Willis Carrier designed the first air-conditioning unit in 1902, just a year after graduating from Cornell University with a Master's in Engineering. At a Brooklyn printing plant, ____ in heat and moisture were causing the size of the printing paper to keep changing slightly, making it ____ to align different colors. Carrier’s invention ____ to control temperature and humidity levels and so align the colors. The ____ also allowed industries such as film, processed food, textiles, and pharmaceuticals to improve the quality of their products. In 1914, the first air-conditioning device was installed in a private house. However, its size, ____ to that of an early computer, meant it took up too much ____ to come into widespread use, and later models, such as the Weathermaker, which Carrier brought out in the 1920s, cost too much for most people. Cooling for human ____, rather than industrial need, really took off when three air conditioners were installed in the J.L. Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan. People crowded into the shop to experience the new invention. The fashion spread from department stores to cinemas, whose income rose steeply as a result of the comfort they provided. To start with, money-conscious employers ____ air conditioning as a luxury. They considered that if they were paying people to work, they should not be paying for them to be comfortable as well. So in the 1940s and ’50s, the industry started putting out a different ____ about its product: according to their research, installing air conditioning increased ____ amongst employees. They found that typists increased their output by 24% when ____ from a regular office to a cooled one. Another study into office working conditions, which was ____ in the late ’50s, showed that the majority of companies cited air conditioning as the single most important contributor to efficiency in offices. However, air conditioning has its critics. Jed Brown, an environmentalist, complains that air conditioning is a factor in ____. Unfortunately, he adds, because air conditioning leads to higher ____, people have to use it even more. However, he admits that it provides a healthier environment for many people in the heat of summer.

COMPLETE IELTS 4-5 UNIT4 READING

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