SECTION 1 Questions 1-14
Read the text and answer Questions 1-7

Looking after Your Feet

During Summer
 
With the arrival of warmer weather, many of us will be baring feet that have spent all winter hidden inside shoes and socks. If you haven’t kept up a foot-care regime over the winter months, get one started as soon as possible!
 
Dry or rough skin can be made smooth and supple by exfoliating with Scholl Rough Skin Remover, then moisturising with Scholl Deep Moisturising Cream or Scholl Re-Hydrating Moisture Mousse. Dull or discoloured nails can be given a fresh summer look with Scholl Healthy Nails, Nail Brightening System.
 
In hot weather, feet are likely to perspire more. Apart from potential odour problems, this leads to conditions that allow bacteria and fungi to thrive. Keep your feet cool and hygienic by:
 
• Wearing cotton socks whenever you have shoes on. Cotton absorbs perspiration, allowing your feet to breathe.
• Choosing shoes with leather lining. This will also help to absorb perspiration and help your feet from becoming too hot.
• Allow your feet maximum exposure to fresh air by not wearing shoes or socks at all when relaxing at home. Please note, if you have diabetes or circulatory problems, going bare-foot is not recommended because of the increased risk of cuts or abrasions going unnoticed.
 
Footwear
 
Many types of summer footwear - such as sandals or flip-flops - are associated with particular foot problems. By offering limited support and inadequate padding, some types of summer footwear can cause pain in the soles and ankles. Open-backed footwear can leave your heels prone to cracking. Shoes with an open design on top can leave the delicate skin on your upper foot exposed to the sun.
 
• Footwear with straps or thongs between the toes can lead to friction and blisters.
 
On Holiday
 
Going on holiday rarely involves a break for our feet. Trips to hot, dry climates increase the likelihood of dry skin, cracked heels and increased perspiration. Often, our footwear changes from the well-worn and comfortable to newly-purchased sandals or flip-flops. This can cause friction that leads to blisters and other painful problems. When packing your bags, remember to pop a few foot care products in with your beachwear and sunhat.
 
Feet get sunburned too!
 
It’s easy to forget about the skin on the tops of your toes, upper feet and ankles. But its thin nature and the fact it’s usually protected by shoes and socks makes it especially susceptible to sunburn. Best, therefore, to use the same type of high-factor cream you’d use on your face. A few weeks before your holiday, start up an exfoliating and moisturising regime and start trimming your toenails on a regular basis. If your journey will involve a flight lasting four hours or more, don’t forget Scholl Flight Socks. Evidence suggests flights of this duration or longer may increase the risk of developing a DVT.
 
During Winter
 
The cold weather of winter can lead to a variety of health implications for your feet. The extremities of the body - such as toes - are more susceptible to losing heat, particularly if you have circulatory problems.
 
Wearing thicker socks and shoes that provide an adequate layer of insulation from ground-chill are obvious precautions. Natural materials, especially cotton or wool, will help prevent the build-up of moisture in your shoes, so depriving bacteria and fungi of the conditions they need to spread.
 
Take care not to warm up chilly feet too quickly - by placing them in hot water, for instance. This can cause chilblains, a painful condition that arises when heat causes the blood to start flowing too quickly for the surrounding blood vessels to cope with. The resulting leakage into the surrounding tissue then causes itchy, red areas of swelling.
 
Because your feet are likely to spend large amounts of time hidden in shoes and socks during the winter, it’s important to maintain a foot-care regime. While washing, drying, exfoliating and moisturising, keep a careful watch for the early signs of problems, such as the build-up of hard skin that can lead to a callus or a discolouring of the nails which can be the first signs of a fungal infection. 
 

 

 

 

Read the text and answer Questions 8-14 

Gym safety

It is essential to follow certain safety tips while you are out at your fitness center. This will assure your safety during workouts while avoiding injuries and/or other complications. It is imperative that you adhere to your physician's/fitness therapist's guidelines before taking up any workouts. Check out vital gym safety tips.
 
Check your fitness before you start up any strength-training program. You might have to modify or avoid weightlifting if you have muscle or joint problems, seizure disorders, heart disease, high blood pressure, previous injuries or any other physical condition with potential for danger.
 
One of the cardinal principles of gym safety is to never work out when you are tired or ill. You can worsen your situation or injure yourself.
 
Warm up before any aerobic workout, as it involves repetitive exercise that increases your heart rate. Stretch your muscles before putting them through a strenuous workout. Follow your brief warm-up with some stretches. Do not injure your muscles without preparing them adequately.
 
