Back to the Skyscraper Design: IELTS Reading Answers Topic with Practice Tips

Many candidates say that the IELTS reading section is hard to tackle. This isn’t the truth. If you practice well, you can easily answer the 40 questions that will be asked. But yes, there are some ways to approach these complicated passages. You will read some of these tips in the second last section of this page.

In this article, we have a reading passage for you “Back to the skyscraper design”.

Let’s start reading

Back to the Skyscraper Design Reading Answers

In the sections below you will be learning how to tackle the reading passages along with some quick tips for your IELTS reading preparation.

IELTS Reading Answers Part 1

Professor Alan Short’s book The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture is the product of 30 years of study and award-winning green building development by Short and colleagues at the University of Cambridge’s Departments of Architecture, Technology, Applied Maths, and Environmental Science.

‘The housing construction crisis is already here,’ said Short. ‘Policymakers believe that gadgets can fix electricity and construction challenges. You can’t do that. We will have to waste more and more energy trying to keep our buildings technologically cool as global temperatures increase before we run out of power.’

IELTS Reading Answers Part 2

Short is pushing for a complete overhaul of how skyscrapers and new public buildings are built, in order to eliminate the reliance on enclosed structures that rely entirely on a ‘life support system of massive air conditioning systems to keep them alive.

Instead, he demonstrates that natural ventilation and cooling can be accommodated in massive buildings by going back in time, prior to the mass advent of air conditioning devices, which were ‘relentlessly and vigorously sold’ by their inventors.

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IELTS Reading Answers Part 3

Quick points out that most modern buildings must be enclosed and air-conditioned in order to be habitable. This consumes a lot of energy and emits a lot of carbon dioxide, which is completely needless. Buildings in the West use 40-50 percent of energy, resulting in significant greenhouse emissions, and the rest of the world is rapidly catching up. Short sees concrete, steel, and air-conditioned big buildings as status indicators rather than real solutions to our problems.

IELTS Reading Answers Part 4

Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, Short’s book illustrates an emerging and advanced art and science of ventilating houses, including the construction of ingeniously ventilated hospitals. Those designed by John Shaw Billings, such as the first Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US city of Baltimore, were of special importance (1873-1889).

Short explains, ‘We spent three years digitally modelling Billings’ final prototypes.’ ‘We simulated someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards by putting pathogens* in the airstreams, and we discovered that the air conditioners in the room would have held other patients safe from injury.

IELTS Reading Answers Part 5

‘We found that 19th-century state hospitals could produce up to 24 air changes every hour, which is comparable to a new, computer-controlled operating theatre.’ We assume you might now build words using these concepts.

For some patients, single rooms are not the best option. In today’s hospitals, communal wards suitable for such conditions – for example, elderly adults with dementia – will perform almost as well at a fraction of the energy cost.’

Professor Short claims that the ethos and skillsets that went into these creations have vanished, lamenting the loss of expertly built theatres, opera houses, and other structures where up to half of the space was dedicated to ensuring that everybody got fresh air.

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IELTS Reading Answers Part 6

A panicked population clamouring for structures that could guard against what was believed to be the deadly effect of miasmas – poisonous air that spread disease – drove much of the innovation present in 19th-century hospital and construction architecture. For decades, miasmas were feared as the primary agents of illness and epidemics, and they were used to describe the spread of plague from the Middle Ages to the 1850s cholera outbreaks in London and Paris. Instead of germs, foul air was thought to be the primary cause of ‘hospital fever,’ which resulted in disease and regular death. Hospitals were avoided by the wealthy.

Although the miasma hypothesis has long been debunked, Short has called for a return to some of the building design concepts established in its wake for the past 30 years.

IELTS Reading Answers Part 7

Air conditioning now takes up a significant portion of a building’s space and construction expense. ‘However, over the last three decades, I’ve planned and constructed a collection of buildings that have attempted to recreate some of these theories and then calculate the results.

