IELTS Reading Lesson | Read An Article With Me [FREE LESSON PDF]

Welcome back to JForrest English. I'm Jennifer  and today we're going to read an article together  

so you can learn a lot of advanced grammar,  vocabulary, and expressions. And this article is  

from the academic IELTS Reading Section 3. Let's  get started. Our article is called Time Travel.  

Let's start the first section.

Time travel took a small step away from  science fiction and toward science.  

So you have here is science fiction.  Fiction is the opposite of fact. So  

we have two categories. We have fiction  which is not real, like Harry Potter.

And then we have nonfiction, which is real,  

like a historical biography or autobiography.  I wrote those definitions here. So time travel  

took a step away from fiction, so  away from not true and toward true.

Here, notice how we have the word toward as a  preposition. 2 spellings are correct. You can  

say toward or towards with an s. So if you hear  someone say towards with an s it's not incorrect.  

Both of them are grammatically correct and  acceptable and towards science recently  

when physicists discovered that subatomic  particles known as neutrinos neutrinos.

Just listen to my pronunciation.  Neutrinos can exceed the speed of light,  

so if you exceed something, it means  you've gone beyond it. Now in this case,  

they're talking about speed, so to  go beyond means to go faster than.

If you exceeded your spending limit on your  credit card, you've gone beyond that limit,  

which means you've spent more money than you have  available. And notice here we have can, which is a  

modal verb, and then we have exceed, which is the  base verb. So grammatically you always have modal.

Base verb not the infinitive can to exceed no just  can exceed. So modal plus base verb can exceed the  

speed of light. So these neutrinos, which are  subatomic particles, don't worry. I don't know  

what a neutrino is. I don't really know what a  subatomic particle is because I'm not a physicist.

But I understand that they're particles and  they can go faster than the speed of light.  

That is what I know based on the article. The  unassuming particle Unassuming is an adjective,  

and when you describe something as unassuming,  

it means it doesn't attract a lot of interest or  attention. So maybe you're walking down a street.

And there's a restaurant, but it doesn't attract  your interest or attention because maybe it's very  

small. It doesn't look very nice from the  outside. There isn't a lot of decorations.  

The sign for the restaurant is very small, so  you almost don't even notice the restaurant.  

So it's an unassuming restaurant, but  you go in and the food is delicious.

But you almost didn't notice it because it's  unassuming. So these particles, these neutrinos,  

are unassuming. They don't attract a lot  of attention or interest, likely because  

they're just very small. They're not considered  something that's very important in science,  

the unassuming particle. It is electrically  neutral, small but with a non zero mass.

So this is simply giving us more information about  what this particle is, because the average person  

does not know what a neutrinos is. A physicist  knows what this is, but the average person does  

not. So this is giving us more information on  this particle, the unassuming particle. It is  

electrically neutral, small but with a nonzero  mass and able to penetrate. Now notice here.

Able to penetrate is something missing from this  expression and able to penetrate the expression is  

to be able to. That's the full expression. But  notice it is electrically neutral and able to  

penetrate. So when we have and you don't need to  repeat the main verb so you can say for example.

She is tall and thin, OK? She is tall and thin,  so you don't have to say she is tall and is thin.  

You can get rid.

Of this main verb and just say she is tall and  thin. The same thing is happening here. The only  

difference is instead of having one simple word  like tall, we have all of this information. So  

it's easy to forget that this is is also attached  to able to because the expression is not.

Able to It's be able to. OK, so for example,  you can't say she able to speak Japanese. You  

can't say that this is grammatically  incorrect because the verb to be is  

missing. So I'll put a frowning face and an  X. She is able to speak Japanese. So now.

This is correct because we have to be able  and then your infinitive, so that is what it's  

happening here and able to. But we're using the  verb to be for both sections before and and after,  

and so don't forget that with able to and able  to penetrate when you penetrate something.

It simply means you go into. So let's say I'm  putting cream on my skin. When this when the cream  

goes into my skin and you can no longer see it, it  means the cream penetrated my skin. It went into  

my skin. So this neutron, this neutrinos can go  into your skin. It can penetrate the human form.

Undetected. So you don't see something  going into your skin because they they're  

not visible. They're so small that you  can't see them. So that means undetected,  

not visible, not known, not visible  or not known, Not known. Undetected.

Is on its way to becoming a rock star  of the scientific world. When you see  

this dash here and then another dash, it means  you can remove all of the information between  

the dashes and the sentence would be  grammatically correct. For example,  

let me read it without the information in blue.

