limitations of acupuncture as a treatment
,. . comparison of acupuncture and con!entional medicine
3uestion was not answered
.. This is wrong ecause the fact that acupuncture may cause death is one minor point towards the end of the paragraph$
4it could e dangerous when performed y untrained practitioners and e!en lead to death.4
2. This is wrong ecause the paragraph is not &ust aout whether acupuncture works for pain relief" ut also for nausea$
4whether acupuncture is effecti!e for anything other than the relief of some pains and the feeling of nausea.4
)ou should also e careful of word matching 4re!iew4 in the text$
4The general consensus can est e summed up y looking at a paper pulished in 5677 that re!iewed all the latest literature and re!iew articles on acupuncture.4
This is a detail. 8ot the main point of the paragraph.
0. The correct answer. )ou find this y looking at the sentence at the eginning of the paragraph$
4It remains to e estalished whether acupuncture is effecti!e for anything other than the relief of some pains and the feeling of nausea.4
9rom this" you need to understand that acupuncture works as a treatment ut in a limited way.
,. This is wrong. 0on!entional medicine is mentioned in the paragraph$
4as more con!entional treatments" such as antiemetic drugs.4
This is" howe!er" only an example not the main point.
It remains to e estalished whether acupuncture is effecti!e for anything other than the relief of some pains and the feeling of nausea. In the case of nausea" a
numer of studies ha!e demonstrated that the technique of acupuncture - the stimulation of one particular point - is equally effecti!e as more con!entional
treatments" such as antiemetic drugs. There is less agreement aout its effecti!eness for pain relief. *hate!er e!idence there is points only a !ery small and
temporary effect for a restricted numer of types of pain" and e!en this is disputed y a large ody of physicians who maintain that this is simply due to a placeo
effect where the patient%s elief in acupuncture leads them to elie!e that the treatment has worked. The general consensus can est e summed up y looking at
a paper pulished in 5677 that re!iewed all the latest literature and re!iew articles on acupuncture. Its conclusion was that it was of !alue in the treatment of neck
pain" ut was of duious effecti!eness for other types of pain. :ore than that" it was noted that while acupuncture is safe when administered y trained
professionals using sterile needles" it could e dangerous when performed y untrained practitioners and e!en lead to death.
The task
7. The task is to match etween ; and < headings to paragraphs in the text.
5. There are always more headings than paragraphs
=. )ou may need to read the whole text or only a part of it
The reading skill skimming
The main skill tested here is your aility to read quickly and get the main meaning of a paragraph. This means that$
7. If you find a word you don%t understand$ ignore it - you are looking for meanings of paragraphs not words
5. ,on%t simply match a word in the question with a word in the text - read the sentence/paragraph to see how it is eing used
=. 0oncentrate on the openings and closings of paragraphs - that is where the writer normally makes the main point
Some problems and their solutions
This can e one of the easier types of question ut it is also easy to get them all wrong> #ere are one or two difficulties$
7. )ou may need to read the whole text or a large part of it anyway. :ake this prolem into a !irtue. I suggest you do this task first - e!en if it is not the
first set of questions. This allows you to understand what the text is aout.
5. )ou simply match words in the heading with words in the text. +ememer there are too many headings and it may not e as simple as matching
words. Think meaning" not words.
=. Some of the headings seem quite similar. :ake sure you spend time reading them all and try e!ery heading with e!ery paragraph. This may take
time ut you will a!oid a lot of mistakes.
?. )ou guess the meaning from the first few lines of the paragraph. The meaning you need is in the last few lines of the paragraph. ,on%t stop reading
too quickly and read the whole paragraph. The prolem isn%t time" it%s making mistakes.
;. )ou waste time ecause the first paragraph is the hardest to match. Easy. *rite in 5/= headings it could e and mo!e on. *hen you come ack after
doing the other questions" it may seem o!ious. ,on%t guess immediately. ,o the task twice.
The procedure
7. Look at the headings first. ,on%t spend too much time on this" as at least some of them will e wrong.
5. Look at the first paragraph. Try to ignore the detail and look for the main point. ,oes it match any of the headings@ Try all the headings. If it could e
heading aA or A - write down aA or A. ,on%t guess yet. 0ome ack at the end.
=. :ake sure you underline the words in the text that est match the heading. If you do this" you can easily check your answer" if you want to use the
same heading for another paragraph later on.
?. :o!e onto the next paragraph and repeat the process. ,on%t expect to complete all the paragraphs first time around.
;. Bo ack at the end and make a decision aout the paragraphs you didn%t do first time. Try and e as careful as possile. ,on%t rush.
C. If you are uncertain" it sometimes makes sense to use the same heading for 5 paragraphs. )ou will get one wrong and one right. If you guess" you
may get two wrong Dor two right>A
How to practise
This is a !ery simple practice suggestion. *hen you are reading texts Dfor IELTS and otherwiseA" when you get to the end of the paragraph try to summarise what
that paragraph was aout.
. Different relationships between cats and men 7
Where the relationship between cat and man began 5
The feline origins of the domestic cat =
, How the cult of the cat moved East ?
