The IELTS Reading Practice Test With Answer Keys Is A Great Help To The Students Who Are Taking Up IELTS Examination1

The IELTS Reading Practice Test with Answer keys is a great help
to the students who are taking up IELTS examinations. There is a

sample of questions that appear in the actual IELTS test which
will help them to improve their reading skills.
IELTS Reading Sample Section 1
The psychology in Happiness

In the late 1990s, psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania urged colleagues to observe optimal moods with the same intensity with which they had for so
long studied pathologies: we would never learn about the full range of human functions unless we knew as much about mental wellness as we do about mental illness. A new
generation of psychologists built up a respectable body of research on positive character traits and happiness-boosting practices. At the same time, developments in neuroscience
provided new clues to what makes us happy and what that looks like in the brain. Self-appointed experts took advantage of the trend with guarantees to eliminate worry, stress,
dejection and even boredom. This happiness movement has provoked a great deal of opposition among psychologists who observe that the preoccupation with happiness has
come at the cost of sadness, an important feeling that people have tried to banish from their emotional repertoire. Allan Horwitz of Rutgers laments that young people who are
naturally weepy after breakups are often urged to medicate themselves instead of working through their sadness. Wake Forest University’s Eric Wilson fumes that the obsession
with happiness amounts to a “craven disregard” for the melancholic perspective that has given rise to the greatest works of art. “The happy man” he writes, “is a hollow man.”
Also check:
 IELTS Reading
 IELTS Reading Practice test 2020
After all people are remarkably adaptable. Following a variable period of adjustment, we bounce back to our previous level of happiness, no matter what happens to us. (There are
some scientifically proven exceptions, notably suffering the unexpected loss of a job or the loss of a spouse. Both events tend to permanently knock people back a step.) Our
adaptability works in two directions. Because we are so adaptable, points out Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, we quickly get used to many of the
accomplishments we strive for in life, such as landing the big job or getting married. Soon after we reach a milestone, we start to feel that something is missing. We begin coveting
another worldly possession or eyeing a social advancement. But such an approach keeps us tethered to a treadmill where happiness is always just out of reach, one toy or one step
away. It’s possible to get off the treadmill entirely by focusing on activities that are dynamic surprising, and attention- absorbing, and thus less likely to bore us than, say,
acquiring shiny new toys.
Moreover, happiness is not a reward for escaping pain. Russ Harris, the author of The Happiness Trap, calls popular conceptions of happiness dangerous because they set people
up for a “struggle against reality”. They don’t acknowledge that real life is full of disappointments, loss, and inconveniences. “If you’re going to live a rich and meaningful life,”
Harris says, “you’re going to feel a full range of emotions.” Action toward goals other than happiness makes people happy. It is not crossing the finish line that is most rewarding,
it is anticipating achieving the goal. University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson has found that working hard toward a goal, and making progress to the point of
expecting a goal to be realized, not only activates positive feelings but also suppresses negative emotions such as fear and depression.
We are constantly making decisions, ranging from what clothes to put on, to whom we should marry, not to mention all those flavors of ice cream. We base many of our decisions
on whether we think a particular preference will increase our well-being. Intuitively, we seem convinced that the more choices we have, the better off we will ultimately be. But
our world of unlimited opportunity imprisons us more than it makes us happy. In what Swarthmore psychologist Barry Schwartz calls “the paradox of choice,” facing many
possibilities leaves us stressed out – and less satisfied with whatever we do decide. Having too many choices keeps us wondering about all the opportunities missed.
Besides, not everyone can put on a happy face. Barbara Held, a professor of psychology at Bowdoin College, rails against “the tyranny of the positive attitude”. “Looking on the
bright side isn’t possible for some people and is even counterproductive” she insists. “When you put pressure on people to cope in a way that doesn’t fit them, it not only doesn’t
work, it makes them feel like a failure on top of already feeling bad.” The one-size-fits-all approach to managing emotional life is misguided, agrees Professor Julie Norem, author
of The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. In her research, she has shown that the defensive pessimism that anxious people feel can be harnessed to help them get things done,
which in turn makes them happier. A naturally pessimistic architect, for example, can set low expectations for an upcoming presentation and review all of the bad outcomes that
she’s imagining so that she can prepare carefully and increase her chances of success.
By contrast, an individual who is not living according to their values, will not be happy, no matter how much they achieve. Some people, however, are not sure what their values
are. In that case, Harris has a great question: “Imagine I could wave a magic wand to ensure that you would have the approval and admiration of everyone on the planet, forever.
What, in that case, would you choose to do with your life?” Once this has been answered honestly, you can start taking steps toward your ideal vision of yourself. The actual
answer is unimportant, as long as you’re living consciously. The state of happiness is not really a state at all. It’s an ongoing personal experiment.
Questions 1-6
Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A–F.
Which paragraph mentions the following?
Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 1–6 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. the need for individuals to understand what really matters to them

2. tension resulting from a wide variety of alternatives
3. the hope of success as a means of overcoming unhappy feelings
4. people who call themselves specialists
5. human beings’ capacity for coping with change
6. doing things which are interesting in themselves
Questions 7-8
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 7 and 8 on your answer sheet
Which TWO of the following people argue against aiming for constant happiness
A. Martin Seligman
B. Eric Wilson
C. Sonja Lyubomirsky
D. Russ Harris
E. Barry Schwartz
Questions 9-10
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 9 and 10.
Which TWO of the following beliefs are identified as mistaken in the text
A. Inherited wealth brings less happiness than earned wealth.

B. Social status affects our perception of how happy we are.
C. An optimistic outlook ensures success.
D. Unhappiness can and should be avoided.
E. Extremes of emotion are normal in the young.
Questions 11-13
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
11. In order to have a complete understanding of how people’s minds work, Martin Seligman suggested that research should examine our most positive …………………. as
closely as it does our psychological problems.
12. Soon after arriving at a …………………… in their lives, people become accustomed to what they have achieved and have a sense that they are lacking something.
13. People who are …………………… by nature are more likely to succeed if they make a thorough preparation for a presentation.
Section 2
Bio-mimetic Design
What has fins like a whale, skin like a lizard, and eyes like a moth? The future of engineering. Andrew Parker, an evolutionary biologist, knelt in the baking red sand of the
Australian outback just south of Alice Springs and eased the right hind leg of a thorny devil into a dish of water.
“Its back is completely drenched!” Sure enough, after 30 seconds, water from the dish had picked up the lizard’s leg and was glistening all over its prickly hide. In a few seconds,
more the water reached its mouth, and the lizard began to smack its jaws with evident satisfaction. It was, in essence, drinking through its foot. Given more time, the thorny devil
can perform this same conjuring trick on a patch of damp sand – a vital competitive advantage in the desert. Parker had come here to discover precisely how it does this, not from
purely biological interest, but with a concrete purpose in mind: to make a thorny-devil-inspired device that will help people collect lifesaving water in the desert. “The water’s
spreading out incredibly fast!” he said, as drops from his eyedropper fell onto the lizard’s back and vanished, like magic. “Its skin is far more hydrophobic than I thought. There
may well be hidden capillaries, channeling the water into the mouth.”
Parker’s work is only a small part of an increasingly vigorous, global biomimetics movement. Engineers in Bath, England, and West Chester, Pennsylvania, are pondering the
bumps on the leading edges of humpback whale flukes to learn how to make airplane wings for more agile flight. In Berlin, Germany, the fingerlike primary feathers of raptors are
inspiring engineers to develop wings that change shape aloft to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. Architects in Zimbabwe are studying how termites regulate temperature,
humidity, and airflow in their mounds in order to build more comfortable buildings, while Japanese medical researchers are reducing the pain of an injection by using
hypodermic needles edged with tiny serrations, like those on a mosquito’s proboscis, minimizing nerve stimulation.
Ronald Fearing, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, has taken on one of the biggest challenges of all: to create a miniature robotic fly
that is swift, small, and maneuverable enough for use in surveillance or search-and-rescue operations. Fearing made his own, one of which he held up with tweezers for me to see,
a gossamer wand some 11 millimeters long and not much thicker than a cat’s whisker. Fearing has been forced to manufacture many of the other minute components of his fly in
the same way, using a micromachining laser and a rapid prototyping system that allows him to design his minuscule parts in a computer, automatically cut and cure them
overnight, and assemble them by hand the next day under a microscope.
With the microlaser, he cuts the fly’s wings out of a two-micron polyester sheet so delicate that it crumples if you breathe on it and must be reinforced with carbon-fiber spars.
The wings on his current model flap at 275 times per second – faster than the insect’s own wings – and make the blowfly’s signature buzz. “Carbon fiber outperforms fly chitin,”
he said, with a trace of self-satisfaction. He pointed out a protective plastic box on the lab bench, which contained the fly-bot itself, a delicate, origami-like framework of black
carbon-fiber struts and hairlike wires that, not surprisingly, looks nothing like a real fly. A month later it achieved liftoff in a controlled flight on a boom. Fearing expects the fly-
bot to hover in two or three years, and eventually to bank and dive with fly like virtuosity.
Stanford University roboticist Mark Cutkosky designed a gecko-insured climber that he christened Stickybot. In reality, gecko feet aren’t sticky – they’re dry and smooth to the
touch – and owe their remarkable adhesion to some two billion spatula-tipped filaments per square centimeter on their toe pads, each filament only a hundred nanometers thick.
These filaments are so small, in fact, that they interact at the molecular level with the surface on which the gecko walks, tapping into the low-level van der Waals forces generated
by molecules’ fleeting positive and negative charges, which pull any two adjacent objects together. To make the toe pads for Stickybot, Cutkosky and doctoral student Sangbae
Kim, the robot’s lead designer, produced a urethane fabric with tiny bristles that end in 30-micrometer points. Though not as flexible or adherent as the gecko itself, they hold the
500-gram robot on a vertical surface.
Cutkosky endowed his robot with seven-segmented toes that drag and release just like the lizard’s, and a gecko-like stride that snugs it to the wall. He also crafted Stickybot’s legs
and feet with a process he calls shape deposition manufacturing (SDM), which combines a range of metals, polymers, and fabrics to create the same smooth gradation from stiff
to flexible that is present in the lizard’s limbs and absent in most man-made materials. SDM also allows him to embed actuators, sensors, and other specialized structures that
make Stickybot climb better. Then he noticed in a paper on gecko anatomy that the lizard had to branch tendons to distribute its weight evenly across the entire surface of its toes.
Eureka.”When I saw that, I thought, wow, that’s great!” He subsequently embedded a branching polyester cloth “tendon” in his robot’s limbs to distribute its load in the same
way.
Stickybot now walks up vertical surfaces of glass, plastic, and glazed ceramic tile, though it will be some time before it can keep up with a gecko. For the moment it can walk only
on smooth surfaces, at a mere four centimeters per second, a fraction of the speed of its biological role model. The dry adhesive on Stickybot ‘s toes isn’t self-cleaning like the
lizard’s either, so it rapidly clogs with dirt. “There are a lot of things about the gecko that we simply had to ignore,” Cutkosky says. Still, a number of real-world applications are in
the offing. The Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funds the project, has it in mind for surveillance: an automaton that could
slink up a building and perch there for hours or days, monitoring the terrain below. Cutkosky hypothesizes a range of civilian uses. “I’m trying to get robots to go places where
they’ve never gone before,” he told me. “I would like to see Stickybot have a real-world function, whether it’s a toy or another application. Sure, it would be great if it eventually
has lifesaving or humanitarian role…”
For all the power of the biomimetics paradigm, and the brilliant people who practice it, bio-inspiration has led to surprisingly few mass-produced products and arguably only one
household word – Velcro, which was invented in 1948 by Swiss chemist George de Mestral, by copying the way cockleburs clung to his dog’s coat. In addition to Cutkosky ‘s lab,
five other high-powered research teams are currently trying to mimic gecko adhesion, and so far none has come close to matching the lizard’s strong, directional, self-cleaning
grip. Likewise, scientists have yet to meaningfully re-create the abalone nanostructure that accounts for the strength of its shell, and several well-funded biotech companies have
gone bankrupt trying to make artificial spider silk.
Questions 14-20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
14. Andrew Parker failed to make an effective water device that can be used in the desert.
15. The skin of lizard is easy to get wet when it contacts water.
16. Scientists apply inspiration from nature into many artificial engineering.
17. Tiny and thin hair under gecko’s feet allows it to stick to the surface of the object.
18. When gecko climbs downward, its feet release a certain kind of chemical to make them adhesive.
19. Famous cases stimulate a large number of successful products of biomimetics in real life.
20. Velcro is well-known for its bionics design.
Questions 21-23
Filling the blanks below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each question of the robot below.
Ronald Fearing was required to fabricate tiny components for his robotic fly 21……………………by specialized techniques.
The robotic fly’s main structure outside is made of 22 …………………… and long and thin wires which make it unlike fly at all.
Cutkosky applied an artificial material in Stickybot’s 23 …………………… as a tendon to split pressure as a lizard does.
Questions 24-25
Fill the blanks below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer about facts of stickybot.
24. Stickybot’s feet don’t have …………………… function which makes it only be able to walk on a smooth surface.
25. DARPA is planning to use stickybot for ……………………..
26. Cutkosky assumes that stickybot finally has potential in …………………… or other human-related activities.
Section 3
Bright children
By the time Laszlo Polgar’s first baby was born in 1969 he already had firm views on child-rearing. An eccentric citizen of communist Hungary, he had written a book called
“Bring up Genius!” and one of his favorite sayings was “Geniuses are made, not born”. An expert on the theory of chess, he proceeded to teach little Zsuzsa at home, spending up
to ten hours a day on the game. Two more daughters were similarly hot-housed. All three obliged their father by becoming world-class players. The youngest, Judit, is currently
ranked 13th in the world and is by far the best female chess player of all time. Would the experiment have succeeded with a different trio of children? If any child can be turned
into a star, then a lot of time and money are being wasted world wide on trying to pick winners.
America has long held “talent searches”, using test results and teacher recommendations to select children for advanced school courses, summer schools, and other extra tuition.
This provision is set to grow. In his state-of-the-union address in 2006, President George Bush announced the “American Competitiveness Initiative”, which, among much else,
would train 70,000 high-school teachers to lead advanced courses for selected pupils in mathematics and science. Just as the superpowers’ space race made Congress put money
into science education, the thought of China and India turning out hundreds of thousands of engineers and scientists is scaring America into prodding its brightest to do their
best.
The philosophy behind this talent search is that ability is innate; that it can be diagnosed with considerable accuracy; and that it is worth cultivating. In America, bright children
are ranked as “moderately”, “highly”, “exceptionally” and “profoundly” gifted. The only chance to influence innate ability is thought to be in the womb or the first couple of years
of life. Hence the fad for “teaching aids” such as videos and flashcards for newborns, and “whale sounds” on tape which a pregnant mother can strap to her belly.
In Britain, there is a broadly similar belief in the existence of innate talent, but also an egalitarian sentiment which makes people queasy about the idea of investing resources in
grooming intelligence. Teachers are often opposed to separate provisions for the best-performing children, saying any extra help should go to stragglers. In 2002, in a bid to help
the able while leaving intact the ban on most selection by ability in state schools, the government set up the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. This outfit runs
summer schools and master classes for children nominated by their schools. To date, though, only seven in ten secondary schools have nominated even a single child. Last year all
schools were told they must supply the names of their top 10%.
Picking winners is also the order of the day in ex-communist states, a hangover from the times when talented individuals were plucked from their homes and ruthlessly trained
for the glory of the nation. But in many other countries, opposition to the idea of singling out talent and grooming it runs deep. In Scandinavia, a belief in virtues like modesty and
social solidarity makes people flinch from the idea of treating brainy children differently.
And in Japan, there is a widespread belief that all children are born with the same innate abilities – and should, therefore, be treated alike. All are taught together, covering the
same syllabus at the same rate until they finish compulsory schooling. Those who learn quickest are expected then to teach their classmates. In China, extra teaching is provided,
but to a self-selected bunch. “Children’s palaces” in big cities offer a huge range of after-school classes. Anyone can sign up; all that is asked is excellent attendance.
Statistics give little clue as to which system is best. The performance of the most able is heavily affected by factors other than state provision. Most state education in Britain is
nominally non-selective, but middle-class parents try to live near the best schools. Ambitious Japanese parents have made private, out-of-school tuition a thriving business. And
Scandinavia’s egalitarianism might work less well in places with more diverse populations and less competent teachers. For what it’s worth, the data suggest that some countries
– like Japan and Finland, see table – can eschew selection and still thrive. But that does not mean that any country can ditch selection and do as well.
Mr. Polgar thought any child could be a prodigy given the right teaching, an early start, and enough practice. At one point he planned to prove it by adopting three baby boys from
a poor country and trying his methods on them. (His wife vetoed the scheme.) Some say the key to success is simply hard graft. Judit, the youngest of the Polgar sisters, was the
most driven, and the most successful; Zsofia, the middle one, was regarded as the most talented, but she was the only one who did not achieve the status of grandmaster.
“Everything came easiest to her,” said her older sister. “But she was lazy.”
Questions 27-32
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the view of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the view of the writer
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about
NOT GIVEN
this
27. America has a long history of selecting talented students into different categories.
28. Teachers and schools in Britain held a welcome attitude towards the government’s selection of gifted students.
29. Some parents agree to move to reputable schools in Britain.
30. Middle-class parents participate in their children’s education.
31. Japan and Finland comply with selected student’s policies.
32. Avoiding-selection-policy only works in a specific environment.
Questions 33-34
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
33. What’s Laszlo Polgar’s point of view towards geniuses of children
A. Chess is the best way to train geniuses.