The unassuming particle is on its way to  becoming a rock star of the scientific world,  

Grammatically correct. The information between the  dashes is additional supplementary information,  

and in this case it gives you more  information about what the neutrinos is,  

because as I said, the average  person just doesn't know.

Don't worry about writing all this down, because  I summarize everything in the free lesson PDF,  

so you can look in the description below to  download the free lesson PDF. Let's continue.  

Researchers in Geneva sent the neutrinos  hurtling through an underground corridor.

Let's take a look at hurtling. This means to move  very fast, but it also implies in a dangerous way.  

So when these neutrinos were hurtling through the  underground corridor. So imagine the corridors  

going straight, and the neutrinos are going  very fast, but maybe they're banging against  

the signs of the walls. They're crashing into  each other, not in an orderly, straight way.

So you can use this, for example, with drivers.  You might say the delivery driver hurtled up my  

driveway, so he came up your driveway.  He drove up your driveway very quickly,  

but also very dangerously, so quickly. And maybe  he's swerving. There's objects here. He's going  

right for it. Maybe you're standing here and  he doesn't seem to be stopping. He hurtled up.

Your driveway. Let's continue. Researchers  in Geneva sent the neutrinos hurtling  

through an underground corridor toward  their colleagues, or towards remember  

their colleagues 730 kilometers away in  Italy. The neutrinos arrived promptly.  

Promptly is an adverb, and it means quickly,  without delay, but also at the scheduled time.

So for example, the meeting will start promptly at  

9:00 AM. Often when you schedule a meeting at  9:00, some people might come to the meeting  

903905 just a little bit late. But if you  say the meeting will start promptly at 9:00,  

I will start the presentation at 900, not 9/01 or  9/02, promptly at 9:00, so immediately at 9:00.

So in this case, the neutrinos arrived promptly.  So we can say quickly, without delay. So promptly,  

in fact, that they triggered what scientists are  calling the unthinkable. Let's look at triggered  

and unthinkable. So first triggered  when something triggers something,  

it simply means it causes it to start. So the  fact that the neutrinos traveled so promptly.

Caused something else to start. And that something  else is that scientists are now rethinking time  

travel. So that's the something you could say. For  example, speaking in public triggers my anxiety,  

so speaking in public causes my anxiety to  start. I wrote that example here for you.

Now the unthinkable. This is when something  is just so shocking or unlikely that it's  

difficult for you to imagine, difficult for  you to actually form a picture. For example,  

a world without language would be unthinkable.  Can you even contemplate? Can you think about  

what life would be like if nobody spoke  any language? Language was not invented.

A human being never uttered, which  means spoke. Never uttered a word,  

never spoke a word, ever. Could you even  imagine how we would interact with each  

other? It's unthinkable. Is so shocking and  unlikely we can't even really think about it.

So time travel is another thing that's  just unthinkable. Can you imagine what  

life would be like if we could time travel? It's  unthinkable that everything they have learned,  

known or taught, stemming from the last 100  years of the physics discipline, may need to  

be reconsidered. So this is the unthinkable  that everything that physicists know about.

Their discipline. They may need to think  about it again if time travel is possible.  

I want to point out the past simple here of  the verb learn because you might be confused  

as to why it has a T So learnt  is the preferred spelling and  

pronunciation in British English. In  American English, which I teach the.

Preferred spelling and pronunciation is learned.  So notice we have a soft T here learned and then  

in American learned with a soft D learned. Both  of them are grammatically correct. It's just  

two countries preferred, two different words,  everything they have learned, known or taught.

Stemming from here, to stem from simply means  come from to come from come from. So in this case,  

because it's in the gerund form, I'll  put mine in the gerund form coming from.

The last 100 years of the physics discipline  may need to be reconsidered. So when you add  

RE in front of the verb, it means you do the  verb again, so you need to consider again.  

So that means consider again. Because you add RE  reconsidered, we need to consider it again. So  

let's say you asked your boss for a promotion  and your boss said no. Maybe you could say.

Can you reconsider what he can you consider my  proposal again? And most likely he'll say no.  

But hey, maybe he'll say, I guess I could  reconsider. And then you can explain again  

why you deserve a promotion. And maybe this  time your boss will say yes. So it's always  

possible for someone to reconsider. Let's  continue. Are you enjoying this lesson?

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Let's continue on the issue at stake. So at stake  is simply when something is being considered. So  

here the issue being considered, the  issue at stake, so being considered.

Is a tiny segment of time, precisely  60 nanoseconds. So now they're going  

to explain what 60 nanoseconds is, because the  average person who is not a physicist does not  

know. So 60 nanoseconds is 60 billionths  of a second. So you have one second,  

and then you divide that one second into billions.

