IELTS Reading Practice Test 2024 With Answers
Reading Passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
The Creativity Myth
A It is a myth that creative people are born with their
talents: gifts from God or nature. Creative genius is, in fact, latent
within many of us, without our realizing. But how far do we need to
travel to find the path to creativity? For many people, a long way. In
our everyday lives, we have to perform many acts out of habit to
survive, like opening the door, shaving, getting dressed, walking to
work, and so on. If this were not the case, we would, in all
probability, become mentally unhinged. So strongly ingrained are our
habits, though this varies from person to person, that sometimes when a
conscious effort is made to be creative, automatic response takes over.
We may try, for example, to walk to work following a different route,
but end up on our usual path. By then it is too late to go back and
change our minds. Another day, perhaps. The same applies to all other
areas of our lives. When we are solving problems, for example, we may
seek different answers, but, often as not, find ourselves walking along
the same well-trodden paths.
B So, for many people, their actions and behavior are set
in immovable blocks, their minds clogged with the cholesterol of
habitual actions, preventing them from operating freely, and thereby
stifling creation. Unfortunately, mankind’s very struggle for survival
has become a tyranny – the obsessive desire to give order to the world
is a case in point. Witness people’s attitude to time, social customs
and the panoply of rules and regulations by which the human mind is now
circumscribed.
C The groundwork for keeping creative ability in check
begins at school. School, later university and then work, teach us to
regulate our lives, imposing a continuous process of restrictions which
is increasing exponentially with the advancement of technology. Is it
surprising then that creative ability appears to be so rare? It is
trapped in the prison that we have erected. Yet, even here in this
hostile environment, the foundations for creativity are being laid;
because setting off on the creative path is also partly about using
rules and regulations. Such limitations are needed so that once they are
learned, they can be broken.
D The truly creative mind is often seen as totally free and
unfettered. But a better image is of a mind, which can be free when it
wants, and one that recognizes that rules and regulations are
parameters, or barriers, to be raised and dropped again at will. An
example of how the human mind can be trained to be creative might help
here. People’s minds are just like tense muscles that need to be freed
up and the potential unlocked. One strategy is to erect artificial
barriers or hurdles in solving a problem. As a form of stimulation, the
participants in the task can be forbidden to use particular solutions or
to follow certain lines of thought to solve a problem. In this way,
they are obliged to explore unfamiliar territory, which may lead to some
startling discoveries. Unfortunately, the difficulty in this exercise,
and with creation itself, is convincing people that creation is
possible, shrouded as it is in so much myth and legend. There is also an
element of fear involved, however subliminal, as deviating from the
safety of one’s thought patterns is very much akin to madness. But, open
Pandora’s box and a whole new world unfold before your very eyes.
E Lifting barriers into place also plays a major part in
helping the mind to control ideas rather than letting them collide at
random. Parameters act as containers for ideas and thus help the mind to
fix on them. When the mind is thinking laterally and two ideas from
different areas of the brain come or are brought together, they form a
new idea, just like atoms floating around and then forming a molecule.
Once the idea has been formed, it needs to be contained or it will fly
away, so fleeting is its passage. The mind needs to hold it in place for
a time so that it can recognize it or call on it again. And then the
parameters can act as channels along which the ideas can flow,
developing and expanding. When the mind has brought the idea to fruition
by thinking it through to its final conclusion, the parameters can be
brought down and the idea allowed to float off and come in contact with
other ideas.
Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 has five paragraphs, A-E.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. You may use any letter more than once.
1 the way parameters in the mind help people to be creative
2 the need to learn rules to break them
3 how habits restrict us and limit creativity
4 how to train the mind to be creative
5 how the mind is trapped by the desire for order
Questions 6-10
Choose the correct answers A-D and write them next to 6-10 on your answer sheet.
