IELTS Academic Reading

**Wind Power in the US**
Prompted by the oil crises of the 1970s, a wind-power industry flourished briefly in the United States. But then world oil prices dropped, and funding for research into renewable energy was cut. By the mid 1980s US interest in wind energy as a large-scale source of energy had almost disappeared. The development of wind power at this time suffered not only from badly designed equipment, but also from poor long-term planning, economic projections that were too optimistic and the difficulty of finding suitable locations for the wind turbines…(contd)

The failure during the late 1970s and early 1980s of an attempt to establish a widespread wind power industry in the United States resulted largely from the ...(1) ... in oil prices during this period. The industry is now experiencing a steady ...(2)... due to improvements in technology and an increased awareness of the potential in the power of wind. The wind turbines…(contd)

criticism	success	design	recognition
failure	stability	production costs	scepticism
fall	growth	operating costs	effects
results	costs	decline	enthusiasm

List of headings
1	The Crick and Watson research method
2	Curing bacterial infection
3	The need to test hypotheses
4	How induction works
5	Anticipating outcomes before conducting research
6	Conducting and reporting research
7	The role of hypotheses in scientific investigation
8	Deducing the consequences of hypotheses
9	The claim that scientific method is hypothetico-inductive
10	The unbiased and objective investigator

Example	Answer
Paragraph A	9

Paragraph	Heading
Paragraph C
Paragraph D
Paragraph E
Paragraph F
Paragraph G

The Myth of Scientific Method

Karl Popper, in The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1972, 3rd edition), argued that the nature of scientific method should best be understood as hypothetico-deductive and not, as is generally believed, inductive. Medawar, another proponent of this view, said in 1964 that "Hypotheses are imaginative and inspirational in character"; they are "adventures of the mind".

As an intending researcher, it is important that you should understand these interpretations of the research process so that you do not suffer from a feeling that you are not going about it in the right way.

The fundamental principle of induction as a method of scientific inquiry is in fact flawed - in other words, the notion that the formulation of scientific theory should start with the basic raw evidence of the senses - simple, unbiased observation and recording of what are commonly referred to as 'facts' - is unrealistic. It is a fallacy that scientific method is inductive - that starting from a disorganised collection of factual data a coherent, relevant theory will somehow emerge.

In fact there is no such thing as an unbiased observation. Every observation we make results from what we have seen or otherwise experienced in the past. Scientific research of an experimental or exploratory nature is no different, and starts with some expectation about the outcome. This expectation is what we call a hypothesis. Hypotheses provide the basis and reason for the research and influence the methods adopted. It is with reference to such expectation whether some observations are held to be relevant or not, that some are discarded, and whether particular experiments are carried out. The scientific investigator is not the naive, pure and objective researcher that the myth propagates.

How hypotheses come about varies with individuals, perhaps as a result of inspiration or simply guesswork, but once a hypothesis has been formulated it must be tested rigorously, using the appropriate methodology. A hypothesis, which is a product of the imagination, must be subjected to a strictly logical and rigorous process, based upon deductive argument - hence the term 'hypothetico-inductive'. If predictions derived by deducing certain consequences from a hypothesis are shown to be correct then the hypothesis has been supported and may be retained until some further test disproves it. On the other hand, if the predictions turn out to be wrong then the hypothesis must be discarded or modified accordingly.

The point is that scientists do not wait until they have all the evidence in front of them before they try to work out what it means, unless something is discovered by accident. But even in this situation the researcher has to formulate a hypothesis to be tested before being sure that, for example, a mould might prove to be a successful antidote to bacterial infection. So if you do have some expectation of what your results will show before you even begin to collect data, then don't worry - this is normal.

Although the hypothetico-inductive method describes the logical approach which applies to much research work, it does not describe the psychological processes which may have led to the research in the first place. This is much harder to define and may involve guesses, corrections, false starts and most importantly inspiration, in both the deductive and the hypothetic components. This may not be immediately apparent from reading the final thesis or published papers, which have quite properly been organised into a more sequential and logical order so that the worth of the output may be evaluated independently of the behavioural processes by which it was obtained. A good example of this can be seen in the difference between the academic papers with which Crick and Watson demonstrated the structure of the DNA molecule and Watson's fascinating book The Double Helix (1968) which dramatically described how they actually did it. With this in mind, 'scientific method' may more usefully be understood as a way of writing up research rather than as a way of carrying it out.

YES	if the statement reflects the opinion of the writer
NO	if the statement contradicts the opinion of the writer
NOT GIVEN	if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

	STATEMENT	ANSWER
i	According to Popper, scientific method is not inductive
ii	If a prediction based on a hypothesis is confirmed then the hypothesis is proved to be true
iii	Many people conduct scientific research in the wrong way
iv	Scientific method is more a way of describing research than a way of doing it

	STATEMENT	ANSWER
A	to advise Ph.D students not to do their research dishonestly
B	to explain to Ph.D students how to write a scientific research paper
C	to help Ph.D students by explaining different conceptions of how scientific research is carried out
D	to encourage Ph.D students to conduct research through guesswork and inspiration

The failure during the late 1970s and early 1980s of an attempt to establish a widespread wind power industry in the United States resulted largely from the fall in oil prices during this period. The industry is now experiencing a steady growth due to improvements in technology and an increased awareness of the potential in the power of wind. The wind turbines…(contd)

Paragraph	Heading
Paragraph C	4. How induction works
Paragraph D	7. The role of hypotheses in scientific investigation
Paragraph E	3. The need to test hypotheses
Paragraph F	5. Anticipating outcomes before conducting research
Paragraph G	6. Conducting and reporting research

	*STATEMENT*	*ANSWER*
i	According to Popper, scientific method is not inductive	YES
ii	If a prediction based on a hypothesis is confirmed then the hypothesis is proved to be true	NO
iii	Many people conduct scientific research in the wrong way	NOT GIVEN
iv	Scientific method is more a way of describing research than a way of doing it	YES

	*STATEMENT*	*ANSWER*
A	to advise Ph.D students not to do their research dishonestly
B	to explain to Ph.D students how to write a scientific research paper
C	to help Ph.D students by explaining different conceptions of how scientific research is carried out	Ö
D	to encourage Ph.D students to conduct research through guesswork and inspiration

IELTS Academic Reading

Test Format

Tasks

Text Types

Answers

Example text extract with glossary

Glossary

Example 1: word completion gap fills

Answer

Strategy for word completion

Example 2: matching tasks

Strategy for the matching task

Example 2: matching headings with paragraphs

Example text

Example 3: identifying the writer's opinions

Example 4: multiple choice question

Answer

General Strategies for Reading

Answers for the exercises