And you take 60 of them. For me, I can't really  comprehend what 60 billionths of a second is,  

to be honest. Because a second is  like that. And imagine you take  

60 billionths of that second. It would  be so, so fast. It's unthinkable. I can't  

even imagine what that would be.  So notice I just used unthinkable.

This is how much faster than  the speed of light the neutrinos  

managed to go in their underground  travels, and at a consistent rate.  

Even allowing for a margin of error of 10  billionths of a second. This stands as proof  

that it is possible to race against light and  win. So here they're comparing the speed of the.

Neutrinos to the speed of light,  which is just so fast that you and I,  

average people can't really comprehend  understand how fast it is because it just  

happens so quickly. So they're just letting you  know it happened faster than the speed of light  

and this allowing for a margin of error they're  saying even if our calculation was incorrect.

Don't worry, it's still accurate. So they  accounted for that. They allowed some  

miscalculation in their formula, and the neutrinos  are still faster than the speed of light,  

even if their calculation is somewhat  inaccurate. So that's a margin of error.  

You'll see this a lot in study, scientific  studies, research studies a margin of error.

Of 10 billionths of a second, the duration of  the experiment. Duration is the length. The  

duration of the experiment. The length  of this experiment the entire time of  

the experiment. So length or entire  time of the experiment also accounted  

for. When you account for something, you  simply consider it, so they considered.

That margin of error that their calculation  may be somewhat inaccurate so to consider  

also accounted for, considered  so here accounted for something.

So notice the preposition.  You account for something,  

but you consider something. So we don't  use considered for. It's just considered  

because we don't need the preposition for and  considered and ruled out. The phrasal verb to  

rule something out is when you no longer  have something as a possibility, so to.

No longer have an option as a possibility.  So basically it means to exclude an option  

to exclude an option. So let's say you are  considering different options. Maybe you're  

going to give your team a promotion,  give them an extra vacation day,  

or give them free lunch on Fridays.  Those are your three options to.

Show your support for your staff, but  you're going to rule out promotions.  

You're going to no longer consider  that as an option because you don't  

have the financial resources to offer  promotions, and it's very expensive. So  

you're going to rule out promotions. Now  you just have two options to consider.

So they ruled out any possible  lunar effects. Lunar is the moon,  

so effects from the moon because the moon can  influence time and tidal bulges. I don't know  

what a bulge is. I assume it's similar  to a wave and tidal relates to the tide,  

so going when the water goes in and out  that is called the tide, so tidal bulges.

In the Earth's crust. So this information is  just to let you know that their calculation  

considered many different factors  to understand if they are wrong.  

And they're still saying even if we take all  of this into account, consider all of this,  

the neutrinos are still faster than the  speed of light. Let's continue nevertheless.

The transition word neither the nevertheless is  used when you are going to have a contrast. So  

here they're talking about all the reasons why the  neutrinos are faster than the speed of light. But  

now because I have nevertheless, I know they're  going to introduce evidence to say that this might  

not be true because there has to be a contrast.  So this is a transition word used to introduce.

Contrasting point. Nevertheless, there's plenty  of reason to remain skeptical. Skeptical means  

I'm not sure if I believe you or I'm not  sure if I believe this topic. I'm not sure  

if I believe that we can travel through  time. I'm skeptical, so not sure if the.

Person can be trusted or believed. Person or  information. In this case, it's the information  

they're presenting. Information can be trusted  or believed. So I'm skeptical. I'm not sure,  

according to Harvard University  science historian Peter Gallison.

Einstein. Albert Einstein. Of course,  Einstein's relativity theory has been  

pushed harder than any theory in the history  of the physical sciences. Pushed harder than  

it means that every scientist has tried  to prove that his theory is not correct.  

So they've pushed his theory harder than any  theory in the history of the physical sciences.

Yet each prior challenge prior means previous. So  

each challenge that had previously  happened prior, previous. Then.  

You see this a lot in job interviews. Do you  have any prior experience? Do you have any  

previous experience? So let me write that for  you. Do you have any prior experience in Excel?

So Excel is a Microsoft software for organizing  data. Do you have any prior experience in Excel?  

Do you have any previous experience yet?  Each prior challenge has come to no avail.  

So remember I said they've tried to prove that  Einstein's theory is inaccurate or incorrect,  

but it's come to no avail, which means they  have not been successful. So no avail means.

Not successful. Let's review this example.  I asked my boss for a promotion but to no  

avail. So notice the expression is to no  avail and this means not successful. So  

I didn't get the promotion. My boss said no,  but to no avail. I'm hopeful he'll reconsider.

