Air Rage

(A) The first recorded case of an airline passenger turning

seriously violent during a flight, a phenomenon now widely
known as air rage, happened in 1947 on a flight from
Havana to Miami. A drunk man assaulted another passenger
and bit a flight attendant. However, the man escaped
punishment because it was not then clear under whose legal
control a crime committed on plane was, the country where
the plane was registered or the country where the crime was
committed. In 1963, at the Tokyo convention, it was decided
that the laws of the country where the plane is registered take
precedence.
(B) The frequency of air rage has expanded out of proportion
to the growth of air travel. Until recently few statistic were
gathered about air rage, but those that have been indicate that
passengers are increasingly likely to cause trouble or engage
in violent acts. For example, in 1998 there were 266 air rage
incidents out of approximately four million passengers, a
400% increase from 1995. In the same period American
Airlines showed a 200% rise. Air travel is predicted to rise by
5% internationally by 2010 leading to increased airport
congestion. This, coupled with the flying publics increased
aggression, means that air rage may become a major issue in
coming years.
(C) Aside from discomfort and disruption, air rage poses some
very real dangers to flying. The most extreme of these is when
out of control passengers enter the cockpit. This has actually
happened on a number of occasions, the worst of which have
resulted in the death and injury of pilots or the intruder taking
control of the plane, almost resulting in crashes. In addition,
berserk passengers sometimes attempt to open the emergency
doors while in flight, putting the whole aircraft in danger.
These are extreme examples and cases of air rage more
commonly result in physical assaults on fellow passengers and
crew such as throwing objects, punching, stabbing or scalding
with hot coffee.
(D) The causes of air rage are not known for certain, but it is
generally thought that factors include: passenger behavior and
personality, the physical environment and changes in society.
A recent study has identified the issues that start the incidents
to be as follows.