B. Genius tends to happen on the first child.
C. Geniuses can be educated later on.
D. Geniuses are born naturally.
34. What is the purpose of citing Zsofia’s example in the last paragraph
A. Practice makes a genius.

B. Girls are not good at chess.
C. She was an adopted child.
D. A Middle child is always the most talented.
Questions 35-39
Use the information in the passage to match the countries (listed A-E) with correct connection below.
Write the appropriate letters, A-E, in boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet.
35. Less gifted children get help from other classmates

36. Attending extra teaching is open to anyone
37. People are reluctant to favor gifted children due to social characteristics
38. Both views of innate and egalitarian co-existed
39. The craze of audio and video teaching for pregnant women.
A Scandinavia
D China
B Japan
E America
C Britain
ANSWER KEY FOR IELTS READING PRACTICE TEST
1. F
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. B/D
8. D/B
9. C/D
10. D/C
11. moods
12. milestone
13. pessimistic
14. NOT GIVEN
15. FALSE
16. TRUE
17. FALSE
18. NOT GIVEN
19. FALSE
20. TRUE
21. the same way
22. carbon-fiber
23. limbs/legs and feet
24. self-cleaning
25. surveillance
26. lifesaving
27. YES
28. NO
29. YES
30. NOT GIVEN
31. NO
32. YES
33. C
34. A
35. B
36. D
37. A
38. C
39. E
Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic 13 with Answers

Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:44 PM PDT
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
In many countries, people are concerned about the number of children who are overweight.
What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?
Write at least 250 words.
Also check: IELTS Writing Task 2
MODEL ESSAY 01:

Gaining weight especially in young teenagers is a major anxious matter amongst many countries. Children became fat because of modernization and technology advancement.
This essay will discuss the problems of obesity in young people and the responsibilities of the government, society, and parents.
It is likely that one of the prominent causes giving rise to this problem is the major change in our lifestyle due to the remarkable advances in technology, which has a considerable
impact on our daily life and health. Children could consume many junk foods at any time, which we consume every day made the matters worse. These foods, which are easily
available, often contain ingredients that are high in calorie, cholesterol and fat, while lack necessary vitamin, mineral and protein and these factors are taking a toll on our health.
In addition, teenagers are playing with their computers rather than playing outside. As a result, teenagers are lacking in exercise and becoming overweight.
In my opinion, teachers, parents, and the government as a whole should take this issue as an emergency and take a necessary step. For instance, parents are keeping an eye on
their children’s eating habits and make sure to make healthy food while reducing the quality of junk food. The government could limit junk food advertising to discourage
children to fail for bad eating habits.
In conclusion, although many countries are now falling into similar issues of unhealthy diet we can defeat this issue by following the steps such as the limit of the junk food
consumed by children.
(Band 8.0+, Written by Mr.Adam Lambert, IELTS 8.5)
MODEL ESSAY 02:

Currently, great attention has been paid to a dramatic increase in overweight children. There are some factors to occur such a big issue. Some people believe that easy to get fast
food by expanding fast food shop is the cause. Others believe that their parents do not pay attention to own children’s health. Definitely both views may be truly factors for
occurring this issue but It seems to me, there is another possible element.
Present any society, fast food shops can be found easily. It is certainly involved in the growing phenomenon of globalization. When it is considered about the influence on our
living, there are many benefits indeed but disadvantages as well. Some of the disadvantages may concern about occurring the fact. Focusing on the disadvantage, it promotes to
extend to working time longer. As a result, it is really difficult to find time to make a meal by career women who have children hence people tend to have a meal at fast food and
the fact also may encourage them to expand fast food business.
Regarding the second opinion, which parents do not care about own children’s health, this thought seems to link which I mentioned the previous paragraph as my surmise. Young
parents, who are around 35, I do not think they have residence against fast foods; Because, for them, fast food has always been around them since they were adolescence. Besides,
they do not have much time to provide rich nutritional foods.
There is possible to become other factors which may be quality of taste. TO contrast with fast food and homemade food, I do not think both tastes are totally different. In other
words, almost the same taste. Therefore people who play the role of cook do not think it deserves to sacrifice own time for making a meal. Having said I mentioned it is sure
younger should have nutritional food indeed. So all of the factors seem to concern globalization hence what we should do at first as the solution is people make an effort to have
much time to make a meal and avoid fast foods.
To sum up, there are some of the factors to occur that issue but It seems to me, all of the factor links to globalization. Anyhow, we should try to avoid eating fast food and make
meals.
MODEL ESSAY 03:

In some countries, including the USA and Britain, an increasing number of children are overweight. This is due to a combination of poor diet and lack of exercise.
Children tend to be attracted to food that is high in sugar and fat, such as various forms of fast food. They also tend to be ignorant of what constitutes a healthy diet. Although
parents may try to guide their children’s choices, other commitments mean they cannot always be present. As a result, children’s choices are often influenced by other factors,
such as advertising by fast-food companies.
On top of that, children are much less active than they used to be. While in the past young people took part in activities that burned a considerable amount of energy, children
today spend their time indoors, sitting at computers or playing video games. They have no opportunity to burn off the calories they are taking in, leading to a problem with
obesity.
There are a number of steps that need to be taken to solve this problem. The first is to educate children about nutrition. Schools should organize compulsory lessons to explain the
main elements of a healthy diet and teach pupils how to prepare simple but healthy meals. The government should also place restrictions on the type of advertising allowed
during children’s TV programs.
Children also need to be encouraged to participate in sports. Again, schools have a large role to play in this by offering a wide range of activities. Investment in local sports clubs
by the government would also help to alleviate the problem.
(264 words)
MODEL ESSAY 04:

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the medical experts. I feel there are a number of reasons for
this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods such as chips and fried chicken, at low prices. This has created a whole generation of
adults who have never cooked a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then children would not be tempted to buy take-away food.
There is another argument that blames the parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I tend to agree with this view, because good eating habits begin early in life,
long before children start to visit fast food outlets. If children are given chips, ice creams and chocolate rather than nourishing food or are always allowed to choose what they eat,
they will go for the sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives. Parents decide what to buy and let their children eat and many parents knowing
and feeling that their kids are overweight let them eat high calorie contained foods like fast foods. If parents try to make their kids understand that those types of fast foods are
not good for their health and draw a restriction on how much their kids are allowed to eat then the problem can be solved partially.
There is a third factor, however, which contributes to the situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front
of the television or their computers and play video games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime, but it also gives them time to eat more junk food. What they need is to go outside
and play active games or sport.
The two views discussed play an equal role in contributing to the problem, but I think we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from
fast food outlets and bad eating habits. We need to have a balanced approach.
(Approximately 360 words)

(This model answer has been prepared by the site developer. However, please note that this is just one example out of many possible answers.)
MODEL ESSAY 05:

An increasing the number of overweight children in developing nations is a major problem which is always open to debate. This is a topical question nowadays. Regarding this
issue, some people think that the problem is due to the rise in the number of fast-food centers while others point out that parents are responsible for lacking care of children’s
health. I strongly opine that food habits are completely transformed which needs to be rectified immediately.
On one hand, different types of foreign dishes are spread throughout the world. As children are more interested in these foods, they choose them without knowing the cons of
them. Consequently, a developing country cannot deny the entry of foreign trade which affects the economy of the nation. The ingredients used to prepare an item in the fast-food
outlets are of low quality but rich in fat content and other elements that affect a child’s health. factors behind the increasing demand for fast food centers in low cost, instant
availability of food and finally feasible in the distance as grew in number, which is in every corner of a street.
On the other hand, parents are more blamed due to this problem. There are many factors relevant to this. In this challenging world, both parents are willing to have a job to adopt
a posh lifestyle and also to show their status. Consequently, their vision on the child’s food habits plunged to a low level thus result in unhealthy food habits. Other reasons like
hormonal imbalance or a gene transfer from parents to children result in obesity. In this urban life, families prefer late parties, restaurant foods, etc. These new interests
devastated healthy food habits.
Finally, in the short consumption of fast foods should be reduced gradually simultaneously parents ought to pay more concentration on children’s habits and also force them to do
exercises which keep body it.

(This model answer has been submitted by Kalyan Chakravarthy, IELTS Teacher)
MODEL ESSAY 06:

All around the world the living standards are becoming higher and all more similar to western society. This change in everyday life brings also its contradictions and drawbacks,
like the dramatic increase in the number of overweight people. This problem is even more worrying if we consider the number of overweight children, which causes will be treated
in this essay.
One of the reasons lots of people think is the cause of such a problem is the exponentially growing number of fast food outlets in developed countries. Fast foods originally were
places where to eat a meal a few times, but now have become also the easiest and cheapest solution to have lunch all over the world. Consequently millions of families prefer to eat
in fast foods where the food is appealing, thanks to the huge work on advertisements, and the cost is reasonable. Therefore, parents bring their children to fast food outlets, where
food isn’t organic at all and the dimensions of a meal are completely over-proportioned.
However, parents are responsible for their children’s diet and have to look after them in order to avoid they become overweight or even obese. Parents have to find time to
prepare healthy food for children, for example, fresh vegetables or meat, that doesn’t require more than half an hour of cooking. Moreover, parents have to free their children’s
diet from sweets, exchanging them with fresh fruit.
In conclusion, both fast foods and lack of parental control are causes of the increasing number of overweight children. Consequently, a change in familiar eating habits and in fast
food outlets menus could prevent the risk of a future world widespread obesity problem.

(This model answer has been submitted by Luca Brotto, IELTS Teacher)
MODEL ESSAY 07:

I strongly believe that both components mentioned: the growth of fast-food counters along with parent’s attention deficit over their children’s health could be blamed for the
causes of overweight young people.
In terms of the fast-food counter, it should not be solely pointed as the contribution factor toward this matter. The increment of cow milk consumption in toddlers, in a change for
breastfeeding milk, is also in charge of guilty. Several research conducted on this had proven, that obesity is common among babies who were given cow milk instead of being
breastfed. Fast food, on the other hand, contains high fats and unsaturated fatty acids, which are hazardous for well being not only for children but also for grown-up people.
Whereas parent’s lack of attention on their children’s eating habits must also take seriously. They must be acknowledged the importance of introducing nutritious meals to
children. Children under five years of age, for instance, are best given high protein contains food, which accounts for brain development and boosting their cognitive ability. And
as for obesity, one must be alerted on its impact on children’s health status for it had been recognized as one of the major factors resulting in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and
stroke.
In conclusion to this essay, parent’s knowledge of a healthy lifestyle and early introduction to the children must give more emphasis to help to anticipate the increasing numbers
of overweight young people. And in addition, the government along with society must also hold full responsibility for the children well being in general. It might be necessary for
the future to create a policy controlling fast food outlets opening.

(This model answer has been submitted by Nuke Amadeus, IELTS 8.5)
MODEL ESSAY 08:

It is true that the problems of obesity in children in advance countries have grown rapidly in the past recent years. A group of people believes that it is due to the increasing
number of fast-food restaurants in the areas, while another group thinks that it is due to the parents’ mistakes, as they have given less attention to the children these days.
Although the growing numbers of fast food outlets do affect the problem, I also agree that the lack of attention of the parents also gives a significant impact on the obesity cases.
On the one hand, it is undeniable that the significant growths of fast food outlets have truly affected the case of overweight problems in children. In most public places such as in
theme parks or shopping malls, fast food outlets restaurant definitely exist, and they offer various kinds of things which attract the children. For instance, Mc Donald regularly
gives additional bonuses such as toys for the children’s meal package. As more and more children are attracted to visit the fast-food outlets, the existence of the outlets has grown
rapidly nowadays and they have outnumbered the healthy ones. As a consequence of the increasing trend, the children have more options for outlets that they can select, and the
probabilities of the children consuming the foods are getting higher.
On the other hand, I do believe that parents are also responsible for the problem as well. In modern days, the roles of wives have changed, as most of them have become career
women these days. Since they are focused on their careers, they have less time doing household activities, which include preparing meals for their children. Instead of cooking
healthy foods, they prefer to give a meal allowance to their children, which is more practical and efficient. As a result, many of the children purchased their meals in fast-food
restaurants, and they have become overweight.
In conclusion, although the increasing populations of fast-food restaurants have given some contribution to the problem of overweight children, I do believe that the lack of
attention of parents also plays a significant role as well.

(This model answer has been submitted by Darwin, IELTS Teacher)
MODEL ESSAY 09:
It is true that there is a growing trend in obesity children in industrialized nations in recent years. While this issue is being pointed at the widespread fast food restaurants, I
would argue that parents should take full responsibility for growing a healthy child.
To begin with, the expansion of convenient food stores may not be the cause of overweight children. Although some of the foods served in these restaurants may contain high
saturated fat items, there are other factors that could also result in gaining weight as well. Firstly, if children consumed an excessive amount of unhealthy snacks, sugary soda
drinks, or prepackaged foods, they could also become obsessed. Secondly, even if the family did visit the fast food outlets for meals, parents could still substitute unhealthy items
with a healthier menu, such as having French fries replaced with vegetables or salad.
In addition, parents certainly play a vital role in providing a healthy diet for their children. With the invention of the Internet, it is possible to obtain information about food
ingredients, daily nutrient proportion needed in each food category and healthy recipes within minutes. Therefore, learning about how to prepare nutrient meals has never been
easier. I believe supplying healthy snacks for children during school days and preparing a healthy balanced meal in the evening in routine could lead to a healthy body.
However, we must not be forgotten that ensuring children have an adequate amount of physical exercise is also a critical contributor to their good health.
In conclusion, I believe that parents should be the ones who play a crucial role in upbringing their children in a healthy environment.

(This model answer was written by Stacey, IELT 8.0)
MODEL ESSAY 10:

In today’s world, fast food is one of the main problems in all countries. Fast food causes many health problems including the overweight issue. The proportion of eating fast food
among young people is growing year by year and this is why the overweight issue is getting worse over time.
It is believed that increasing the number of fast-food outlets such as McDonald’s is creating a health problem. As these cafes and fast food outlets are convenient and near to our
home or workplace, they have become part of our lives in spite of their harmfulness. Children who eat from those fast food shops do not know what is good and what is bad for
their health. Nowadays even parents are consuming these foods even after knowing they are not beneficial for our health. This problem does not only create the overweight,
besides this, but it can also cause heart attack and other health problems.
Busy parents cannot take care of their children and can’t maintain a balanced diet for them. It is a common opinion for the working-class parents and that is why children eat
more and more fast food without control and become fattier. Moreover, parents are grown-up enough to know what is healthy and what is unhealthy for their kids. That is why
parents should help their children to make the right decision on the way of eating food. Some people think that parents with kids can always go to restaurants where hygienic
dishes are served.
As far as I am concerned, parents are more blameworthy than fast food outlets. Parents want to do their best and make their children’s lives more colorful and sound. And they
should not work all day, and it would be better if a parent can arrange more time for their kids. Also in my opinion parents should cook delicious food at home, teach their kids
about a balanced diet, ask them to avoid harmful foods and inspire them to do some exercise.