I'm hopeful. That's just another way of  saying I hope he'll reconsider. So remember,  

we talked about this, Consider it again and  change his decision. But he's skeptical.  

I don't know. I'm not sure if Jennifer's ready  for a promotion. He's skeptical that I'm ready for  

a management position. So here we used a lot of  expressions in one thought, one advanced thought.

Let's continue. So is time travel just around the  

corner? When something is just around  the corner, it means happening soon,  

happening soon. So you could say my vacation  is just around the corner, happening soon.

So is time travel happening soon? Just  around the corner? The prospect? So the  

prospect is the idea that Chime travel  is just around the corner. The prospect  

has certainly been wrenched much closer to the  realm of possibility. This simply means moved  

closer to the realm of possibility,  meaning that something is possible.

So a simple way of saying this is  the prospect has certainly been  

moved towards possibility now that a major  physical hurdle, a hurdle is an obstacle,  

something that prevents you from achieving  a goal. So an obstacle, hurdle, obstacle.

The speed of light. So this is the obstacle,  the hurdle for time travel. The fact that  

we need to travel faster than the speed of light,  

and so far nothing has traveled faster than  the speed of light until these neutrinos  

has been cleared. So to clear the hurdle  means to get rid of it, to eliminate it.

If particles, these neutrinos. If  particles can travel faster than light,  

in theory traveling back in time  is possible. That's unthinkable,  

isn't it? How anyone harnesses that to  harness something is when you use something  

successfully. To use something successfully, use  something successfully. For example, we have.

Now harnessed the power of the sun through  solar panels. So you put a solar panel on  

the roof of your house and it harnesses  the sun, the energy of the sun. It uses  

that energy successfully by then heating  your house. So we've already harnessed  

many things in our environment. Why not  time travel? How anyone harnesses that.

So how anyone uses time travel successfully  to some kind of helpful end is far beyond  

the scope of any modern technologies. OK,  so far beyond the scope of. When something  

is beyond the scope of, it means that  it is not included in, not included in.

For example, teaching you about Einstein's theory  of relativity is beyond the scope of this lesson,  

which means it's not included in this  lesson. It doesn't mean it's not important,  

it's just beyond the scope of this  lesson. It's not included in this lesson,  

so it's beyond the scope of  any modern technology, however.

And will be left to future generations to explore.  When you leave something to someone, it means that  

you give the responsibility to someone  else. So the future generations  

now have the responsibility to take the  information from this article. The fact  

that these neutrinos can travel faster than the  speed of light and try to harness that try to.

Turn it into something tangible that we  can use and benefit from. So that's not  

our responsibility. We're going to leave  that to future generations to explore.  

So that's the end of the article. What I'll do  now is I'll go to the beginning and I'll read  

the article from start to finish and this time  you can focus on my pronunciation, time travel.

Time travel took a small step away from science  fiction and towards science recently when  

physicists discovered that subatomic particles  known as neutrinos can exceed the speed of  

light. The unassuming particle it is electrically  neutral, small but with a nonzero mass and able to  

penetrate the human form undetected, is on its way  to becoming a rock star of the scientific world.

Researchers in Geneva sent the neutrinos  hurtling through an underground corridor  

toward their colleagues 730  kilometers away in Italy.  

The neutrinos arrived promptly. So promptly,  in fact, that they triggered what scientists  

are calling the unthinkable that everything  they have learned, known or taught, stemming  

from the last 100 years of the physics  discipline, may need to be reconsidered.

The issue at stake is a tiny segment  of time, precisely 60 nanoseconds,  

which is 60 billionths of a second.  This is how much faster than the  

speed of light the neutrinos managed  to go in their underground travels,  

and at a consistent rate, even allowing for a  margin of error of 10 billionths of a second.

This stands as proof that it is possible to  race against light and win. The duration of  

the experiment also accounted for and ruled out  any possible lunar effects or tidal bulges in  

the Earth's crust. Nevertheless, there's  plenty of reason to remain skeptical,  

according to Harvard University  science historian Peter Gallison.

Feinstein's relativity theory has  been pushed harder than any theory  

in the history of the physical sciences. Yet  each prior challenge has come to no avail,  

and relativity has so far refused to buckle.  So is time traveled just around the corner?  

The prospect has certainly been wrenched  much closer to the realm of possibility  

now that a major physical hurdle,  the speed of light, has been cleared.

If particles can travel faster than light, in  theory, traveling back in time is possible.  

How anyone harnesses that to some kind  of helpful end is far beyond the scope of  

any modern technologies, however, and will  be left to future generations to explore.

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