Paper-based vs. Computer-delivered IELTS Reading: Practice Tests & Explanations

Reading Passage

[A] Computer technology was supposed to replace paper. But that hasn’t happened. Every country in the Western world uses more paper today, on a per-capita basis, than it did ten years ago. The consumption of uncoated free-sheet paper, for instance the most common kind of office paper — rose almost fifteen per cent in the United States between 1995 and 2000. This is generally taken as evidence of how hard it is to eradicate old, wasteful habits and of how stubbornly resistant we are to the efficiencies offered by computerization. A number of cognitive psychologists and ergonomics experts, however, don’t agree. Paper has persisted, they argue, for very good reasons: when it comes to performing certain kinds of cognitive tasks, paper has many advantages over computers.

[B] The case for paper is made most eloquently in “The Myth of the Paperless Office”, by two social scientists, Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper. They begin their book with an account of a study they conducted at the International Monetary Fund, in Washington, D.C. Economists at the I.M.F. spend most of their time writing reports on complicated economic questions, work that would seem to be perfectly suited to sitting in front of a computer. Nonetheless, the I.M.F. is awash in paper, and Sellen and Harper wanted to find out why. Their answer is that the business of writing reports – at least at the I.M.F. is an intensely collaborative process, involving the professional judgments and contributions of many people. The economists bring drafts of reports to conference rooms, spread out the relevant pages, and negotiate changes with one other. At the end of the process, the author spreads out all the pages with comments on his desk and starts to enter them on the computer.

[C] Without paper, this kind of collaborative and iterative work process would be much more difficult. According to Sellen and Harper, paper has a unique set of “affordances” — that is, qualities that permit specific kinds of uses. Paper is tangible: we can pick up a document, flip through it, read little bits here and there, and quickly get a sense of it. Paper is spatially flexible, meaning that we can spread it out and arrange it in the way that suits the us best. And it’s tailorable: we can easily annotate it, and scribble on it as we read, without altering the original text. Digital documents, of course, have their own affordances. They can be easily searched, shared, stored, accessed remotely, and linked to other relevant material. But they lack the affordances that really matter to a group of people working together on a report.

[D] Paper enables a certain kind of thinking. Picture, for instance, the top of your desk. What covers the rest of the desktop is probably piles. The piles look like a mess, but they aren’t. When a group at Apple Computer studied piling behaviour several years ago, they found that even the most disorderly piles usually make perfect sense to the piler. The pile closest to the cleared working area, for example, generally represents the most urgent business. Piles are living, breathing archives. Over time, they get broken down and resorted; clues about certain documents may be physically embedded by, say, stacking a certain piece of paper at an angle.

[E] But why do we pile documents instead of filing them? Because piles represent the process of active, ongoing thinking. The psychologist Alison Kidd argues that “knowledge workers” use the physical space of the desktop to hold “ideas which they cannot yet categorize or even decide how they might use”. The messy desk is not necessarily a sign of disorganization. It may be a sign of complexity. Kidd writes that many of the people she talked to use the papers on their desks as contextual cues to recover a complex set of threads without difficulty and delay when they come in on a Monday morning. What we see when we look at the piles on our desks is, in a sense, the contents of our brains.

[F] Paper first began to proliferate in the workplace in the late nineteenth century as part of the move toward “systematic management”. To cope with the complexity of the industrial economy, managers were demanding monthly, weekly, or even daily updates from their subordinates. Thus was born the monthly sales report, and the office manual. The typewriter took off in the eighteen-eighties, making it possible to create documents in a fraction of the time, followed by carbon paper, which meant that a typist could create ten copies simultaneously. Paper was important not to facilitate creative collaboration and thought but as an instrument of control.

Questions

Questions 1-6: Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-F from the list below.

List of Headings

I. Paper continued as a sharing or managing must

II. Piles can be more inspiring rather than disorganising

III. Favourable situation that economists used paper pages

IV. Overview of an unexpected situation: paper survived

V. Comparison between efficiencies for using paper and using computer

VI. IMF’ paperless office seemed to be a waste of papers

VII. example of failure for avoidance of paper record

VIII. There are advantages of using a paper in offices

IX. Piles reflect certain characteristics in people’ thought

X. joy of having the paper square in front of computer

Questions 7-10: Complete the following summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Compared with digital documents, paper has several advantages. First it allows clerks to work in a 7. ___________ way among colleagues. Next, paper is not like virtual digital versions, it’s 8. ___________. Finally, because it is 9. ___________ note or comments can be effortlessly added as related information. However, a shortcoming comes at the absence of convenience on task which is for a 10. ___________.

