The real IELTS Reading Test contains three separate reading passages. The reading section is different for the Academic Reading Test takers and the General Reading Test takers.
IELTS Academic Reading Test passage texts are taken from magazines, journals, research papers, books, and newspapers.
IELTS General Reading Test texts are taken from notices, advertisements, official documents, booklets, newspapers, instruction manuals, leaflets, timetables, books and magazines.
Biological control of pests The continuous and reckless use of synthetic chemicals for the control of pests which pose a threat to agricultural crops and human health is proving to be counter-productive. Apart from engendering widespread ecological disorders, pesticides have contributed to the emergence of a new breed of chemical-resistant, highly lethal superbugs. According to … more →
Land of the rising sum A Japan has a significantly better record in terms of average mathematical attainment than England and Wales. Large sample international comparisons of pupils’ attainments since the 1960s have established that not only did Japanese pupils at age 13 have better scores of average attainment, but there was also a larger … more →
Venus in transit June 2004 saw the first passage., known as a ‘transit` of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun in 122 years. Transits have helped shape our view of the whole Universe, as Heather Cooper and Nigel Henbest explain A On 8 June 2004, more than half the population of the … more →
The history of Tortoise If you go back far enough, everything lived in the sea. At various points in evolutionary history, enterprising individuals within many different animal groups moved out onto the land, sometimes even to the most parched deserts, taking their own private seawater with them in blood and cellular fluids. In addition to … more →
Giving the brain a workout Mental agility does not have to decline with age, as long as you keep exercising your mind, says Anna van Praagh A Use your brain and it will grow – it really will. This is the message from neuro psychologist Ian Robertson, professor of psychology at Trinity College, Dublin and … more →
William Henry Perkin The man who invented synthetic dyes William Henry Perkin was born on March 12, 1838, in London, England. As a boy, Perkin’s curiosity prompted early interests in the arts. sciences. photography, and engineering. But it was a chance stumbling upon a run-down. yet functional, laboratory in his late grandfathers home that solidified … more →
A revolution in knowledge sharing The pressure to transform our institutions of learning continues. Virtually every enterprise and institution is grappling with the disruptions and opportunities caused by Web-enabled infrastructures and practices. New best practices, business models, innovations, and strategies are emerging, including new ways to acquire, assimilate, and share knowledge. Using technologies that are … more →
Wind power in the US Prompted by the oil crises of the 1970s, a wind-power industry flourished briefly in the United States. But then world oil prices dropped, and funding for research into renewable energy was cut. By the mid 1980s US interest in wind energy as a large-scale source of energy had almost disappeared. … more →
Arctic haze In the 1950’s, pilots traveling on weather reconnaissance flights in the Canadian high Arctic reported seeing bands of haze in the springtime in the Arctic region. It was during this time that the term “Arctic haze” was first used, referring to this smog of unknown origin. But it was not until 1972, that … more →
Children’s thinking One of the most eminent of psychologists, Clark Hull, claimed that the essence of reasoning lies in the putting together of two ‘behavior segments’ in some novel way, never actually performed before, so as to reach a goal. Two followers of Clark Hull, Howard and Tracey Kendler, devised a test for children that … more →