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IELTS® Academic Reading Practice 15

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This reading practice simulates one part of the IELTS General Reading test. You should spend about twenty minutes on it. Read the passage and answer questions 29-40.

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Daniel Haworth got wheeled behind the dark screen with a high chair, suddenly his 9 months old eyebrows got cloaked with fear. His dim blue eyes dart left and right looking for familiar reassurance of his mom's face. She calls his name and makes relieving sounds, however, Daniel detects something un...
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Questions 29-32
Look at the following Statements (Questions 29-32) and List of people below.

Match each statement with the correct person

Write the correct number A-E in boxes Questions 29-32 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.
List of people
  1. Jean Piaget
  2. Sylvian Sirois
  3. Lain Jackson
  4. Renee Baillargeon
  5. Elizabeth Spelke

29. Decided that babies spent more time looking at something unusual.

30. Believes in the validity of earlier experiments.

31. Their work is no longer considered relevant to many of today’s experts.

32. Agrees with an earlier theory that babies are born without any innate knowledge of the world around them.

The answer is E. Elizabeth Spelke is credited with the finding that “babies as young as 3 1/2 months would reliably look longer at the impossible event than at the normal one.” This information is found in the fifth paragraph describing Spelke’s research on infant gaze duration when witnessing possible and impossible events. This directly matches the statement that someone decided that babies spent more time looking at something unusual.

Associated Text:
M.I.T’s Elizabeth Spelke found that babies as young as 3 1/2 months would reliably look longer at the impossible event than at the normal one.

The answer is B. Sylvain Sirois believes in the validity of earlier experiments, as indicated by his statement in the fifth paragraph: “Sirois does not take issue with the way these experiments were conducted. ‘The methods are correct and replicable,’ he says, ‘it’s the interpretation that’s the problem.’” This shows he accepts the experimental methods but questions the conclusions drawn from them.

Associated Text:
Sirois does not take issue with the way these experiments were conducted. “The methods are correct and replicable,” he says, “it’s the interpretation that’s the problem.”

The answer is A. Jean Piaget’s work is described in the fourth paragraph as ‘massively influential on postwar educators and psychologists, but over the past 20 years or so they have been largely set aside by a new generation of “nativist” psychologists and cognitive scientists….’ This matches the statement that their work is no longer considered relevant to many of today’s experts.

Associated Text:
Piaget’s “constructivist” theories were massively influential on postwar educators and psychologist, but over the past 20 years or so they have been largely set aside by a new generation of “nativist” psychologists and cognitive scientists...

The answer is B. Sylvain Sirois is noted for agreeing with an earlier theory that babies are born without any innate knowledge of the world around them. In the fourth paragraph, it is stated that “His conclusions so far tend to be more Piagetian: ‘Babies,’ he says, ‘know nothing.’” This demonstrates alignment with Piaget’s theory that babies lack innate knowledge at birth.

Associated Text:
His conclusions so far tend to be more Piagetian: “Babies,” he says, “know nothing.”

Questions 33-37
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 33-37 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.

33. Only 100 experiments have been done but can prove the theories about what we know.

34. Some experiments focused on the way in which babies move their arms and legs when shown an impossible event.

35. A baby will respond more quickly to the face of their mother.

36. Babies need to spend time learning to recognize a human face.

37. The learning process involves a series of learning from mistakes.

The answer is FALSE. In the second paragraph, the passage states the baby lab has tested only 100 infants, not that 100 experiments have been done. Furthermore, it says the lab is ‘challenging current thinking on what babies know and how they come to know it,’ rather than proving those theories. Therefore, the statement is incorrect as per paragraph two.

Associated Text:
Though the facility is just 18 months old and has tested only 100 infants, it’s already challenging current thinking on what babies know and how they come to know it.

The answer is NOT GIVEN. The passage nowhere mentions experiments focusing on the movement of babies’ arms and legs when shown an impossible event. The described experiments instead focus on infant attention, gaze direction, and changes in pupil size in response to visual stimuli, as in the third and fifth paragraphs, not limb movement.

Associated Text:
Daniel is now engrossed in watching video clips of a red toy train on a circular track. The train enters a tunnel and emerges on the other side. While all this is happening, an unseen device above the screen is monitoring Daniel’s eyes as they follow the train and measuring the diameter of his pupils 50 times a second.