Don't rush into any sport or exercise without warming up first - muscles that haven't been properly prepared tend to be injured more easily. Start out with some light cardiovascular activities, such as easy jogging, jumping jacks, or brisk walking, just to get your muscles going.
 
Do not lift weights jerkily. This can lead to muscle injuries. Do your exercises in a slow and controlled manner. Increase weights gradually. Use safety collars when working out on squats, bench presses, curls and dumbbells. This will ensure that weight plates don't slip off and cause an injury. Use a weight belt, wraps, straps and gloves to support heavy lifts. This protects your lumbar region. Knee wraps prevent injury to your tendons and ligaments.
 
Using the proper lifting form is important not only to work your muscles correctly, but also to prevent injury. Always do your exercises through a full range of motion in a slow, controlled manner.
 
Don't hold your breath while lifting weights, it can cause inter-abdominal pressure that can lead to hernia. Breathe out as you exert yourself and breathe in as you relax and let weight back down. Repeat exercise routines steadily to benefit from the workout. Lift weights with control and not explosively.
 
Don't lean heavily on the stair-stepper rails. Leaning heavily on the stair-stepper rails will place unnecessary weight on your wrists and back. Unnecessary leaning can cause injuries to your wrists and back.
 
Drink water while you workout. This prevents dehydration and aids better workout performance. Stop your gym activity if you experience dizziness, fainting or change in heart rhythm. Any significant increase or drop in blood pressure must not be ignored. A critical gym safety tip is to discontinue the fitness activity if you feel tightness in the chest or shoulders and surrounding areas.
 
Replace gym equipment in the right place after you are done with them. Leaving them around can injure other gym members. Always use the collars that prevent weights from falling off the barbells. Keep your hands away from chains, cams, pulleys, and weight plates of exercise machines when they are in use. Use gym equipment after wiping them. Wash your hands after your workout. This may reduce your chance of catching any virus.
 
 

SECTION 2 Questions 15-27
Read the text and answer Questions 15-21

Fitness Trends

The annual worldwide survey by the American College of Sports Medicine into fitness trends, shows the growing demand for educated and experienced fitness professionals claimed the top spot for the fourth consecutive year.
 
The survey, now in its fifth year, was distributed to ACSM-certified health and fitness professionals worldwide and was designed to reveal trends in various fitness environments.
 
The top ten fitness trends predicted for next year are given below.
 
A Fitness programmes for older adults. As the baby boom generation ages into retirement, some of these people have more discretionary money than their younger counterparts. Therefore, many health and fitness professionals are taking the time to create age-appropriate fitness programmes to keep older adults healthy and active.
 
B Strength training. Strength training remains a central emphasis for many health clubs. Incorporating strength training is an essential part of a complete physical activity programme for all physical activity levels and genders.
 
C Children and obesity. With childhood obesity growing at an alarming rate, health and fitness professionals see the epidemic as an opportunity to create programmes tailored to overweight and obese children. Solving the problem of childhood obesity will have an impact on the health care industry today and for years to come.
 
D Personal training. More and more students are studying sport and exercise science, which indicates that students are preparing themselves for careers in allied health fields such as personal training. Education, training and the possession of recognized qualifications for personal trainers has become increasingly important to the health and fitness facilities that employ them.
 
E Core training. Distinct from strength training, core training specifically emphasizes conditioning of the middle-body muscles, including the pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen - all of which provide needed support for the spine.
 
F Exercise and weight loss. In addition to nutrition, exercise is a key component of a proper weight loss programme. Health and fitness professionals who provide weight loss programmes are increasingly incorporating regular exercise and calorific restriction for better weight control in their clients.
 
G Boot camp. Boot camp is a high-intensity structured activity programme modeled after military style training and led by an instructor. Boot camp incorporates cardiovascular, strength, endurance and flexibility drills in both indoor and outdoor settings.
 
H Functional fitness. This is a trend toward using strength training to improve balance and ease of daily living. Functional fitness and special fitness programmes for older adults are closely related.
 
I Physician referrals. Physician referrals partner medical and health and fitness professionals to allow the simple integration of exercise into patients’ lives.

 

 

 

 

Read the text and answer Questions 22 - 27 

Detoxify the Mind

The new year is traditionally a time when people reflect on the past year and make plans for the future. It provides a perfect opportunity to make meaningful changes which can improve our mental health - or “detoxify the mind”, as some describe it. This process can help us to draw a line under the difficulties faced in the previous year and start the new year afresh.
 
The central idea behind detoxifying the mind is to actively challenge the negative thoughts - or “cognitions” - that build up and affect the way we view ourselves and our lives. It encourages people to look back and learn from their experiences and then move forward in their lives.
 
