Giải đề Cambridge IELTS 17 – Test 4 – Reading passage 2 – Does education fuel economic growth?
A. BÀI ĐỌC
Does education fuel economic growth?
A
Over the last decade, a huge database about the lives of southwest German villagers between 1600 and 1900 has been compiled by a team led by Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Economics. It includes court records, guild ledgers, parish registers, village censuses, tax lists and – the most recent addition – 9,000 handwritten inventories listing over a million personal possessions belonging to ordinary women and men across three centuries. Ogilvie, who discovered the inventories in the archives of two German communities 30 years ago, believes they may hold the answer to a conundrum that has long puzzled economists: the lack of evidence for a causal link between education and a country’s economic growth.
B
As Ogilvie explains, ‘Education helps us to work more productively, invent better technology, and earn more … surely it must be critical for economic growth? But, if you look back through history, there’s no evidence that having a high literacy rate made a country industrialise earlier.’ Between 1600 and 1900, England had only mediocre literacy rates by European standards, yet its economy grew fast and it was the first country to industrialise. During this period, Germany and Scandinavia had excellent literacy rates, but their economies grew slowly and they industrialised late. ‘Modern cross-country analyses have also struggled to fnd evidence that education causes economic growth, even though there is plenty of evidence that growth increases education,’ she adds.
C
In the handwritten inventories that Ogilvie is analyzing are the belongings of women and men at marriage, remarriage and death. From badger skins to Bibles, sewing machines to scarlet bodices – the villagers’ entire worldly goods are included. Inventories of agricultural equipment and craft tools reveal economic activities; ownership of books and education related objects like pens and slates suggests how people learned. In addition, the tax lists included in the database record the value of farms, workshops, assets and debts; signatures and people’s estimates of their age indicate literacy and numeracy levels; and court records reveal obstacles (such as the activities of the guilds) that stifled industry.
Previous studies usually had just one way of linking education with economic growth – the presence of schools and printing presses, perhaps, or school enrolment, or the ability to sign names. According to Ogilvie, the database provides multiple indicators for the same individuals, making it possible to analyze links between literacy, numeracy, wealth, and industriousness, for individual women and men over the long term.
D
Ogilvie and her team have been building the vast database of material possessions on top of their full demographic reconstruction of the people who lived in these two German communities. ‘We can follow the same people – and their descendants – across 300 years of educational and economic change,’ she says. Individual lives have unfolded before their eyes. Stories like that of the 24-year-olds Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmüllerin, who were chastised in 1707 for reading books in church instead of listening to the sermon. ‘This tells us they were continuing to develop their reading skills at least a decade after leaving school,’ explains Ogilvie. The database also reveals the case of Juliana Schweickherdt, a 50-year-old spinster living in the small Black Forest community of Wildberg, who was reprimanded in 1752 by the local weavers’ guild for ‘weaving cloth and combing wool, counter to the guild ordinance’. When Juliana continued taking jobs reserved for male guild members, she was summoned before the guild court and told to pay a fine equivalent to one third of a servant’s annual wage. It was a small act of defiance by today’s standards, but it reflects a time when laws in Germany and elsewhere regulated people’s access to labor markets. The dominance of guilds not only prevented people from using their skills, but also held back even the simplest industrial innovation.
E
The data-gathering phase of the project has been completed and now, according to Ogilvie, it is time ‘to ask the big questions’. One way to look at whether education causes economic growth is to ‘hold wealth constant’. This involves following the lives of different people with the same level of wealth over a period of time. If wealth is constant, it is possible to discover whether education was, for example, linked to the cultivation of new crops, or to the adoption of industrial innovations like sewing machines. The team will also ask what aspect of education helped people engage more with productive and innovative activities. Was it, for instance, literacy, numeracy, book ownership, years of schooling? Was there a threshold level – a tipping point – that needed to be reached to affect economic performance?
F
Ogilvie hopes to start finding answers to these questions over the next few years. One thing is already clear, she says: the relationship between education and economic growth is far from straightforward. ‘German-speaking central Europe is an excellent laboratory for testing theories of economic growth,’ she explains. Between 1600 and 1900, literacy rates and book ownership were high and yet the region remained poor. It was also the case that local guilds and merchant associations were extremely powerful and legislated against anything that undermined their monopolies. In villages throughout the region, guilds blocked labor migration and resisted changes that might reduce their influence.
‘Early findings suggest that the potential benefits of education for the economy can be held back by other barriers, and this has implications for today,’ says Ogilvie. ‘Huge amounts are spent improving education in developing countries, but this spending can fail to deliver economic growth if restrictions block people – especially women and the poor – from using their education in economically productive ways. If economic institutions are poorly set up, for instance, education can’t lead to growth.’
B. BÀI TẬP
Questions 14–18
Reading Passage 2 has six sections, A–F.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 14–18 on your answer sheet.
