IELTS General Training Reading Practice Test 9

Text A — GREENWAY BIKES: PUBLIC BICYCLE-HIRE SCHEME

Greenway Bikes is the city's main docked bicycle-hire scheme. Cycles can be collected and dropped off at any of the 142 docking points scattered across the wider metropolitan area.

How to hire 1. Riders should begin by downloading the Greenway Bikes app and registering a payment card; alternatively, they may tap a contactless bank card on the reader fitted to virtually any docking-station terminal. 2. After choosing a cycle, users normally release it through the app or by typing a five-digit unlock code at the dock. 3. Once you arrive at your destination, the bike should be returned to any Greenway dock. A green indicator light and a soft beep are intended to confirm that the cycle has been correctly redocked.

Tariffs - Standard bicycle: there is no charge for the first 30 minutes of each rental, after which £1.00 is payable for every further 30 minutes (or part thereof). Cycles handed back within roughly five minutes of pick-up at the same station may be taken out again immediately at no further cost. - E-bike (pedal-assist electric model): incurs a £1.50 release fee per hire, plus 12p for every minute thereafter. - Daily pass (which permits unlimited standard hires of up to 30 minutes each and is valid for a 24-hour window): £5.00. - Annual membership: £75.00 — members generally enjoy the first 45 minutes of each hire free.

Rules of use - Users ought to be at least 14 years old. Those aged 14 and 15 must have parental consent registered through the app. - Cycling on pavements is prohibited, except along stretches where the road surface is clearly marked as a shared-use path. - Lamps are pre-fitted and tend to come on automatically; should you notice any defect, please flag it via the app's "Report a problem" feature. Continuing to ride a cycle with a known fault is likely to incur a £50 penalty. - Bikes must be returned within a 24-hour window of pick-up. A cycle not returned in that period will normally attract a £150 non-return fee.

Customer service: 0800 555 6600 (operating around the clock). The lost-property office is based at Riverside Depot, generally open Mon-Fri 09:00 - 17:00.

Text B — VISITOR'S CITY-CENTRE MAP: NOTES AND LANDMARKS

The accompanying map principally shows the central conservation zone of the city, largely contained within the inner ring road. What follows is a brief overview of the chief features and how they may be reached on foot or by bicycle.

The river Avenne flows from east to west across the map. It is crossed by five road bridges and two crossings reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. Of those pedestrian crossings, Old Mill Bridge is positioned to the west and Westgate Bridge to the east — note that the westernmost bridge simply labelled "Old Mill" is restricted to pedestrians and cyclists only; motor traffic must use the parallel road bridge located approximately a hundred metres downstream.

Cathedral Square, sitting at the very heart of the map, houses the cathedral, the visitor information point, and the principal bus stop serving suburban routes. The square is largely car-free at all times, with the sole exception of delivery vehicles, which are permitted between 06:00 and 08:00. A small Greenway Bikes docking station sits at the south-east corner.

The Theatre Quarter occupies the area immediately south of the river, bordered by Riverside Walk to the north, Bell Street to the south, Castle Hill to the west, and Bishop's Lane to the east. It contains three theatres, several restaurants, and a Saturday street market that runs from 09:00 to 16:00.

The Old Town sits on the steep ground north of Cathedral Square. The lanes here tend to be narrow and are frequently cobbled. Cyclists are advised to dismount and walk their bikes through the cobbled stretch between Mason's Court and the Castle Gate. The Castle itself, dating from the twelfth century, stands at the highest point of the Old Town; access is on foot only.

Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the conservation area via the "CityFree" network — simply connect through your device's Wi-Fi settings. No password is required, although a brief acceptance of terms is normally requested on the first connection of each day.

Text C — STANDARD FREELANCE CONTRACT FOR PEMBROKE DESIGN STUDIO: KEY CLAUSES

What follows is a summary of the standard freelance agreement that Pembroke Design Studio uses for individual designers, illustrators, and photographers engaged on a project basis. This overview is provided for guidance only; the complete contract remains the binding document.

Engagement The freelancer is engaged as a self-employed contractor rather than as an employee, and is therefore broadly responsible for arranging his or her own tax, national insurance, pension, and insurance cover. The freelancer also warrants that they hold valid professional-liability insurance providing cover of not less than £1,000,000 for the duration of the assignment.

Scope of work The scope is laid out in an attached Statement of Work (SoW), which ought to be agreed in writing by both parties before any work commences. Any change to the scope — whether it amounts to a reduction, an addition, or a substantial revision of style — must be recorded in a written variation signed by both sides. Verbal or email-only requests for additional work will not be invoiced unless subsequently confirmed in writing.

Fees and payment Fees are normally quoted exclusive of VAT and any other applicable taxes. Payment is settled by bank transfer within 30 calendar days of receipt of a correctly drafted invoice. Invoices must reference the project code provided in the SoW. Late payment beyond 60 days entitles the freelancer to charge statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (or its successor).

Expenses Pre-agreed expenses (covering items such as travel, model fees, and location hire) are reimbursed at cost on production of receipts. Standard-class rail travel is the default. Expenses ought to be pre-approved in writing by the studio's project manager — unapproved expenses are unlikely to be reimbursed.

Intellectual property Subject to full payment of all fees, intellectual property in the deliverables passes to Pembroke Design Studio on either first publication or final delivery, whichever occurs earlier. The freelancer largely retains the right to display the work in their portfolio for the purposes of seeking further work, except where the client has expressly designated the project as confidential.

Confidentiality The freelancer agrees to keep confidential all information relating to clients, projects, fees, and creative briefs disclosed in the course of the engagement. This obligation survives the end of the engagement.