(This model answer was written by Sherzod Djuraev, IELTS 8.5.)
15 Days’ Practice for IELTS Reading (PDF) with Answers (General And Academic)
This book provides essential practice for IELTS students who are determined to achieve a high IELTS band score in less than 2 weeks.
Introduction to IELTS Reading Practice PDF

You have certainly practiced a great deal to prepare for your actual test. You have also been exposed to a rich variety of materials and have familiarised yourself with the format of
the IELTS test. This book, therefore, doesn’t aim to load you with the practice materials, but it will sum up the main points to enable you to work out an effective plan to finally
achieve a high score in your IELTS reading test.
IELTS General Reading Practice

Test
In the IELTS general reading practice test, 1 hour will be given to finish the three sections of the test. there will be 40 questions and each answer for the question will carry 1 mark.
if you are taking IELTS General reading practice test online then you need to carefully switch through all the three sections, so that there is no interruption while taking the test. If
you are thinking to take a test offline, then you need to download the sheet with the questions and a blank sheet in order to write the answers.
Also check:
 IELTS Reading
 IELTS Reading Practice Test
IELTS ACADEMIC READING PRACTICE TEST
IELTS Academic reading practice test is the same as the IELTS General reading practice test. Even here the test will be of 60 minutes and has 40 questions, every answer for the
question contains 1 mark. In this practice test, the test reading is related to the issues which are appropriate to the candidates who are going to enter under graduation or post-
graduation. Some of the passages will have a logical argument and some of them have non-verbal materials like graphs, tables, charts and so on. In some cases where there are
technical terms, vocabulary is provided in order to understand it. There are also various reading materials regarding the IELTS examination, you can browse through the various
websites.
IELTS READING TEST
IELTS Reading is the second part of the IELTS test, where 60 minutes are given in order to read 3 to 4 passages, and the difficulty level of the passages keeps on increasing. It is
mainly used to asses the English speaking skills of the candidate. Both the Academic test as well as the General training test are graded equally or at the same level. There are
various IELTS reading articles through which you can score really well in the IELTS reading test. All the tests are been reviewed again and again and there are several IELTS
samples through which you can improve your IELTS scores. Also you can register for IELTS Academic Test after referring IELTS Reading practice papers.
The IELTS master reading is a module that helps the candidates to achieve the best possible score in the reading test by developing the skills and also helps in improving the
vocabulary and English language. It also helps to know the different question types of reading tests.
IELTS READING TIPS/ IELTS READING STRATEGIES
To know more about how to score a high band in IELTS examination you can go through these simple tips below:
 You don’t have to understand each and every word which is in the passage. If you are not able to understand a particular word you need to look at the other words
around it which may give you an idea about the particular word.
 Before focusing on improving your IELTS skills, you have to try to improve your reading skills. You should practice reading the English language and try to
understand the vocabulary.
 More than a reading test, its a vocabulary test where more than your reading speed your vocabulary is tested.
 Practice IELTS reading slowly as well as quickly, keeping the exam in mind. You are expected to focus on the mistakes and find out why is the mistake taking place
and improve it.
 Do not leave any of the questions blank, if you do not know the answer give an attempt to solve it.
IELTS Practice Reading Images

Review
The good starting point for anyone taking the IELTS. Nicely divided and has clear instructions. The sample papers inside are valuable (albeit somewhat long) and there are very
good tips for how to achieve at least a band 6.
Download 15 Days’ Practice for IELTS Reading (PDF)
Google Drive Link Mirror Link Mirror Link 2 Mirror Link 3
Mobile Phones And Driving, The Eiffel Tower, Hazard Management – Reading Answers
There are three reading passages that will help you to practice the reading test. There are also sample question and answers which you can go through
in order to get a high band in IELTS examination.
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-16, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
MOBILE PHONES AND DRIVING
Though once perceived a luxury cell phones have become a common possession over the last ten years or so. Due to modern-day technology and public demand cell phones have
been made affordable to most. However, one of the most controversial topics of today is whether or not we should be using our cell phones whilst driving, Does it pose a danger
to ourselves and other drivers? Or doesn’t it make any difference to the likelihood of an accident?
Also check:
 IELTS Reading
 IELTS Academic Reading Practice test
Several countries around the world have already imposed a national Jaw with heavy infringements. More recently the UK, Australia, and Finland have joined the ranks of
countries opposing this very hazardous act, with Ireland imposing the harshest penalties on the continent (a third offense can mean 3 months imprisonment). Also in Europe,
the Netherlands is fining offenders 2000 Euros and 2 weeks in jail.
This dangerous distraction contributes largely to motor vehicle accidents and the statistics are Increasing daily as we continue to take our eyes off the road to call or even more
dangerously text. Research by road safety groups suggests speaking on a phone whilst driving increases your chances of an accident, increasing to nine times more likely when
texting. Time and again, in study after study replicated across the world, the use of a cell phone by the driver has been proven, beyond any sense of reasonable doubt, to
dramatically increase the probability of a motor vehicle crash.
In New Zealand, a proposal made by a previous Labor-led Government suggests a $50 fine and 27 demerit points for any person using a cell phone whilst driving, although the
Ministry of Transport is still preparing a report based on public consultation. Although this is only a pending idea, the government knows this will be a difficult infringement to
police but a start needs to be made and people need to understand the consequences of what potentially could happen. It is a common misconception that hands-free kits are
safe to use, but research conducted by Waikato University has proven that these can be equally as dangerous as handheld phones.
On one hand, using a cell phone whilst driving has become an integral part of our lives and is going to be a hard habit to kick. But it has been proven that our reaction time is
never fast enough when confronted with a road hazard, but if you are having a conversation at the same time it will slow your reaction time by even more. Most people find It
takes 2 and a half seconds to react in a dangerous situation but if you are on the phone you can add another 2 seconds onto that. Your attention is divided; part of you
concentrates on your conversation, the other on driving. The demands of die conversation and the road are competing, therefore making it a cognitive distraction as well as
physical as you are removing one hand from the steering wheel to hold the phone. On the other hand, an American radio host suggested that banning cell phones whilst driving
was taking it a step too far, “if we ban cell phones, what’s next? No billboards, coffee drinking, or CD players?” The host agreed that texting whilst driving was a danger but
phoning was not.
Many people agreed with him in saying that texting was a definite hazard as the act of looking down would lead your eyes off the road. However, doesn’t holding a conversation
while driving seems just as distracting as eating food or reaching for a CD? Accidents were happening decades before the cell phone was introduced so should we be taking this
matter so seriously?
Obviously opinions will differ on this matter, and it will always remain a debatable issue. A long list of countries seems to be following the trend and imposing a law against cell
phones on the road, but there is still an even longer list yet to follow. Lack of data leaves uncertain results but it seems research is ongoing and surveys and tests are being
carried out on a regular basis to reach some kind of conclusion as to just how dangerous and potentially fatal this habit may be.
Questions 1 – 6
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A – G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B – G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-6.
List of Headings
i. Impact of mobile phones in hazards

ii. Texting statistics
iii. International reactions
iv. Further research required
v. Evidence from around the globe
vi. Challenges of enforcement
vii. A global agreement on penalties
viii. Contradictory data
ix. Risks of talking to passengers
x. Balancing the risks
1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G
Questions 7 – 11
Look at the following list of statement (questions 7-11) based on ‘Mobile phones and driving’
Match the statement with the correct person or department A-E.
A. Ministry of Transport
B. Road safety groups
C. Waikato University
D. American radio host
E. The New Zealand government
7. is currently putting together feedback from the general public.

8. proposed specific penalties for mobile phone use while driving.
9. statistically proven the higher likelihood of an accident.
10. believes any use of a phone while driving has potential risks.
11. speaking on the phone is an overrated risk.
Questions 12 – 16
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
In boxes 12-16 an your answer sheet write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts with the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
12. The law in Ireland regarding mobile phone use while driving is the world’s most serious.
13. According to research conducted by road safety groups, speaking on a phone makes an accident nine times more likely.
14. Reaction times in an emergency are doubled if the driver is using a mobile.
15. Eating while driving is statistically as dangerous as using a mobile.
16. More research is required to form a clearer conclusion.
READING PASSAGE 2
THE EIFFEL TOWER
 High above the city of Paris the Eiffel Tower looks over the thousands of tourists that visit her each day. One of the greatest sites in Paris, the Eiffel Tower was
erected in 1889 for the great Paris Exposition.
 Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Statue of Liberty, put his design-forward amongst 700 other designs and Eiffel’s design was chosen collectively
without any further thought. The decision was made to build this radical creation and two years later it was completed. Eiffel had originally decided to build the
tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but organizers and planners in Barcelona thought it was a bizarre and expensive construction, which did
not fit into the design of the city.
 After the design and build of the Eiffel Tower was confirmed for Paris, a petition was signed by over 300 names to fight against the building of this project. These
names included Parisian architects, engineers and famous citizens of Paris. Eiffel was heavily castigated for his design and was accused of designing something for
its appearance and artistic appeal with no regard to engineering; opponents to the building claimed that the design did not have sufficient stability to withstand
the high winds its height would be exposed to. But Eiffel and his team of ex bridge builders understood the importance of wind forces, and the shape of the tower
was largely decided by a mathematical calculation involving wind resistance.
 French painters, sculptures and writers did not see the beauty in the tower and referred to it as useless and monstrous. However, the Eiffel tower was admired by
many notable people (Rousseau was particularly impressed) and construction began in 1887 and was soon completed by the end of 1889. In 1909 it was almost
demolished because of the expiration of its 20-year lease but was saved due to its antennas used for telegraphy at the time, With such a difficult beginning to the
Tower. It is now internationally recognized and is a symbol of Paris completely accepted and valued by its French Citizens.
 It took 300 workers and 15,000 pieces of iron to complete this massive landmark which now stands at 320 meters tall. With three different levels, the third and
highest level offers panoramic views of the City of Paris and sits 276 meters above the ground. Today all three levels of the Eiffel Tower are observatory platforms.
The first level offers a souvenir kiosk, gallery and restaurant. The second level offers telescopes, shops and another restaurant with even more spectacular views,
the third offers a gallery featuring the history of the Eiffel Tower; a wax reproduction of Gustave Eiffel and his original office restoration. Although stairs are still
available, lifts commonly take passengers to all three of these levels.
 On a dear day, you can see as far as 67 kilometers across Paris. More than 300,000,000 people have visited the Tower since its completion in 1889 making it one
of the most visited monuments in Europe.
 Every seven years, the Eiffel Tower is repainted with 50 to 60 tonnes of paint to protect its framework from rust. So that the Eiffel Tower appears the same color at
each level when viewing it from the ground up, the Tower is painted in three different shades of the same color. The bottom painted with the darkest brown and
the lightest at the top of the tower. At the time of its completion, the Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest structure until New York’s Chrysler building was
completed in 1930.
 Today more than 500 hundred people operate the day to day running of the Eiffel Tower. Each and every day the Eiffel Towers 335 spotlights and 20,000 bulbs
create a glistening effect and at night the Eiffel Tower lights up the city of Paris and is a sight not to be missed by anyone. The Tower lights up every evening from
sunset to lam, coupled with the lighthouse on the top that sends out its light beams during the same hours. As recognizable as a night time picture of the Tower is,
rulings made in the early 1990s actually made copyrighted the illuminated image, Unless it is taken as part of a wider panoramic view, the image is protected
under French law. The argument is that the arrangements and display of the lighting constitutes an original visual creation, much as a major work of art, and thus
should be entitled to the same degree of protection, The ruling was and remains highly controversial, with concerns that an innocent tourist taking a photograph of
the tower at night is potentially breaching copyright.
Questions 17 – 19
Write your answers in boxes 17- 19 on your answer sheet
17. The Eiffel Tower was
A. A. first built in Barcelona.

B. B. the only design considered.
C. C. selected by one man.
D. D. built-in time for an exposition.
18. In Paris, some people
A. argued that it was too expensive.

B. wrote letters against the project.
C. thought it would not last in the environment.
D. believed there was not enough room for the design.
19. The Eiffel Tower
A. is 276 metres tall.

B. has a souvenir shop on the third floor.
C. has two restaurants.
D. is the oldest monument in Europe.
Questions 20 – 22
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20 – 22 on your answer sheet
Despite some opposition, construction of the tower was concluded by 20_______________ . It was almost dismantled in the early 1900s as its 21______________ had
expired, but was kept because of an 22______________ used for telegraphic transfers.
Questions 23 – 29
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 23 – 29 on your answer sheet.
23. Which famous person championed the construction of the Eiffel Tower?
24. On what floor of the tower can gifts be bought?
25. What is the most common way of accessing the three floors?
26. Protection from what requires the tower to be painted so often?
27. The Tower is painted using three shades of brown so that it appears what?
28. What was taller than the Eiffel Tower in 1930?
29. When are the illuminations switched on?
READING PASSAGE 3
HAZARD MANAGEMENT
 In many industrial or manufacturing workplaces, managing hazards is essential for a successful health and safety system. Hazard management is an ongoing
process that goes through five different stages, with each step becoming a stage on a tire hazard management plan.
 The first step is to identify potential hazards, remembering that hazards are classed as anything that could potentially cause harm not only to people but also to the
organization. To illustrate, an industrial accident can cause an injury to employees, but can also result in lost production, broken machinery and wasted resources
for the company, In many cases, local and national government legislation has strict regulations concerning hazard identification, and in many industries,
especially those perceived to be dangerous, severe penalties can be incurred by companies overlooking such hazard identification.
 Having identified the potential hazards, the next step is to assess the hazard; that is, to consider to what extent they are significant. To a degree, this is a subjective
aspect of risk management, as what may be seen by one person to be a significant issue can be seen by another to be an acceptable feature of a workplace. To allow
for a degree of uniformity, in this stage, hazards are rated using risk assessment tables. These tables work by assigning a point value to three areas. The first is the
exposure score, which assesses how often people are exposed to the hazard. If this is a continuous risk which employees face all the time, the score will be high; if
the exposure is very rare, the points given will be substantially lower, The score is then multiplied by the likelihood of this hazard causing an injury, ranging from
‘Definite’ (it happens all the time) down to ‘Unlikely’ (it hasn’t happened yet). This is referred to like the chance rating. The sum of the first two scores is again
multiplied by the effects score, which considers how serious any accident might be. This can be rated from 1 (requiring minor first aid) right up to multiple deaths
(classed as a disaster ). All 3 scores then give the final risk assessment result. Generally, a result in excess of 100 points requires caution, but a result of 200
hundred or more is classed as a high priority. Certain jobs are, for the most part, permanently gamer scores of over 200 (firefighting, for example) and in many
cases, additional payments, informally known as ‘danger money’, are applied.
 The third step on the hazard management plan is to control hazards that have been identified. There are 3 stages to hazard control. The first aim is to eliminate the
hazard – that is, to get rid of it altogether. This can be achieved by removing debris or unnecessary obstacles from the workplace. Often, however, this is not
possible, so the next step is to isolate the hazard, to store it out of the way. For example, a cleaning company cannot completely eliminate hazardous chemicals, but
they can keep these chemicals locked away until required. Isolating hazard is an ongoing process that requires companies to have very dear and enforced
guidelines regarding the safe storage of potentially hazardous products.
 If the hazards cannot be isolated, then the aim must be to minimize the risk. This is achieved through staff training in safe handling techniques and best practices,
as well as the provision of personal protection equipment (PPE). PPE commonly includes items such as gloves, overalls and footwear with steel reinforced areas.
 The fourth and fifth steps on a hazard management plan are connected – to record and review’ the hazard. The recording is done in the hazard register, and this
register is continually reviewed to ensure best practices are maintained. If a severe accident does occur in the workplace, it is the hazard register that investigators
often first turn to, to see if the issue had previously been reported and if so what the company had done about the hazard.
 It is worth noting that since the more rigorous application of hazard management systems, workplace accidents have experienced a significant decline in many
industries previously identified as ‘high risk’.
Questions 30 – 31
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your glower in questions 30 and 31 on your answer sheet.
30. The 5 stages of the managing hazards are put together like what?
31. Damaged machinery and discarded resources are two examples of hazards to what?
Questions 32 – 37
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading Passage 3 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 32 – 37 on your answer sheet
To mathematical calculate risk assessment, 32_____________ stages need to be calculated. The exposure score considers the amount of time employees spend working near
the hazard. The 33____________ then measures the probability of an accident, ranging from not likely to 34____________ .The results are then 35_______________
by each other, and then again by the degree of seriousness of an accident. The highest ‘effect’ score is given when more than one person is killed (this is rated as a
36___________). When calculated, a result of 200 or more is considered 37_____________ .
Questions 38 – 40
Complete the flowchart
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading Passage 3 for each answer.
STAGES OF HAZARD CONTROL
1st step is to 38_________________ if possible
⇓
Locate the hazard ( e.g. 39______________ it out of the way)
⇓
40____________ hazard by wearing protective clothing and following
safety training

ANSWER KEY FOR IELTS READING PRACTICE TEST
1. III
The text talks about a number of different countries (international) and how they are responding to the problem (reactions).
2. V
The paragraph refers to conclusions drawn from surveys (evidence) from around the world (the globe)
3. VI
The paragraph refers to the government believing that measures will be difficult to enforce.
4. I
The paragraph talks about the specific reduction in reaction speed when using a mobile phone at the time of an accident.
5. X
The paragraph talks about other activities that happen during driving but still potentially pose a risk.
6. IV
The paragraph refers to differing opinions linked to lack of data, thus further research is required.
7. A
‘The Ministry of Transport is still preparing a report based on public consultation’
8. E
‘In New Zealand, a proposal made by a previous Labor-led Government suggests a $50 fine and 27 demerit points’
9. B
‘Research by road safety groups suggests speaking on a phone whilst driving increases your chances of an accident, increasing to nine times more likely when texting’
10. C
‘It is a common misconception that hands-free kits are safe to use, but research conducted by Waikato University has proven that these can be equally as dangerous as handheld
phones
IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test
 IELTS Reading Practice Test

 IELTS Cue Card Sample 75 – Topic: Describe a Game/ Sport
 IELTS Cue Card Sample 81 – Topic: A Time You Need to Use Imagination
 IELTS Cue Card Sample 74 – Topic: Describe a Family Member
 IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE TEST 32 & SAMPLE ANSWERS
 IELTS Speaking Practice Test 01 – Topic: Meal
 Plant Scents, The Development of Plastics, Global Warming in New Zealand – Reading Answers in 2017
 IELTS Cue Card Sample 31 – Topic: an article about healthy living that you read from magazine or online
 IELTS Speaking Actual Test in Australia – May 2017 & Sample Answers
 IELTS Grammar: Phrasal Verbs With Get And Take
IELTS Reading Practice Test

Posted: 18 Mar 2020 04:29 AM PDT
In this particular page, you can find IELTS Reading samples which can be used in the IELTS practice test. There is a procedure to calculate the marks obtained by the IELTS
reading practice test. You can follow the below procedure to calculate the IELTS reading band score obtained.
 Choose a particular practice test and click on the first section of the test.
 Read the given passage and answer the question below and click on the check button. You will get the correct and wrong answer for the same.
 Go to the next section and repeat the same procedure
 After you finish reading all the 3 passages and answering all the questions. Click on Get Results button to check the scores obtained in the reading test.
In the Reading test, there are 2 categories one is the IELTS Academic Reading test and another is the IELTS General Training Reading test. The practice test for both is explained
below.
IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test

While taking up the Academic Reading Practice test certain things have to be kept in mind which are pointed down as below:
 The Academic Reading test will go up to 60 minutes long.