Alcohol 25%
Seating 16%
Smoking 10%
Carry on luggage 9%
Flight attendants 8%
Food 5%
(E) One of the major causes seems to be the passengers
behavior or their personality. Fear of flying and the feeling of
powerlessness associated with flying can lead to irritable or
aggressive passengers. Also, alcohol consumed on a plane
pressurized to 8000ft affects the drinker more quickly and the
effects are stronger. Many people do not take account of this
and drinking may increase any negative reaction to the flying
environment they have, which, combined with the lowering of
their inhibitions, may cause air rage. Smoking withdrawal,
which some liken in severity to opiate withdrawal, is another
major cause of air rage incidents. Passengers caught smoking
in the toilets occasionally assault flight attendants and have
been known to start fires. When conflicts occur in these
conditions, they can escalate into major incidents if the
passenger has a violent personality or a fear of flying and
because of the enclosed nature of a plane offers no option of
retreat as would be natural in a fight or flight reaction.
(F) Some people feel that the physical environment of a plane
can lead to air rage. Seats on most airlines have become
smaller in recent years as airlines try to increase profits. This
leads to uncomfortable and irritated passengers. Also, space
for carry on luggage is often very small. Because up to 8% of
checked in luggage is lost, misdirected or stolen, passengers
have been trying to fit larger carry on items into these small
storage areas and this can lead to disputes that can escalate
into air rage. Airlines could also be to blame by raising
passengers expectations too high with their marketing and
advertising. Many air rage incidents start when disappointed
passengers demand to be reseated. Finally, there is some
evidence to show that low oxygen levels can raise aggression
level and make people feel more desperate. Airlines have
lowered oxygen levels to save money. Now the level of
oxygen in the air that the pilots breathe is ten times higher
than in cabin class.
(G) Another reason that has been suggested is that society is
getting ruder and less patient. The increased congestion at
airports, longer queues and increased delays have only added
to this. In addition, some air rage incidents have been linked to
the demanding nature of high achieving business people, who
do not like people telling them what to do and resent the
power that the cabin staff have over them. For them, a flight
attendant is a waiter or waitress who should do what the
passenger wants.
(H) The strongest calls for action to control air rage have
come from pilots and aircrew. The International Transport
Workers Federation argues that there are too many loopholes
that let people escape punishment and that the penalties are
too light. They want to notify all passengers of the penalties
for air rage before taking off, rather than after the passenger
begins to cause serious problems, when it may be too late. The
Civil Aviation Organisation has been organizing international
cooperation and penalties have increased in recent years. The
most severe punishment so far has been a 51 month jail
sentence, a fine to pay for the jet fuel used and 200 hours
community service for a man who attempted to enter the
cockpit and to open the emergency door of a domestic US
flight.
(I) Various other measures are being used to control air rage.
Air crew are getting training on how to calm passengers and
how to predict where incidents might result in air rage and
take action to prevent this. Other measures include,
strengthening doors to stop people entering the cockpit,
training crew in the use of plastic restraints to tie down unruly
passengers and having pilots divert their planes if passengers
cause problems. Banning passengers who are guilty of air rage
from flying has also been tried to a lesser extent
IELTS Reading Sample: Questions 1 8
The IELTS reading sample passage has nine paragraphs A I.
From the list below choose the most suitable headings for B
I.
Write the appropriate number (i xiv) beside in boxes 1 8
on your answer sheet.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you do not
have to use them all.
List of headings
i. The travelers character.
ii. Disproportionate growth.
iii. Pilots and aircrew.
iv. Additional action.
v. Smaller seats.
vi. Uncomfortable aeroplanes
vii. Origins.
viii. A major threat.
ix. Demands for change.
x. Business people.
xi. The roots of the problem.
xii. The pace of life.
xiii. Links to the surroundings.
xiv. Personal experience.
Example:
Paragraph A Answer: vii
1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G
7. Paragraph H
8. Paragraph I
IELTS Reading Sample: Questions 9 14
Do the following statements agree with the information in the
IELTS reading sample text? Mark them as follows.
T______if the statement agrees with the information in the
text.
F______if the statement does not agree with the information
in the text.
NG_____if there is no information on this in the text.
9. In the first case of air rage, the man was not punished
because the plane was not registered.
10. The statistics on air rage were collected by private
monitoring groups.
11. The second most common catalyst for incidents is problems
with seating.
12. The environment in a plane makes disagreements more
likely to become serious problems.
13. Airlines have been encouraging passengers to bring more
items onboard as carry-on luggage.
14. It has been impossible to ban passengers with histories of
air-rage.

