IELTS General Reading Practice Test 10 with Answer Key

    IELTS General Reading Practice Test 10

Instructions: All answers must be written on the answer sheet. The test is divided as follows:

            + Section 1: Questions 1-12

            + Section 2: Questions 13-25

            + Section 3: Questions 26-40

Start at the beginning of the test and work through it. You should answer all questions. If you cannot do a particular question, leave it and go on to the next. You can return to it later.

 

SECTION 1: Questions 1-12

Questions 1-2: Read the following advertisement and answer the questions. Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-2 on your answer sheet.

                                                                                      THE FUN WAY TO SAVE!

Join the Woolwich for Kids Club and you can save money and cam interest.

And you will have a lot of fun besides! As a club member, you will have your own passbook with a wallet to keep it in and your own special money box. Until you are thirteen we will send you the club magazine, edited by Henry’s Cat, every six months. It is full of fun and games, news, quizzes, things to do and sec, and great competitions to enter. When it is your birthday, Henry’s Cat will send you a special birthday card.

If you are sixteen or under, Woolwich for Kids Club is specially for you. It’s the fun way to save!

1. What is the Woolwich for Kids Club?

A. a sports club

B. a banking service

C. a magazine

D. a club for people who like cats

2. How many magazines do children receive each year?

A. six

B. twelve

C. two

D. one

Questions 3-6:

                                                    MEDICARE –  YOUR HEALTH INSURER

What does Medicare cover?

     Doctors

Medicare helps pay for the doctor to treat you at the doctor’s surgery or wherever you need treatment. Medicare helps pay for treatment by a specialist. If you need to see a specialist, you must be referred by your doctor.

    Other medical services

• X-rays

• pathology tests

• medical tests, examinations and procedures Optometrists

Medicare helps pay for eye tests, but not for the cost of glasses or contact lenses. Dentists

Routine dental services are not covered. However, some medical-type operations performed by approved dentists are covered.

    Hospitals

Public patient

If you choose to be treated under Medicare as a public patient in a public hospital. Medicare will cover all hospital costs. You pay nothing.

Private patient

If you choose to be treated as a private patient in any hospital. Medicare will help to pay for services by your doctor. However, Medicare will not pay for expenses such as theatre fees or your accommodation. These charges can be covered by arranging private health insurance.

Look at the following statements after reading the notice about Medicare. In boxes 3-6 on your answer sheet write:

TRUE                                   if the statement is true

FALSE                                 if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN                      if the information is not given in the notice

Example Answer: Medicare does not pay for glasses. –>  TRUE

3. Medicare does not pay for any work done by dentists.

4. Medicare pays for ambulance fees.

5. If you have not seen a doctor first, Medicare will not pay for you to see a specialist.

6. Medicare will pay at least some hospital doctor’s costs for both private and public patients.

Questions 7-12: You want to send some international mail. Read the text International Postal Services on the next page and answer questions 6-11 using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-12 on your answer sheet.

7. If you do not pay enough postage for airmail, how may your letter or package be sent?

8. How much does it cost to send a postcard by airmail?

9. What docs the post office use to follow the movement of priority mail?

10. Which is the best priority service if you want to send expensive jewellery abroad?

11. If you send something by either international recorded or international registered, what does the person receiving it have to do?

12. What kind of service is faster than swiftair?

                                            INTERNATIONAL POSTAL SERVICES

GETTING THE PRICE RIGHT

It pays to get the postage right when you’re sending mail abroad. Anything intended for airmail but underpaid stands the risk of being sent by surface mail instead. So make sure that you check the postage when mailing abroad.

STAMP BOOKS

For extra convenience, remember international stamp books. There are two available: 4 x 41p stamps with airmail labels, for sending 10 g letters anywhere outside of Europe. 4 x 35p stamps with airmail labels, for sending postcards to anywhere in the world.

                                            PRIORITY TREATMENT

              PRIORITY SERVICES FOR YOUR INTERNATIONAL MAIL

These three new services incorporate the latest barcode technology to track and trace your mail up to despatch from the United Kingdom.