 Totally there will be 3 sections and each section will have a long text which will be 2,150-2,750 words long.
 The texts which are given in the exam are taken from journals, newspapers, magazines. These topics will be written on Academic topics of general interest and these
are given for non-specialist audiences.
 The texts or the passages given are appropriate or to the point for the audience who are taking up undergraduate or postgraduate programs or for those who are
taking the professional registration like, teacher, doctor and so on in the foreign countries.
 From the text given you may be asked descriptive, discursive, analytical and factual questions.
 The text which is given may also contain non-verbal materials like graphs, tables, diagrams and so on.
 If the text has words which are not understandable by the test taker, then a separate vocabulary is provided for the same.
 There are different question types based on the text given such as multiple-choice, matching information, matching sentence, flow chart completion, table
completion and so on.
 Each of the right answer will receive 1 mark and there will be 40 questions. Scores out of 40 are converted to 9 bands and these bands will be given in the form of full
or half band.
Here is the list of 70 IELTS Reading Practice Tests
 15 Days’ Practice For IELTS Reading (PDF) With Answers (General And Academic)
 Practice Test 1
 Practice Test 2
 Practice Test 3
 Practice Test 4
 Practice Test 5
 Practice Test 6
 Practice Test 7
 Practice Test 8
 Practice Test 11
IELTS General Training Reading Practice test

The IELTS General Training Reading Practice test will help you to take up the practice test in order to get an idea of how this particular test goes and how you can manage the
time. Some of the procedures to be followed while taking up these tests are as follows:
 The General Training Reading Test will also go up to 60 minutes long and even here you are given a particular topic to read and answer the questions on the same.
 In the General training also there will be 3 sections and for each section different topics will be given
 In section 1 there will be three factual passages based on the topics related to everyday life.
 In section 2 there will be two factual texts based on work-related issues.
 Section 3 will have a more complex paragraph on the general topics.
 The topic given is very appropriate and is taken from newspapers, magazines, journals and so on.
 The questions will be based on different types such as matching information, sentence completion, flowchart completion. Graph completion, table completion and
so on.
 There will be 40 questions in each part and each question carries a single mark which is then converted into 9 bands or half band.
Computer-delivered IELTS Reading Practice Test

By taking the Computer-delivered IELTS Reading test you can practice for the reading test on your own computer sitting at home. These tests should be taken on your computer
or laptops. The Reading practice test consists of 11 question types consisting of 41 questions which include:
 Multiple-choice questions
 Note completion
 Matching Sentence Endings
 Sentence Completion
 Identifying Information
 Matching Headings
 Summary completion
 Flowchart completion
IELTS Cue Card Sample 75 – Topic: Describe a Game/ Sport

IELTS Cue Card Topic:
Describe a game or sport that you enjoy playing.
You should say:
– what kind of sport that is;
– who you play it with;
– where you play it;
and explain why you think doing this is healthy.
Band 8.0+ Sample Answer
I’m not a great swimmer in any sense but swimming is like my religion. It is truly refreshing and literally, washes away every disturbing thought I have whenever I dive into
cold water. No matter how tight my schedule may get, I usually pay at least one visit to a local swimming pool to work myself up and get rejuvenated.
Sometimes, I have a partner or two, who have been my best friends since high school. We live in the same neighborhood so it’s not too stressful when we have to set a schedule for
our swimming session. We carpool more often than not and it takes us roughly 15 minutes to get to the local recreation center where it provides the locals with a variety
of facilities for training purpose such as gym class, stadium, swimming pool, tennis court and so on, which is extremely convenient for those who practice more than one
activity. The only thing better then swimming itself is swimming with your besties, which is one of hundreds of things I love about my weekly ritual. Hardly do we have time to
meet each other during week days as we’re all up to our neck at work and totally stressed out. Therefore, having such a healthy way to catch up with my friends and recharge
battery after an exhausting week never sounds better. Just like any other sports, swimming helps maintain your health, keep you fit as well as build your endurance.
However, unlike others, it’s a very relaxing and peaceful form of exercise, you don’t even sweat for hours – a supreme advantage. Therefore, if you’re looking for a kind of sport
that brings you comfort and relaxation, swimming should be your first choice.
Vocabulary & Useful expression
 refreshing (a): making you feel less tired or hot

 literally (adv): in a literal manner or sense; exactly
 disturbing (a): making you feel anxious and upset or shocked
 work up: make yourself or another person excited or upset
 rejuvenate (v): make somebody/something look or feel younger, more lively or more modern
 more often than not: usually
 recreation center: a building that is open to the public where meetings are held, sports are played, and there are activities available for young and old people
 ritual (n): something that is done regularly and always in the same way
 be up to neck: to be very busy
 endurance (n): the ability to continue doing something painful or difficult for a long period of time without complaining
IELTS Cue Card Sample 81 – Topic: A Time You Need to Use Imagination
Describe a time you needed to use your imagination.
You should say:
What the situation was
Why you needed to use imagination
What the difficulties were
And explain how you felt about it.
Sample Answers
Honestly, I had to admit that I am quite a down-to-earth person and barely either spend time imagining or day dreaming. However, every now and then in school life,
imagination is life saver in remembering the knowledge imparted, especially in the subject of History. Indeed, envisaging a chain of images and actions inside my head based
on the story or series of events in the book enabled me to acquire new things way more efficiently. For instance, in the time of learning about the history of chocolate, by utilizing
the technique of imagine and envisage the image, just like making a movie inside my head, I could remember quickly a quite enormous knowledge and can still recall today. I
can tell you that wild chocolate trees can grow easily in the humid Amazon rainforest. Clusters of flowers from these trees turn to seeds. Approximately 20 to 60 cacao beans,
which are the ingredient needed to create sweet, soothing and delicious chocolate treats, can be found in the seeds. The Mayan and Aztec cultures both thought that chocolate
trees are brought from paradise by God. They used the bean from this divine tree to create a special beverage with a very pleasant odor. Gradually, the treats and drinks made of
these beans become prominent and millions of people around the world adore it as the most delicious sweet ever. Making my own film using the imagination in fact helps me
to obtain knowledge like a piece of cake.
Other way to answer:
Outline:
a. What the situation was (Past tense)
 Joined a T-shirt Design Competition with the aim to incentivize people to protect the environment ==> think outside the box to come up with the best ideas
to have a outstanding design.
 However,
– Feel stressed out because: senior ==> undergo a nerve-racking period of time (in the middle of finals, internship) ==> always up to my neck in tests & thesis
– design T-shirt -> challenging -> don’t have a knack for art and not major in fashion
==> easier if this is a Math competition, which is my forte
b. Why you needed to use imagination

– want to come up with something NOT run-of-the-mill
-> need to think outside the box
– competitive competition ==> make the best of my creativity to produce a brilliant design
c. What the difficulties were

I was met with a number of difficulties
+ finance/ budget -> limited (student – meager income)
+ ideas: resemble others
outdated -> the judges expect something up to the minute
+ time limited ==> work against the clock
d. How you felt
– a great sense of achievement (well-received by judges and ended up in 2nd place)
-> take lots of pride in my accomplishment
IELTS Cue Card Sample 74 – Topic: Describe a Family Member

IELTS Cue Card Topic:
Describe a family member you are closest to
You should say:
– who this person is;
– describe some things you have done together;
and explain why you like this person.
Band 8.0+ Sample Answer
I’m grateful to have such a supportive and caring family who are always there for me no matter what. We have 5 members in the house that’s always full of laughter: my
parents, my two sisters and me. Even though I love them all to the moon and back, my younger sister, Jade, is the one that’s closest to me.
Jade is seven years younger than me, which might create some sense of generation gap, yet, we still get along well, or at least most of the time. She is in high school now and
has a dream of becoming a doctor one day. In term of appearance, we have little in common. By that I mean while I’m kind of tall, she’s relatively short; while I take after
my father, she’s my mom’s splitting image. Same thing with our characteristics. I am people-oriented and a true free spirit, Jade, on the contrary, is quite introverted and
into stability. Hence, it came as a huge surprise when others acknowledge our strong bond. We’re like 2 sides of the same coin. No matter how different we are, we have
never neglected or abandoned each other. In fact, we are partners in crime in so many impulsive and silly acts that our family has lost count. Once, I tried to play the
victim with my uncle as I accidentally broke a crystal vase that my aunt adored, Jade backed me up as we put the blame on our poor cousin. What a shameful act! But that
was years ago and we learnt our lesson the hard way. Another time when my sister’s teacher asked to meet our parents because Jade had ditched class. In her defense, that
subject was boring and I was the one who talked to her teacher. In the end, Jade had to serve more time at the library and we kept this from our parents and so were many other
things. We got each other’s back and we always will because that’s what sisters do and simply because I love her.
Vocabulary & Useful expression
 love someone/ something to the moon and back: love someone/ something more than anything
 get along well: have a harmonious or friendly relationship
 have … in common: to share interests or characteristics
 take after: resemble (a parent or ancestor)
 splitting image: a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another, esp to a relative
 2 sides of the same coin: very closely related although they seem different
 partners in crime: good friends who get in trouble together or get each other in trouble
 impulsive (a): acting suddenly without thinking carefully about what might happen because of what you are doing
 lost count: to fail to be able to count someone or something, especially because there are so many
 play the victim: the act of pretending to be the one who has been done wrong to manipulate others or seek attention
 back someone up = have one’s back: support or help someone
 put the blame on = blame something on someone = blame someone for something: say that someone or something has done something bad
 learn something the hard way: learn something by experience, especially by an unpleasant experience
 in someone’s defense: used at the beginning of a sentence to indicate that the subsequent statement will justify some action or decision one made
IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE TEST 32 & SAMPLE ANSWERS

IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE TEST 32 & SAMPLE ANSWERS
Part 1: Interviewing
1. What is your name/full name
 My full name is Ngo Vu Hai Minh, you can call me by my English name Thea
2. Can I see your ID?
 Of course, here you are.

 In these two question, you just need to give short and direct responses
3. Do you work or study?
 Currently, I am studying at Banking University where I major in International Business Economics.
4. What subjects are you studying/ What is your favorite subject?
 Well as you know, I am majoring in economics, therefore most of the time I study subjects related to trade, commerce, Theory of economics and so on. However,
talking about my favorite subject, I suppose I have to name Tax Principle, which gives me lots of interesting view on the way our market circulates.
5. Do you see yourself working in the same field in the future?
 Since I am now spending a great deal of time studying Economics, I want to work in the corporate world. To be more specific I have a great passion in becoming an
expert at Accounting and Auditing field. I can see myself as a senior auditor in the next 3 years.
6. Have you worked/ studied in group?
 Well frequently, I have to work in a team when it comes to the matter of doing projects in universities or participating in extra curriculum activities. In fact, for an
economics student like me, team working is not unusual and it has indeed helps me to improve many soft skills like communicating, negotiating, time managing
skill, to name but a few
7. Do you prefer to study in a group or individually?
 I suppose I have to say that it depends on the nature of the tasks that I am assigned to. For instance, if it is a task that requires me to think independently, I will be
really partial to spend time on my own. However if it is a project that really needs co – operation, working in a team seems to be way more effective both in terms of
resources and productivity.
Part 1: Cue Card
Talk about your favorite song. Please say
– What is the song about?

– When did you first hear the song?
– Why is it your favorite?
Sample Answer
Honestly speaking, for the most part, I would probably say that I have a great passion for listening to music and indeed I have listened like thousands of songs so far. However, if I
have to pick out a song that I like the most, I will choose the song Million Years Ago by Adele. By gorgeous lyrics and melody, it’s like a piece of cake for Adele to make me
addicted to this song. The song is a regretful calling inside an adult who has born the soul on the way to earn his stripes. Every now and then I feel he is so desperate that he could
do anything to escape the vicious life cycle but after all he can’t afford to do so. The reason why I am so fond of this song has something to do with the fact that it provokes so
many beautiful memories from my childhood. Although this song is a sad song, it opens my eyes to many things in life, one of them is that you should not take anything for
granted, even the simplest one, try to live to your fullest so that one day you would not have to regret that much about the journey that you have been through. Fairly speaking,
Million Years Ago is a really good song for self – reflecting especially when you find yourself lost in the super busy world nowadays.
Part 3: Discussion
1. What kind of music do children nowadays like to listen to?
 Many children around me tend to be pretty keen on songs with funny lyrics and catchy melody. Most of the time those songs are attached to colorful animations. I
guess this is probably because children usually love the hilarious sounds which make them feel over the moon.
2. Why do people like listening to music?
 I suppose there are a myriad of reasons explaining why listening to music is one of the most popular leisure activities so far. One of them is the fact that when
enjoying music, people can relax and release the stress of heavy working day. In addition, music is a way of telling stories through catchy melody and meaningful
lyrics. Therefore, it helps to improve the mental health and nurture people’s souls.
3. Do you think music at present different from music 10 years ago?
 Unquestionably, there are a variety of potential distinctions here. The most apparent difference would be that music used to be way softer and convey lots of
meaningful messages. In contrast, today, many young people are addicted to some kind of Rock, Hip hop or EDM with direct meaning and quite similar to daily
conversation. Regarding to singers, in the past singers or bands had to be truly talented in terms of voices and knowledge of music. However nowadays, it is not
unusual to see many singers famous not for their talents but for scandals and other stuff.
IELTS Speaking Practice Test 01 – Topic: Meal

Topic: A Meal
Audio IELTS Speaking Practice Test 06

PART 2
CUE CARD
Describe a meal you would like to invite your friends to
You should say:
who you would invite

