IELTS General Training Reading Practice Test 15

Text A — WESTPORT-CALDERFERRY: PASSENGER & VEHICLE FERRY TIMETABLE

Operating from 1 April to 30 September. Crossings typically take approximately 35 minutes in calm weather. Sailing times have been stable for several seasons and may be relied upon, with the obvious caveat of weather and tide.

Weekday departures from Westport: - 06:30 Commuter sailing (foot passengers and cyclists only — no cars) - 08:00 Standard sailing - 10:30 Standard sailing - 13:00 Standard sailing - 15:30 Standard sailing - 18:00 Late sailing (last sailing back from Calderferry departs at 19:30)

Weekend departures from Westport: generally every 90 minutes from 08:00 to 19:00.

Fares (single): - Foot passenger: £6.50 adult, £3.50 child (5-15), under-5s free - Cyclist with bicycle: £8.00 (additional bicycles in same booking £4.00 each) - Car under 5 metres including driver: £28.00, each additional passenger £6.00 - Motorhome over 5 metres: from £42.00 — must be pre-booked

Important notes: - All vehicle bookings normally include the driver. Passengers in the vehicle are charged separately. - Same-day return: 25% off the second leg when both legs are booked together. - The 06:30 commuter sailing accepts no vehicle bookings of any kind, including motorbikes. - Foot passengers should be at the terminal at least 20 minutes before departure. Vehicle passengers should normally arrive at least 45 minutes before departure. - Bookings made online at westportferry.example are non-refundable but can be transferred to a different sailing within seven days at no extra cost. - During strong westerly winds (Force 6 and above) the service may be cancelled at short notice. Cancellations are announced on the ferry's social media and on local radio. - Pet dogs may travel free of charge on a lead with a foot passenger; assistance dogs are welcome on all sailings.

Text B — WESTPORT HARBOUR: NOTICE TO ALL VISITORS

Westport Harbour is a working harbour. Please observe the following rules at all times for your safety and to allow commercial vessels to operate. The harbour master and the duty staff are available to answer questions during office hours.

Pontoons and quays: - Do not run on the pontoons. Wet surfaces and uneven boards make slips common. - Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult on the pontoons. A buoyancy aid is recommended for all children under 16. - Cycling is not permitted anywhere on the pontoons or on the central quay. Bicycles may be wheeled or chained to the racks beside the harbour office.

Swimming and fishing: - Swimming is strictly prohibited within the harbour walls. The nearest safe swimming beach is Calderbay, 2 km to the east. - Fishing from the public quay is permitted between 06:00 and 22:00. A daily permit (£3.00) is required and can be purchased from the harbour office or from the self-service machine beside the toilet block. Crabs caught must be returned to the water; only fish over the legal size may be kept.

Dogs: - Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times on the pontoons and quays. There is a fenced dog-exercise area at the western end of the car park. Owners are expected to clear up after their dogs and use the bins provided.

Emergencies and reporting: - In the event of any person falling into the water, throw a lifebuoy first; do not enter the water yourself. Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. - Report any oil spillage immediately to the harbour office on VHF Channel 12 or by telephone on 01632 960125.

The harbour office is open daily from 07:00 to 19:00 between April and September, and from 09:00 to 16:00 during the winter months.

Text C — DECKHAND TRAINING: CORE SAFETY PROCEDURES

This document summarises the safety procedures every deckhand must follow on all vessels operated by Westport Maritime Ltd. The procedures typically apply to passenger ferries, harbour workboats, and the company's two pilot launches. The document has been argued to represent the minimum standard and should be read alongside the vessel-specific operations manual held in each wheelhouse.

Personal protective equipment (PPE): - A type-approved lifejacket (150N minimum buoyancy, with crotch strap and integrated whistle) must be worn at all times on the open deck. - A high-visibility waterproof jacket and oilskin trousers are supplied. These must be worn when working on deck in any rainfall above light drizzle, and at all times after dark. - Steel-toecapped, non-slip boots are mandatory on deck. Trainers and open shoes are not permitted under any circumstances. Replacement PPE is issued through the depot stores on production of the worn or damaged item.

Hand signals and communication: - All deck instructions must be confirmed verbally and acknowledged. Hand signals are used only when engine noise prevents speech. - Radio communication uses VHF Channel 16 for emergencies; routine traffic uses Channel 12. Repeat each message word for word until you receive a 'received and understood' reply. - Mobile phones must not be used on deck except during designated breaks.

Lifting and manoeuvring loads: - Use the deck crane for any load over 25 kg. Use mechanical aids for loads between 10 and 25 kg unless a colleague is helping. - Never stand directly under a suspended load. Maintain a clear exclusion zone of at least 3 metres around any load that is being lifted. - A pre-lift briefing is required for any non-standard lift, such as fuel drums, gas bottles, or wheelchair-accessible boarding equipment.

Man-overboard procedure: - Shout 'Man overboard!' and point continuously at the person in the water. Do not look away. If you look away you will lose sight of the casualty within seconds. - The nearest crew member presses the MOB button on the chart plotter, which normally marks the position electronically. - Throw a lifebuoy and a Dan buoy as quickly as possible. The vessel begins a 'Williamson turn' to bring it back to the casualty along its own track.

Text D — REFUELLING AND POLLUTION CONTROL

Refuelling is widely regarded as one of the highest-risk routine operations on board. The following rules generally apply at every refuelling. Crews have been argued to suffer more minor injuries during refuelling than during any other routine task.