Wind Power
The power of the wind has been used for centuries to directly
drive various machines to perform such tasks as grinding
wheat or pumping water. Recently, however, the wind has
joined other natural forces such as water and steam as a viable
method of generating electricity.
Traditional means of electricity generation using coal or oil-
fueled plants have two major drawbacks; they pollute the
environment and the fuels they use are inefficient and non-
renewable. In response to growing environmental awareness
there have been calls for a greener alternative. Nuclear power,
while more efficient and less polluting, is seen by many
people as unacceptable, because of the danger of accidents
such as those that happened at Chernobyl or Three Mile
Island. Wind power, however, is clean, renewable and, with
modern advances, surprisingly efficient.
In the 1970s Britain was in the forefront of research into wind
power. The interest in wind diminished in the 1980s due to
cheap North Sea oil, a strong pro-nuclear lobby and pricing
structures that made it uneconomical to set up wind farms.
Britain, the windiest country in Europe, had to wait until 1991
for its first wind farm. Located at Delabole in Cornwall, the
farm was originally the idea of locals who opposed the
construction of a nuclear power plant nearby and decided to
set up a private company to generate power for the area using
the wind. They had to fight opposition from local government
and other local residents, who thought the turbines would be
noisy and might interfere with television signals, but
eventually, after showing local officials working wind farms
in Denmark, they won and now there are 10 huge white wind
turbines on the Delabole hills.
It is in Germany and Denmark that the greatest advances in
wind power have come. Germany alone produces half of the
wind generated electricity in Europe. Every year Germany
adds 400 Megawatts (Mw) of capacity. In 2000 alone capacity
expanded by 1669 Mw. Denmark now produces 30% of its
electricity from wind power and this is predicted to rise to
50% by 2010. Both countries have encouraged this growth by
fixed feed tariffs which guarantee a good price for private
wind power operators.
The UK is catching up and the government has set a target
10% of all electricity to come from renewable sources by
2010, half of this to be from wind power. The 900 wind
turbines in operation generate 400Mw of electricity and to
meet the target roughly 400Mw will need to be added each
year. With the advances in technology this is technically
possible. Each turbine can now produce 400 Kilowatts (KW)
compared to only 70 KW at the start of the 1980s. It will,
however, need help from the government. This is being done
by offering financial support and giving private power
companies targets to meet.
Because many people feel wind farms spoil the view and, also,
because the wind is stronger at sea, many wind farms are now
being built offshore. They are usually built a few kilometres
off the coast in shallow water. The construction and
maintenance costs are higher, but electricity output is higher.
The first in Britain was built in 2000 at Blyth, north of
Newcastle, and was the largest in the world until May 2001,
when a 20 turbine farm was opened at Middelgruden off
Copenhagen. There are plans to construct up to 18 more in the
UK by 2010. Together they will produce 800 Mw of
electricity annually.
The use of wind power is far less advanced in the USA. Only
.5% of Americas power comes from the wind, although it is
estimated that this could be increased to as high as 12% with
no changes to the power grid. However, there is an increased
interest in wind power. There are plans to build a huge
offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod on the North
East seaboard. The farm will take up over 25 square miles,
have 170 turbines and produce 420Mw at a cost of $600m. If
constructed, it will be the worlds second biggest wind farm,
after the 520Mw farm planned in Ireland.
IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 1 2
Choose the best answer to the questions below.
1. People do not like coal and oil powered power production
because
1. it damages the environment.
2. it is wasteful..
3. eventually it will run out.
4. all of the above.
2. Wind power
1. has only been used recently.
2. promotes environmental awareness.
3. cleans the environment.
4. is not wasteful.
IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 3 7
Complete the following summary of the third paragraph from
the IELTS sample reading using ONE OR TWO
WORDS from the reading texts.
British Wind Power.
While there was a great deal of interest in wind power in the
1970s, it (3) _______________ in the 1980s. This was mainly
due to intense support for (4) _______________ power and
little help in making wind power affordable. So, even though
Britain has some of the best winds in Europe, the first wind
farm was only built in 1991. The farm at Delabole came out of
opposition by (5) _______________ to a nuclear power plant.
Initially, they were opposed by local officials due to fears
about noise and possible obstruction to (6)
________________ . This opposition was eventually
overcome only after they were shown successful examples
from (7) _______________.
IELTS Sample Reading: Questions 8 13
Match the country or countries below to the statements taken
from the IELTS sample reading.
BR______ Britain
G______ Germany
D______ Denmark
US______ The United States
IRE______ Ireland
N______ None of the countries
8. Plans to produce 5% of its power using wind power.
9. Produces 50% of its power from wind.
10. Produces very little of its power using wind.
11. Will have the worlds largest wind farm.
12. Has ambitious plans in developing its wind power capacity.
13. Was the leader in the early development of wind power.

