IELTS Real Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 4 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Luyện tập đề IELTS Real Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 4 được lấy từ cuốn sách Real Test 2025 - Q2 với trải nghiệm thi IELTS trên máy và giải thích đáp án chi tiết bằng Linearthinking, kèm answer key và list từ vựng IELTS cần học trong bài đọc.
IELTS Real Reading Test 2025 - Q2 Test 4 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 1
Question 1 - 4
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1
One of the reasons for building the castle is to make history more accessible to the general public.
2
Guyot was reluctant to abandon his original idea in favour of a more realistic project.
3
The lime-burners did not live long because their bodies were damaged by the extreme heat.
4
The bricks used to be laid in different ways to lessen the impact of an attack.
Question 5 - 7
Choose THREE letters, A-F.
The list below gives reasons why the castle may be taking a long time to build. Which THREE reasons are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A
the reluctance of workers to commit themselves to the project
B
the lengthy training programmes the workers have to do
C
having to abide by modern employment regulations
D
the inability of committee members to reach any decisions
E
tourists who come and visit the site
F
the number of unskilled workers employed
G
having to do everything by hand
H
the difficulty of finding authentic raw materials
Question 8 - 13
Complete the flow chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
How the limestone is extracted and used
STEP 01
The drill rows of .
STEP 02
are used.
STEP 03
The result is that the rock eventually .
STEP 04
Once extracted, the limestone
STEP 05
is made into
STEP 06
or, through a process, can be used to make quicklime.
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 2
Question 14 - 17
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G
14
a reason why new forests provide howlers with better feeding opportunities than older forests
15
a reference to a change in farmers’ attitudes towards wildlife
16
a description of the means by which howlers select the best available diet for themselves
17
figures relating to the reduction of natural wildlife habitat over a period of time
Question 18 - 21
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Why do howlers have an advantage over other Central American monkeys?
Howler monkeys have a more rapid rate of than either capuchin or spider monkeys. Unlike the other local monkey species, howlers can survive without eating , and so can live inside a relatively small habitat area. Their diet is more flexible, and they are able to tolerate leaves with high levels of . Howlers can also survive periods of better than the other monkey species can.
Question 22 - 26
Look at the following statements and the list of locations below.
Match each statement with the correct location, A-C.
Write the correct letter, A-C.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
List of Findings
A
Hacienda La Pacifica
B
Santa Rosa National Park
C
Cholula Cacao Farm
22
It has seen the return of native tree species.
23
It supports only one species of native monkey.
24
Its monkey population helps the agriculture of the area.
25
It is home to populations of all three local monkey species.
26
Its landscape was altered by the construction of a transport link.
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 3
Question 27 - 31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes on your answer sheet.
27
According to the writer, which marketing technique attempts to make consumers stay in a shop for longer?
A
playing appealing music
B
emitting pleasant scents
C
displaying attractive posters
D
making in-store announcements
28
The writer mentions bottled water in order to show that
A
consumers buy it because of the fact that it is marketed.
B
people purchase it despite the fact that it has no taste.
C
marketers need not do taste tests when a campaign is effective.
D
tests prove that people cannot differentiate it from tap water.
29
According to the writer, socially transmitted food preference occurs when
A
only dominant members of an animal group influence what others eat.
B
the same types of animals naturally prefer the same types of food.
C
animals are influenced by what any other animals of the same species eat.
D
a food type is more desirable because an animal views that food as scarce.
30
According to the writer, how is learning by observation and imitation a useful feature of the brain?
A
It helps people overcome challenges.
B
Positive models can influence social behaviour.
C
It can give an advantage when communicating with others.
D
Cultural norms and relationships can be understood more easily.
31
According to the writer, how does television advertising exploit the human tendency to imitate others?
A
It shows buying behaviour that marketers want to encourage in viewers.
B
It features people who have a desirable image.
C
It shows older people whom teenagers admire.
D
It features successful people endorsing products responsible for their success.
Question 32 - 36
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
32
The diamond campaign worked by making a connection in people's minds between diamonds and luxury.
33
People are more aware of visual marketing than auditory marketing.
34
The campaign advertising diamonds had a positive influence on society.
35
There is still some uncertainty about whether animals copy the behaviour of the most powerful animals among them.
36
Consumers make a logical connection between celebrities' achievements and the products they promote.
Question 37 - 40
Complete each of the following statements with the best ending A-G from the box below.
List of Endings
A
people imitated behaviour that was linked with success.