where you would eat this meal
what you would eat
and explain why you would choose to eat this food.
I would like to invite my friends to a hot pot meal. I would invite my closest friends, the ones that I hang out with and have the most in common with. I would of course
invite my girlfriend so that she could meet my friends. That is important to me. I think my girlfriend should know what I am like when I am with my friends.
I would find a nice restaurant with a good atmosphere where the waiters are friendly and the owners are working to give you the best experience you can have. I would not choose
a big monstrous place where everything would seem so impersonal, but instead a restaurant that has a family ambiance.
I would order hot pot with lots of meal, lamb, pork, beef, fish, tofu…mmm…I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. I would also order some nice vegetables and noodles, and to
top it off, some ice cold beer to wash it down.
I really like hot pot because of the atmosphere it creates of everyone eating together and pulling things from the pot and dipping it in their favorite sauce, just relaxing and
enjoying the food and the friendship.
PART 3
Diet
1. What kinds of food do Chinese people like to eat?
Many Chinese like to eat their vegetables cooked. They enjoy eating food that is fried, steamed, and sometimes boiled, but rarely eat baked food. The only time they will eat bake
food is when they have cakes from the store. Most Chinese food is cut in bite-sized pieces before being cooked and served.
2. How important is eating a healthy diet?
I think eating healthy is a very important part of life. If you don’t give your body what it needs then it won’t be able to function well. This is why what you eat is so important to
how well you are able to do things. Eating well even improves study.
3. Are there many vegetarians in China?
I believe there are a fair amount of vegetarians. Most Chinese already eat very little meat, so without even trying they are almost vegetarians. However, I think if they had the
chance, many Chinese would eat more meat than they do now. Though as health awareness increases I believe there will be a rise in the number of vegetarians in China.
4. Is the food that people eat today in China different to the food that people used to eat in the past?
I think that in many ways it is quite the same. I do know that in recent years there has been a rise in the number of fast-food restaurant. Many people especially of the younger
generation, enjoy going to these restaurants. The actual Chinese food, though, has not seen much change over the years.
5. How do you think the way we cut will change in the future?
Our eating habits will of course affect the way we will live in the future because of the effect it has on our health. If we eat well then we will have better health as we get older. I
believe, though, that as time goes by fast food will become more popular. We will be entering a time in history where going fast will mean the difference between success and
failure, so the food industry will change to accommodate the population’s demand.
6. Is fast food popular in China?
Yes, fast food is very popular here in China. I believe the main reason the taste is very different from that of Chinese food. This appeals to the youth of China. Also the
advertisements of most fast food restaurants portray their food as cool or western food.
Eating Habits
7. Who do most Chinese people usually eat with?
Chinese will usually eat with (their family, classmates, or colleagues. Most couples eat together as often as they can. When eating out you will often see groups of friends out
together You can also see families sharing some time together over a nice meal.
8. Do you think it’s important for people to eat with their family?
I think that when you eat with your family it strengthens the family bonds. It helps you get to know each other better and learn more about what each are doing in their lives.
It’s very sad when families don’t see each other often. Often in China mealtimes are the only time a family spends together.
9. Do Chinese people often eat out?
I think most family rarely eat out. Usually either the mother or the grandmother of the family will cook and prepare the food It is more common for young singles and
professionals to eat out, either alone or with classmates or colleagues. Other married or dating couples will spend a dinner together for special occasions or to get know each other
more.
10. What kind of restaurants do young people in China prefer?
I think they prefer fast-food or western restaurants. Often it’s because if s considered cool to eat or take people out to these kinds of restaurants. Or, they enjoy the food
because it tastes different from Chinese food. They also may want to accustom themselves to western food and culture, because they want to be comfortable around foreigners
or they would like to travel abroad.
11. How do you think restaurants have changed, over the past few years?
Before, The restaurants did not cater for foreigners at all. The menus were all in Chinese and had no pictures. Now more restaurants, especially in areas with many foreigners, will
have menus in English and pictures for those who are not familiar with Chinese dishes
12. How do you think restaurants will change in the future?
I think that in the future all or nearly all restaurants will have food to eater to different nationalities and food preferences. I think that the standard of both food and service will
also improve. They will also probably be more sanitary.
Plant Scents, The Development of Plastics, Global Warming in New Zealand – Reading Answers in 2017
The three sections will give you an idea as to how to appear for the actual IELTS reading exam. There are also answer keys for which you can refer to.
You can give a practice test and check for the answers whether they are proper or no.
SECTION 1
Plant Scents
Everyone is familiar with scented flowers, and many people have heard that floral odors help the plant attract pollinators. This common notion is mostly correct, but it is
surprising how little scientific proof of it exists. Of course, not all flowers are pollinated by biological agents— for example, many kinds of grass are wind-pollinated—but the
flowers of the grasses may still emit volatiles. In fact, plants emit organic molecules all the time, although they may not be obvious to the human nose. As for flower scents that we
can detect with our noses, bouquets that attract moths and butterflies generally smell “sweet,” and those that attract certain flies seem “rotten” to us.
Also check: IELTS Reading
The release of volatiles from vegetative parts of the plant is familiar, although until recently the physiological functions of these chemicals were less clear and had received much
less attention from scientists. When the trunk of a pine tree is injured- for example, when a beetle tries to burrow into it- it exudes a very smelly resin. This resin consists mostly
of terpenes—hydrocarbons with a backbone of 10，15 or 20 carbons that may also contain atoms of oxygen. The heavier C20 terpenes, called diterpenes, are glue-like and can
cover and immobilize insects as they plug the hole. This defense mechanism is as ancient as it is effective: Many samples of fossilized resin, or amber, contain the remains of
insects trapped inside. Many other plants emit volatiles when injured, and in some cases the emitted signal helps defend the plant. For example,(Z)_3_ hexenyl acetate, which is
known as a “green leaf volatile” because it is emitted by many plants upon injury, deters females of the moth Heliothis virescens from laying eggs on injured tobacco plants.
Interestingly, the profile of emitted tobacco volatiles is different at night than during the day, and it is the nocturnal blend, rich in several (Z)_3_hexen_i-olesters ，that is most
effective in repelling the night-active H. virescens moths.
Herbivore induced volatiles often serve as indirect defenses. These bulwarks exist in a variety of plant species, including corn, beans, and the model plant species Arabidopsis
thaliana. Plants not only emit volatiles acutely, at the site where caterpillars, mites, aphids or similar insects are eating them but also generally from non-damaged parts of the
plant. These signals attract a variety of predatory insects that prey on the plant-eaters. For example, some parasitic wasps can detect the volatile signature of a damaged plant and
will lay their eggs inside the offending caterpillar; eventually, the wasp eggs hatch, and the emerging larvae feed on the caterpillar from the inside out. The growth of infected
caterpillars is retarded considerably, to the benefit of the plant. Similarly, volatiles released by plants in response to herbivore egg laying can attract parasites of the eggs, thereby
preventing them from hatching and avoiding the onslaught of hungry herbivores that would have emerged. Plant volatiles can also be used as a kind of currency in some very
indirect defensive schemes. In the rainforest understory tree Leonardoxa Africana, ants of the species Petalomyrmex phylax patrol young leaves and attack any herbivorous
insects that they encounter. The young leaves emit high levels of the volatile compound methyl salicylate, a compound that the ants use either as a pheromone or as an antiseptic
in their nests. It appears that methyl salicylate is both an attractant and a reward offered by the tree to get the ants to perform this valuable deterrent role.
Floral scent has a strong impact on the economic success of many agricultural crops that rely on insect pollinators, including fruit trees such as the bee-pollinated cherry, apple,
apricot, and peach, as well as vegetables and tropical plants such as papaya. Pollination not only affects crop yield, but also the quality and efficiency of crop production. Many
crops require most, if not all, ovules to be fertilized for optimum fruit size and shape. A decrease in fragrance emission reduces the ability of flowers to attract pollinators and
results in considerable losses for growers, particularly for introduced species that had a specialized pollinator in their place of origin. This problem has been exacerbated by recent
disease epidemics that have killed many honeybees, the major insect pollinators in the United States.
One means by which plant breeders circumvent the pollination problem is by breeding self-compatible, or apomictic, varieties that do not require fertilization. Although this
solution is adequate, its drawbacks include near genetic uniformity and consequent susceptibility to pathogens. Some growers have attempted to enhance honeybee foraging by
spraying scent compounds on orchard trees, but this approach was costly, had to be repeated, had potentially toxic effects on the soil or local biota, and, in the end, proved to be
inefficient. The poor effectiveness of this strategy probably reflects the inherent limitations of the artificial, topically applied compounds, which clearly fail to convey the
appropriate message to the bees. For example, general spraying of the volatile mixture cannot tell the insects where exactly the blossoms are. Clearly, a more refined strategy is
needed. The ability to enhance the existing floral scent, create scent de novo or change the characteristics of the scent, which could all be accomplished by genetic engineering,
would allow us to manipulate the types of insect pollinators and the frequency of their visits. Moreover, the metabolic engineering of fragrance could increase crop protection
against pathogens and pests.
Genetic manipulation of the scent will also benefit the floriculture industry. Ornamentals, including cut flowers, foliage, and potted plants, play an important aesthetic role in
human life. Unfortunately, traditional breeding has often produced cultivars with improved vase life, shipping characteristics, color, and shape while sacrificing desirable
perfumes. The loss of scent among ornamentals, which have a worldwide value of more than $30 billion, makes them important targets for the genetic manipulation of flower
fragrance. Some work has already begun in this area, as several groups have created petunia and carnation plants that express the linalool synthase gene from C. Brewery. These
experiments are still preliminary: For technical reasons, the gene was expressed everywhere in the plant, and although the transgenic plants did create small amounts of linalool,
the level was below the threshold of detection for the human nose. Similar experiments in tobacco used genes for other monoterpene synthases, such as the one that produces
limonene, but gave similar results.
The next generation of experiments, already in progress, includes sophisticated schemes that target the expression of scent genes specifically to flowers or other organs—such as
special glands that can store antimicrobial or herbivore- repellent compounds.
Questions 1-4
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. A substance released to help plants themselves.

2. The scent helps the plant’s pollination.
3. Practice on the genetic experiments of fragrance.
4. Plant’s scent attracts herbivore’s enemy for protection.
Questions 5-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
if the information is not given in

NOT GIVEN
the passage
5. We have little evidence to support the idea that scent attracts pollinators.
6. Heliothis virescens won’t eat those tobacco leaves on which they laid eggs.
7. Certain ants are attracted by volatiles to guard plants in the rainforest.
8. Pollination only affects fruit trees’ production rather than other crop trees.
Questions 9-13
Choose the correct letter, A, B，C or D.
9. How do wasps protect plants when they are attracted by scents according to the passage?
A. plants induce wasps to prey herbivore.

B. wasps lay eggs into caterpillars.
C. wasps laid eggs on plants to expel herbivore.
D. offending caterpillars and wasp eggs coexist well.
10. What reason caused the number of honeybees to decline in the United States.
A. pollination process
B. spread illness
C. crop trees are poisonous
D. grower’s overlook
11. Which of the following drawbacks about artificial fragrance is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. it’s very expensive

B. it can’t tell correct information to pollinators.
C. it needs massive manual labor
D. it poisons the local environment
12. The number of $30 billion quoted in the passage is to illustrate the fact that:
A. Favorable perfumes are made from ornamental flowers

B. traditional floriculture industry needs reform.
C. genetic operation on scent can make a vast profit.
D. Scent plays a significant role in the Ornamental industry.
13. What is the weakness of genetic experiments on fragrance?
A. Linalool level is too low to be smelt by nose

B. no progress made in linalool emission
C. experiment on tobacco has a better result
D. transgenic plants produce an intense scent
SECTION 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26，which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
The Development of Plastics
When rubber was first commercially produced in Europe during the nineteenth century, it rapidly became a very important commodity, particularly in the fields of transportation
and electricity. However, during the twentieth century a number of new synthetic materials, called plastics, superseded natural rubber in all but a few applications.
Rubber is a polymer — a compound containing large molecules that are formed by the bonding of many smaller, simpler units, repeated over and over again. The same bonding
principle 一 polymerisation 一 underlies the creation of a huge range of plastics by the chemical industry.
The first plastic was developed as a result of a competition in the USA. In the 1860s, $10,000 was offered to anybody who could replace ivory — supplies of which were declining
— with something equally good as a material for making billiard balls. The prize was won by John Wesley Hyatt with a material called celluloid. Celluloid was made by dissolving
cellulose, a carbohydrate derived from plants, in a solution of camphor dissolved in ethanol. This new material rapidly found uses in the manufacture of products such as knife
handles, detachable collars and cuffs, spectacle frames and photographic film. Without celluloid, the film industry could never have got off the ground at the end of the 19th
century.
Celluloid can be repeatedly softened and reshaped by heat and is known as a thermoplastic. In 1907 Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist working in the USA ， invented a different
kind of plastic by causing phenol and formaldehyde to react together. Baekeland called the material Bakelite, and it was the first of the thermosets’ plastics that can be cast and
molded while hot but cannot be softened by heat and reshaped once they have set. Bakelite was a good insulator and was resistant to water, acids and moderate heat. With these
properties, it was soon being used in the manufacture of switches, household items, such as knife handles, and electrical components for cars.
Soon chemists began looking for other small molecules that could be strung together to make polymers. In the 1930s, British chemists discovered that the gas ethylene would
polymerize under heat and pressure to form a thermoplastic they called polythene. Polypropylene followed in the 1950s. Both were used to make bottles, pipes and plastic bags. A
small change in the starting material 一 replacing a hydrogen atom in ethylene with a chlorine atom — produced PVC (polyvinyl chloride) ，a hard, fireproof plastic suitable for
drains and gutters. And by adding certain chemicals, a soft form of PVC could be produced, suitable as a substitute for rubber in items such as waterproof clothing. A closely
related plastic was Teflon, or PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). This had a very low coefficient of friction, making it ideal for bearings, rollers, and non-stick frying pans.
Polystyrene, developed during the 1930s in Germany, was a clear, glass-like material, used in food containers, domestic appliances, and toys. Expanded polystyrene — a white,
rigid foam — was widely used in packaging and insulation. Polyurethanes, also developed in Germany, found uses as adhesives, coatings, and — in the form of rigid foams — as
insulation materials. They are all produced from chemicals derived from crude oil, which contains exactly the same elements ——carbon and hydrogen ——as many plastics.
The first of the man-made fibers, nylon, was also created in the 1930s. Its inventor was a chemist called Wallace Carothers, who worked for the Du Pont Company in the USA. He
found that under the right conditions, two chemicals — hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid would form a polymer that could be pumped out through holes and then stretched
to form long glossy threads that could be woven like silk. Its first use was to make parachutes for the US armed forces in World War II. In the post-war years, nylon completely
replaced silk in the manufacture of stockings. Subsequently, many other synthetic fibers joined nylon，including Orion, Acrilan, and Terylene. Today most garments are made of
a blend of natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, and man-made fibers that make fabrics easier to look after.
The great strength of the plastic is its indestructibility. However, this quality is also something of a drawback: beaches all over the world, even on the remotest islands, are littered
with plastic bottles that nothing can destroy. Nor is it very easy to recycle plastics ，as different types of plastic are often used in the same items and call for different treatments.
Plastics can be made biodegradable by incorporating into their structure a material such as starch, which is attacked by bacteria and causes the plastic to fall apart. Other
materials can be incorporated that gradually decay in sunlight 一 although bottles made of such materials have to be stored in the dark, to ensure that they do not disintegrate
before they have been used.
Questions 14-20
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
Name of Date of Original Common

Property
plastic invention use
region
Clothing
The
Celluloid US
1860S and
14______
can be cast and
16 ______
molded but
’household
15 ______ 1907 US cannot be
items and
softened by
car parts
heat
Polythene The 1930s 17 ______ bottles
drains and
Rigid PVC 18 ______
gutters
Food transparent
Polystyrene The 1930s Germany container
and resembled domestic
to 19 ______
Polyurethanes Germany adhesives,
formation like
coatings, and
20 ______
insulation
Questions 21-26

NOT GIVEN
the passage
21. The chemical structure of plastic is very different from that of rubber.
22. John Wesley was a famous chemist.
23. Celluloid and Bakelite react to heat in the same way.
24. The mix of different varieties of plastic can make them less recyclable.
25. Adding starch into plastic does not necessarily make plastic more durable.
26. Some plastic containers have to be preserved in special conditions.
SECTION 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 ，which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Global Warming in New Zealand
For many environmentalists, the world seems to be getting warmer. As the nearest country of the South Polar Region, New Zealand has maintained an upward trend in its
average temperature in the past few years. However, the temperature in New Zealand will go up 4°C in the next century while the polar region will go up more than 6°C . The
different pictures of temperature stem from its surrounding ocean which acts as the air conditioner. Thus New Zealand is comparatively fortunate.
Scientifically speaking, this temperature phenomenon in New Zealand originated from what researchers call ” SAM (Southern Annular Mode), which refers to the wind belt that
circles the Southern Oceans including New Zealand and Antarctica. Yet recent work has revealed that changes in SAM in New Zealand have resulted in a weakening of moisture
during the summer, and more rainfall in other seasons. A bigger problem may turn out to be heavier droughts for agricultural activities because of more water loss from soil,
resulting in the poorer harvest before winter when the rainfall arrives too late to rescue.
Among all the calamities posed by drought, moisture deficit ranks the first. Moisture deficit is the gap between the water plants need during the growing season and the water the
earth can offer. Measures of moisture deficit were at their highest since the 1970s in New Zealand. Meanwhile, ecological analyses clearly show moisture deficit is imposed at the
different growth stages of crops. If moisture deficit occurs around a crucial growth stage, it will cause about a 22% reduction in grain yield as opposed to moisture deficit at the
vegetative phase.
Global warming is not only affecting agriculture production. When scientists say the country’s snowpack and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to global warming, the
climate is putting another strain on the local places. For example, when the development of global warming is accompanied by the falling snow line， the local skiing industry
comes into a crisis. The snow line may move up as the temperature goes up, and then the snow at the bottom will melt earlier. Fortunately, it is going to be favorable for the local
skiing industry to tide over tough periods since the quantities of snowfall in some areas are more likely to increase.
What is the reaction of the glacier region? Climate change can be reflected in the glacier region in southern New Zealand or land covered by ice and snow. The reaction of a glacier
to a climatic change involves a complex chain of processes, Overtime periods of years to several decades, cumulative changes in mass balance cause volume and thickness
changes, which will affect the flow of ice via altered internal deformation and basal sliding. This dynamic reaction finally leads to glacier length changes, the advance or retreat of
glacier tongues. Undoubtedly, glacier mass balance is a more direct signal of annual atmospheric conditions.
The latest research result of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric (NIWA) Research shows that the glaciers line keeps moving up because of the impacts of global
warming. Further losses of ice can be reflected in the Mt. Cook Region. By 1996, a 14 km long sector of the glacier had melted down forming a melt lake (Hooker Lake) with a
volume. Melting of the glacier front at a rate of 40 m/yr will cause the glacier to retreat at a rather uniform rate. Therefore, the lake will continue to grow until it reaches the
glacier bed.
A direct result of the melting glaciers is the change of high tides that serves the main factor for sea-level rise. The trend of sea-level rise will bring a threat to the groundwater
system for its hypersaline groundwater and then pose a possibility to decrease agricultural production. Many experts believe that the best way to counter this trend is to give a
longer-term view of sea-level change in New Zealand. Indeed, the coastal boundaries need to be upgraded and redefined.
There is no doubt that global warming has affected New Zealand in many aspects. The emphasis on global warming should be based on the joints efforts of local people and
experts who conquer the tough period. For instance, farmers are taking a long term, multi-generational approach to adjust the breeds and species according to the temperature.
Agriculturists also find ways to tackle the problems that may bring to the soil. In broad terms, going forward, the systemic resilience that’s been going on a long time in the
ecosystem will continue.
How about animals’ reactions? Experts have surprisingly realized that animals have an unconventional adaptation to global warming. A study has looked at sea turtles on a few
northern beaches in New Zealand and it is very interesting to find that sea turtles can become male or female according to the temperature. Further researches will try to find out
how rising temperatures would affect the ratio of sex reversal in their growth. Clearly, the temperature of the nest plays a vital role in the sexes of the baby turtles.
Tackling the problems of global warming is never easy in New Zealand because records show the slow process of global warming may have a different impact on various regions.
For New Zealand, the emission of carbon dioxide only accounts for 0.5% of the world’s total, which has met the governmental standard. However, New Zealand’s effort counts
only on the tip of the iceberg. So far, global warming has been a world issue that still hangs in an ambiguous future.
Questions 27-32
Choose the correct letter, A, B，C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
27. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. The temperature in the polar region will increase less than that in New Zealand in the next century.
B. The weather and climate of New Zealand are very important to its people because of its close location to the polar region.
C. The air condition in New Zealand will maintain a high quality because of the ocean.
D. The temperature of New Zealand will increase less than that of other regions in the next 100 years because it is surrounded by sea.
28. What is one effect of the wind belt that circles the Southern Oceans?
A. New Zealand will have more moisture in winds in summer.