Text D — STANDARD FREELANCE CONTRACT: TERMINATION AND DISPUTES

Termination by either party Either party may terminate this agreement at any time by giving 14 days' written notice to the other. On termination, the freelancer will be paid for all work properly completed up to the date of termination, including a fair proportion of any partly completed work.

Termination by the studio for cause The studio may terminate the engagement immediately, and without payment for outstanding work, if the freelancer: - materially breaches any term of this agreement; - fails to meet a written deadline by more than five working days without prior written agreement; - delivers work of substantially lower quality than the freelancer's portfolio would suggest; - breaches confidentiality obligations.

Termination by the freelancer The freelancer may terminate the engagement immediately if the studio fails to pay a correctly drafted invoice more than 30 days after it falls due, having first given the studio 14 days' written notice of their intention to do so.

Disputes and governing law Both parties broadly agree to attempt mediation through a recognised mediation service before commencing court proceedings. This agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Force majeure Neither party is liable for failures arising from events outside their reasonable control, including (but not limited to) natural disasters, public-health emergencies, prolonged power failure, and acts of government. The affected party should notify the other in writing as soon as is reasonably practicable and use reasonable efforts to mitigate the impact.

Signing The contract is executed in two original counterparts, with one copy held by each party. Electronic signatures (provided they are produced through a recognised e-signature platform) are accepted as equivalent to handwritten signatures.

A The greenhouse — a transparent structure designed to admit sunlight while retaining heat — is one of those everyday objects whose history reveals an unexpectedly grand story. The principles on which it works were understood, in piecemeal form, in the ancient world; the techniques that made it practical did not exist for another two thousand years; and its transformation from a curiosity of botanical research into a global industry has reshaped agriculture and altered what we are able to eat in winter. Like the wristwatch and the public park, the greenhouse is technology so familiar that its origins are easily overlooked.

B Roman gardeners are sometimes credited with the earliest "greenhouse," though the structures they built reportedly bore little resemblance to the modern article. The Roman writer Columella describes the use of carts mounted on wheels, fitted with thin sheets of selenite or mica, which were rolled outside during the day and returned to a heated shed at night. These were used to grow cucumbers out of season for the emperor Tiberius. The crucial idea — that a transparent covering could trap solar heat — was already present, but the materials available largely limited what could be done with it. Selenite is fragile, mica is opaque around the edges, and large glass panes were not yet possible.

C The European Renaissance saw the development of orangeries — heated buildings, often architecturally splendid, designed to overwinter potted orange, lemon, and other tender trees brought back from the Mediterranean. The seventeenth-century orangery at Versailles is widely held to be the most famous example: a vast stone gallery with tall, south-facing windows, heated by stoves at the back, in which the king's collection of one thousand orange trees spent the cold months. The orangery did not yet permit cultivation under glass: trees lived outside in summer and indoors in winter, and most of the building was opaque masonry. But the orangery established the social prestige of being able to produce out-of-season fruit, and made the cost of doing so seem reasonable to wealthy patrons.

D The decisive development is taken to be the iron-and-glass greenhouse of the early nineteenth century. Cheap cast iron, machine-rolled glass, and the development of putty made it possible for the first time to construct large transparent structures at reasonable cost. The early masters of the form were British landed aristocrats and their gardeners, who built enormous heated structures at country houses for the cultivation of pineapples, melons, and orchids — fruits and flowers that signalled colonial reach as well as botanical skill. Public botanical gardens commissioned ever larger glasshouses: the Palm House at Kew, opened in 1848, is among the most celebrated.

E A particular figure deserves attention: Joseph Paxton, head gardener to the Duke of Devonshire, who built the Great Conservatory at Chatsworth between 1836 and 1840. The Great Conservatory was at the time regarded as the largest glass building in the world, with a cast-iron ridge-and-furrow roof designed to maximise the angle at which winter sunlight struck the glass. The experience of building it directly informed Paxton's design for the Crystal Palace, the iron-and-glass structure put up in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851 — and through it, arguably an entire vocabulary of nineteenth-century architecture.

F Greenhouses in the late nineteenth century divided into two streams. On the one hand, ever-grander botanical conservatories — at Kew, in Belgium, in Glasgow — pursued the prestige tradition. On the other, commercial growers began to build modest but functional glasshouses on the outskirts of cities, producing fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuces for the urban middle class. The Lea Valley north of London became a major producer; so did parts of the Netherlands. Coal-fired boilers heated the houses, and growing seasons could now extend well beyond the natural calendar.

G The twentieth century industrialised commercial greenhouse production. Improved heating systems, the introduction of polyethylene film in the 1950s as a cheaper alternative to glass, the development of hydroponics (cultivation without soil, in nutrient solutions), and computer-controlled environmental management transformed the economics. Today, the Netherlands — a small country whose climate is in many ways inhospitable to vegetable cultivation — is one of the world's largest exporters of fresh produce, almost all of it grown under glass or plastic in the so-called "Westland" greenhouse cluster south-west of The Hague. Spain's Almería province, the "sea of plastic," is comparable in scale.

H The greenhouse of the twenty-first century is, increasingly, urban. So-called vertical farms — multi-storey greenhouses lit largely by LEDs — are being built in city centres, recycling water, producing salads with a fraction of the water and land of field cultivation, and selling locally to reduce transport. These structures are no longer architecturally splendid: they tend to look like warehouses, often without windows. But the principle is the same as that demonstrated by Tiberius's cucumber carts: a controlled, transparent (or now luminous) environment in which plants can be grown out of season and out of place. What began as a curiosity has become, in some scenarios, a glimpse of how cities might feed themselves in a hotter and more crowded century.