1. INTERNATIONAL RECORDED

Peace of mind when posting abroad

Like using recoided delivery in Britain, this service gives you a signature on delivery and is recommended for items of little or no monetary value sent worldwide. Valuable items should be sent by the international registered service.

Priced at £2.50 per item plus airmail postage, it provides compensation to a maximum of £25.

Advice of delivery (documentary confirmation of delivery) is available for an extra 40p.

2. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED

Greater security for your valuables

Gives you extra security in the UK and abroad, and a signature on delivery.

Available to 140 destinations, it costs £3.00 plus airmail postage for compensation up to £500; £4.00 plus airmail postage for compensation up to £1000.

Lower limits apply to some destinations; to others, registered is not available. Please check at your local post office. Advice of delivery (documentary confirmation of delivery) is available for an extra 40p.

3. SWIFTAIR

The express airmail service

Although it is not a courier service, and therefore cannot guarantee delivery the following day, swiftair is faster than ordinary airmail, international recorded and international registered. It is the economical alternative to courier services when next- day delivery is not essential.

Price £2.70 plus airmail postage.

 

SECTION 2: Questions 13-25

Questions 13-19: The following notice gives information about school excursions. Each excursion is labelled A-J.

                                                        SCHOOL EXCURSIONS

A. Ancient and Modern Museum This is a museum with a difference. Along with the usual historical exhibits, this museum features an up-to-date display of hands-on information technology.	B. Shortlands Wildlife Park This is not the usual “animal gaol”. Here exotic animals wander free in large compounds, separated in such a way that they can’t harm one another.
C. Botanical Gardens Besides the many exotic plants one expects to see in a botanical garden, these gardens feature an array of native birds and other wildlife.	D. Wax World If you’re interested in seeing how people used to live and dress, Wax World is the place for you. Featuring over 100 wax models of famous people, this venue is well – suited to anyone interested in changing trends in clothing.
E. The Central Art Gallery The art gallery has six chambers each exhibiting paintings from different periods, from the Middle Ages to the present. The walking tour, recorded on tape, is designed for visitors interested in art history and criticism.	F. Technology Park In the planetarium, you can observe features of the night sky, and learn about such historical events as the origin of the crab nebula. This excursion also includes a visit to the Satellite Mapping Centre.
G. Parliament Students are met at the entrance by ushers who show them around the Houses. The tour includes the Hansard library, the grand lounge, government and opposition offices and the public gallery.	H. St. Cedric’s Cathedral With the Bishops’ Throne as its central feature, this building is a classic example of the excesses of architecture. This excursion is a must for any student interested in sculpture and stained glass as art forms.
I. The Light Fantastic Find out about the fascinating process of candle making. This factory also holds the additional attraction of illustrating the diverse uses that candles and other wax products can have – from the projection of film, to their use in the art of sculpture and decoration.	J. Trolland’s Caves These caves, situated below the hills to the north of the city, are entered via the Widmore River. The caves are home to colonies of glow worms that shine like stars on the ceilings and walls of the caves, casting an eerie light on the many stalagmites and stalactites.

Answer questions 13-19 below by writing the appropriate letters A-J in boxes 13-19 on your answer sheet.

Note: You may use any letter more than once.

Example Answer: Which excursion would you choose if you are interested in famous people? D

13. Which excursion would you choose if you wanted to know about the different uses of wax?

14. Where could students learn something about the animals of the country they are studying in?

15. On which excursion is it possible to learn something about the stars?

16. Which excursion would be suitable for students of fashion and design?

17. Which excursion would attract people interested in computers?

18. On which excursion would you expect to listen to an art critic?

19. On which excursion would you need to travel by boat?

Questions 20-25: The reading passage “Vocational Training’ comes from a book about studying in Australia. Do the following statements correspond with the information given in the passage? In the boxes 20-25 on your answer sheet write:

TRUE                               if the statement is true

FALSE                             if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN                  if the information is not given in the passage

20. There are more people studying in TAFE colleges than in any other kind of higher education institution.

21. TAFE qualifications arc accepted anywhere in Australia.

22. Some TAFE colleges offer university degrees.

23. Each TAFE college specializes in teaching skills for working within one specific industry.

24. The next chapter deals with English language courses.

25. Certificates or diplomas from all private post-secondary institutions are recognized everywhere in Australia.

                                                     Chapter 5

                                     VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Technical and Further Education

Australia’s Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector is a nationally recognized government system of vocational education and training and is the major provider of the skills required by the Australian workforce.