B. New Zealand needs to face droughts more often in hotter months in a year.
C. Soil water will increase as a result of weakening moisture in the winds.
D. Agricultural production will be reduced as a result of more rainfall in other seasons.
29. What does “moisture deficit” mean to the grain and crops?
A. The growing condition will be very tough for crops.

B. The growing season of some plants can hardly be determined.
C. There will be a huge gap between the water plants needed and the water the earth can offer.
D. The soil of grain and crops in New Zealand reached its lowest production since the 1970s.
30. What changes will happen to the skiing industry due to the global warming phenomenon?
A. The skiing station may lower the altitude of skiing.

B. Part of the skiing station needs to move to the north.
C. The snowfall may increase in the part of the skiing station.
D. The local skiing station may likely to make a profit because of the snowfall increase.
31. Cumulative changes over a long period of time in mass balance will lead to
A. alterations in the volume and thickness of glaciers.

B. faster changes in internal deformation and basal sliding.
C. bigger length of glaciers.
D. the retreat of glacier tongues as a result of a change in annual atmospheric conditions.
32. Why does the writer mention NIWA in the sixth paragraph?
A. To use a particular example to explain the effects brought by glacier melting.

B. To emphasize the severance of the further loss of ice in the Mt. Cook Region.
C. To alarm the reader of the melting speed of glaciers at a uniform rate.
D. To note the lake in the region will disappear when it reaches the glacier bed.
Questions 33-35
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet
Research data shows that sea level has a close relationship with the change of climate. The major reason for the increase in sea level is connected with 33 ____________, The
increase in sea level is also said to have a threat to the underground water system, the destruction of which caused by the rise of sea level will lead to a high probability of a
reduction in 34_____________. In the long run, New Zealanders may have to improve the 35__________ if they want to diminish the effect change in sea levels.
Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
if the statement agrees with the claims of the

YES
writer.
if the statement contradicts the claims of the

NO
writer
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks

NOT GIVEN
about this
36. Farmers are less responsive to climate change than agriculturists.
37. The agricultural sector is too conservative and deals with climate change.
38. Turtle is vulnerable to climate change.
39. Global warming is going slowly, and it may have different effects on different areas in New Zealand
40. New Zealand must cut carbon dioxide emissions if they want to solve the problem of global warming.
1 B 2 A 3 F
4 C 5 TRUE 6 NOT GIVEN
7 TRUE 8 FALSE 3 B
10 B 11 C 12 D
13 A
14 Photographic Film 15 Bakelite 16 (electric) Switches
17 Britain/UK 18 Fireproof 19 Glass
20 Rigid Foams 21 FALSE 22 NOT GIVEN
23 FALSE 24 TRUE 25 TRUE
26 TRUE
27 D 28 B 29 A
30 C 31 A 32 A
33 High tides 34 Agricultural production 35 Coastal boundaries
36 NOT GIVEN 37 NOT GIVEN 38 NO
39 YES 40 NO

IELTS Cue Card Sample 31 – Topic: an article about healthy living that you read from magazine or online
You can practice speaking using these cue cards this also includes vocabulary related to cue cards so that you can also practice the meanings of certain
difficult words. If you frequently practice these cue cards you can score a high band in the IELTS examination.
IELTS Cue Card for IELTS Speaking Part 2:

Describe an article you read in a magazine or on the internet about healthy living.
You should say:

 what the article was about
 where you read it (which magazine or website)
 and explain what you learned/thought from the article
BAND 9.0 SAMPLE ANSWER:
Recently I came across an interesting article on the internet about the benefits of drinking warm water with lemon in the morning. The website’s name is
bodyandsoul.com.au.
You would normally think that lemon water is just one kind of drink that helps keep your body hydrated, however, it brings you many other benefits that you can‟t
imagine. – The article says that if you build up a habit of kicking off your day with a glass of warm water with the juice of half a lemon, you will do your body and mind a
great favor.
Firstly, lemon juice is a great source of Vitamin C, thus it helps boost your immune system in fighting off colds and flu. Moreover, lemons are great for combating skin aging
because they are rich in antioxidant properties. Lemon also helps clean our urinary tract and detoxify our livers. The list of benefits doesn’t end there. The high level of
potassium in lemons can help brain and nerve functioning and control blood pressure. Lemon water can also ward off stress and depression, which have been linked to
low levels of potassium. As a result, the article suggests if you continue drinking warm water with lemon first thing in the morning for at least 21 consecutive days, you will
notice the difference in your skin and general health immediately.
VOCABULARY
 hydrated: [adjective] capable of absorbing or taking in water.

Example: In hot weather, keep your body hydrated by drinking lots of water.
 build-up: [phrasal verb] to develop. Example: In business, it is important to build up a good relationship with customers.
 kicking off your day: [verb phrase] starting your day [like starting a football match by kicking the ball] Example: Kick off your day with a good breakfast, before
you go to school.
 boost your immune system: [verb phrase] to make your body stronger to help it fight against illness. Example: A healthy diet of fruit and vegetables, combined
with exercise and sleep, will boost your immune system by making your body strong.
 fight off: [phrasal verb] to resist – in this case, illness. Example: The soldiers fought off the enemy attack.
 aging: [noun] the process of becoming old. Example: There are some skincare products that claim to stop the aging process.
 antioxidant: [adjective] removing harmful substances from the body. Example: Vitamin C has antioxidant properties, so it is good to have it in your diet to
prevent illness.
 urinary tract: [noun] the part of the body through which waste liquid passes. Example: If you have pain when you go to the toilet, it may be a symptom of an
infection of your urinary tract.
 detoxify: [verb] to remove harmful or poisonous substances, in this case from your liver. Example: As harmful substances can build up during the night, you can
clean your liver and detoxify it by drinking lemon water in the morning.
 ward off: [phrasal verb] to protect or defend yourself against illness or danger. Example: She put up her hands to ward off her attacker
IELTS Speaking Actual Test in Australia – May 2017 & Sample Answers
IELTS Speaking Part 1
– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
Are there many advertisements in your country?
Definitely, there are. They appear all over the place from the streets to social media with a high density. For example, there is a multitude of colorful flyers sticked on the
street walls in Sydney.
Vocabulary
All over the place (expression) everywhere
Density (n) the quantity of people or things in a given area or space.
A multitude of (expression) a very large number of people or things
Flyers (n) a small handbill advertising an event or product.
What are the different places where we see advertisements?
Advertising is here, there, and every where. It gets to people through different types of communication such as flyers and banners on the streets or printed ones on
newspaper, magazines or electronic ones on social media. It could be written, verbal or a short movie.
Here, there, and every w
...
IELTS Materials and Resources, Get IELTS Tips, Tricks & Practice Test
 Grammar for IELTS: Advanced Comparison for IELTS Writing to Get Band 7.5 or Higher
 IELTS Writing Practice Test 32 (Task 1 & 2) & Sample Answers
 IELTS Listening Practice Test 93
 California’s age of Megafires, European Heat Wave, The concept of childhood in the western
countries – Reading Answers in 2016
 Describe a subject you used to dislike but now have interest in
 How to Answer IELTS Speaking Part 2 ?
 IELTS Writing Actual Test in Vietnam – December 2016 & Sample Essays
 IELTS Cue Card Sample 30 – Topic: a street that you like to visit
Grammar for IELTS: Advanced Comparison for IELTS Writing to Get Band 7.5 or Higher
Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one of four marking criteria in IELTS

Writing and Speaking. Therefore, to get band 7.5+ for these section in the
IELTS test, IELTS test takers need to uses a wide range of advanced
grammar structures and the majority of sentences are error-free.
This post will cover 4 types of advanced grammar as follows:
1. Progressive comparison
2. Combined comparison
3. Contrast comparison
4. Like and as
1. Progressive comparison: [short adjective + er and short

adjective + er | more and more + long adjective ]
We can describe how something increases or decreases by repeating the same comparative two or sometimes three times, putting and between the forms:
Her visits to the country to see her son became rarer and rarer (= increasingly rare)
As the illness progressed the patients grew more and more detached from reality.
Marching into the sunset, the figures became smaller and smaller and smaller.
2. Combined comparison: [The short adjective-er/more+ long

adjective + Subject 1 (+to be), The short adjective-er/more+
long adjective + Subject 1 (+ to be)]
To describe how a change in one thing causes a change in another, we can use two comparative forms with the. Note the use of the comma after the first clause:
The longer you leave it, the worse it’ll get.

The more sophisticated the product, the more substantial the potential profit.
3. Contrast Comparison:
When we contrast two related qualities, we always use more (not -er):
X I’m sadder than disappointed
✓ I’m more sad than disappointed.
Her eyes are more green than grey.
We can also use not so much … as or rather than:
I’m not so much disappointed as sad.
Her eyes are green rather than grey.
4. Like and As
We often describe something by comparing it to something else which has similar qualities. These comparisons are known as similes’. There are two forms:
 as + adjective + as:
Listening to her was about as interesting as watching paint dry.

(In informal English we sometimes omit the first as. She looks white as a sheet.)
 like + noun or verb phrase:
The cruise ship was like a skyscraper lying on its side.
There are many idioms in which we use these two patterns:
You’re as white as a sheet I think you ’d better see a doctor.
I feel full of energy today -I slept like a dog last night.
Note: We use like (not as) before a noun when we are making a comparison between two things which seem similar:
X You look as a man who’s seen a ghost!

✓ You look like a man who’s seen a ghost!
When Mike puts on his dark suit he looks like a waiter (= He resembles a waiter.)
Note: We use as (not like) before a noun when we are describing someone’s job, role or identity, or something’s function:
X Simon’s working like a waiter during the summer vacation

✓ Simon’s working as a waiter during the summer vacation. (This is his job.)
Use your payroll number as a password for the computer. (This is its function.)
Note: We can also describe something by comparing it with something similar without using like or as. this is known as a metaphor’:
We hope the new treaty will form a bridge between our two nations (a bridge = metaphor for a link)
Metaphors are common in poetry and literary English:
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines. (eye of heaven = metaphor for the sun)
EXERCISES:
Exercise 1: Match the situations (1-15) with the similes (A-P). Then use the similes to rewrite the sentences. You may need to use a good dictionary for
this exercise.
A like a cat on a hot tin roof I like hot cakes
B like a trooper J as a fiddle
C like a lamb to the slaughter K as a feather
D like a bull in a china shop L as ice
E like a bear with a sore head M as the grave
F like a log N as a sheet
C like a chimney O as a mule
H like a rocket P as the hills
0 Stonehenge is incredibly ancient, more than 4.000 years old.==> Stonehenge is as old as the hills
1 She’s a heavy smoker………………………………………
2 He’s incredibly clumsy and often breaks things……………………………………
3 I slept really soundly last night………………………………..
4 It’s absolutely freezing in here!………………………………..
5 She so naive, she doesn’t realise what a dangerous situation she’s going into.
6 My grandmother may be 85 but she’s incredibly fit and healthy.
7 Do you feel all right? You’re very pale………………………………………..
8 He’s terribly nervous, he can’t keep still for a moment………………………….
9 She’s in a foul mood this morning, shouting at and arguing with everyone.
10 Our new car goes really fast………………………………………..
11 My new flatmate never stops swearing…………………………………………..
12 Once the lights were out the dormitory became eerily quiet………………………….
13 She doesn’t need to diet, she weighs hardly anything!………………………………
14 Once the old man has made his mind up he never changes it. whatever you say.
15 These new mobile phones are selling amazingly well.
Exercise 2. Tick (✓) the best explanation, A or B.
1 The prices on the menu aren’t nearly as expensive as I expected.
A Prices are a little cheaper than I expected.
B Prices are much cheaper than I expected.
2 It looks as if your new car isn’t any more reliable than the old one!
A Both cars are equally unreliable.
B The new car is slightly less reliable than the old one.
3 Of all the teams in the league, theirs is the least successful.
A Their team is the most unsuccessful.
B Their team is less successful than some of the others.
A They said it was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever.
A No other earthquake was as powerful.
B There may have been more powerful earthquakes
5 The new tax regulations are somewhat more rigorous than last year’s.
A The new regulations are much more rigorous than last year’s.
B Last year’s regulations were slightly less rigorous.
6 I have to say that the hotel wasn’t quite as luxurious as the brochure claimed.
A The hotel was much less luxurious than the brochure claimed.
B The hotel was slightly less luxurious than the brochure claimed.
7 This is by far the best seat in the plane. There’s loads of legroom.
A No seat in the plane is better.
B Other seats may be equally good.
8 She isn’t anything like as snobbish as you said.
A She is less snobbish than you said.
B She isn’t snobbish.
9 I’m afraid your figures are no more accurate than the ones Rachel gave me.
A Your figures are less accurate than Rachel’s.
B Your figures and Rachel’s figures are equally inaccurate.
10 As far as Daniel’s job is concerned, things are about as bad as they can be.
A Daniel’s job could get worse.
B Daniel’s job couldn’t be any worse than it is.
Exercise 3. Complete each sentence so that it means the same as preceding one(s). Use the words in brackets but do not change the words given in any
way.
1 She’s slightly angry but she’s very disappointed (than)

She’s…………………………………………………………………………………….
2 Approaching the church, we noticed the sound of the bells becoming increasingly loud. (and … and)
Approaching the church, we noticed the sound of the bells………………………………………
3 As dogs get older they become less aggressive. (the less)
The older dogs ……………………………………………………………………………
4 Their remarks were only slightly insulting, but they were extremely inaccurate (not so much)
Their remarks…………………………………………………………………………………
IELTS Writing Practice Test 32 (Task 1 & 2) & Sample Answers

IELTS Writing Topic:
WRITING TASK 1
The pie charts below give information about the household expenditure of an average US family in different years.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
WRITING TASK 2
Write about the following topic:
More and more prisons are being built to house the world’s criminals, and many people believe long-term imprisonment is the answer to solving the crime problem. However,
others feel that psychological assistance is what is required. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
SAMPLE ANSWERS
Task 1 Model Answer
The pie charts compare the expenses of an average American household in 1970 and in 2004. The most significant change that can be seen was in the proportion that went
towards paying the mortgage; and the other increase was in the outlay for childcare.
In 1970, about a quarter of the household income was spent on mortgage payments, whereas by 2004, this doubled to account for half of all expenditure. The 1970 family spent
only one per cent of income on childcarc, while the 2004 family allocated ten times more of the budget to this.
Expenditure on entertainment remained the same at 13%, but the percentage spent on food halved from 25% to 12%; and 8% less of the total income was taken up by transport
costs in 2004 (only 5%). Clothing costs consumed more of the budget in 1970, at 22%, but this fell to only 10% in 2004.
(150 words)
Task 2 Model Answer
Imprisonment has long been the most popular form of punishment for criminals in society, but many also believe that rehabilitation should take the form of psychological
treatment.
Those in favour of long-term imprisonment argue that criminals are not fit to live alongside normal members of society. The obvious reason for this is that they represent a
danger to others’ personal safety, and it is true that society would not tolerate violent criminals living in its midst. The thinking behind imprisonment is to take away prisoners’
rights to individual freedom: this is their punishment. In addition, it is thought that prisoners use their time in prison to reflect on and consider their illegal behaviour, hopefully
regretting and feeling remorseful about their crimes.
However, some people argue that prisons are not the best place for all criminals. Advocates for psychological rehabilitation believe that psychological therapy may be a better
alternative to imprisonment for some offenders. Psychological therapy may address the root causes of the criminal behaviour and offer strategies and possibilities for change in
the future. This approach may be more successful in preventing reoffending in the long run because it does not assume the same solution (that is, prison) works for all.
On the whole, I believe prison definitely has its place as a form of punishment, as no one would wish to live in fear of violent crime, and criminals need to be removed from society
for this reason. However, I think a combined approach which has a strong focus on psychological treatment is essential in addressing the core causes of crime, as prison alone
offers no hope for future change and eventually, almost all criminals are released back into society.
(279 words)
IELTS Listening Practice Test 93

IELTS Listening Practice Test for IELTS Academic

and IELTS General Training Test takers
SECTION 1
Questions 1-5
Complete the form below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS or A NUMBER for each answer.
APPLICATION FOR RAILCARD
Example
Type of Card Required: Young Person’s Railcard
First Name: 1_______________
Surname: 2_______________
Date of Birth: 3_______________
Permanent Address: 158 Kingwood Close, Norwich
Postcode: 4 _______________
Telephone Number: 5 _______________
Term-time Address: Housewalk Terrace,

London Postcode: WF1 4NN
Questions 6-9
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS or A NUMBER for each, answer.
Types of Ticket Restrictions Cost
London Day Out outside peak hours 6£
must hook seat 7 in

Super Advance Return £23
advance
Saver outside peak hours 8£
9_________________ no restrictions £60

Question 10
Circle the correct letters A-C.
10. How much does the student actually pay for his ticket to London?
A. £7.66
B. £15.34
C. £33.34
SECTION 2
Questions 11-13
11. Who are mentors?
A. New students.
B. Second or third-year students.
C. University teachers.
12. How often should mentor groups meet?
A. Once a week.
B. Once a fortnight.
C. Once a month.
13. What is it essential to do at the first meeting?
A. Explain your problems.

