🔥Violins and very cold weather – a hypothesis​: Đề thi thật IELTS READING (IELTS Reading Recent Actual Test) - Làm bài online format computer-based, kèm giải thích từ vựng

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on pages 4 and 5.

Violins and very cold weather – a hypothesis

Lloyd Burckle and Henri D Grissino-Mayer suggest a link between the great Italian violin makers and a mini ice-age 300 years ago

There is considerable controversy surrounding reasons why instruments made by the artisans of Cremona in Italy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries sound superior compared to modern instruments. The famous violin-making families of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri certainly included many highly accomplished craftsmen, and the popular belief is that the skills of these Cremonese artisans, combined with either a secret ingredient or undocumented process, give their instruments the rich sound so highly admired by professional musicians. The nature of this secret ingredient has been the subject of conjecture for many years and is still fuelling speculation. Theories have included the method of varnish applied to the wood to produce the right acoustic effect, or the use of special types of wood which are subject to specific treatment and aging processes, as well as the careful blending of responsibly harvested chemicals before application.

B
A new hypothesis has been found for the possible explanation. It was not directly related to the violin-makers’ skills but more likely to do with the climate. Around 1645–1715, Europe was affected by a mini ice-age caused by a combination of reduced solar activity – widely known as the Maunder Minimum – and a possible increase in volcanic eruptions. This period was characterized by shorter, cooler growing seasons for trees, which resulted in wood with a greater density and narrower rings than usual. Antonio Stradivari was active during this period, from as short a season as seven years to as long as 31 years, developing wood that demonstrated considerable scientific properties.

C
Analyses that include ultraviolet photography, electron microscopy, ion backscattering, and X-ray investigations, finally, have suggested that Stradivari used wood felled from alpine conifers. This theory has been discounted because analyses on numerous instruments attributed to Stradivari demonstrated ages for the wood that were contemporary with his lifetime.

D
Wood with high density can, however, be found in trees growing in a variety of habitats and environmental settings in numerous higher-elevation locations throughout the world. Hence, an account of the Cremonese craftsmen’s superior sound quality based solely on wood properties is insufficient. Instead, could the superior sound quality be explained by a combination of wood properties, environmental characteristics, and macroscopic conditions? Could the wood used by the Cremonese makers have had particular physical characteristics that were perhaps time-specific? There were questions that required more thorough research.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR

E
The well-documented Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) was a period characterized by a scarcity of sunspots and a reduction in overall solar activity. It coincided with a sharp dip in temperatures and a period of extremely cold weather in western Europe. Analyses of the elevation forest areas of the European Alps over a long period recorded growing rates between approximately 1645 and 1720, identified by the narrow rings in tree trunks. Narrow rings would not have been seen in warmer periods.

F
Exactly with this climatic period, and that to fashion the most prized and valued instruments of this “Golden Period” (1700–1720), he would have used the only wood available to him, i.e. from trees that grew during the Maunder Minimum. The onset of the Maunder Minimum at a time when the skills of the Cremonese violin-makers reached their peak perhaps made the crucial difference in the violin’s tone and brilliance. Furthermore, the conjunction of elevation, topography, soil properties and a deterioration in climate was temporally unique – climatic conditions with temperatures such as those that occurred during the Maunder Minimum simply cannot and do not occur today in areas where the Cremonese makers obtained their wood.

Questions 14–20

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A–F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 14–20 on your answer sheet.

14. A factor other than climate that may affect the quality of wood in different locations
15. Evidence that climate conditions in the period 1645–1715 were unlike those of other periods
16. A reason why a theory about the wood used by Stradivari has been rejected
17. A possible explanation why the density of wood used by Cremonese craftsmen was greater than usual
18. A view that it was not only the ability of the craftsmen that was responsible for the unique quality of the violins
19. An account of the combination of environmental factors that caused conditions unique to the Maunder Minimum
20. The range of techniques used in modern times to investigate instruments made by the Cremonese makers

Questions 21–24

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 21–24 on your answer sheet.

The Cremonese violins: fine artistry but what else?