Some people are more susceptible to viewing things in a negative way than others, but everyone can benefit from taking steps to free themselves of the past hurts and worries that continue to live with them. Remember that it’s normal to be upset sometimes and to have difficulty with aspects of your life. But normal troubles become toxic when they dominate your thoughts, preventing you from making the most of the opportunities you are presented with.
 
There are several steps individuals can take to help themselves. One way is to look back over the past year and write down the things that happened that were troublesome or upsetting, the events that caused you adversity. Try to recall the worries you had. Look at the list. Rather than focusing on the negative aspects of the problems, how did you cope with them? What could you have done differently and what did you do that was good? When there were problems, or you found it difficult to deal with something, what ways could you have reframed the situation to make it easier to deal with?
 
There are bound to be some events that were out of your control, but what is central to this method is developing the understanding that there are helpful and unhelpful ways to react to most situations. How you choose to react to adversity is what is important - much more than what actually happened.
 
Now make a list of all the things that went well for you last year. Don’t just rely on your memory, particularly if you’ve had a difficult year, as you will fail to recall many good events. Systematically look back over diaries or calendars. Note down achievements, things you did that you enjoyed, that made you happy and brought happiness to others around you. Accept that some things were difficult, but admit that there were good times too. Try to learn from the difficulties and how you coped with them, rather than letting them cast a shadow over the next year.
 
Make your New Year’s resolution something positive - aim to start or do something new, rather than give something up. I’m a great fan of volunteering. It can provide structure, as well as getting you out of the house to meet new people. It also challenges you in unexpected and different ways and can give you a tremendous sense of self-worth. Learn something new and boost your confidence by showing yourself what you are capable of achieving when you put your mind to it.
 
Remember that looking after your physical health will have a direct impact on your mental health. Eating well and exercising are important but so is avoiding alcohol, which is a depressant, particularly if you are prone to low moods. In the short term, alcohol may well provide respite from negative feelings, but in the long term, it only makes them worse.
 
People often have emotional baggage which impacts on their day-to-day functioning, but which they can do little about because it’s in the past. A difficult childhood or resentment over the way a relationship ended, for example, can easily become something that defines someone, rather than being just a difficult or upsetting episode that they can move on from.
 
If you find yourself bogged down by negative thoughts and emotions and battle with low mood, remember that depression is a treatable condition and is not your fault. Ask for help - this isn’t being weak; it’s taking a positive step to taking back control of your life. Your GP can help by referring you for talking therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). There are a number of good books available which can help reframe the way you think about situations and help you tackle problems. Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think, by Christine Padesky and Dennis Greenberger, is an excellent and very popular self-help manual based on the CBT model, with the aim of helping you think more positively. For baby-boomers, there is a great guide in making the most of life called Too Young to Get Old by Christine Webber. So good luck and have a happy and healthy new year.
 
 

SECTION 3 Questions 28 - 40
Read the text and answer Questions 28 - 40

Healthy Food?

A The shelves of every supermarket are packed with probiotic yogurts that can supposedly ease constipation and fend off infections, butter substitutes that claim to reduce cholesterol, tomato extracts said to keep skin looking young while warding off cancer, infant cereals enhanced with micronutrients essential for development, and so on. Have food companies taken on a higher level of morality or are there other motives for this concern over the health value of their produce?
 
B Food companies have taken to trumpeting the supposed health and nutritional benefits of their products for several reasons. Such products may appeal both to health-conscious buyers and to people who know they eat unhealthily, but hope that some vitamins here and some probiotics there might compensate for the junk. Best of all, from the food companies’ point of view, these “functional foods”, which blur the line between foods and drugs, hold out the promise of higher margins and faster growth. In western Europe sales of functional foods grew by 10.2% a year between 2006 and 2009, for example, whereas sales of packaged food grew by 6.3%. That is why Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, is making a big bet on functional foods as a source of future growth.
 
C All this has attracted the attention of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. They are concerned that some of these health claims may be misleading or unsupported by evidence, and are tightening the rules. On October 20th America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would overhaul the rules for nutritional claims on food labels and issue new standards early next year. It has already rebuked General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, a popular breakfast cereal, for claiming that it is “clinically proven to lower cholesterol”. The European Food Safety Authority is also cracking down, requiring companies to back up health and nutrition claims with scientific studies. Hundreds of applications submitted to its scientific panel have just been turned down. The panel has decided that there is not enough evidence to claim that, for instance, heather helps you sleep, dried cocoa extract helps you lose weight, quinoa makes your hair grow and Jerusalem artichokes make your gut healthy.
 