B. Make new friends.
C. Agree when to meet again.
Questions 14-17
List FOUR things which students may be given information about. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
14 ____________________
15 ____________________
16 ____________________
17 ____________________
Questions 18-20
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
18. Your mentor will show you how to obtain a free____________________.
19. Mentoring is useful for people who are_______________for the first time.
20. Your mentor may give you advice on how to_____________________.
SECTION 3
Questions 21-24
What did each person say was the principal cause of stress for them?
Choose from the list of possible causes in the box.
Example Answer
Ramon team work
21. Kikuko
22. Boris
23. Etienne
24. Nagwa
Questions 25-27
List THREE parts of one’s daily routine that can help reduce stress.
List of Possible Causes of Stress
A. bad management
B. dual-career family
C. fear of unemployment
D. new technologies
E. working surroundings
F. powerlessness
G. too much work
25 ________________
26 ________________
27 ________________
Questions 28-30

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS in each space.
Cause of stress Strategy for reducing stress
overwork 28_______________
fear of job 29_______________
new technologies 30_______________
SECTION 4
Questions 31-36
31. The speaker compares a solar eclipse today to a
A. religious experience.
B. scientific event.
C. popular spectacle.
32. The speaker says that the dark spot of an eclipse is A simple to predict.
A. simple to predict.
B. easy to explain.
C. randomly occurring.
33. Concerning an eclipse, the ancient Chinese were
A. fascinated.
B. rational.
C. disturbed.
34. For the speaker, the most impressive aspect of an eclipse is the A exceptional beauty of the sky.
A. exceptional beauty of the sky.

B. chance for scientific study.
C. effect of the moon on the sun.
35. Eclipses occur rarely because of the size of the
A. moon.
B. sun.
C. earth.
36. In predicting eclipses, the Babylonians were restricted by their
A. religious attitudes.
B. inaccurate observations.
C. limited ability to calculate.
Questions 37-40
Date of
Scientists Observation
Eclipse
37 _____________ who accurately

1735 Halley
predicted an eclipse
Janssen and
1868 discovered 38
Lockyer
1878 Watson believed he had found 39_______________
realized astronomers had misunderstood

1919 Einstein
40_______________
Answer keys:
Section 1, Questions 1-10
1. Stephen
2. Krockers
1. 3rd February 1979/February 3 1979
2. NR4 6JF
3. 456 321
4. 18
5. one day
6. 29.30
7. Open (ticket)
8. B
1. B
2. B
3. C
4. academic systems
5. study techniques/techniques for studying
6. university facilities
7. social activities
8. e-mail account
9. away from home
10. pass (your) exams
1. C
2. G
3. D
4. E
5. a balanced diet/vary your diet
6. drink less coffee
7. take regular exercise
8. manage time better/manage your time
9. make plans/set money aside/ update your CV
10. do training courses
1. C
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. (the) first person
8. (a) new element/helium
9. (the) lost planet/ (the) planet/Vulcan
10. gravity
BONUS EXERCISE: GAP-FILLING

The texts below are transcript for your IELTS Listening Practice Test. To make the most out of this transcript, we removed some words from the texts and replaced with
spaces. You have to fill each space with the missing word by listening to the audio for this IELTS listening practice test.
SECTION 1
(C = Clerk; S = Stephen)
C: Central station, Norwich, Sue Brown speaking. Can I help you?
S: Is that the […………………………..]?
C: Yes.
S: Er…is there a card that you can buy railway tickets and allows you to get […………………………..]on it?
C: You mean a […………………………..]? Yes, there are various types. There’s the Young Person’s Railcard and the Senior Citizen’s Railcard, for example.
S: Well, I’d like a Yong Person’s Railcard, but I’m over 21. Is that OK? Do I still […………………………..]?
C: Yes, you’re eligible from 18 to 25.
S: Great. And how much does it cost?
C: […………………………..].
S: OK…and can I get it over the phone?
C: Well, I can take your details and process it now over the phone, but you’ll need to come in to collect the card.
S: Yeah, that’s fine.

C: OK, so I just need to take down some details. First of all, can I have your name?
S: Stephen Krockers.
C: OK, so first name Steven…Is that Steven with a “v”?
S: No, with “ph”.
C: Right…and can you give me your […………………………..]again?
S: That’s Krockers.
C: Crocker with a “c”?
S: No, I’ll have to spell it for you, K-R-O-C-K-E-R-S.
C: Right, thank you. Now, you said you were over 21-can I ask for your exact date of birth, please?
S: Yes, sure. It’s the third of February.
C: Yes.
S: And the year’s […………………………..].
C: 1979. OK, lovely. So the next thing I need to know is your […………………………..].
S: Right, I’d better give you my parents’ address then. I’m […………………………..]moving soon.
C: Yes, that’ll be fine.
S: It’s 158, Kingwood Close…
C: Is Kingwood one word or two?
S: One.
C: Right.
S: Norwich.
C: And can you tell me the […………………………..], please?
S: It’s […………………………..].
C: NR4 6JS?
S: No, F for Freddie.
C: Right, and the next thing I need is your telephone number.
S: Do you mean my parents’ number?

C: Yes, the number at your permanent address.
S: OK, it’s Norwich […………………………..].
C: And are you living at that address now?
S: No, in term-time I’m in lodgings. But like I said, I might be moving soon.
C: Never mind, just give me the address where you’re staying now.
S: Right, it’s 62, Housewalk Terrace, Wakefield.
C: And the postcode?
S: […………………………..].
C: Right,that’s fine.
S: And I want to get a ticket…can I do that now, and get the discount, or do I have to wait until the card’s ready?
C: No, you can book the ticket now, and […………………………..]it at the same time as you get the card.
S: OK. So I want a return ticket to London next week…how much will that cost?
C: Well, it […………………………..]on what sort of ticket you get. There are four different kinds… I’ll go through them for you. Right, the […………………………..]one’s the
London Day Out. That’s good if you’re just going away for the day…it includes some bus and tube travel in London, but you have to travel outside peak hours. That costs £18.00.
S: OK…
C: Now, the next one’s called the Super […………………………..]Return. You can travel on any train with that, but you have to book vour seat one dav ahead. Actually it’s better to
book earlier if you can, because there’s only a limited number of tickets.
S: OK..and how much is that?
C: It’s £23.
S: That doesn’t sound too bad. What about the other types of tickets?
C: They’re more […………………………..]. There’s one called the Saver which again you can use on most trains outside peak hours, that’s […………………………..]. But you don’t
need to buy it in advance, you can get it on the day you travel.
S: Mmm, that’s a bit expensive.
C: And finally, there’s the Open ticket, and with that you can travel on any train on any day of the week, and you don’t need to book ahead, but that costs […………………………..].
S: £60! Right, I’ll have a Super Advance. Now, I’d like to leave next Friday morning on the 8:30 train and come back on Sunday at 10 p.m. And… you said that usually costs £23?
C: That’s right.
S: So how much do I save with the […………………………..]?
C: You get a third off…a third off £23 is £7.66. so you’ll pav £15.34 . But then this time you have to pay for the railcard too…that’s […………………………..]plus 18.00…so
altogether you’ll have to pay […………………………..].
S: And when can I collect them?
C: They’ll be ready by […………………………..], they should be at the bookings office after about 10:00 a.m.
S: Oh…I don’t know if I can make it on Wednesday. You can’t post them, can you?
C: No, you have to collect your railcard in person and sign it, and I nearly forgot to tell you, you need a […………………………..]photograph for it. If you don’t have one, there’s a
machine on the station.
S: No, I think I’ve got one somewhere. I needed some for my college […………………………..]. I think I had one left over.
C: Good. So is there anything else?
S: No, that’s great. Thanks a lot. Bye!
C: Goodbye.
SECTION 2
Hi! It’s good to see you all here today and what a pity the weather is so bad for your first day at university! It could at least have stayed […………………………..]today! Now, my
name is Pat Baker, I work for student […………………………..]and I’m going to tell you all about our […………………………..]scheme for new students. We’ve had it in place for a
few years now and people starting at university for the first time in general find it a very […………………………..]experience at these meetings. What happens is this: each of you,
if you want to join the […………………………..], will be assigned a mentor-that is, someone who’s been studying here for a year or two and who can show you the ropes, in other
words, show you how things work, give you advice if you need it and just generally be […………………………..]contact for you in the university. Of course you’ll have your
[…………………………..]and lecturers who will also help you with […………………………..]problems, but this is someone at 37our own age who has been through the same
experience quite recently.
What the […………………………..]does is to have a group of usually two or three students and he or she […………………………..]meetings preferably about once every two weeks-
we generally find that more than that is just too often-where you chat about your problems, […………………………..]life or just about things in general and your mentor will give
you the benefit of his or her experience.
If you’re joining this scheme, you’ll be meeting your mentor today just after […………………………..]. If you haven’t signed up by the way, it’s not too late. Come and see me after
the talk. Don’t be […………………………..]about this first meeting: It’s going to be quite short so you won’t have time to tell your mentor all your […………………………..]-you’ll
just get to know each other a little bit and, most importantly, fix a time and a place for your next meeting, which you can have when you’re feeling more
[…………………………..]and not so […………………………..]by the newness of it all.
Mentors, as I’ve said, have been through the same […………………………..]as you quite recently, so they can understand your problems. They’ll be able to tell you about
[…………………………..]systems, which are so different at university from what you were used to at school. Also, because at university you are much more independent and you
have to spend so much time studying on your own, they can suggest […………………………..]for studying which will help you to keep Q15 up-to-date with your work.
This university is an […………………………..]place, so another thing which they’ll be able to help with is university […………………………..]– you know, anything from sports
halls to libraries to medical services and they can probably help you get […………………………..]in all sorts of social activities, too -parties, clubs, sports, whatever.
So, as you can see, this is a pretty useful scheme, but it does rely on people […………………………..]. The telephone’s pretty useful if you have one, but students are busy people
and often out doing things, so […………………………..]is probably better. Your mentor will be able to show you how to get an e-mail account.. .they don’t cost anything to
students. They’re free. For people who have never been away from home before, a mentor is a useful contact and […………………………..]-somewhere between a friend and a
parent. And no doubt as the year […………………………..]and you start getting […………………………..]around exam time, your mentor will be ready with usefal tips on the best
wav to pass your exams- after all, they did the same ones either last year or the year before and they […………………………..]them!
SECTION 3
Disc Jockey: And now, after that old favourite from “The Corrs” […………………………..]”1 never loved you anyway”, we have Dr. Greenhill to talk to us today about stress in the
[…………………………..]. Is it getting worse, Dr. Greenhill?
Dr. Greenhill: I’m not sure whether it’s getting worse or just that more people are talking about it. Certainly lots more people are […………………………..]about it. I’ve just
completed a study of […………………………..]workers from 20 different countries. And I’ve taken a multi¬cultural […………………………..]to the subject.
Disc Jockey: And what have you found?
Dr. Greenhill: That broadly speaking the cause of stress are […………………………..]all over the world. For example, Ramon from Mexico City says that society
[…………………………..]people by individual success. But, he says, increasingly work is […………………………..]in teams. This means there’s a […………………………..]between
personal goals and the need to […………………………..]with one’s colleagues. He finds this an acute source of stress, actually.
Then there’s Kikuko, from Osaka, Japan, who says she’s under a lot of stress because the company she’s worked for 30 years is in […………………………..]. She says it’s because
her […………………………..]made a number of bad […………………………..], but really what worries her most is that she might lose her job. You know, she’s in her 50s and at
that age it’s not easy to find another one. She says that she also feels […………………………..]and that’s getting her […………………………..]too.
Well, then there’s Boris, from Odessa in the Ukraine. He puts overwork at the top of his list of […………………………..]. Then there
are other factors. Both he and his wife have full-time jobs so that when they get home they don’t get to relax much either.
I guess that’s a problem most of us can relate to!
Disc Jockey: We always hear about computers, e-mail and cell phones as things which get people tearing their hair out. Is this true?
Dr. Greenhill: Mmm. In many cases, yes, but not so much as you might think-only […………………………..] of […………………………..]give this as the main cause- Etienne from
Quebec. Canada, is one-though he also mentions change and the feeling of being a victim of […………………………..]beyond his control. Other people talk about the amount of
work which comes with continual change as being more stressing than new […………………………..]themselves. People feel they lack […………………………..]in their working
life.
But we must remember that in many places it’s really lack of new technology that puts people under most […………………………..]. Take Nagwa from Sohag in Egypt, for
example. She says that for her the main source of stress was working in noisy, hot, […………………………..]conditions day out and with no end in sight. So it seems, we can’t win
either way!
Disc Jockey: So, what can we as individuals do to make things easier for ourselves?
Dr. Greenhill: Well, I’ve talked to a number of […………………………..]about this- doctors and […………………………..]– and here are a few suggestions for reducing stress
without you having to change your job! First, vary vour diet: fish, pasta, vegetables, fruit and so on. Try not to live off sandwiches and fast food-a […………………………..]diet in
other words. Also, we tend to drink too much coffee. […………………………..], the drug in coffee, gets us more […………………………..]. So, if you want to feel less
[…………………………..], drink less coffee. It’s tough at first but you’ll notice the difference […………………………..]just a few days. Finally, take regular exercise. It’s a great way
of relaxing and of course it makes you more healthy too!
For particular cause of stress there are various things you can do. If your problem is that you think you’ve got too much work on your […………………………..], what you probably
need to do is […………………………..]time better. You have to learn to deal with the things which are really vital. Don’t waste time on […………………………..]. There are courses
to help you with this. If you are worried about […………………………..], make plans so that if it happens you are ready for it. Do things like set money aside and update vour cv so
it’s […………………………..]to new employers. As for new technologies, do training courses so that you feel at home with them and so that you don’t feel
[…………………………..]of them. So in the end the best way to deal with stress is for you to take control of your life and not allow yourself to be a victim of
[…………………………..].
Disc Jockey: Thank you, Dr. Greenhill on fighting stress, and, just when you thought you could relax, here’s Dolly Parton working 9 to 5…
SECTION 4
Good evening and welcome to this month’s […………………………..]Club lecture. I’m Donald Mackie and I’m here to talk to you about the […………………………..]in history.
A thousand years ago a total eclipse of the sun was a […………………………..]religious experience, but these days an eclipse is more likely to be viewed as a tourist
[…………………………..]than as a scientific or […………………………..]event. People will […………………………..]travel miles to be in the right place at the right time to get the
best view of their eclipse.
Well. What exacdy causes a solar eclipse-when the world goes dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day? […………………………..]speaking, the dark spot itself is easy to
explain: it is the […………………………..]of the moon […………………………..]a different and, to all intents and purposes, a seemingly […………………………..]part of the globe.
In the past people often […………………………..]an eclipse as a danger signal […………………………..]disaster and in fact, the Chinese were so […………………………..]bv these
events that they included among their gods whose job was to […………………………..]eclipses. But whether or not you are […………………………..]or take a purely scientific view,
our earthly eclipses are special in three different ways.
Firstly, there can be no doubt that they are very beautiful. It’s as if a deep blue […………………………..]has fallen over the […………………………..]sky as the sun becomes a black
void […………………………..]by the glow of its outer atmosphere.
But beyond this, total eclipses […………………………..]a second more compelling beauty in the eves of us scientists…for they offer a unique […………………………..]for research.
Only during an eclipse can we study the […………………………..]and other dim things that are normally lost in the sun’s glare.
And thirdly, they are rare. Even though an eclipse of the sun […………………………..]somewhere on earth, if you sit in your garden and wait, it will take
[…………………………..]on average for one to come to you. If the moon werp any larger eclipses would become a monthly […………………………..]: if it were smaller, they simply
would not be possible.
The ancient […………………………..]priests, who spent a fair bit of time staring at the sky, had already noted that there was an […………………………..]pattern in their
recurrence but they didn’t have the […………………………..]to predict an eclipse […………………………..]. It was Edmund Hailey, the English […………………………..], who
knew his maths well enough to […………………………..]the return of the comet which, […………………………..]bears his name.
In 1735, Edmund Hallev became the first person to make an accurate prediction of an eclipse.
This brought eclipses firmly into the scientific […………………………..]and they have since allowed a number of important scientific […………………………..]to be made. For
instance, in the eclipse of 1868, two scientists-Janssen and Lockyer, were observing the sun’s atmosphere and it was these […………………………..]that ultimately led to the
discovery of a new […………………………..]. They named the element helium after the Greek god of the sun. This was a major find, because […………………………..]turned out to
be the most […………………………..]element in the universe after hydrogen. Another great […………………………..]involved Mercury…IH just put that up on the board for you
now. See – there’s Mercury – the planet closest to the Sun-then Venus, Earth, etc. For centuries, scientists had been unable to understand why Mercury
[…………………………..]to rotate faster than it should. Some […………………………..]suggested that there might be an undiscovered planet causing this unusual
[…………………………..]and even gave it the name ‘Vulcan”. During the eclipse of […………………………..], an American astronomer, James Watson, thought he had
[…………………………..]this so-called “lost” planet. But, alas for him, he was later […………………………..]to admit that he had been wrong about Vulcan and
[…………………………..]his claim.
Then Albert Einstein came on the scene. Einstein suggested that rather than being wrong about the number of planets, astronomers were actually wrong about
[…………………………..]. Einstein’s theory of relativity-for which he is so famous-[…………………………..]with Newton’s law of gravity in just the right way to explain
[…………………………..]odd orbit. He also realized that a […………………………..]test would be possible during the total eclipse of […………………………..]and this is indeed
when the theory was finally proved correct.
So there you have several examples of how eclipses have helped to […………………………..]our understanding of the universe, and now let’s move on to the
[…………………………..]…
Practice every day to improve your IELTS listening skills. Don’t forget to visit IELTS Material website on a daily basis to find more practice tests for every skill in the IELTS Test.
IELTS Writing Practice Test 49 (Task 1 & 2) & Sample Answers