6 According to the writer, creative people
A are usually born with their talents
B are born with their talents
C are not born with their talents
D are geniuses
7 According to the writer, creativity is
A a gift from God or nature
B an automatic response
C difficult for many people to achieve
D a well-trodden path
8 According to the writer
A the human race’s fight to live is becoming a tyranny
B the human brain is blocked with cholesterol
C the human race is now circumscribed by talents
D the human race’s fight to survive stifles the creative ability
9 Advancing technology
A holds creativity in check
B improves creativity
C enhances creativity
D is a tyranny
10 According to the author, creativity
A is common
B is increasingly common
C is becoming rarer and rarer
D is a rare commodity
Questions 11-14
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer?
In boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet write
YES, if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
NO, if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information about the statement in the passage
11 Rules and regulations are examples of parameters.
12 The truly creative mind is associated with the need for free speech and a free society.
13 One problem with creativity is that people think it is impossible.
14 The act of creation is linked to madness.
Reading Passage 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Locked Doors Open Access
Questions 15-18
Choose the correct answers A-D and write them next to 15-18 on your answer sheet
15 According to the author, one thing we long for is
A the safety of the home
B security
C open access
D positive virtues
16 Access to many buildings
A is unauthorized
B is becoming more difficult
C is a cause of crime in many urban areas
D used to be called ‘Reception’
17 Buildings used to permit access to any users
A but now they do not
B and still do now
C especially offices and schools
D especially in urban areas
18 Secure zones
A do not allow access to the user
B compartmentalize the user
C are often like traps
D are not accessible to everybody
Questions 19-24
Complete the summary below using words from the box.
Write your answers in the blank spaces next to 19-24 on your answer sheet
The problem of physical access to buildings has now been 19………………………………by technology. Messages are 20………………………………with passwords not allowing 21…………………………to read someone else’s messages. But, while individuals are becoming increasingly 22……………………………..socially by the way, they do their job, at the same time more value is being put on 23 …………………………………. However, e-mail and voice-mail have led to 24…………………………………opportunities for person-to-person communication.
| Reducing off | Computer | Other people | Isolating |
| Teamwork | Decrease in | Similar | Solved |
| No different from | Overcame | Physical | Protected |
| Combat | Developed | Cut-off |
Questions 25-27
Complete the sentences below, with words taken from Reading Passage 2.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in the blank spaces next to 25-27 on your answer sheet
25 The writer does not like……………………………….
26 An individual’s Home Page indicates their………………………………on the Internet.
27 Devices like mobile phones mean that location is…………………………..
Reading Passage 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
A leap into history
Questions 28-32
Look at the following list of places (Questions 28-32) from paragraphs A-E of reading passage 3 and their locations on the map.
Write your answers in the boxes next to 28-32 on your answer sheet
Put the boxes at end of the questions
Match each place with its location on the map
28 The Sperrin Mountains
29 Dunluce Castle
30 Inishowen
31 The Glens of Antrim
32 Limavady
Questions 33-38
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
YES, if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
NO, if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information about the statement in the passage
33 After 1639 the castle of Dunluce was not completely uninhabited.
34 For the author, Dunluce Castle evokes another period of history.
35 There were more than 1500 men on the Girona when it went down.
36 The writer believes that the Giant’s Causeway is worth going to visit.
37 The author recommends twilight as the best time to visit the Giant’s Causeway.
38 The more sturdy cage added to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge has helped to increase the number of visitors to the area.
Questions 39 and 40
Choose the correct answers A-D and write them next to 39-40 on your answer sheet.