Questions 11-14: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

11. What do the economists from the IMF say that their way of writing documents does?

A. they note down their comments for freedom on the drafts

B. they finish all writing individually

C. they share ideas on before electronic version was made

D. they use electronic version fully

12. What is the implication of the “Piles” mentioned in the passage?

A. they have underlying orders

B. they are necessarily a mess

C. they are in time sequence order

D. they are in alphabetic order

13. What does the manager believe in a sophisticated economy?

A. recorded paper can be as management tool

B. carbon paper should be compulsory

C. Teamwork is the most important

D. monthly report is the best way

14. According to the end of this passage, what is the reason why paper is not replaced by electronic vision?

A. paper is inexpensive to buy

B. it contributed to management theories in western countries

C. people need time for changing their old habit

D. it is collaborative and functional for tasks implement and management

Full Translation of the Reading Passage

[Paragraph A] Computer technology was supposed to replace paper. But that hasn’t happened. Every Western country today uses more paper per capita than it did ten years ago. Office paper consumption in the U.S. rose by nearly 15% between 1995 and 2000. This is often cited as evidence of how difficult it is to eradicate wasteful old habits and the stubborn resistance to the efficiencies of computerization. However, cognitive psychologists and ergonomics experts disagree. They argue that paper persists for good reasons: it offers many advantages over computers for certain cognitive tasks.

[Paragraph B] The case for paper is best presented in “The Myth of the Paperless Office” by Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper. They begin with a study at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Here, economists spend most of their time writing complex reports, a task that would seem perfectly suited for a computer. Yet, the IMF is awash in paper. The answer is that report writing is an intensely collaborative process requiring the professional judgment of many people. They bring drafts into conference rooms, spread out the pages, and negotiate changes. Only at the end does the author enter these comments into the computer.

[Paragraph C] Without paper, this collaborative and iterative work process would be much more difficult. According to the authors, paper has a unique set of “affordances”—qualities that permit specific uses. Paper is tangible: we can pick it up, flip through it, and quickly grasp the gist. Paper is spatially flexible: we can spread it out and arrange it as we please. And it is tailorable: it is easy to annotate and scribble on while reading without altering the original text. Digital documents have their own advantages, such as ease of searching, sharing, and storage, but they lack the affordances that are truly important for a group working together on a report.

[Paragraph D] Paper enables a certain type of thinking. Picture your desk: the rest of it is often covered in piles of paper. These piles look messy, but they are not. Research at Apple shows that even the most disorganized-looking piles often make perfect sense to their owner. The pile closest to the workspace usually represents the most urgent tasks. Over time, they are resorted by chronology or subject.

[Paragraph E] Why do we pile documents instead of filing them? Because piles represent a process of active, ongoing thinking. Psychologist Alison Kidd argues that “knowledge workers” use the physical space of the desktop to hold ideas they cannot yet categorize or decide how to use. A messy desk can be a sign of complexity: people juggling many unresolved ideas cannot organize their papers because they haven’t yet organized the ideas in their heads. Piles serve as contextual cues to recover complex trains of thought without delay after an interruption.

[Paragraph F] Paper began to proliferate in the workplace in the late 19th century as part of the “systematic management” trend. To cope with the complexity of the industrial economy, managers demanded periodic reports from subordinates. The invention of the typewriter and carbon paper helped create documents and copies quickly. At this time, paper was not meant to foster creative collaboration but to act as a tool of control.

Academic Vocabulary Summary

• Per-capita (adj/adv): Per person.

• Eradicate (v): To completely remove or destroy.

• Ergonomics (n): The study of the interaction between people and their working environment.

• Collaborative (adj): Involving cooperation.

• Annotated (adj): Having notes or comments added.

• Iterative (adj): Involving repetition.

• Tangible (adj): Perceptible by touch; physical.

• Spatially flexible (phrase): Flexible in terms of physical space.

• Tailorable (adj): Able to be customized to needs.

• Proliferate (v): To increase rapidly in number.

Answers & Explanations

Questions 1-6: Matching Headings

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