IELTSwithJurabek

Part 1

Read the text below and answer questions 1-13.

The history of lighting

Candlelight

We forget how painfully dark the world once was. A candle - a good candle - provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt light bulb, and yet candles provided most of the world's artificial illumination before the arrival of electricity.

Candles were of two types - tallow and wax. Tallow, made from animal fat, had the great advantage that, as it could be made at home as a by-product of any animal which also supplied food to eat, it was plentiful and cheap. But tallow candles melted extremely quickly and had to be frequently replaced, they burned with an uneven light, and they also smelled very unpleasant. Far superior in all these respects were candles made of beeswax. These gave a steadier light, but they cost about four times as much, and tended to be used only on special occasions.

Gas lighting

For the well-to-do in many large cities, gas was an additional option from about 1820. Mostly, however, it was used in businesses and for street lighting, and didn't become common in homes until closer to the middle of the century. Gas had many drawbacks. Those who worked in gas-supplied offices or visited gas-lit theatres, for example, often complained of headaches and nausea. To minimise that problem, gas lights were sometimes erected outside windows to light the interior. If installed indoors, they tended to blacken ceilings, discolour fabrics, corrode metal and leave greasy marks on every horizontal surface. Gas also needed some care in use. Most gas-supply companies reduced gas flow through their pipes during the day when demand was low. So anyone lighting a gas jet during the day had to open the tap wide to get a cleaner.

Electric lighting

The advent of electric lighting in the late 19th century revolutionised artificial light, but its adoption was gradual. Thomas Edison's successful development of a long-lasting incandescent light bulb in 1879 marked a turning point, yet electricity networks were slow to spread. Initially, electric lighting was a luxury, installed first in public buildings, wealthy homes, and commercial districts. Unlike gas, electric light was clean, bright, consistent, and much safer - it produced no fumes, left no soot, and posed a far lower fire risk. However, early electric systems were not standardised; voltages varied from city to city, and direct current (DC) competed with alternating current (AC) in what became known as the "War of the Currents." By the early 20th century, with the expansion of power grids and falling costs, electric light became the dominant form of illumination across the developed world, eventually rendering gas and candles obsolete for everyday use.

The social impact of better lighting

The improvement in lighting technology had profound social and economic effects. Longer hours of useful light extended the working day, boosted industrial productivity, and made night-time leisure activities more practical and popular. Streets became safer, reading after dark ceased to be a strain on the eyes, and public spaces like libraries, shops, and restaurants could operate into the evening. Historians often link the spread of reliable artificial light to broader patterns of modernisation, including shifts in sleep patterns, increased literacy, and the growth of a vibrant night-time culture in cities.

Modern lighting and beyond

Today, lighting technology continues to evolve. Fluorescent tubes, halogen bulbs, and now light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have each brought gains in efficiency, longevity, and environmental sustainability. Smart lighting systems allow for personalised control over colour and intensity, while advances in design integrate light into architecture in ever more seamless ways. Yet the fundamental human desire that drove the history of lighting - to push back the darkness - remains unchanged.