There is no doubt that the superior quality of the late 17th-and early 18th-century Cremonese violins is due in large part to the 21 ________ of the people who crafted them. But it has long been felt that other factors were involved.

There has been extensive research into whether the composition of the varnish that was put on the wood could account for the unique sound of the Cremonese violins. Some people have also put forward the idea that Stradivari made his instruments from wood which had already been used in old buildings such as 22 ________. Scientific analysis has proved this not to be the case.

Other theories have focused on the violin-makers’ method of using 23 ________ to dry their wood before use, or using water to remove dangerous 24 ________ from the wood. A further suggestion concerns the amount of time taken for the process known as seasoning. However, craftsmen differed in the time they allowed for this.

Questions 25 and 26

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of these factors are mentioned in the passage as possibly having a significant effect on the eventual quality of a violin?

A. The altitude at which a tree is grown
B. The stage of a tree’s growth at which it is cut down
C. The steepness of the mountains where a tree is grown
D. The lack of rain during a tree’s growing period
E. The nutritional composition of the earth in which a tree is grown

• Controversy

  • Definition: A public disagreement or debate about something.
  • Vietnamese: Sự tranh cãi
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "There is considerable controversy surrounding reasons why instruments made by the artisans of Cremona..."

• Artisans

  • Definition: Skilled workers who make things by hand.
  • Vietnamese: Thợ thủ công
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "There is considerable controversy surrounding reasons why instruments made by the artisans of Cremona..."

• Exquisite

  • Definition: Extremely beautiful and carefully made.
  • Vietnamese: Tinh tế, đẹp tuyệt vời
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "...the popular belief that the skills of these Cremonese artisans, combined with either a secret ingredient or undisclosed process, gave their instruments the rich sound so highly admired..."

• Hypothesis

  • Definition: A suggested explanation for something based on evidence, which can be tested.
  • Vietnamese: Giả thuyết
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Scientific theories have included the hypothesis that a secret ingredient was the key..."

• Investigations

  • Definition: Careful examinations or studies to discover facts.
  • Vietnamese: Cuộc điều tra, nghiên cứu
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Recent investigations have suggested that Stradivari used wood from alpine forests."

• Density

  • Definition: The degree of compactness of a material.
  • Vietnamese: Độ dày đặc, mật độ
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Another theory attributes the density of the wood to climatic conditions."

• Attributed to

  • Definition: Said to be the result of a specific cause.
  • Vietnamese: Gán cho, quy cho
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Another theory attributes the density of the wood to climatic conditions during the Maunder Minimum..."

• Deterioration

  • Definition: The process of becoming worse.
  • Vietnamese: Sự xuống cấp, suy thoái
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "...a deterioration in climate was temporally unique."

• Conjunction

  • Definition: A combination or union of events or conditions.
  • Vietnamese: Sự kết hợp
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Furthermore, the conjunction of elevation, topography, soil properties, and a deterioration in climate..."

• Seasoning

  • Definition: The process of preparing wood by drying it to make it suitable for use.
  • Vietnamese: Sự gia công gỗ, phơi khô
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Other theories have focused on the violin-makers’ method of using water to remove dangerous salts from the wood..."

• Salts

  • Definition: Mineral compounds found in natural materials.
  • Vietnamese: Muối khoáng
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Using water to remove dangerous salts from the wood."

• Topography

  • Definition: The physical features of an area, such as hills and valleys.
  • Vietnamese: Địa hình
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The conjunction of elevation, topography, soil properties..."

• Elevations

  • Definition: The height of a place above sea level.
  • Vietnamese: Độ cao
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Wood with high density can, however, be found in trees growing in a variety of habitats and elevation locations."

• Craftsmen

  • Definition: Skilled workers who create or build things by hand.
  • Vietnamese: Thợ thủ công
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "However, craftsmen differed in the time they allowed for the process known as seasoning."

• Unique

  • Definition: Being the only one of its kind, special, or unusual.
  • Vietnamese: Độc nhất, đặc biệt
  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "...the unique sound quality based solely on wood properties is insufficient."

• v
• vii
• vi
• viii
• i
• iii
• ix
• musicians
• castles
• violin-making
• moisture
• A
• D