The answer is NOT GIVEN. While the passage states that babies have an instinct that draws their eyes to a human face, it does not mention whether babies respond more quickly to the face of their mother specifically. Therefore, there is no information on this claim anywhere in the reading.

Associated Text:
For example, hardwired in the brain is an instinct that draws a baby’s eyes to a human face.

The answer is FALSE. The passage explicitly states in the sixth paragraph, ‘hardwired in the brain is an instinct that draws a baby’s eyes to a human face,’ indicating babies do not need to spend time learning to recognize a human face. This is innate, not learned.

Associated Text:
For example, hardwired in the brain is an instinct that draws a baby’s eyes to a human face.

The answer is TRUE. The sixth paragraph explains that learning is essentially ‘the laborious business of resolving mismatches,’ and the process involves babies encountering novel events, noticing the difference and having to ‘clear the buffer’ and devote attention, which is akin to learning from mistakes. Sirois says, “the thing is, you can do a lot of it with this wet sticky thing called a brain. It’s a fantastic, statistical-learning machine.” This describes a process of gradually adjusting understanding based on unexpected outcomes, which reflects learning from mistakes or mismatches.

Associated Text:
So when babies encounter novel or unexpected events, Sirois explains, “there’s a mismatch between the buffer and the information they’re getting at that moment. And what you do when you’ve got a mismatch is you try to clear the buffer. And that takes attention.” So learning says Sirois, is essentially the laborious business of resolving mismatches.

Questions 38-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-E from the box below.

Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

  1. when they had seen the same thing for a while.
  2. when facing the possible and impossible events
  3. before they are born.
  4. before they learn from experience.
  5. when the previous things appear again in the lives.

38. Jean Piaget believes babies only get the knowledge

39. Sylvain Sirois thinks that babies can reflect a response to stimuli that are novel

40. Sylvain Sirois thinks babies’ attention level will drop

The answer is E. In the context of Jean Piaget’s beliefs, the fourth paragraph notes that babies must gradually construct knowledge from experience, implying that they only get knowledge when previous things appear again in their lives and through repeated experience. So, (E) is correct for this sentence ending.

Associated Text:
babies must gradually construct this knowledge from experience.

The answer is B. The fifth paragraph discusses Sylvain Sirois’s perspective that a baby’s fascination with physically impossible events merely reflects a response to stimuli that are novel, specifically ‘when facing the possible and impossible events.’ This means the response is to novelty in both possible and impossible contexts.

Associated Text:
His own experiments indicate that a baby’s fascination with physically impossible events merely reflects a response to stimuli that are novel.

The answer is A. The third paragraph describes how Daniel ‘gets bored or “habituated”’ when he has seen the same thing several times, and that ‘when Daniel had seen the red train come out of the tunnel green a few times, he gets as bored as when it stays the same color.’ Thus, Sirois thinks babies’ attention will drop when they had seen the same thing for a while.

Associated Text:
As Daniel gets bored or “habituated”, as psychologists define the process, he rapidly loses attention...When Daniel had seen the red train come out of the tunnel green a few times, he gets as bored as when it stays the same color.

Answer Sheet
1
N/A
2
N/A
3
N/A
4
N/A
5
N/A
6
N/A
7
N/A
8
N/A
9
N/A
10
N/A
11
N/A
12
N/A
13
N/A
14
N/A
15
N/A
16
N/A
17
N/A
18
N/A
19
N/A
20
N/A
21
N/A
22
N/A
23
N/A
24
N/A
25
N/A
26
N/A
27
N/A
28
N/A
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Score Summary
0 / 1
Multiple Choice
Matching Sentence Endings
Note Completion
Table Completion
Flow Chart Completion
Summary Completion
Multiple Selection
Short Answer
Matching Headings
Matching Features
Matching Information
Identifying Information
Identifying Viewer Claims
Sentence Completion
Diagram Labelling
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Tips to improve your reading speed
To get a high score on the IELTS reading section, you need to have a fast reading speed. To have a fast reading speed, you need to improve your vocabulary and practice dissecting sentences. One strategy to dissect a sentence is to look for the subject and verb of the sentence. Finding the subject and verb will help you better understand the main idea of said sentence. Keep in mind, a common feature of a IELTS reading passage is to join strings of ideas to form long compound sentences. This produces large chunks that students have a hard time absorbing. Do not get overwhelmed by its length, just look for the subject and verb, the rest of the ideas will flow.

