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IELTS® Academic Reading Practice 45

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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 28-40.

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Earth has ample water in its oceans but very little carbon dioxide in its incredibly thin atmosphere. By contrast, Venus is very dry and its thick environment is generally filled with carbon dioxide. The unique atmospheres of both Venus and Earth had been derived at least in part from gases spewed ...
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Questions 28-32
Complete the table using the list of words, A-J, below.
  1. low
  2. presence
  3. unstable
  4. high
  5. similar
  6. atmospheric
  7. absence
  8. stable
  9. liquid
  10. different
Present-day Venus Early Venus

1. Carbon dioxide present only in form

2. of surface water

3. essentially temperatures

1. percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere

2. an atmosphere quite to that of early Earth

The answer is F. In the table, for present-day Venus, it asks where carbon dioxide is present. The correct answer is "atmospheric" (F) because the passage states, "its thick environment is generally filled with carbon dioxide" (first paragraph), which means the carbon dioxide is present in the atmosphere on present-day Venus.

Associated Text:
Venus is very dry and its thick environment is generally filled with carbon dioxide.

The answer is G. For the surface water on present-day Venus, the correct answer is "absence" (G). The passage states, "Venus is very dry", which means there is no liquid water on the surface of present-day Venus.

Associated Text:
Venus is very dry

The answer is H. For the temperatures on present-day Venus, the answer is "unstable" (H), indicating they are extremely high, which is supported by the passage that describes how "Temperatures ultimately became excessive..." and discusses the increasingly extreme temperature on Venus (final paragraphs).

Associated Text:
Temperatures ultimately became excessive ample to "bake out" any carbon dioxide that used to be trapped in carbonate rocks. This liberated carbon dioxide... formed the thick atmosphere of present-day Venus.

The answer is D. For early Venus, the percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere was "high" (D). The passage describes early Venus: "much of the liquid water on Venus would have vaporized to create a thick cowl of water vapor clouds" and that the atmosphere would have been "humid" and thicker than Earth’s current atmosphere (paragraphs about early Venus).

Associated Text:
much of the liquid water on Venus would have vaporized to create a thick cowl of water vapor clouds. Since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, this humid atmosphere—perhaps denser than Earth's present-day atmosphere...

The answer is E. For early Venus, the type of atmosphere is described as "similar to that of early Earth" (E). The passage says, "Venus and Earth are similar in dimension and mass, so Venusian volcanoes may also have outgassed as much water vapor as on Earth", indicating similar early compositions (second paragraph).

Associated Text:
Venus and Earth are similar in dimension and mass, so Venusian volcanoes may also have outgassed as much water vapor as on Earth, and each planet would have had about the identical quantity of comets strike their surfaces.

Questions 33-36
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. According to paragraph 1, in what major respect are Venus and Earth different from each other?

34. What is one reason for thinking that at one time, there were significant amounts of water on Venus?

35. Extremely high temperatures increased the amount of carbon dioxide in Venus’ atmosphere by ...

36. The basic reason that Venus and Earth are now so different from each other is that …

The answer is B. According to paragraph 1, the major difference between Venus and Earth is "What their present-day atmospheres generally consist of". The first paragraph contrasts Venus being "very dry and its thick environment is generally filled with carbon dioxide" while Earth has "ample water in its oceans but very little carbon dioxide in its...thin atmosphere". This directly addresses what their present-day atmospheres generally consist of, making (B) the correct answer.

Associated Text:
Earth has ample water in its oceans but very little carbon dioxide in its incredibly thin atmosphere. By contrast, Venus is very dry and its thick environment is generally filled with carbon dioxide.

The answer is D. The passage supports that at one time there were significant amounts of water on Venus because "each planet would have had about the identical quantity of comets strike their surfaces", suggesting Venus would have received water from comets just as Earth did (paragraph 2). This makes option (D) the correct answer.

Associated Text:
Venusian volcanoes may also have outgassed as much water vapor as on Earth, and each planet would have had about the identical quantity of comets strike their surfaces.

The answer is B. Extremely high temperatures increased the amount of carbon dioxide in Venus' atmosphere by "removing carbon dioxide from carbonate rocks." The passage explains that as temperatures increased, "Temperatures ultimately became excessive ample to 'bake out' any carbon dioxide that used to be trapped in carbonate rocks" (final paragraph), making (B) correct.

Associated Text:
Temperatures ultimately became excessive ample to "bake out" any carbon dioxide that used to be trapped in carbonate rocks. This liberated carbon dioxide fashioned the thick atmosphere of present-day Venus.

The answer is D. The basic reason Venus and Earth are now so different is that "Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is". The passage repeatedly mentions the consequence of Venus' proximity to the Sun: "But being nearer to the Sun than Earth is, much of the liquid water on Venus would have vaporized..." and that this became the underlying difference in planetary evolution. Therefore, (D) is correct.

Associated Text:
But being nearer to the Sun than Earth is, much of the liquid water on Venus would have vaporized to create a thick cowl of water vapor clouds.

Questions 37-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 37-40 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.

37. Mount Saint Helens is a volcano which is no longer active on Earth today.

38. Comets have affected the amount of water on both Venus and Earth.

39. Rapidly increasing temperatures at ground level kept the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of early Venus relatively low.

40. The cycle of rising temperatures following an increase in greenhouse gases is known as the runaway greenhouse effect

The answer is FALSE. The passage does not state that Mount Saint Helens is no longer active. Instead, it refers to "present-day volcanoes on Earth, such as Mount Saint Helens", which indicates that it is active or at least was active at the time referenced by the passage (paragraph 1).

Associated Text:
The gases that emanate from present-day volcanoes on Earth, such as Mount Saint Helens, are predominantly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

The answer is TRUE. The passage states that "Much of the water on both planets is also believed to have come from influences from comets". This directly supports that comets have affected the amount of water on both Venus and Earth (paragraph 1 and 2).

Associated Text:
Much of the water on both planets is also believed to have come from influences from comets.

The answer is FALSE. The passage explains that it was the oceans on Venus that kept the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere low, not rapidly increasing temperatures. The provided script also says: "Rapidly increasing temperatures did not keep the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere of early Venus low. Instead, increasing temperatures increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere of early Venus. Also, it was the ocean of Venus that kept the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere of early Venus low as amount of CO2 was dissolved in the ocean."

Associated Text:
Just as on present-day Earth, the oceans of Venus constrained the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide by means of dissolving it in the oceans and binding it in carbonate rocks.

The answer is NOT GIVEN. The passage does not mention the term "the runaway greenhouse effect" nor explicitly name the cycle of rising temperatures and increasing greenhouse gases. Therefore, there is no information provided to answer this question directly.

Associated Text:

Answer Sheet
1
N/A
2
N/A
3
N/A
4
N/A
5
N/A
6
N/A
7
N/A
8
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9
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10
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11
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12
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13
N/A
14
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15
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16
N/A
17
N/A
18
N/A
19
N/A
20
N/A
21
N/A
22
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23
N/A
24
N/A
25
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26
N/A
27
N/A
28
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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