TAFE is the largest of the tertiary education sectors in Australia. It accounts for approximately 70 per cent of post-secondary education enrolments. There are 232 major TAFE colleges in Australia.

Although each state and territory administers its own system of TAFE. the qualifications they award are transferable throughout Australia. Although TAFE colleges cannot award tertiary-level degrees, some TAFE courses permit TAFE graduates to be admitted with advanced standing into degree courses offered by universities.

TAFE courses provide initial and further education at professional, para-professional, post-trade, trade and operative level. TAFE courses are developed in collaboration with industry and the community to ensure the most up-to-date education and training is provided.

Private Post-secondary Institutions

These private institutions are like TAFE colleges because they teach special skills for jobs but each one of them usually specializes in courses for one industry.

There arc many private institutions in Australia offering a wide range of courses: English language (ELICOS, see Chapter 6). secretarial studies, data processing, pilot training, business and management, recreational courses and religious studies. (Other courses offered by private post-secondary institutions are listed in Chapter 7, Special Studies.)

If you successfully complete these courses you receive a qualification called a ‘certificate’ or ‘diploma’. These are widely recognized by professional associations and industries in Australia, and are sometimes recognized by higher education institutions for credit. Before you undertake a course at a private post-secondary institution you should check that the certificate or diploma offered is appropriate for your particular purpose because some private institutions offer courses which arc not recognized. If you want to enter a higher education institution from a private post-secondary institution, you should ask the higher education institution whether they accept the qualification before you start your course.

 

SECTION 3: Questions 26-40

Questions 26-40 are based on the reading passage below.

          UNDERGROUND CITIES—JAPAN’S ANSWER TO OVERCROWDING

A nation running out of room seeks a down-to-earth solution

The Japanese may find a solution to the nation’s space shortage right beneath their feet. Some of Japan’s largest construction companies are planning underground cities that would not only ease urban crowding but also provide protection against earthquakes and increase energy efficiency.

Japan’s soaring real-estate prices provide reason enough. In a country with ncariy half as many people as the United States, but squeezed onto an archipelago which is only one hundredth the size, land shortages have led to construction becoming prohibitively expensive.

Another plus for subterranean construction is that the underground earth’s movement during an earthquake is far less than the surface’s—a big consideration in earthquake-prone Japan. The devastation caused by recent earthquakes in Japan could to some extent have been avoided if much of the cities affected were largely located underground.

In addition, the near-constant temperature would reduce the fuel costs for subterranean cities. Underground areas would need much less heating in winter and much less cooling in summer.

Taisei Corporation of Tokyo is planning a network of ‘Alice Cities’, named after the fictional Lewis Carroll heroine who fell down a rabbit hole into a wonderland. Taisei proposes turning cramped downtowns into airy underground spaces connected by subway trains and subterranean roads. The cities will be designed for self-sufficiency, but could be linked to sister cities by underground railway. Although some buildings and roads would remain above ground, much surface space would be freed up for trees and public parks.

Each Alice City would be divided into three sectors. The first sector, Town Space, would comprise verdant underground boulevards and open-air and atrium-type plazas—all free of automobile traffic. These boulevards and plazas will include shopping malls, entertainment complexes and fitness centres. Secondly, the Office Space sector will house business operations, hotels and parking lots. A solar dome above each office complex will ease feelings of claustrophobia. Express elevators or an extension of the underground railway system will run to the bottom level. Some workers will ride to work vertically horn residential areas within the sector, while others will commute from the suburbs. Isolated from the town and office sectors will be the third sector. Infrastructure Space. This will contain facilities for power generation. regional heating and air-conditioning, waste recycling, and sewage treatment.