The Container Trade
The shipping container is one of the mainstays of international
trade. The globalised modern economy depends on the rapid
and efficient movement of goods that containerisation allows.
In many ways it was the advent of the container that allowed
this globalised economy to develop.
Invented during World War two as an efficient method of
moving equipment to the front lines, there are now at any one
time up to 15 million containers being used to transport goods
on land and sea or waiting to be filled at factories and ports.
They are vital in the supply chain and have allowed the added
efficiency of just in time inventory management, where
companies no longer keep large warehouses of stock or parts,
but rely on the ability to quickly order what they want from
their suppliers. It is estimated that since the 1980s the ratio of
inventory to GDP in American business has fallen from 25%
to 15%. Altogether total business inventory in the US is
estimated at $1.5 trillion, without just in time management
methods this might be as much as $2.5 trillion. This means
that companies rely more and more on the prompt delivery of
parts from their suppliers to fulfill orders. This is particularly
true of industries such as computer manufacture, which no
longer make all the parts of the products that bear their names,
but instead out source, often to suppliers half way around the
world. American computer manufacturers are, for example,
increasingly dependent on Asian microchip manufacturers in
countries such as Taiwan and Thailand. An example of the
kind of problems any disruption to the supply chain causes
came after the September 11 attacks in the US. When the
Canadian border was shut for just two days causing chaos in
the Detroit car industry, which relies on a regular flow of parts
from Canada.
There are three main flows of sea borne cargo: trans-Pacific,
trans-Atlantic and Europe-Far East. The trans-Pacific route is
by far the largest flow. At 11 million TEU ( twenty foot
equivalent units the standard measures of container volume,
even though most containers are now 40 foot, 13 metres, long)
a year. It is almost twice the volume of Europe-Far East trade
and three times the size of trans-Atlantic traffic. During the
1990s, during Americas boom years, the trade grew
enormously and this led to more and larger ships being built.
The container fleet grew by 12% in 2001. Until then, a
container ship commonly carried 600 TEU, during the 1990s
ships were being build that could carry up to 8000 TEU.
However after the 1990s there was a dramatic fall off in trade.
Trans-Pacific trade, for example, fell to 50% of its 1990s high.
This down turn is being handled by the shipping alliances
which manage the global trade. These large organizations are
responsible for maintaining the fleets and seeing that the flow
of goods is uninterrupted. This is a job that governments feel
that the regular and reliable flow of trade is so important that
in many cases the shipping alliances are exempt from anti-
trust and monopoly laws. Their response has been to cut
services, rest some of the older ships and share the burden
amongst themselves.

At first, containers reduced theft as it was more difficult for
casual thieves to get into the containers. However, criminal
gangs soon saw the potential for taking whole containers. This
became a profitable crime as the average value of a container
grew to $500,000 by the 1980s. Criminals also benefited from
the convenience of containers when using them to transport
drugs, illegal immigrants or other illegal goods. Measures to
combat this, including stronger locks and preference schemes
for shippers who have anti-theft programmes, have had some
success, but crime is a constant menace to the container trade.
Increasingly, the huge number of containers and their self-
contained and enclosed nature has been raising worries about
their possible use by terrorists. In fact, possible terrorists have
already been found hiding in containers. This is particularly
worrying considering that only 2% of containers are inspected.
Containers are also extremely difficult to track and monitor.
This is because they pass through so many countries and
jurisdictions and because they can travel on both land and sea.
Each transaction involving a container can involve as many as
25 different parties and generate between 30 and 40
documents. For a ship carrying 600 TEU this would result in
approximately 4000 documents. The sheer scale of the
information involved makes tracking containers a daunting
task. Screening them to determine the contents is another
solution that would take a great deal of effort because of the
large numbers of containers. Additionally, it might cause
delays in delivery that would disrupt international trade and
industry out of proportion to the good the searches do.
For the foreseeable future, there would seem to be no
alternative to containers and their use is bound to grow. They
are one of the cornerstones of global trade, but many yet cause
problems their inventors never envisaged.
IELTS Reading Example: Questions 1 6
Choose the best TWO alternatives to complete the sentences.
Questions 1 and 2
Circle TWO letters A E.
The invention of containers
A resulted from the efficient movement of goods.
B led to more global trade.
C was initially for military purposes.
D came just in time for many managers.
E relied on the ability to receive orders quickly.
Questions 3 and 4
Circle TWO letters A E.
Containers are important because they
A prevent the need for companies to hold large amounts
of stock.
B increase the amount of business inventory.
C make trade between countries on different sides of the
world easier.
D regularly supply manufactures in Canada.
E reduce the amount of out sourcing needed by
companies.
Questions 5 and 6
Circle TWO letters A E.
The Trans-Pacific trade route
A has more than double the amount of trade than that of
the Europe-Far East trade route.
B had its container fleet increase by 12%.
C sparked the boom years of the 1990s.
D transports 11 million containers a year.
E has witnessed a substantial decrease in container trade.