Questions 19–22
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 19–22 on your answer sheet
Demographic reconstruction of two German communities
The database that Ogilvie and her team has compiled sheds light on the lives of a range of individuals, as well as those of their 19. , over a 300-year period. For example, Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmüllerin were reprimanded for reading while they should have been paying attention to a 20. . There was also Juliana Schweickherdt, who came to the notice of the weavers’ guild in the year 1752 for breaking guild rules. As a punishment, she was later given a 21. . Cases like this illustrate how the guilds could prevent 22. and stop skilled people from working.
Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about literacy rates in Section B?
A Very little research has been done into the link between high literacy rates and improved earnings.
B Literacy rates in Germany between 1600 and 1900 were very good.
C There is strong evidence that high literacy rates in the modern world result in economic growth.
D England is a good example of how high literacy rates helped a country industrialise.
E Economic growth can help to improve literacy rates.
23.
24.
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 the following statements does the writer make in Section F about guilds in German-speaking Central Europe between 1600 and 1900?
A They helped young people to learn a skill.
BThey were opposed to people moving to an area for work.
C They kept better records than guilds in other parts of the world.
D They opposed practices that threatened their control over a trade.
E They predominantly consisted of wealthy merchants.
25.
26.
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C. GIẢI THÍCH ĐÁP ÁN
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Questions 14-18: dạng Matching Phrases: Cách làm:
Note:
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14 an explanation of the need for research to focus on individuals with a fairly consistent income Đoạn E giải thích tại sao nghiên cứu cần tập trung vào người với mức thu nhập ổn định trong một khoảng thời gian dài. => Đáp án là E | Đoạn E: This involves following the lives of different people with the same level of wealth over a period of time. If wealth is constant, it is possible to discover whether education was, for example, linked to the cultivation of new crops, or to the adoption of industrial innovations like sewing machines. |
15 examples of the sources the database has been compiled from Đoạn A nói rõ các ví dụ về các nguồn thông tin được tổng hợp lại. Ví dụ như hồ sơ tòa án (court records), đăng ký giáo xứ (parish registers). => Đáp án là A | Đoạn A: Over the last decade, a huge database about the lives of southwest German villagers between 1600 and 1900 has been compiled by a team led by Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Economics. It includes court records, guild ledgers, parish registers, village censuses, tax lists. |
16 an account of one individual’s refusal to obey an order Đoạn D nói về ví dụ của một cá nhân dệt vải và len, điều mà trái với quy định. => Đáp án là D | Đoạn D: The database also reveals the case of Juliana Schweickherdt, a 50-year-old spinster living in the small Black Forest community of Wildberg, who was reprimanded in 1752 by the local weavers’ guild for ‘weaving cloth and combing wool, counter to the guild ordinance’. |
17 a reference to a region being particularly suited to research into the link between education and economic growth Đoạn F nói rõ về khu vực phù hợp với nghiên cứu nói về mối quan hệ giữa giáo dục và phát triển kinh tế. Đó là trung Âu, cộng đồng người nói tiếng Đức. => Đáp án là F | Đoạn F: The relationship between education and economic growth is far from straightforward. ‘German-speaking central Europe is an excellent laboratory for testing theories of economic growth,’ |
18 examples of the items included in a list of personal possessions Trong bài đưa ra các ví dụ về những món đồ thuộc về tài sản cá nhân và những dụng cụ liên quan tới nông nghiệp và công cụ thủ công. => Đáp án là C | Đoạn C: In the handwritten inventories that Ogilvie is analysing are the belongings of women and men at marriage, remarriage and death. From badger skins to Bibles, sewing machines to scarlet bodices […]. Inventories of agricultural equipment and craft tools reveal economic activities; ownership of books and education related objects like pens and slates suggests how people learned. |
Questions 19-22: dạng Summary Completion without a wordlist Cách làm:
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The database that Ogilvie and her team has compiled sheds light on the lives of a range of individuals, as well as those of their _____ , over a 300-year period Ta tìm thấy thông tin đầu đoạn summary ở đoạn D | Đoạn D Ogilvie and her team have been building the vast database of material possessions on top of their full demographic reconstruction of the people who lived in these two German communities. ‘We can follow the same people – and their descendants – across 300 years of educational and economic change,’ she says. |
19 The database that Ogilvie and her team has compiled sheds light on the lives of a range of individuals, as well as those of their _____ , over a 300-year period. Từ loại cần điền là một danh từ, vì đứng sau đại từ sở hữu ‘their’. Database của Ogilvie và đồng đội tìm hiểu về những người ở 2 cộng đồng người Đức và dòng họ của họ, tức là người trong dòng họ. => Đáp án là descendants | Đoạn D: Ogilvie and her team have been building the vast database of material possessions on top of their full demographic reconstruction of the people who lived in these two German communities. ‘We can follow the same people – and their descendants – across 300 years of educational and economic change,’ she says. |