B
younger animals of a certain species are more likely to imitate each other.
C
an animal would imitate another that had higher status.
D
imitation of popular sportspeople has occurred for many decades.
E
products are marketed to potential consumers who are unaware that marketing is occurring.
F
animals can develop new habits by observation.
G
incentives are provided for consumers who behave in a certain way.
The behaviour of the monkeys on the island of Koshima showed that
37
Primatologist Frans de Waal found that
38
Dick Fosbury is mentioned in order to show that
39
A feature of some modern marketing campaigns is that
40
DOL IELTS Đình Lực
05/05/2026
📖 Bài đọc passage 1
Building a castle
Guedelon is no ordinary building site. There is no rumble of diggers or shriek of circular saws. All is peaceful and quiet, save for the continual tapping of the small army of stonemasons, the quacking of the ducks or the occasional crow of the cockerel. Slowly but surely, a brand new medieval castle is rising from the woods of Guedelon, Yonne, home to the Burgundy vineyards in the heart of France. The year is 1229, that is, for the purposes of this project: to build a prince’s ‘chateau fort’ using only the techniques and tools of the 13th century.
'The project has four main aims,' explains Macyline Martin, managing director for Guedelon. The first is experimental archaeology - to try and verify all the theories, based on documents of the time. There’s also a social aim, because this region is very poor, with high unemployment: so it provides jobs. Then there’s tourism: 'the project couldn’t work without visitors because a lot of money is needed to pay people working here and to run the site. And finally, we want to open experimental archaeology to everybody - because in France, history and architecture are still very much oriented to academics.’
The idea for the project emerged about five years ago. It was the brainchild of Michel Guyot, who bought and renovated the nearby castle of Saint-Fargeau, which was built and rebuild between the 10th and 18th centuries. Beneath his castle were the original foundations of the 13th century building. Guyot thought it would be fun to construct a chateau to the same plans, but this proved too big to attempt. So Jacques Moulin, managing director for the local historical monuments, drew up plans for a smaller castle that would still be ambitious, but realistic. Five months later, having managed to get together 600,000 Euros in funding, they began looking for a site that would provide all the materials they needed: stone, water, sand, wood, iron and clay. They found it at Guedelon.
The only major cheat so far was early on when a mechanical earthmover was brought in to raise the castle floor. Archaeologists know how it was done in the 13th century: by backbreaking, tedious work. 'To do it by hand would have added ten years to the project,’ says Franck, one of the site’s guides. It’s still a long, painstaking task. Next to the beginnings of the east wall is the quarry, where masons extract the ferruginous limestone to build the thick castle walls. They bore lines of holes into the rocks and then they hammer metal wedges into them until the rock splits along the line. It is then hewn into bricks, and cemented together with a mortar of chalk, sand and quicklime.
Quicklime is made by heating limestone to 800°C - done off-site because of the poisonous gases that come from the process. Little wonder that 13th-century lime-burners had a life expectancy of only 25-30 years. ‘The bricks are laid horizontally for the first metre of the wall, and vertically thereafter,’ says Franck, ‘because if there was a shock from, say, a catapult, and the stones were all laid in the same way, the shockwave would shatter the wall.’
The scientists and craftspeople alike are learning on the job, as they don’t know exactly why or how things were done as the historical evidence suggests. One such discovery was the significance of the marks that masons carved into each finished stone. It was thought that these probably had superstitious meaning, but experience and archaeological research reveals three very practical uses: to establish how much each mason should be paid; to keep track of who made what, in case of any problems; and to specify where the stone should be placed in the castle reconstruction.
Guedelon has a scientific committee of archaeologists that discusses ideas and problems as they emerge, and will approve works and practices only when its members are sure that they are true to the 13th century. Reaching unanimity is not always easy. ‘All the big plans for the castle itself are all done but the details aren’t settled,’ says Martin. ‘So, during the winter, the site manager and I visit other castles in the region. When we see something we want to do here, we draw a sketch, make plans and show this to the committee.’
The castle will take at least a decade longer to build than it would have in the 13th century. ‘With the same number of workers it would have taken 15 years then,’ says Franck. ‘But we could do this too if we had only professional workers, if the site wasn't open to the public and if we worked harder - today it’s illegal to work more than 8 hours a day, as they did at the time.’
Workers come and go but at any one time about 40 people are working on the site. Some are students, others have ‘downshifted’ from other careers, others are local unemployed people learning skills they might use elsewhere - say, in chateau restorations around France. They are trained on the site as the need arises, and in the winter they may be trained in modern techniques as part of Guedelon’s social remit.