Keep in mind, having a slow reading speed makes skimming or scanning a reading passage more difficult. The process of quickly skimming through a reading passage for specific keywords or main ideas is a requirement for you to employ successful reading strategies to improve your IELTS reading score. In other words, skimming and scanning are critical skills to ensure you complete all questions in the allotted time frame.
IELTS Reading Strategies
Once you can read and comprehend a passage with a rate of, at least, 220 words per minute, you'll be ready to start implementing our strategies. All too often, students spend too much time reading the passages and not enough time answering the questions. Here is a step by step guide for tackling the reading section.

  1. Step 1: Read questions first

    One of the most common mistakes that candidates make when approaching the reading exam is reading every single word of the passages. Although you can practice for the exam by reading for pleasure, "reading blindly" (reading without any sense of what the questions will ask) will not do you any favors in the exam. Instead, it will hurt your chances for effectively managing your time and getting the best score.

    The main reason to read the questions first is because the type of question may determine what you read in the passage or how you read it. For example, some question types will call for the "skimming" technique, while others may call for the "scanning" technique.

    It is important to answer a set of questions that are of the same question type. You'll need to determine which question type you want to tackle first. A good strategy would be to start with the easier question type and move on to more difficult question types later. The Easiest question types are the ones where you spend less time reading. For example, the Matching Heading question type is an easier one because you only need to find the heading that best describes the main idea of a paragraph. An example of a difficult question type would be Identifying Information. For this question type, you'll need to read each paragraph to find out if each statement is TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN according to the passage.

    Here is a table that lists the difficulty levels for each question type. Use this table as a reference when choosing which question type you want to tackle first.

    Difficulty level Question Type
    Easy Sentence Completion
    Short answer
    Medium Matching Features
    Multiple choice
    Matching Headings
    Summary, Table, Flow-Chart Completion
    Difficult Matching Sentence Endings
    Matching Information
    Identifying Information (TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN)
    Identifying Viewer's claims (YES/NO/NOT GIVEN)

  2. Step 2: Read for an objective

    After you've read the questions for the passage, you will be able to read for an objective. What does this mean? For example, if you come across a question that includes the year "1896", you can make a note of when this year comes up in the text, using it to answer the question later on. There are two reading techniques that will help you stay on track with reading for an objective. The first one, skimming, is best defined as reading fast in order to get the "gist", or general idea, or a passage. With this technique, you are not stopping for any unfamiliar words or looking for specific details. The second technique, scanning, is best defined as reading for specific information. With this technique, you are not reading for the overall gist, but rather, specific information. Notice how each of these techniques has a specific objective in mind. This will help you find information more quickly.

  3. Step 3: Take notes

    As you're reading for an objective, you should also be making notes on the margins of the passage, placing stars next to key information, or underlining things that you believe will help you answer the various questions. This will make it easier for you to check back when you are asked certain things in the questions. Choose whichever note-taking system is right for you - just make sure you do it!

  4. Step 4: Answer wisely

    After you've read the questions, read the passage, and have taken any appropriate notes, you you should have located the part of the text where you where you need to read carefully. Then just read carefully and think critically to determine the correct answer.

IELTS Reading Question Types

The IELTS reading test contains many different question types:

Matching HeadingsIELTS Reading Lesson: Matching Headings
Matching InformationIELTS Reading Lesson: Matching Information
Matching FeaturesIELTS Reading Lesson: Matching Features
Summary CompletionIELTS Reading Lesson: Summary Completion
Identifying InformationIELTS Reading Lesson: Identifying Information
Identifying Writer's claimsIELTS Reading Lesson: Identifying Writer's claims
Multiple ChoiceIELTS Reading Lesson: Multiple Choice
Short AnswerIELTS Reading Lesson: Short Answer
Match Sentence EndingIELTS Reading Lesson: Match Sentence Ending
Sentence CompletionIELTS Reading Lesson: Sentence Completion
Table CompletionIELTS Reading Lesson: Table Completion
 
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