Cambridge IELTS 12

Music and the emotions

Neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer considers the emotional power of music. Why does music make us feel? ..

Sep 29,2017
Collecting as a hobby

Collecting must be one of the most varied of human activities, and it's one that many of us psychologists find fascinating. Many forms of collecting have been dignified with a technical name: an archtophilist collects teddy bears, a philatelist collects postage stamps, and a deltiologist collects po..

Sep 29,2017
The lost city

An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon of the Inca civilisation. When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was ready for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of the remote hinterl..

Sep 29,2017
The intersection of health sciences and geography

While many diseases that affect humans have been eradicated due to improvements in vaccinations and the availability of healthcare, there are still areas around the world where certain health issues are more prevalent. ..

Sep 29,2017
The risks agriculture faces in developing countries

Two things distinguish food production from all other productive activities: first, every single person needs food each day and has a right to it; and second, it is hugely dependent on nature...

Sep 29,2017
The benefits of being bilingual

According to the latest figures, the majority of the world’s population is now bilingual or multilingual, having grown up speaking two or more languages. In the past, such children were considered to be at a disadvantage compared with their monolingual peers...

Sep 29,2017
Flying tortoises

An airborne reintroduction programme has helped conservationists take significant steps to protect the endangered Galapagos tortoise. Forests of spiny cacti cover much of the uneven lava plains that separate the interior of the Galapagos island of Isabela from the Pacific Ocean...

Sep 29,2017
What's the purpose of gaining knowledge?

‘I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any subject'. That was the founders motto for Cornell University, and it seems an apt characterization of the different university, also in the USA, where I currently teach philosophy...

Sep 29,2017
Bring back the big cats

It's time to start returning vanished native animals to Britain, says John Vesty There is a poem, written around 598 AD, which describes hunting a mystery animal called a llewyn. But what was it? Nothing seemed to fit, until 2006, when an animal bone, dating from around the same period, was found ..

Sep 29,2017
The history of glass

From our earliest origins, man has been making use of glass. Historians have discovered that a type of natural glass - obsidian - formed in places such as the mouth of a volcano as a result of the intense heat of an eruption melting sand - was first used as tips for spears...

Sep 29,2017