So, indeed, what will happen when Guedelon’s magical-looking castle is complete? They might build houses around it; perhaps villages may develop, testing out 13th-century agricultural techniques. If they can build this castle, anything seems possible.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 1
1
True
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài True / False / Not Given
Step 01: Read the question to understand (main idea + detail)
Simplified:
One of the reasons for building the castle is to make history more accessible to the general public
-------
Step 02: Locate relevant information
🔍 Từ khóa: “open”, “history”, “castle”
=> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên -> Tìm được trích dẫn ở đoạn 2.
-------
Step 03: Read relevant information to understand (main + detail)
📌 Trích dẫn: “And finally, we want to open experimental archaeology to everybody - because in France, history and architecture are still very much oriented to academics.”
Simplified: we want to open experimental archaeology to everybody
Main idea: Dự án muốn mở lịch sử/khảo cổ thực nghiệm cho mọi người, không chỉ giới học thuật.
-------
Step 04: Compare meaning with meaning
Trong bài đọc: Mục tiêu là mở lịch sử/khảo cổ cho mọi người, giúp công chúng tiếp cận dễ hơn.
Trong câu hỏi: Xây dựng lâu đài nhằm làm cho lịch sử dễ tiếp cận hơn với công chúng.
→ Hai ýtương đương: đều nhấn mạnh việc mở lịch sử cho công chúng.
⇒ ✅ Chọn: TRUE
-------
Lưu ý chung:
Nếu đáp án là FALSE: bài đọc phải nói rằng dự án chỉ phục vụ giới học thuật, không hướng tới công chúng.
Nếu đáp án là NOT GIVEN: bài đọc sẽ không đề cập đến việc mở lịch sử cho mọi người.
Rain forest trees growing anew on Central American farmland are helping scientists find ways for monkeys and agriculture to benefit one another
A
A. Hacienda La Pacifica, a remote working cattle ranch in Guanacaste province of northern Costa Rica, has for decades been home to a community of mantled howler monkeys. Other native primates – white-faced capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys – were once common in this area, too, but vanished after the Pan-American Highway was built nearby in the 1950s and most of the surrounding land was cleared for cattle raising. At Hacienda La Pacifica, however, an enlightened ranch owner chose to leave some strips of native trees growing. He used these as windbreaks to protect both cattle and their food crops from dry-season winds. In the process, the farmer unwittingly founded a unique laboratory for the study of monkeys.
B
Ken Glander, a primatologist from Duke University in the USA, is studying La Pacifica’s monkeys in an effort to understand the relationship between howlers and regenerating forests at the edges of grazing lands. Studying such disturbed woodlands is increasingly important, because throughout much of the New World Tropics, these are the only forests left. In the 18th century, tropical dry forests covered most of Central America, but by the 1980s less than two percent remained undisturbed and less than one percent was protected.
C
Howlers persist at La Pacifica, Glander explains, because they are leaf-eaters. They eat fruit when it is available but, unlike capuchin and spider monkeys, do not depend on large areas of fruiting trees. Glander is particularly interested in howlers’ ability to thrive on leaves loaded with toxins – poisonous substances designed to protect the plants. For leaf-eaters, long-term exposure to a specific plant toxin can increase their ability to neutralize the poisonous substances and absorb the leaf nutrients. Watching generations of howlers at La Pacifica has shown Glander that the monkeys keep their systems primed by sampling a variety of plants and then focusing on a small number of the most nutritious foodprimed items. The leaves that grow in regenerating forests, like those at La Pacifica, are actually more howler-friendly than those produced by the centuries-old trees that survive farther south. In younger forests, trees put most of their limited energy into growing wood, leaves and fruit, so they produce much lower levels of toxin than do well-established, old-growth trees.
D
The value of maturing forests to primates is also a subject of study at Santa Rosa National Park, about 35 miles northwest of La Pacifica. Large areas of Santa Rosa’s forests had at one time been burnt to make space for cattle ranching and coffee farming, thereby devastating local monkey habitat. But in 1971 the government protected the area by designating it a National Park, and species of indigenous trees which had been absent for decades began to invade the abandoned pastures. Capuchins were the first to begin using the reborn forests, followed by howlers. Eventually even spider monkeys, fruit-eaters that need large areas of continuous forest, returned. In the first 28 years following protection of the area, the capuchin population doubled, while the number of howlers increased sevenfold.