IELTS Reading Example: Questions 7 10
Complete the table below.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
CAUSE EFFECT

a sharp fall in container
trade
shipping alliances(7) old
ships
originally difficult to get
into containers

(8)

vast numbers of containers
and they are relatively
secure

Might cause (9)

Containers must pass
through many countries and

Containers are (10)
involve a vast amount of
paperwork.

IELTS Reading Example: Questions 11 12
Complete the sentences below using words taken from the
reading passage.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS fore each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11 12 on your answer sheet.

11. It is not economically viable to conduct searches on a
large amount of containers as it
would.
12. The inventors must never have imagined that
containers would ..
ANSWERS:
IELTS Reading Sample Answers:
1. Paragraph B______ii
2. Paragraph C______viii
3. Paragraph D______xiii
4. Paragraph E______xi
5. Paragraph F______vi
6. Paragraph G______i
7. Paragraph H______ix
8. Paragraph I______iv
9. In the first case of air rage, the man was not punished because
the plane was not registered.F
10. The statistics on air rage were collected by private monitoring
groups. NG
11. The second most common catalyst for incidents is problems
with seating. T
12. The environment in a plane makes disagreements more likely
to become serious problems.T
13. Airlines have been encouraging passengers to bring more
items onboard as carry-on luggage.NG
14. It has been impossible to ban passengers with histories of air-
rage.F
IELTS Sample Reading Answers:
1. D
2. D
3. diminished
4. nuclear
5. locals
6. television signals
7. Danish Farm / Denmark
8. BR
9. N
10. US
11. IRE
12. D
13. B
IELTS Reading Example - ANSWERS
14. 1. B - led to more global trade.
15. The globalised modern economy depends on the rapid
and efficient movement of goods that containerisation
allows. In many ways it was the advent of the container
that allowed this globalised economy to develop.
16. 2. C - was initially for military purposes.
17. Invented during World War two as an efficient method
ofmoving equipment to the front lines
18. "front lines" = a military line formed by the most
advanced tactical combat units
19. 3. A - prevent the need for companies to hold large
amounts of stock.
20. companies no longer keep large warehouses of stock
or parts
21. 4. E - make trade between countries on different sides of
the world easier.
22. This means that companies rely more and more on the
prompt delivery of parts from their suppliers to fulfill
orders. This is particularly true of industries such as
computer manufacture, which no longer make all the
parts of the products that bear their names, but instead
out source, often to suppliers half way around the
world.
23. 5. B - had its container fleet increase by 12%.
24. The container fleet grew by 12% in 2001.
25. 6. E - has witnessed a substantial decrease in container
trade.
26. However after the 1990s there was a dramatic fall off
in trade. Trans-Pacific trade, for example, fell to 50%
of its 1990s high.
27. 7. rest some
28. Their response has been to cut services, rest some of the
older ships and share the burden amongst themselves.
29. 8. reduced theft
30. At first, containers reduced theft as it was more difficult
for casual thieves to get into the containers.
31. 9. use by terrorists
32. Increasingly, the huge number of containers and their
self-contained and
enclosed nature has been raising worries about their
possible use by terrorists.
33. 10. difficult to track
34. Containers are also extremely difficult to track and
monitor. This is because they pass through so many
countries and jurisdictions and because they can travel
on both land and sea.
35. 11. disrupt international trade
36. Additionally, it might cause delays in delivery that
woulddisrupt international trade and industry out of
proportion to the good the searches do.
37. 12. cause problems
38. They are one of the cornerstones of global trade, but
many yetcause problems their inventors never
envisaged.