Existing cities could be redeveloped beneath the surface using the Alice system. The downtown areas could be retained above ground in a slightly modified form and most of the future growth of the cities could be accommodated underground.

An alternative to the Alice City concept is the Shimizu Corporation’s proposed Urban Geo Grid, a vast network of smaller subterranean city spaces linked by tunnels. The $80.2 billion project would cover 485 square miles and accommodate a half-million people.

The Urban Geo Grid provides for a much more complicated interaction of many underground spaces over a larger area. Each ‘grid station’—a complex of underground offices, shopping malls and hotels—would be connected to several smaller ‘grid points’, which would provide local services such as public baths and convenience stores. The Grid would provide a network for road and rail transportation, communication, and energy supply both within a city and between cities. Individual facilities for various services such as power generation and waste treatment will be on a smaller scale, but more numerous.

Whichever concept is ultimately applied, one obstacle that will need to be overcome before Japanese cities have real ‘downtowns’ involves the nation’s geology. Japan’s densely populated lowlands are mostly founded on loose geologic strata, making underground construction particularly difficult. Thus, Japanese construction firms are conducting extensive research and development on technologies for drilling, excavation and underground construction.

Some of the technology is already available. Robots similar to those that built the Channel Tunnel between France and England could be used for excavation and construction in some areas. It is anticipated that within 10 to 15 years most of the remaining technological obstacles will be overcome.

Underground city spaces in Japan are therefore coming much closer to reality. It may be difficult to imagine people adapting to life underground, but in Japan it may be one of the most practical solutions to the problem of limited living space. The next century may see many similar developments in other countries.

Questions 26-30: Indicate whether the following characteristics apply to Alice Cities or Urban Geo Grids or both or neither by writing:

AC                                if it applies to Alice Cities

UGG                            if it applies to Urban Geo Grids

BOTH                         if it applies to both

NEITHER                if it applies to neither Alice Cities nor Urban Geo Grids

in boxes 26-30 on your answer sheet. The first one has been done as an example.

Example Answer: named after a storybook character AC

26. cities linked by underground railways

27. a large number of separate underground spaces linked together

28. one large space for city facilities such as waste treatment

29. cities largely independent

30. construction has already started

Questions 31-35: Using information from the reading passage, complete the sentences below IN NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

31. Real estate is expensive in Japan because __________________________

32. By moving many buildings and roads underground, surface land in Alice Cities could be

used for _____________________________

33. In Alice Cities, some people will live in the sector called ______________________

34. Underground cities in Japan cannot yet be built because of two factors: loose geologic

strata and __________________________

35. In the Urban Geo Grid, hotels would be located in the _______________________

Questions 36-40: The following is a brief summary of the reading passage. Complete each gap in the summary by choosing a word from the box below the summary. Write your answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

Note: There are more words than gaps so you will not need to use them all. You may use any word more than once.

Summary

Example: Japan is planning underground cities to solve problems of living space, earthquakes and energy.

One Japanese company plans to develop large cities underneath existing (36) …………………… areas. Each of these cities would be divided into three sectors: for (37) …………………….. , office and infrastructure  spaces. Another company plans a more spread out and complicated (38)……………………… based on smaller spaces. The main (39) ……………………….. to the construction of these cities is the unstable structure of the (40) …………………….. itself.

obstacle                        network                       ground                        technology

robots                           earthquakes               developing                  leisure

downtown                   private                         rural

 

ANSWER KEY 

SECTION 1

1            B

2            C

3            FALSE

4            NOT GIVEN

5            TRUE

6            TRUE

7            by surface mail

8            35 p

9            barcode technology

10          international registered

11          sign on delivery

12          courier service

13          I

14          C

15          F

16          D

17          A

18          E

19          J

20          TRUE

21          TRUE

22          FALSE

23          FALSE

24          TRUE

25          FALSE

26          BOTH

27          UGG

28          AC

29          AC

30          NEITHER

31          of land shortages

32          trees and parks

33          office space

34          not available yet

35          grid station

36          downtown

37          leisure

38          network

39          obstacle

40          ground