E
Some of the same traits that allow howlers to survive at La Pacifica also explain their population boom in Santa Rosa. Howler reproduction is faster than that of other native monkey species. They give birth for the first time at about 3.5 years of age, compared with seven years for capuchins, and eight or more for spider monkeys. Also, while a female spider monkey will have a baby about once every four years, well-fed howlers can produce an infant every two years. Another factor is diet. Howlers are very adaptable feeders, and only need a comparatively small home range. Spider monkeys, on the other hand, need to occupy a huge home range. Also crucial is the fact that the leaves howlers eat hold plenty of water, so the monkeys can survive away from open streams and water holes. This ability gives them a real advantage over capuchin and spider monkeys, which have suffered during the long, ongoing drought in the area.
F
Alejandro Estrada, an ecologist at Estacion de Biologia Los Tuxtlas in Veracruz, Mexico, has been studying the ecology of a group of howler monkeys that thrive in a habitat totally altered by humans: a cacao plantation in Tabasco state, Mexico. Cacao plants need shade to grow, so 40 years ago the owners of Cholula Cacao Farm planted fig, monkeypod and other tall trees to form a protective canopy over their crop. The howlers moved in about 25 years ago after nearby forests were cut. This strange habitat seems to support about as many monkeys as would a same-sized patch of wild forest. The howlers eat the leaves and fruit of the shade trees, leaving the valuable cacao pods alone.
G
Estrada believes the monkeys bring underappreciated benefits to such plantations, dispersing the seeds of fruits such as fig and other shade trees, and fertilizing the soil. Spider monkeys also forage for fruit here, though they need nearby areas of forest to survive in the long term. He hopes that farmers will begin to see the advantages of associating with wild monkeys, which could include potential ecotourism projects. ‘Conservation is usually viewed as a conflict between farming practices and the need to preserve nature.’ Estrada says. ‘We’re moving away from that vision and beginning to consider ways in which commercial activities may become a tool for the conservation of primates in human-modified landscapes.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 2
14
C
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Matching Information
📌 Dạng Matching Information chúng ta nên làm cuối cùng, sau khi đã làm các dạng câu hỏi khác nhé DOLBIES, bởi vì lúc này mình đã đọc và hiểu nội dung của bài rồi, cộng thêm nghệ thuật Specify của Linearthinking → sẽ nhanh chóng tìm được vị trí đáp án hơn!!
-------
Step 01: Read the question to predict
Hiểu câu hỏi: A reason why new forests provide howlers with better feeding opportunities than older forests
Specify & Predict: Tìm đoạn chứa thông tin giải thích cụ thể vì sao rừng tái sinh / rừng trẻ lại thuận lợi hơn cho việc ăn uống của khỉ howlerso với rừng già (Ví dụ: dễ tiêu hóa hơn, phù hợp với chế độ ăn lá của howlers).
-------
Step 02: Khoanh vùng đoạn văn
🔍 Từ khóa: “a reason why”, “new forests”, “better feeding opportunities”, “older forests”
-> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên, có thể khoanh vùng được đoạn C vì có xuất hiện các cụm như "regenerating forests" (rừng tái sinh); "more howler-friendly" (phù hợp với howlers hơn); và "produce much lower levels of toxin" (tạo ra mức độc tố thấp hơn) so với "old-growth trees" (cây rừng già lâu năm).
-> Đây là giải thích cụ thể cho lý do vì sao rừng mới cung cấp điều kiện kiếm ăn tốt hơn cho khỉ howler so với rừng già.
How marketing and advertising appeal to the associative nature of the brain
While there had been a long tradition of giving rings as a commitment to marry, the custom of giving diamond engagement rings was in large part manufactured by one of the most effective marketing campaigns in history. In the early 1900s, diamond sales were declining, posing a serious problem for the company that essentially had control over the diamond market. In 1938, this company hired an advertising agency. Which proposed reshaping social attitudes toward diamonds? As well as magazines showing film stars draped in diamonds, the agency arranged for movies to incorporate diamond engagement rings into their plots. The campaign culminated with the slogan: ‘A diamond is forever’. At the time, the approach was unique. Rather than pushing a brand, the objective was to promote diamonds as the symbol of everlasting love. This was achieved by exploiting the associative nature of the brain: associating neurons. Activated by the concept of ‘love’ with neurons that encoded the concept of diamonds. By 1941, diamond sales had increased by 55%.