Before refuelling begins: - The vessel must be moored securely with at least three fenders along the contact side. - All passengers must be ashore. No cooking, smoking, or naked flames anywhere on the vessel during refuelling. - All electrical equipment that is not essential must be switched off. Bilge pumps must be off but ready to restart. - A fire extinguisher (foam, minimum 6 kg) must be positioned within arm's reach of the refuelling point.

During refuelling: - One crew member operates the nozzle; a second remains in eye contact at all times. - The deckhand operating the nozzle must wear a chemical-resistant glove on the dispensing hand. - Drip trays must be placed beneath every joint in the fuel line, and absorbent pads must be ready. - The tank-vent line must be observed continuously for fuel froth, which indicates the tank is nearly full.

In the event of a spill: - Stop the pump immediately. Notify the harbour office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. - Use absorbent pads to contain the spill on deck. Never use detergent or water to wash diesel into the harbour — this is a criminal offence under the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations and carries unlimited fines. - Complete a spill report within 24 hours and file it with the safety officer. Photographic evidence is attached to the report where it can be taken safely.

A The bicycle helmet is widely regarded as one of those everyday objects whose history is far shorter than most people imagine. Although the safety bicycle in its modern form had emerged in Britain by the late 1880s, almost a century of cycling passed before the bicycle helmet became a serious object of design, manufacture, and law. Early cyclists wore peaked cloth caps or, at most, the leather 'hairnet' worn by competitive racers. The hairnet, a circle of padded leather strips, offered virtually no protection against impact: it absorbed sweat, kept hair out of the rider's eyes, and signalled membership of the racing community more than it shielded the skull.

B Serious attempts to design a protective bicycle helmet began only in the 1970s, prompted by a sharp rise in cycling fatalities in North America as more children began riding bicycles for leisure. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, working with the Bell Helmet Company, set out to develop a lightweight foam-and-plastic helmet that could absorb the energy of a typical fall from a bicycle. The result was the Bell Biker, released in 1975. Its hard polycarbonate outer shell was glued to a thick liner of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, the same material used in disposable coffee cups. EPS crushes on impact and absorbs energy rather than transmitting it to the skull. It is, as a rule, a single-use material — once compressed, it does not recover — and a helmet involved in any serious crash must be replaced.

C The Bell Biker sold modestly at first. Many cyclists considered it unsightly, uncomfortable in warm weather, and unnecessary for the kind of relaxed riding they did. Helmet wearing was nevertheless promoted aggressively by safety campaigners. In Australia, the state of Victoria became the first jurisdiction in the world to make helmet use compulsory for all cyclists, in 1990; the rest of Australia followed within two years. New Zealand followed in 1994. The laws were controversial — and remain so — because of evidence that they tended to discourage cycling overall, particularly among occasional and female cyclists.

D Throughout the 1990s, helmet design evolved rapidly. Ventilation became a priority as more adults began to use bicycles for daily commuting. Manufacturers typically cut deep channels through the EPS to allow air to flow across the rider's scalp, and the rounded 'mushroom' silhouette of the early models gave way to a more aerodynamic shape with a slightly elongated tail. Internal adjustment systems — pioneered by the German company Uvex and refined by other firms — replaced the simple foam pads of the 1980s, allowing one helmet to fit a wide range of head sizes.

E The next major advance was the introduction of the Multi-directional Impact Protection System, or MIPS, developed in Sweden during the 1990s and brought to market in 2001. MIPS adds a thin, low-friction inner liner that allows the outer shell of the helmet to rotate a few millimetres independently of the head during an angled impact. Most real-world bicycle crashes generally involve rotational forces (the rider's head striking the road at an angle, then sliding) rather than the straight vertical drops simulated in early standards tests, and rotational forces are widely thought to be a major cause of concussion and diffuse brain injury. MIPS therefore addresses a kind of risk that conventional EPS alone cannot manage well. The technology has been licensed to most of the major helmet brands.

F Public attitudes to helmet use remain divided. Compulsory helmet laws of the Australian and New Zealand model have been adopted in some Canadian provinces and Spanish regions, but they have been rejected outright in much of mainland Europe. The Netherlands, with cycling rates that dwarf almost every other developed country, has no helmet law and helmet wearing is, as a rule, rare. Dutch public-health officials generally argue that the safest way to reduce cycling injuries is to separate cyclists from motor vehicles using protected lanes — making helmets less important — rather than to require helmets on roads that remain dangerous. The argument has been put forcefully in both academic journals and the international cycling press.

G Today's helmet market is divided between three broad categories. Recreational helmets, sold in supermarkets and high-street sports shops, typically retail for under fifty pounds, prioritise comfort and ventilation, and meet a baseline safety standard such as EN 1078 in Europe or CPSC in the United States. Performance helmets, normally priced from one hundred pounds upwards, are aimed at sport cyclists and add features such as MIPS, deeper ventilation, and aerodynamic shaping for time-trial use. Smart helmets, the newest category, generally integrate rear lights, indicators, crash sensors, and in some cases Bluetooth speakers and a microphone for hands-free communication with mobile phones.

H The bicycle helmet is therefore, in the author's view, both a piece of safety engineering and a small mirror of changing attitudes to risk, public health, and the very purpose of the bicycle itself. It has moved in fifty years from a curiosity to a near-universal expectation in some countries, while remaining almost optional in others — a reminder that even the simplest safety devices typically carry cultural meaning.