D Many in the industry are howling that these rules are heavy-handed, given that most of their products are perfectly safe and that some health claims go back decades or more. Demanding expensive studies to justify such claims will stifle innovation, they argue, and tilt the playing field against smaller firms, which will be unable to afford them. Surely, they say, firms that find profit in adding iron, iodine, zinc and vitamins to their products, or cutting levels of high-fructose corn syrup or saturated fat, ought to be applauded, not denounced. Many food brands started off as a means of reassuring customers that products were trustworthy. The desire to defend their brands gives food firms a strong incentive to ensure that their products are safe.
 
E The situation now however is that food companies are claiming their products provide specific benefits-not merely that they are safe to eat. Ordinary folk cannot tell whether health claims made by food marketers are scientifically valid, so there is a case for regulatory scrutiny of such claims. What’s more, even though it is difficult to imagine someone being harmed by eating too much breakfast cereal or yogurt, say, there is a risk of harm if health claims made about functional foods encourage people to see them as substitutes for drugs or lifestyle changes they may need. A few helpings of vegetables will do more good than any probiotic yogurt.
 
F A lesson from the drugs industry is that industry-funded studies have a clear tendency to produce results that please their sponsors. So food companies should have to register all studies and publish even those with unfavourable results. Clear guidelines on labelling are also important. To its credit, the FDA recently proposed rules that would force food companies to publish all the important components of their products on the front of their packages, rather than picking out the healthy ones and keeping quiet about the fat, salt and sugar.
 
G The industry’s claim that greater scrutiny will kill innovation is off the mark. Those firms making misleading claims will suffer; those prepared to invest in proper scientific studies to back up their supposed breakthroughs will benefit. And in pharmaceuticals, smaller firms seem to be more innovative than bigger ones. If food companies wish to make the sorts of claims about their products that pharmaceutical companies do, they must be prepared to submit to similar scrutiny. Extraordinary claims, after all, require extraordinary evidence. 

 

Questions 1-7
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

As soon as you can you should begin a  of foot-care.

The Nail Brightening System is for nails which have lost their shine or become .

In summer, you can keep your feet cooler by using .

Your heals are more likely to crack if you wear  shoes.

You should start cutting your toenails regularly shortly before .

In winter, you can stop bacteria building up by wearing socks made of .

There is a risk of  developing if you warm up your feet too quickly. 


Questions 8-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information 
FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information 
NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

You should not do any weightlifting if you have heart disease.

If you are tired it is better to skip your gym session.

Stretching your muscles can increase your heart rate.

Gentle walking is an adequate warm-up activity for some people.

You should wear a belt when lifting heavy weights.

When using the stepping machine use the hand rails to help you as much as you like.

It's a good idea to clean your hands between exercises.



Questions 15-21
The text contains nine sections, A -1.
Which section contains the following information?

a trend aimed at strengthening back muscles 

a trend involving a combination of diet and exercise

a trend requiring more certified trainers

a trend which should be a part of all fitness programmes 

a trend aimed at helping people undergoing care 

a problem which is increasing quickly

a trend aimed at helping people carry out their normal activities 


Questions 22 - 27
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

'Detoxing' the mind
helps people to learn from their past 
is the starting point for planning for the future 
makes it easier to forget bad experiences

The time to get concerned about your problems is
when the problem starts to occur 
when they fill your mind 
when they guide your thinking

When reflecting on negative situations, the writer suggests asking yourself
why they happened to you
who was really responsible for them
how you could have thought about them differently

Volunteering can be useful because it
takes your mind off your problems 
allows you to discover yourself 
is a great way to make new friends

Regardng emotional baggage,
there is little we can do about it 
it needs to be treated day by day 
it should not grow out of proportion

CBT is
a treatment for people with depression 
a therapy for people with negative thoughts 
is available to anyone with negative thoughts



Questions 28 - 40
The text has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

i Food companies should benefit from additional regulation
ii The need for clarity between food and medicine
iii The main reason behind the shift towards functional foods
iv Similarities between the pharmaceutical and the food industries
v The food industry’s case for less regulation
vi A new trend in food production
vii More transparency in the results of food research
vii Demands for food companies to be more accountable
















Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information 
FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information 
NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

Food companies are investing in functional foods because they are healthier.

The FDA is going to revise the legislation on food labels next year.

The food industry welcomes the regulators new demands.

Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

For many people it is now difficult to  the information given by food producers is true or not.

New FDA legislation forces companies to put both healthy and unhealthy  on the front of their products.

The food industry must accept the same level of as the pharmaceutical industry if it wishes to
make similar claims.


Section 1

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IELTS Academic Test With Answers ( Vol 2 )