Advertising comes in many forms, from blatant neon signs to subtly embedded products in movies. In each case, the goal is to mould our habits, desires and opinions. Our visual system is targeted by an avalanche of information on the internet, street posters, and billboards and in movie theatres. Our auditory system submits to catchy radio jingles and telemarketers. More surreptitiously, our olfactory system is targeted by variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes aimed at enticing US to linger in a retail outlet. It is difficult to measure how effective these campaigns are, but as in the ‘A diamond is forever’ campaign, they can be so successful that they change the fabric of our culture. In the case of bottled water, we are swayed by advertising into paying for something that we can obtain for free. Most people cannot distinguish bottled from tap water, much less between brands of bottled water, which is why you rarely hear of a bottled water company proposing a blind taste test.
So why is marketing such an effective mind-control technique? It is interesting to consider whether other animals exhibit anything analogous to humans susceptibility to advertising. If we provide a lab rat with two types of cereal, it will consume approximately the same amount of each. However, if we put that rat with another rat that spent its day eating just one type, when faced with a choice, our rat will now show a preference for the same type as the other rat was eating. Psychologists call this ‘socially transmitted food preference’.
What many regard as the first documented examples of cultural learning in primates started with a clever monkey that lived in a colony of Japanese monkeys on the island of Koshima. She began taking her dirt - covered sweet potatoes to the river to wash them before eating them. Upon seeing this, a few 11 other open-minded monkeys picked up on the idea. Potato washing then spread from monkey to monkey and, over the course of a few years, most monkeys were eating clean potatoes. Humans are clearly not the only animals to engage in imitation and social learning.
Learning by observation can be an extraordinarily valuable brain feature, this is how we learn to communicate and perform motor skills as well as deal with many everyday problems. For example, a newcomer struggling to purchase tickets and navigate the subway system in a foreign city may step back to learn from the people nearby. Humans and other primates exhibit multiple forms of imitative learning and this is called cultural transmission.
A component of advertising relies on the marketer’s ability to tap into the brain’s propensity for imitation. Anybody who has watched TV knows advertisements are disproportionately populated with attractive, successful looking individuals. If we are going to imitate someone, we are more inclined to imitate those who appear to be popular and appealing.
Although not all researchers are convinced by the findings, a number of studies indicate that some animals also imitate dominant members of their group. Primatologist Frans de Waal provides anecdotal evidence of preferential imitation among chimpanzees. He noted that in one particular group the dominant male was hurt and was limping as a result. Soon unlikely if a non-dominant male had been injured.
Imitation is undoubtedly an invaluable ability, but often our propensity to imitate generalises indiscriminately, leading to poor decisions. When athlete Dick Fosbury revolutionised the high jump by jumping over the bar backward in 1968, imitators obviously copied his jumping style, not his brand of sports shoes. However, today, sports people appear in advertisements asking US to buy the laptops or sports drinks that they promote. Rationally, we know these people's success did not depend on these products, so it seems our propensity to purchase products relates more to neural programs that evolved to encourage imitation of those further up the social ladder. Today, companies engage in stealth marketing campaigns in which people are paid to frequent bars or websites to covertly promote certain products. Companies also perform studies in which they track the eye movements of people viewing displays, and carefully craft names, packages and jingles associated with their products. While we may like to believe that manipulation on a grand scale would not be possible, that’s not to say that advertising is innately harmful. To the contrary, the marketing of products or ideas is essential to human culture. The point is that we should ensure our choices reflect our actual goals and desires, and we must distinguish between the dissemination of information which is for our own good, and our manipulation for the benefit of companies.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 3
27
B
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Multiple Choice
Step 01: Read the question to understand (main idea + detail)
Simplified: which marketing technique attempts to make consumers stay longer in a shop?
-------
Step 02: Locate relevant information
🔍 Từ khoá: “marketing technique”, “stay longer in a shop”, “music”, “scents“, “posters“, “announcements“.
=> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên -> Tìm được trích dẫn ở đoạn 2.
-------
Step 03: Read relevant information to understand (main + detail)
📌 Trích dẫn: “More surreptitiously, our olfactory system is targeted by variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes aimed at enticing us to linger in a retail outlet.”
Simplified: variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes entice us to linger in a retail outlet
Main idea: Mùi hương dễ chịu được nêu rõ là nhằm mục đích kéo dài thời gian khách ở trong cửa hàng.