39 The writer feels that the Giant’s Causeway is
A an unsettling place
B a relaxing place
C a boring place
D an exciting place
40 Which of the following would be a good title for the passage?
A The Roe Valley Park
B The Giant’s Causeway
C Going East to West
D A leap into history
Answers
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The Creativity Myth Reading Answers (Passage 1)
Questions 1-5
| 1 | E. The paragraph is about the fact that parameters help our minds to be creative. |
| 2 | C. The answer lies in the key phrases: … keeping creative ability in check (in the first sentence) and Such limitations are needed so that once they are learned, they can be broken (the last sentence of the paragraph). The focus sentence is a combination of these two ideas. Note how the word yet divides the paragraph. It indicates the focus of the paragraph against the background in the first part. It also marks the division of Information In the whole passage. |
| 3 | A. The writer wrote the paragraph to show that habits limit our creativity and the habits we need to survive to play a role in this limitation. |
| 4 | D. The theme of the paragraph is how creativity works. |
| 5 | B, The paragraph deals with how parameters help the mind to be creative. |
Questions 6-10
| 6 | C. The answer is in the first line of the passage: It is a myth that creative people are born with their talents. Here, it is a myth = are not. |
| 7 | C, The answer is In paragraph A. The actual words are not in the paragraph, but the meaning is clear. A is not correct, because this is a myth; B is not correct, because the passage states that when we try to be creative, our automatic response takes over. D is not correct, because the well-trodden paths prevent creativity. Compare number 13 below. |
| 8 | D. The answer is in paragraph B: Unfortunately, mankind’s very struggle for survival has become a tyranny. The answer paraphrases this statement. A is not correct, because the passage says the struggle has become, i.e. is tyranny, not that it is becoming so; B is not correct, because cholesterol is not mentioned in relationship to the brain, but the mind, C is incorrect, because it is the mind which is circumscribed. |
| 9 | A. The answer is in paragraph C: a continuous process of restrictions, which is increasing exponentially with the advancement of technology. The statement Is a paraphrase of this section. Note B and C are the same; it is, therefore, not possible to have either of these two alternatives as your answer. Watch out for this feature In multiple-choice questions. |
| 10 | D. The answer is in paragraph C: Is it surprising then that creative ability appears to be so rare. This is a question and has the same meaning as the statement given, i.e. It is not surprising. Note C is not possible, because the passage doesn’t indicate whether the rarity is increasing or decreasing. |
Questions 11-14
| 11 | Yes. The answer is at the beginning of paragraph D: … and one that recognizes that rules and regulations are parameters… |
| 12 | Not Given. There is no reference to this statement in the passage. |
| 13 | Yes. The answer is in paragraph D: The difficulty in this exercise and with creation itself, is convincing people that creation is possible. The answer is a paraphrase of this part of the text. Compare number 7 above, |
| 14 | Yes. The answer is at the end of paragraph D: leaving the safety of one’s thought patterns is very much akin to madness; akin to – like. |
Locked Doors Open Access Reading Answers (Passage 2)
Question 15-18
| 15 | B. The answer is in the first paragraph. |
| 16 | B. Those buildings which used to allow free access to employees and other users (buildings such as offices, schools, colleges or hospitals) now do not. |
| 17 | A. Those buildings which used to allow free access to employees and other users (buildings such as offices, schools, colleges or hospitals) now do not. |
| 18 | D. It says in the text, ‘these buildings are divided into ‘secure zones’ which often have all the trappings of combination locks and burglar alarms. ‘ |
Questions 19-24
| 19 | Solved, Although the word combat appears In the original, it does not fit here grammatically. The past participle is needed. Note overcame Is the Simple Past, not the Past Participle. |
| 20 | computers. The plural is needed here. |
| 21 | other people. |
| 22 | cut-off. The word isolating does not fit grammatically. You need an adjective made from the past participle of the verb. Compare to 20 above. |
| 23 | team-work. |
| 24 | decrease in. |
Questions 25-27
| 25 | touch-tone systems |
| 26 | electronic presence |
| 27 | no longer geographical |
A leap into history Reading Answers (Passage 3)
Questions 28-32
Questions 33-38
| 33 | Not given. |
| 34 | YES. It says in the passage, ‘Ruined and forlorn its aspect maybe yet, in the haunting Celtic twilight of the long summer evenings, it is redolent of another age, another dream.’ |
| 35 | YES. It says in the passage, ‘Girona, from the Spanish Armada went down one dark October night in 1588 on its way to Scotland, of the 1500-odd men on board, nine survived.’ |
| 36 | YES. It says in the passage, ‘But it is certainly well worth a visit.’ |
| 37 | YES. It says in the passage, ‘The last lingering moments of the twilight hours are the best lime.’ |
| 38 | NOT GIVEN. |