How man turned against the cat ;
The birth of the show cat C
Different cultural beliefs about the cat <
The cat
..
*e are all familiar with the domestic cat" an animal that is now the most popular
human companion in the world. The image we ha!e" howe!er" of the 2urmese or
the Siamese curled up in a asket efore a fire or gently purring on the lap of its
human owner is in historical terms deeply misleading. In fact the cat" or 9elis
0atus as it is correctly termed" has a long and complex relationship with mankind
stretching ack o!er approximately E";66 years and in that time it has taken on a
!ariety of different roles from hunting companion" protector of crops" good luck
charm" religious icon and seer to shipoard rodent catcher.
2.
Traditionally" it was always supposed that it was the Egyptians who first
domesticated the cat. The primary e!idence for this are the depictions of cats in
paintings and statuary in Egypt from o!er =";66 years ago and it is indeed the
case that the ancient Egyptians had an extraordinarily close relationship with
cats. One of the ma&or deities in the 8ew Fingdom" 2ast" was a cat1goddess
symolising fertility and motherhood and the Breek historian #erodotus tells how
cats were often mummified and gi!en a funeral" sometimes with the mummified
remains of mice so that they could en&oy the afterlife. This traditional !iew has
een o!erturned" howe!er" y the disco!ery in 566? of a gra!e in 0yprus that
was E";66 years old in which the remains of a cat were found next to a human.
0learly" the human association with cats predates the ancient Egyptians y many
millennia. It is now thought that it was in the 9ertile 0rescent" modern1day Iraq"
that humans first domesticated the cat. .griculture was in!ented in this region
and the likelihood is that cats were used to control the rodents and other !ermin
that fed on the crops and raided the grain stores.
0.
The cat family is a close one and the housecat is so closely related to feral and
wildcats to the extent that it is ale to interreed with them. It is still uncertain
what the exact genesis of the domestic cat was ut informed opinion suggests
that it would appear to ha!e more than one ancestor in the cat family. In ancient
Egypt" there were two different species of cats" the Gungle 0at and the .frican
*ildcat" which e!entually fused together into 9elis 0atus. In the initial phases of
the domestication process" it is likely that the *ildcat was more significant"
ecause" despite its name it was a great deal more docile than the Gungle 0at.
:ore e!idence for this is that the 0ypriot cat" the earliest cat associated with
man" was a *ildcat.
,.
*hile we cannot e certain of the early history of the cat" we do know that they
quickly ecame popular in many different cultures. They spread from the 9ertile
0rescent through the Indian su1continent and into 0hina y ;66 20. Gust as had
happened in Egypt" magical properties were ascried to them and they were
e!en occasionally re!ered as deities. That they were initially gi!en as gifts to
Emperors and that only later were the noility and commoners allowed to own
them is a sign of the special status they held.
E.
Their progress westwards was" howe!er" less smooth. Initially" they were rought
to Europe y the Breeks and the +omans" despite the attempts y the Egyptians
to protect their deity from export. .s in other parts of the world" the cats were
highly pri/ed for their rodent catching aility and while they were not worshipped"
they were rought into the house from the farmyard and egan to e kept as
pets. This was a highly practical measure as they helped to reduce the impact of
the 2lack ,eath y killing the rats that were responsile for the spread of the
plague. ,espite this" in the :iddle .ges" Hope Bregory III proclaimed that the
cat was the work of the de!il and the superstition arose that people who kept cats
were witches and those that cats were not urnt ali!e with their owners were
dri!en from the towns and !illages.
9.
2y the 7J66s the reputation of the cat had een re1estalished and" as it ecame
an e!er more fashionale household companion" the concept of the pedigree cat
reed appeared in the Knited Fingdom. 2y 7J<7 a large show was held at
0rystal Hlace - the site of the Breat Exhiition twenty years earlier - for 2ritish
Shorthair and Hersian types. . little later in 8ew England in the Knited States of
.merica" the :aine 0oone reed was shown. This trend increased to the extent
that a further 5; reeds of pedigree cats appeared in addition to the 7C naturally
occurring reeds. 0at fanciers now compete on a regular asis all o!er the world
in an attempt to pro!e that their animal is the pre1eminent exemplar of the reed.
. far cry from the days when the humle moggyLs duty was to ensure that no rats
entered the grain store.
B.
Superstitions" legends and mystical eliefs aout cats aound all around the
world. Some of these can e traced ack to the religious awe in which cats were
held y early cultures. The modern1day Gapanese elief that a cat washing its
face is a sign that a !isitor will soon arri!e can e directly linked to the :aneki
8eko - a traditional lucky charm in the form of a sculpture or ceramic figure of a
cat eckoning with its paw. Likewise" in Europe there are people who still cross
themsel!es at the sight of an unlucky lack cat ecause of Hope Bregory%s edict
against cats" centuries efore. Other eliefs ha!e a far more rational asis and
result from the physical qualities of the cat. So the cat%s remarkale agility that
allows it to escape from potentially life1threatening situations leads the 2ritish to
suppose that the cat has nine li!es" the Spanish that it has six and the Turkish
se!en.