-------
Step 04: Compare meaning with meaning
❌ A. playing appealing music: đoạn có nhắc đến “our auditory system submits to catchy radio jingles”, nhưng không hề gắn âm thanh với việc khiến khách ở lại cửa hàng lâu hơn.
✅ B. emitting pleasant scents: khớp chính xác với “vanilla and citrus perfumes aimed at enticing us to linger in a retail outlet”.
❌ C. displaying attractive posters: “our visual system is targeted by … street posters and billboards” → chỉ nói chung về tác động thị giác, không liên hệ đến hành vi ở lại cửa hàng.
❌ D. making in-store announcements: đoạn không đề cập đến thông báo trong cửa hàng.
Guedelon is no ordinary building site. There is no rumble of diggers or shriek of circular saws. All is peaceful and quiet, save for the continual tapping of the small army of stonemasons, the quacking of the ducks or the occasional crow of the cockerel. Slowly but surely, a brand new medieval castle is rising from the woods of Guedelon, Yonne, home to the Burgundy vineyards in the heart of France. The year is 1229, that is, for the purposes of this project: to build a prince’s ‘chateau fort’ using only the techniques and tools of the 13th century.
'The project has four main aims,' explains Macyline Martin, managing director for Guedelon. The first is experimental archaeology - to try and verify all the theories, based on documents of the time. There’s also a social aim, because this region is very poor, with high unemployment: so it provides jobs. Then there’s tourism: 'the project couldn’t work without visitors because a lot of money is needed to pay people working here and to run the site. And finally, we want to open experimental archaeology to everybody - because in France, history and architecture are still very much oriented to academics.’
The idea for the project emerged about five years ago. It was the brainchild of Michel Guyot, who bought and renovated the nearby castle of Saint-Fargeau, which was built and rebuild between the 10th and 18th centuries. Beneath his castle were the original foundations of the 13th century building. Guyot thought it would be fun to construct a chateau to the same plans, but this proved too big to attempt. So Jacques Moulin, managing director for the local historical monuments, drew up plans for a smaller castle that would still be ambitious, but realistic. Five months later, having managed to get together 600,000 Euros in funding, they began looking for a site that would provide all the materials they needed: stone, water, sand, wood, iron and clay. They found it at Guedelon.
The only major cheat so far was early on when a mechanical earthmover was brought in to raise the castle floor. Archaeologists know how it was done in the 13th century: by backbreaking, tedious work. 'To do it by hand would have added ten years to the project,’ says Franck, one of the site’s guides. It’s still a long, painstaking task. Next to the beginnings of the east wall is the quarry, where masons extract the ferruginous limestone to build the thick castle walls. They bore lines of holes into the rocks and then they hammer metal wedges into them until the rock splits along the line. It is then hewn into bricks, and cemented together with a mortar of chalk, sand and quicklime.
Quicklime is made by heating limestone to 800°C - done off-site because of the poisonous gases that come from the process. Little wonder that 13th-century lime-burners had a life expectancy of only 25-30 years. ‘The bricks are laid horizontally for the first metre of the wall, and vertically thereafter,’ says Franck, ‘because if there was a shock from, say, a catapult, and the stones were all laid in the same way, the shockwave would shatter the wall.’
The scientists and craftspeople alike are learning on the job, as they don’t know exactly why or how things were done as the historical evidence suggests. One such discovery was the significance of the marks that masons carved into each finished stone. It was thought that these probably had superstitious meaning, but experience and archaeological research reveals three very practical uses: to establish how much each mason should be paid; to keep track of who made what, in case of any problems; and to specify where the stone should be placed in the castle reconstruction.
Guedelon has a scientific committee of archaeologists that discusses ideas and problems as they emerge, and will approve works and practices only when its members are sure that they are true to the 13th century. Reaching unanimity is not always easy. ‘All the big plans for the castle itself are all done but the details aren’t settled,’ says Martin. ‘So, during the winter, the site manager and I visit other castles in the region. When we see something we want to do here, we draw a sketch, make plans and show this to the committee.’
The castle will take at least a decade longer to build than it would have in the 13th century. ‘With the same number of workers it would have taken 15 years then,’ says Franck. ‘But we could do this too if we had only professional workers, if the site wasn't open to the public and if we worked harder - today it’s illegal to work more than 8 hours a day, as they did at the time.’