For some patients, single rooms are not the best option. In today’s hospitals, communal wards suitable for such conditions – for example, elderly adults with dementia – will perform almost as well at a fraction of the energy cost.’

‘If we want to move further into our current low-energy, low-carbon future, we should look back at architecture before our high-energy, high-carbon present.’ What’s shocking is how much of a wealthy heritage we’ve squandered.’

IELTS Reading Answers Part 8

The Queen’s Building at De Montfort University in Leicester is a successful example of Short’s solution. The entire building, which houses up to 2,000 employees and students, is naturally ventilated, passively conditioned, and naturally lit, such as the two main auditoria, which both seat over 150 people. The award-winning structure consumes a percentage of the energy used by equivalent buildings in the United Kingdom.

If climate modelling forecasts and oil price increases come to pass as predicted, glass skyscrapers in London and across the world, according to Short, would become a disadvantage in the next 20 or 30 years.

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IELTS Reading Answers Part 9

He believes that skyscrapers that are properly cooled by the natural world can be built in almost any area. He and his group have operated on hybrid buildings in the extreme climates of Beijing and Chicago, which are constructed with natural convection and backup conditioning systems and can be turned off more than half of the available on gentler days and in the spring and fall. However, over the last three decades, I’ve planned and constructed a collection of buildings that have attempted to recreate some of these theories and then calculate the results.

Short looks at how potential towns, offices, and homes could be reimagined. Maybe it’s time we shifted our perspective.

Back to the Skyscraper Design Reading Answers: Question Types

Vocabulary Questions for IELTS Preparation

1. What is the synonym of “overhaul”?

Ans. Rebuild

2. What is the synonym of “debunk”?

Ans Expose

3. What is the synonym of “squander”?

Ans. Misspend

4. What is the antonym of “equivalent”?

Ans. Dissimilar

Fill in the Gaps for IELTS Preparation

1. ‘The ____ is already here,’ said Short.

Ans. Housing construction crisis

2. He believes that ____ that are properly cooled by the natural world can be built in almost any area.

Ans. Skyscrapers

3. The award-winning structure consumes a percentage of the energy used by equivalent buildings in the ____ .

Ans. United Kingdom

4. What’s shocking is how much of a ____ we’ve squandered.

Ans. Wealthy heritage

5. Instead of germs, foul air was thought to be the primary cause of ‘_____ ,’ which resulted in disease and regular death.

Ans. Hospital fever

6. _____ believe that gadgets can fix electricity and construction challenges.

Ans. Policymakers

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IELTS Preparation Tips for Reading

Skimming and Scanning

Learn to skim and scan lines in order to do well on the IELTS. Skimming is the act of reading the passage to gain a basic understanding of its content. You should do this before responding to questions.

Increase your Reading Speed

This test has a limited time, which will bring the ability to answer the questions quickly to the test. Speed reading practise helps you to find answers quickly. This means that you must be able to quickly scan the passage for specifics.

Don’t Read Each and Every Line

The goal should be to attain the highest band ranking possible. The only task at hand is to find solutions. The plurality of questions test your ability to locate pertinent information and then comprehend the sentence or sentences that stores useful information.

Developing Vocabulary

The vast majority of students fall short of the required band score. They lack the necessary vocabulary to translate a passage. It is critical that you read some vocabulary words on a daily basis and try to use them.

Focus on the Keywords

In questions, keywords are used. These are the words or phrases that form the base of the question. These words must be used to help you locate the information in the passage and determine the right answer.

Enhance Your Grammar Knowledge

Reading tests grammar indirectly. This means that grammar will help you find the right answer. The majority of the students appear at the right place while being unable to identify the solution. This is because they are ignorant of correct grammar.

Conclusion

We hope that by now you have a good understanding of how the reading passages in your IELTS reading question paper would look. Use all of your reading strategies and strive to practise on this passage.

Looking for more reading topics? Visit IELTS Ninja and find all that you need to crack a high band score.

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