Task 1
Sample
The line graph shows information about the salary players of three sports received on a yearly basis (measured in dollars) over a period of 31 years from 1970 to 2000.
It is clear from the graph that there was a significant rise in the wages of these sport players over the period shown. However, overall, the players of basketball received the
highest salary. In 1970. the wages all the players had were low with about 100. These figures increased slightly to around 250 in 1980. a rise of 150 in comparison with the original
salary. Nonetheless, the wages of basketball and baseball players experienced exponential increase from roughly 250 to over 2.300 and approximately 1.600 respectively between
1980 and 2000. The period from 1980 to 1990 recorded a slight rise to about 400 for football players before their wages climbed considerably to approximately 800 in 1995. In
the next six years, the salaries for football players decreased moderately to around 7000. about 900 lower than those for baseball players and 1.600 lower than those for players of
basketball.
Task 2
Topic: Some people think international car-free days are an effective way of reducing air pollution, others think there are some other ways. Discuss
both views and give your own opinion
Sample
A wide range of feasible measures have been proposed in an attempt to enhance the quality of air across the globe. Although it is universally accepted that global car-free
days can bean effective solution. It is my conviction that numerous other policies seem to become more possible.
On the one hand, it is undeniable that when almost all citizens on a global scale are willing to resort to other means of transport in order to celebrate a so-called
international car-free day, this practice seems to be fruitful. On a day-to-day basis, cars, which are widely regarded as the most prevalent transportation means
running on petrol or diesel, discharge a huge quantity of exhaust fumes ranging from carbon dioxides to unburned hydrocarbons. Therefore, there is, in all
likelihood, a considerable decline in the amount of pollution-causing gas, meaning that the air quality may become cleaner and healthier. This situation might encourage
individuals to reduce car usage in the next days to diminish air contamination.
However. I advocate the viewpoint that several more attainable policies could be introduced with a view to minimizing the number of air quality pollutants. The
most immediate solution would be that all factories need to apply cutting-edge pollution-free technologies in production so that exhaust fumes from these factories
would become more environmentally friendly. Another remedy may be to construct and put into operation more nuclear power plants as opposed to thermal power
stations which release thousands of tons of carbon dioxides into the atmosphere. Other alternative sources of energy namely solar energy and wind power should be
exploited. The two latter policies may contribute to fulfilling the increasing requirements for energy for industrial production and daily household consumption
without causing serious damage to the air quality.
To conclude, despite the productive global car-free day celebration as aforementioned, I uphold the standpoint that various other methods seem to be more achievable.
California’s age of Megafires, European Heat Wave, The concept of childhood in the western countries – Reading Answers in
2016
there are three passages that you can refer to practice for the reading test. There are also answer keys available in this following page. You can take a more realistic test for
practice’s sake so that you can score well in the actual reading test.
SECTION 1
California’s age of Megafires
There’s a reason fire squads now battling more than a dozen blazes in southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever
and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the notorious Santa Ana winds. The wildfires themselves, experts say, generally are hotter, move faster, and spread more
erratically than in the past.
Also check: IELTS Reading
The short-term explanation is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had nine inches less rain than normal this year. Longer term, climate change across the West is
leading to hotter days on average and longer fire seasons. Experts say this is likely to yield more megafires like the conflagrations that this week forced evacuations of at least
300,000 residents in California’s southland and led President Bush to declare a disaster emergency in seven counties on Tuesday.
Megafires also called “siege fires,” are the increasingly frequent blazes that bum 500,000 acres or more – 10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. One of the
current wildfires is the sixth biggest in California ever, in terms of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports. The trend to more superhot fires, experts say, has
been driven by a century-long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence was to halt the natural eradication of
underbrush, now the primary fuel for megafires. Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change marked by a 1 -degree F. rise in average yearly
temperature across the West. Second is a fire season that on average is 78 days longer than in the late 1980s. Third is increased building of homes and other structures in wooded
areas.
“We are increasingly building our homes … in fire-prone ecosystems,” says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct professor of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography
in Worcester, Mass. Doing that “in many of the forests of the Western US … is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.” In California, where population growth has
averaged more than 600,000 a year for at least a decade, housing has pushed into such areas. “What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires
bum with greater intensity,” says Terry McHale of the California Department of Forestry firefighters union. “With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many
fronts to fight, it becomes an almost incredible job.”
That said, many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness since 2003, when the largest fires in state history scorched 750,000 acres, burned 3,640
homes, and killed 22 people. Stung then by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges
of the neighborhood- and canyon-hopping fires better than in recent years, observers say.
State promises to provide newer engines, planes, and helicopters have been fulfilled. Firefighters unions that then complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines and
insufficient blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state’s commitment, noting that funding for firefighting has increased despite huge cuts in many other programs. “We
are pleased that the Schwarzenegger administration has been very proactive in its support of us and come through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have
long sought,” says Mr. McHale with the firefighters union.
Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command-
and-control facilities as well as the strategies to run them. “In the fire sieges of earlier years, we found out that we had the willingness of mutual-aid help from other jurisdictions
and states, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,” says Kim Zagaris, chief of the state’s Office of Emergency Services, fire and rescue branch. After a 2004
blue-ribbon commission examined and revamped those procedures, the statewide response “has become far more professional and responsive,” he says.
Besides ordering the California National Guard on Monday to make 1,500 guardsmen available for firefighting efforts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the Pentagon to send
all available Modular Airborne Fighting Systems to the area. The military Lockheed C- 130 cargo/utility aircraft carry a pressurized 3,000-gallon tank that can eject fire retardant
or water in fewer than five seconds through two tubes at the rear of the plane. This load can cover an area 1/4- mile long and 60 feet wide to create a fire barrier. Governor
Schwarzenegger also directed 2,300 inmate firefighters and 170 custody staff from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to work hand in hand with state
and local firefighters.
Residents and government officials alike are noting the improvements with gratitude, even amid the loss of homes, churches, businesses, and farms. By Tuesday morning, the
fires had burned 1,200 homes and businesses and set 245,957 acres — 384 square miles — ablaze. Despite such losses, there is a sense that the speed, dedication, and
coordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdictions are resulting in greater efficiency than in past “siege fire” situations.
“I am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed between the last big fire and this,” says Ross Simmons, a San Diego-based lawyer who had to evacuate
both his home and business on Monday, taking up residence at a Hampton Inn 30 miles south of his home in Rancho Bernardo. After fires consumed 172,000 acres there in
2003, the San Diego region turned communitywide soul-searching into improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and procurement of new technology. Mr. Simmons and
neighbors began receiving automated phone calls at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning telling them to evacuate. “Notwithstanding all the damage that will be caused by this, we will not
come close to the loss of life because of what we have … put in place since then,” he says.
Questions 1-6
Summary
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage ，using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes
1-6 on your answer sheet.
Experts point out that blazes in California are having more heat, faster speed and they _________ 1. ______ more unpredictably compared with former ones. One explanation
is that California’s summer is dry,_________________ 2. _____ is below the average point. Another long term explanation is that hotter and longer potential days occur due
to ________________ 3. ______ . Nowadays, Megafires burn _____ 4. ______ the size of forest area caused by an ordinary fire of 20 years ago. The serious trend is mainly
caused by well-grown underbrush, which provides _________ 5. ______ for the siege fires. Other contributors are climate change and extended___________ 6.
_________.
Questions 7-9
1. What is the expert’s attitude towards California’s performance after 2003 mega-fire?
A. They could have done better

B. Blamed them on casualties
C. Improvement made on preparation
D. Serious criticism
2. According to Governor Schwarzenegger, which one is CORRECT about his effort for firefighting?
A. Schwarzenegger requested successfully for military weapons

B. Schwarzenegger led many prison management staff to work together with local firefighters
C. Schwarzenegger acted negatively in recent mega-fire in California
D. Schwarzenegger ordered 1,500 office clerks to join the firefighting scene.
3. What happened to Ross Simmon on the day of megafire breakout?
A. He was sleeping till morning

B. He was doing business at Hampton Inn
C. He suffered employee death on that morning
D. He was alarmed by machine calls
Questions 10-13

NOT GIVEN
the passage
10. The area of open space in California has declined during the past decade.
11. Fire squad wants to recruit more firefighters this year.
12. Firefighters union declared that firefighters have had a more improved and supportive facility by the local government.
13. Before the year of 2004, well coordination and communication between California and other states already existed in fire siege.
SECTION 2
European Heat Wave
It was the summer, scientists now realize, when felt. We knew that summer 2003 was remarkable: global warming, at last, made itself unmistakably Britain experienced its record
high temperature and continental Europe saw forest fires raging out of control, great rivers drying of a trickle and thousands of heat-related deaths. But just how remarkable is
only now becoming clear
The three months of June, July and August were the warmest ever recorded in western and central Europe, with record national highs in Portugal, Germany, and Switzerland as
well as Britain. And they were the warmest by a very long way Over a great rectangular block of the earth stretching from west of Paris to northern Italy, taking in Switzerland and
southern Germany, the average temperature for the summer months was 3.78°C above the long-term norm, said the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East
Anglia in Norwich, which is one of the world’s leading institutions for the monitoring and analysis of temperature records.
That excess might not seem a lot until you are aware of the context – but then you realize it is enormous. There is nothing like this in previous data, anywhere. It is considered so
exceptional that Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s director, is prepared to say openly – in a way few scientists have done before – that the 2003 extreme may be directly attributed,
not to natural climate variability, but to global warming caused by human actions.
Meteorologists have hitherto contented themselves with the formula that recent high temperatures are consistent with predictions” of climate change. For the great block of the
map 一 that stretching between 3 5-5 ON and 0-20E – the CRU has reliable temperature records dating back to 1781. Using as a baseline the average summer temperature
recorded between 1961 and1990, departures from the temperature norm, or “anomalies’: over the area as a whole can easily be plotted. As the graph shows, such as the variability
of our climate that over the past 200 years, there have been at least half a dozen anomalies, in terms of excess temperature – the peaks on the graph denoting very hot years –
approaching, or even exceeding, 20 °C. But there has been nothing remotely like 2003 when the anomaly is nearly four degrees.
“This is quite remarkable,” Professor Jones told The Independent. “It’s very unusual in a statistical sense. If this series had a normal statistical distribution, you wouldn’t get this
number. There turn period “how often it could be expected to recur” would be something like one in a thousand years. If we look at an excess above the average of nearly four
degrees, then perhaps nearly three degrees of that is natural variability, because we’ve seen that in past summers. But the final degree of it is likely to be due to global warming,
caused by human actions.
The summer of 2003 has, in a sense, been one that climate scientists have long been expecting. Until now, the warming has been manifesting itself mainly in winters that have
been less cold than in summers that have been much hotter. Last week, the United Nations predicted that winters were warming so quickly that winter sports would die out in
Europe’s lower-level ski resorts. But sooner or later the unprecedented hot summer was bound to come, and this year it did.
One of the most dramatic features of the summer was the hot nights, especially in the first half of August. In Paris, the temperature never dropped below 230°C (73.40°F) at all
between 7 and 14 August, and the city recorded its warmest-ever night on 11-12 August, when the mercury did not drop below 25.50°C (77.90°F). Germany recorded its warmest-
ever night at Weinbiet in the Rhine valley with the lowest figure of 27.60°C (80.60°F) on 13 August, and similar record-breaking night-time temperatures were recorded in
Switzerland and Italy.
The 15,000 excess deaths in France during August, compared with previous years, have been related to the high night-time temperatures. The number gradually increased during
the first 12days of the month, peaking at about 2,000 per day on the night of 12-13 August, then fell off dramatically after 14 August when the minimum temperatures fell by
about 50C. The elderly were most affected, with a 70 percent increase in the mortality rate in those aged 75-94.
For Britain, the year as a whole is likely to be the warmest ever recorded, but despite the high-temperature record on 10 August, the summer itself – defined as the June, July, and
August period – still comes behind 1976 and 1995，when there were long periods of intense heat. At the moment, the year is on course to be the third-hottest ever in the global
temperature record, which goes back to 1856, behind 1998 and 2002 but when all the records for October, November, and December are collated, it might move into second
place, Professor Jones said. The 10 hottest years in the record have all now occurred since 1990. Professor Jones is in no doubt about the astonishing nature of the European
summer of 2003.”The temperatures recorded were out of all proportion to the previous record,” he said. “It was the warmest summer in the past 500 years and probably way
beyond that It was enormously exceptional.”
His colleagues at the University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research are now planning a special study of it. “It was a summer that has not: been
experienced before, either in terms of the temperature extremes that were reached, or the range and diversity of the impacts of the extreme heat,” said the center’s executive
director, Professor Mike Hulme. “It will certainly have left its mark on a number of countries, as to how they think and plan for climate change in the future, much as the 2000
floods have revolutionized the way the Government is thinking about flooding in the UK. “The 2003 heatwave will have similar repercussions across Europe.”
Questions 14-19
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
14. The average summer temperature in 2003 is approximately four degrees higher than that of the past.
15. Jones believes the temperature statistic is within the normal range.
16. The human factor is one of the reasons that caused the hot summer.
17. In a large city, people usually measure temperature twice a day.
18. Global warming has an obvious effect of warmer winter instead of hotter summer before 2003.
19. New ski resorts are to be built on a high-altitude spot.
Questions 20-21
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 20-21 on your answer
sheet
20. What are the two hottest years in Britain besides 2003?
21. What will affect UK government policies besides climate change according to Hulme?
Questions 22-26
Complete the summary below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 22-26 On your answer sheet
In the summer of 2003, thousands of extra death occurred in the country of________ 22_________ . Moreover, world-widely, the third record of hottest summer date from
__________ 23__________ , after the year of _______ 24________ . According to Jones, all the 10 hottest years happened from ________ 25__________ . However,
summer of 2003 was at the peak of previous _________ 26_________ years, perhaps even more.
Question 27
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
Write your answer in box 27 on your answer sheet
27. Which one can be best served as the title of this passage in the following options?
A. Global Warming effect

B. Global Warming in Europe
C. The Effects of hot temperature
D. Hottest summer in Europe
SECTION 3
The concept of childhood in the western countries
The history of childhood has been a topic of interest in social history since the highly influential 1960 book Centuries of Childhood, written by French historian Philippe Aries. He
argued that “childhood” is a concept created by modern society.
One of the most hotly debated issues in the history of childhood has been whether childhood is itself a recent invention. The historian Philippe Aries argued that in Western
Europe during the Middle Ages (up to about the end of the fifteenth century) children were regarded as miniature adults, with all the intellect and personality that this implies. He
scrutinized medieval pictures and diaries and found no distinction between children and adults as they shared similar leisure activities and often the same type of work. Aries,
however, pointed out that this is not to suggest that children were neglected, forsaken or despised. The idea of childhood is not to be confused with affection for children; it
corresponds to an

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to the students who are taking up IELTS examinations. There is a

IELTS Reading Sample Section 1

The psychology in Happiness

Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A–F.

Which paragraph mentions the following?

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1. the need for individuals to understand what really matters to them

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 7 and 8 on your answer sheet

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 9 and 10.

A. Inherited wealth brings less happiness than earned wealth.

Complete the sentences below.

In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Filling the blanks below.

Fill the blanks below.

In boxes 22-32 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the view of the writer

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 33-34 on your answer sheet.

33. What’s Laszlo Polgar’s point of view towards geniuses of children

A. Chess is the best way to train geniuses.

A. Practice makes a genius.

35. Less gifted children get help from other classmates

Academic IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic 13 with Answers

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Write at least 250 words.

Also check: IELTS Writing Task 2

MODEL ESSAY 01:

(Band 8.0+, Written by Mr.Adam Lambert, IELTS 8.5)

MODEL ESSAY 02:

MODEL ESSAY 03:

MODEL ESSAY 04:

(Approximately 360 words)

MODEL ESSAY 05:

(Approximately 300 words)

MODEL ESSAY 06:

(Approximately 280 words)

MODEL ESSAY 07:

(Approximately 271 words)

MODEL ESSAY 08:

(Approximately 359 words)

(Approximately 275 words)

MODEL ESSAY 10:

(Approximately 330 words)

Introduction to IELTS Reading Practice PDF

IELTS General Reading Practice

IELTS ACADEMIC READING PRACTICE TEST

IELTS READING TEST

IELTS READING TIPS/ IELTS READING STRATEGIES

IELTS Practice Reading Images

Download 15 Days’ Practice for IELTS Reading (PDF)

Google Drive Link Mirror Link Mirror Link 2 Mirror Link 3

MOBILE PHONES AND DRIVING

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A – G.

Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-6.

i. Impact of mobile phones in hazards

Match the statement with the correct person or department A-E.