Workers come and go but at any one time about 40 people are working on the site. Some are students, others have ‘downshifted’ from other careers, others are local unemployed people learning skills they might use elsewhere - say, in chateau restorations around France. They are trained on the site as the need arises, and in the winter they may be trained in modern techniques as part of Guedelon’s social remit.
So, indeed, what will happen when Guedelon’s magical-looking castle is complete? They might build houses around it; perhaps villages may develop, testing out 13th-century agricultural techniques. If they can build this castle, anything seems possible.
want to open experimental archaeology to everybody
Main idea: Dự án muốn mở lịch sử/khảo cổ thực nghiệm cho mọi người, không chỉ giới học thuật.
B. Ken Glander, a primatologist from Duke University in the USA, is studying La Pacifica’s monkeys in an effort to understand the relationship between howlers and regenerating forests at the edges of grazing lands. Studying such disturbed woodlands is increasingly important, because throughout much of the New World Tropics, these are the only forests left. In the 18th century, tropical dry forests covered most of Central America, but by the 1980s less than two percent remained undisturbed and less than one percent was protected.
C. Howlers persist at La Pacifica, Glander explains, because they are leaf-eaters. They eat fruit when it is available but, unlike capuchin and spider monkeys, do not depend on large areas of fruiting trees. Glander is particularly interested in howlers’ ability to thrive on leaves loaded with toxins – poisonous substances designed to protect the plants. For leaf-eaters, long-term exposure to a specific plant toxin can increase their ability to neutralize the poisonous substances and absorb the leaf nutrients. Watching generations of howlers at La Pacifica has shown Glander that the monkeys keep their systems primed by sampling a variety of plants and then focusing on a small number of the most nutritious foodprimed items. The leaves that grow in regenerating forests, like those at La Pacifica, are actually more howler-friendly than those produced by the centuries-old trees that survive farther south. In younger forests, trees put most of their limited energy into growing wood, leaves and fruit, so they produce much lower levels of toxin than do well-established, old-growth trees.
D. The value of maturing forests to primates is also a subject of study at Santa Rosa National Park, about 35 miles northwest of La Pacifica. Large areas of Santa Rosa’s forests had at one time been burnt to make space for cattle ranching and coffee farming, thereby devastating local monkey habitat. But in 1971 the government protected the area by designating it a National Park, and species of indigenous trees which had been absent for decades began to invade the abandoned pastures. Capuchins were the first to begin using the reborn forests, followed by howlers. Eventually even spider monkeys, fruit-eaters that need large areas of continuous forest, returned. In the first 28 years following protection of the area, the capuchin population doubled, while the number of howlers increased sevenfold.
E. Some of the same traits that allow howlers to survive at La Pacifica also explain their population boom in Santa Rosa. Howler reproduction is faster than that of other native monkey species. They give birth for the first time at about 3.5 years of age, compared with seven years for capuchins, and eight or more for spider monkeys. Also, while a female spider monkey will have a baby about once every four years, well-fed howlers can produce an infant every two years. Another factor is diet. Howlers are very adaptable feeders, and only need a comparatively small home range. Spider monkeys, on the other hand, need to occupy a huge home range. Also crucial is the fact that the leaves howlers eat hold plenty of water, so the monkeys can survive away from open streams and water holes. This ability gives them a real advantage over capuchin and spider monkeys, which have suffered during the long, ongoing drought in the area.
F. Alejandro Estrada, an ecologist at Estacion de Biologia Los Tuxtlas in Veracruz, Mexico, has been studying the ecology of a group of howler monkeys that thrive in a habitat totally altered by humans: a cacao plantation in Tabasco state, Mexico. Cacao plants need shade to grow, so 40 years ago the owners of Cholula Cacao Farm planted fig, monkeypod and other tall trees to form a protective canopy over their crop. The howlers moved in about 25 years ago after nearby forests were cut. This strange habitat seems to support about as many monkeys as would a same-sized patch of wild forest. The howlers eat the leaves and fruit of the shade trees, leaving the valuable cacao pods alone.
G. Estrada believes the monkeys bring underappreciated benefits to such plantations, dispersing the seeds of fruits such as fig and other shade trees, and fertilizing the soil. Spider monkeys also forage for fruit here, though they need nearby areas of forest to survive in the long term. He hopes that farmers will begin to see the advantages of associating with wild monkeys, which could include potential ecotourism projects. ‘Conservation is usually viewed as a conflict between farming practices and the need to preserve nature.’ Estrada says. ‘We’re moving away from that vision and beginning to consider ways in which commercial activities may become a tool for the conservation of primates in human-modified landscapes.