20 For example, Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmüllerin were reprimanded for reading while they should have been paying attention to a _____. Từ loại cần điền là một danh từ số ít, vì đứng sau mạo từ ‘a’. 2 cô gái trong bài đọc bị phạt vì đọc sách thay vì lắng nghe bài thuyết giáo. => Đáp án là sermon | Đoạn D: Stories like that of the 24-year-olds Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmüllerin, who were chastised in 1707 for reading books in church instead of listening to the sermon. |
21 There was also Juliana Schweickherdt, who came to the notice of the weavers’ guild in the year 1752 for breaking guild rules. As a punishment, she was later given a _____ . Từ cần điền là một danh từ, số ít, vì đứng sau mạo từ ‘a’. Trong bài, Juliana phải chịu một hình phạt tương ứng với một phần ba số lương hằng năm. => Đáp án là fine | Đoạn D: The database also reveals the case of Juliana Schweickherdt, a 50-year-old spinster living in the small Black Forest community of Wildberg, who was reprimanded in 1752 by the local weavers’ guild for ‘weaving cloth and combing wool, counter to the guild ordinance’. When Juliana continued taking jobs reserved for male guild members, she was summoned before the guild court and told to pay a fine equivalent to one third of a servant’s annual wage. |
22 Cases like this illustrate how the guilds could prevent _____ and stop skilled people from working. Từ cần điền là một danh từ, nói về việc bang hội có thể ngăn chặn cái gì. Trong bài, tác giả nói rằng những hội nhóm có thể làm cho những người tay nghề cao không làm việc nữa và điều này đã được nhắc lại trong đáp án (prevented people from using their skills tương ứng với stop skilled people from working). Vì vậy, còn một điều nữa là bang hội ngăn chặn (held back … innovation) => Đáp án là innovation | Đoạn D: The dominance of guilds not only prevented people from using their skills, but also held back even the simplest industrial innovation. |
Questions 23-26: dạng List Selection Cách làm:
Note: các đáp án không xuất hiện lần lượt theo thứ tự bài đọc | |
23-24 Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about literacy rates in Section B? | |
Đáp án đúng là B và D
Các cụm từ trong đáp án B đều được paraphrase cụ thể trong đoạn văn. Giải thích đáp án E. Economic growth can help to improve literacy rates. Trong bài có đề cập là mặc dù vẫn chưa có nhiều bằng chứng giáo dục hay cụ thể là tỷ lệ biết đọc biết viết có thể thúc đẩy kinh tế nhưng có nhiều bằng chứng chứng minh là kinh tế thúc đẩy giáo dục. | Between 1600 and 1900, England had only mediocre literacy rates by European standards, yet its economy grew fast and it was the first country to industrialise. During this period, Germany and Scandinavia had excellent literacy rates. Modern cross-country analyses have also struggled to find evidence that education causes economic growth, even though there is plenty of evidence that growth increases education. |
Đáp án A: Very little research has been done into the link between high literacy rates and improved earnings. Trong bài đề cập là có nhiều bằng chứng cho thấy phát triển kinh tế thúc đẩy kinh tế. => Đáp án A là FALSE | There is plenty of evidence that growth increases education. |
Đáp án C: There is strong evidence that high literacy rates in the modern world result in economic growth. Trong bài đề cập là không có nhiều bằng chứng cho thấy tỷ lệ biết đọc, biết viết cao dẫn đến phát triển kinh tế, điều này đối lập với đáp án. => Đáp án C là FALSE | There’s no evidence that having a high literacy rate made a country industrialise earlier. |
Đáp án D: England is a good example of how high literacy rates helped a country industrialise. Thông tin trong đoạn văn đối lập với đáp án. Đoạn văn nói Anh quốc có tỉ lệ biết đọc rất xoàng xĩnh, tầm thường (mediocre), điều này trái ngược với đáp án D — ‘high literacy rates’ (có tỉ lệ biết đọc rất cao). => Đáp án D là FALSE | England had only mediocre literacy rates by European standards, yet its economy grew fast and it was the first country to industrialise. |
25-26 Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make in Section F about guilds in German-speaking Central Europe between 1600 and 1900? | |
Đáp án đúng là B và E
Trong bài đã chỉ ra rõ rằng các hội nhóm ngăn chặn việc di cư lao động.
Đoạn văn đề cập đến việc các hội nhóm kìm hãm những thay đổi có thể làm giảm sức ảnh hưởng của họ. | […] German-speaking central Europe is an excellent laboratory for testing theories of economic growth,’ she explains. Between 1600 and 1900, literacy rates and book ownership were high and yet the region remained poor […] In villages throughout the region, guilds blocked labour migration and resisted changes that might reduce their influence. |
Đáp án A: They helped young people to learn a skill. Thông tin này hoàn toàn không được đề cập trong bài. => Đáp án A là NOT GIVEN | |
Đáp án C: They kept better records than guilds in other parts of the world. Thông tin này hoàn toàn không được đề cập trong bài. => Đáp án C là NOT GIVEN | |
Đáp án E: They predominantly consisted of wealthy merchants. Bài đọc có đề cập “local guilds” (bang hội địa phương) và “merchants associations” (nhóm lái buôn). Tuy nhiên, không có thông tin “local guilds” có phải là tập hợp những thương gia là chủ yếu hay không. => Đáp án E là NOT GIVEN | It was also the case that local guilds and merchant associations were extremely powerful and legislated against anything that undermined their monopolies. |
