Sport Science in Australia Reading Answers: The IELTS Reading passage titled Sport Science in Australia explores the evolution of sport science education and its professional applications. It reflects on the shift from traditional Physical Education training to diverse career options in the fields of sport business and public health. Featuring 13 questions, this passage tests a candidate’s ability to analyse cause-and-effect relationships, identify key points, and interpret the author’s opinion. Understanding this passage can greatly improve your reading accuracy and help in tackling similar academic texts under exam conditions.
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Sport Science in Australia IELTS Reading Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below.
Sport Science in Australia
The professional career paths available to graduates from courses relating to human movement and sport science are as diverse as the graduate’s imagination. However, undergraduate courses with this type of content, in Australia as well as in most other Western countries, were originally designed as preparation programmes for Physical Education (PE) teachers.
The initial programmes commenced soon after the conclusion of World War II in the mid-1940s. One of the primary motives for these initiatives was the fact that, during the war effort, so many of the men who were assessed for military duty had been declared unfit. The government saw the solution in the providing of Physical Education programmes in schools, delivered by better prepared and specifically educated PE teachers.
Later, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the surplus of Australians graduating with a PE degree obliged institutions delivering this qualification to identify new employment opportunities for their graduates, resulting in the first appearance of degrees catering for recreation professionals. In many instances, this diversity of programme delivery merely led to degrees, delivered by physical educators, as a sideline activity to the production of PE teachers.
Whilst the need to produce Physical Education teachers remains a significant social need, and most developed societies demand the availability of quality leisure programmes for their citizens, the career options of graduates within this domain are still developing. The two most evident growth domains are in the area of the professional delivery of sport, and the role of a physical lifestyle for community health.
The sports industry is developing at an unprecedented rate of growth. From a business perspective, sport is now seen as an area with the potential for high returns. It is quite significant that the businessman Rupert Murdoch broadened his business base from media to sport, having purchased an American baseball team and an Australian Rugby League competition, as well as seeking opportunities to invest in an English football club. No business person of such international stature would see fit to invest in sport unless he was satisfied that this was a sound business venture with ideal revenue-generating opportunities.
These developments have confirmed sport as a business with professional management structures, marketing processes, and development strategies in place. They have indicated new and developing career paths for graduates of human movement science, sport science, exercise science and related degrees. Graduates can now visualise career paths extending into such diverse domains as sport management, sport marketing, event and facility management, government policy development pertaining to sport, sport journalism, sport psychology, and sport or athletic coaching.
Business leaders will only continue their enthusiasm for sport if they receive returns for their money. Such returns will only be forthcoming if astute, enthusiastic and properly educated professionals are delivering the programs that earn appropriate financial returns. The successful universities of the 21st century will be those that have responded to this challenge by delivering such degrees.
A second professional growth area for this group of graduates is associated with community health. The increasing demand for government expenditure within health budgets is reaching the stage where most governments are simply unable to function in a manner that is satisfying their constituents. One of the primary reasons for this problem is the unhelpful emphasis on treatment in medical care programmes. Governments have traditionally given their senior health official the title of ‘Minister for Health’, when in fact this officer has functioned as ‘Minister for Sickness and the Construction of Hospitals’. Government focus simply has to change. If the change is not brought about for philosophical reasons, it will occur naturally, because insufficient funding will be available to address the ever-increasing costs of medical support.
Graduates of human movement, exercise science and sport science have the potential to become major players in this shift in policy focus. It is these graduates who already have the skills, knowledge and understanding to initiate community health education programmes to reduce cardio-vascular disease, to reduce medical dependency upon diabetes, to improve workplace health leading to increased productivity, to initiate and promote programmes of activity for the elderly that reduce medical dependency, and to maintain an active lifestyle for the unemployed and disadvantaged groups in society. This is the graduate that governments will be calling upon to shift the community focus from medical dependency to healthy lifestyles in the decades ahead.
The career paths of these graduates are developing at a pace that is not evident in other professions. The contribution that these graduates can make to society, and the recognition of this contribution is at an unprecedented high, and all indications are that it will continue to grow.
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Sport Science in Australia IELTS Reading Questions and Answers
Questions 1–6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
Write: TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
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The original aim of sport science degrees was to produce professional athletes.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The passage states that these courses were originally designed to prepare PE teachers, not athletes.
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The introduction of PE programmes in schools after World War II was partly due to the physical condition of army recruits.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: The government noticed that many recruits were unfit and responded by strengthening school PE programmes.
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Recreation degrees were offered as the main focus in universities from the beginning.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: These degrees were introduced later, and initially only as side-line activities.
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Rupert Murdoch’s involvement in sport shows the financial potential of the industry.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: His investment is cited as an example of sport being a sound business venture.
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There is no evidence of growth in the sport science profession.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The passage consistently highlights the expanding career paths and societal recognition of the profession.
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Every sport science graduate ends up working in public health.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The passage suggests many do, but does not claim this happens to every graduate.
Questions 7–10
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.
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Why did institutions begin offering recreation-focused degrees in the 1970s and 1980s?
A. To increase the number of PE teachers
B. Due to a lack of interest in sport
C. Because of a surplus of PE graduates
D. To meet government demand
Answer: C
Explanation: The surplus of PE graduates led institutions to explore alternative career pathways.
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Why is sport now considered an attractive business?
A. Because it supports healthy lifestyles
B. Because it involves international travel
C. Due to its potential for high financial returns
D. Because it reduces government healthcare costs
Answer: C
Explanation: The passage specifically highlights sport’s potential for generating revenue.
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What is implied about government healthcare spending?
A. It is sufficient and well-managed
B. It focuses too much on prevention
C. It is increasingly unsustainable
D. It has always focused on sport
Answer: C
Explanation: The passage notes that rising costs are making the current healthcare model unsustainable.
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According to the passage, what role will sport science graduates likely play in the future?
A. Training military personnel
B. Building hospitals
C. Promoting lifestyle change over treatment
D. Conducting pharmaceutical research
Answer: C
Explanation: The passage highlights their role in promoting active lifestyles and reducing medical dependency.
Questions 11–13
Complete the sentences below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
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Initially, most human movement courses aimed to train ________.
Answer: PE teachers
Explanation: This is directly stated at the beginning of the passage.
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A common title for government health officials has been ________.
Answer: Minister for Health
Explanation: The passage explains that although the title is ‘Minister for Health,’ the function has been more reactive than proactive.
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Sport science graduates can help decrease the number of people relying on ________.
Answer: medical support
Explanation: The text mentions how these graduates reduce dependency on the medical system.
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