While there had been a long tradition of giving rings as a commitment to marry, the custom of giving diamond engagement rings was in large part manufactured by one of the most effective marketing campaigns in history. In the early 1900s, diamond sales were declining, posing a serious problem for the company that essentially had control over the diamond market. In 1938, this company hired an advertising agency. Which proposed reshaping social attitudes toward diamonds? As well as magazines showing film stars draped in diamonds, the agency arranged for movies to incorporate diamond engagement rings into their plots. The campaign culminated with the slogan: ‘A diamond is forever’. At the time, the approach was unique. Rather than pushing a brand, the objective was to promote diamonds as the symbol of everlasting love. This was achieved by exploiting the associative nature of the brain: associating neurons. Activated by the concept of ‘love’ with neurons that encoded the concept of diamonds. By 1941, diamond sales had increased by 55%.
Advertising comes in many forms, from blatant neon signs to subtly embedded products in movies. In each case, the goal is to mould our habits, desires and opinions. Our visual system is targeted by an avalanche of information on the internet, street posters, and billboards and in movie theatres. Our auditory system submits to catchy radio jingles and telemarketers. More surreptitiously, our olfactory system is targeted by variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes aimed at enticing US to linger in a retail outlet. It is difficult to measure how effective these campaigns are, but as in the ‘A diamond is forever’ campaign, they can be so successful that they change the fabric of our culture. In the case of bottled water, we are swayed by advertising into paying for something that we can obtain for free. Most people cannot distinguish bottled from tap water, much less between brands of bottled water, which is why you rarely hear of a bottled water company proposing a blind taste test.
So why is marketing such an effective mind-control technique? It is interesting to consider whether other animals exhibit anything analogous to humans susceptibility to advertising. If we provide a lab rat with two types of cereal, it will consume approximately the same amount of each. However, if we put that rat with another rat that spent its day eating just one type, when faced with a choice, our rat will now show a preference for the same type as the other rat was eating. Psychologists call this ‘socially transmitted food preference’.
What many regard as the first documented examples of cultural learning in primates started with a clever monkey that lived in a colony of Japanese monkeys on the island of Koshima. She began taking her dirt - covered sweet potatoes to the river to wash them before eating them. Upon seeing this, a few 11 other open-minded monkeys picked up on the idea. Potato washing then spread from monkey to monkey and, over the course of a few years, most monkeys were eating clean potatoes. Humans are clearly not the only animals to engage in imitation and social learning.
Learning by observation can be an extraordinarily valuable brain feature, this is how we learn to communicate and perform motor skills as well as deal with many everyday problems. For example, a newcomer struggling to purchase tickets and navigate the subway system in a foreign city may step back to learn from the people nearby. Humans and other primates exhibit multiple forms of imitative learning and this is called cultural transmission.
A component of advertising relies on the marketer’s ability to tap into the brain’s propensity for imitation. Anybody who has watched TV knows advertisements are disproportionately populated with attractive, successful looking individuals. If we are going to imitate someone, we are more inclined to imitate those who appear to be popular and appealing.
Although not all researchers are convinced by the findings, a number of studies indicate that some animals also imitate dominant members of their group. Primatologist Frans de Waal provides anecdotal evidence of preferential imitation among chimpanzees. He noted that in one particular group the dominant male was hurt and was limping as a result. Soon unlikely if a non-dominant male had been injured.
Imitation is undoubtedly an invaluable ability, but often our propensity to imitate generalises indiscriminately, leading to poor decisions. When athlete Dick Fosbury revolutionised the high jump by jumping over the bar backward in 1968, imitators obviously copied his jumping style, not his brand of sports shoes. However, today, sports people appear in advertisements asking US to buy the laptops or sports drinks that they promote. Rationally, we know these people's success did not depend on these products, so it seems our propensity to purchase products relates more to neural programs that evolved to encourage imitation of those further up the social ladder. Today, companies engage in stealth marketing campaigns in which people are paid to frequent bars or websites to covertly promote certain products. Companies also perform studies in which they track the eye movements of people viewing displays, and carefully craft names, packages and jingles associated with their products. While we may like to believe that manipulation on a grand scale would not be possible, that’s not to say that advertising is innately harmful. To the contrary, the marketing of products or ideas is essential to human culture. The point is that we should ensure our choices reflect our actual goals and desires, and we must distinguish between the dissemination of information which is for our own good, and our manipulation for the benefit of companies.
