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IELTS® Academic Reading Practice 49

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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 1-14.

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Section AOur daily lives are largely made up of contact we have with other people. In these interactions, we are constantly making judgments of their personalities and accommodating our behavior to them in accordance with these judgments. A casual meeting of neighbors on the street, an employer giv...
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Questions 1-3
Choose three letters A-F.

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

Which THREE of the following are stated about psychologists involved in personality assessment?
  1. Those who practice ‘depth’ psychology methods are more successful at personality assessment.
  2. The majority of psychologists change their methods when they do not produce reliable results.
  3. They are criticized by other branches of psychology.
  4. Their work can provide insight into the difficult realities for personality assessments.
  5. Their failures have helped the field learn what to avoid more than their successes have helped.
  6. They are inconsistent within their methods.

1

2

3

The answer is c. The passage states in Section F: "The soundness of the methods of psychologists in the field of personality assessment and the value of their work is under constant fire from other psychologists, and it is far from easy to prove their worth." This means their work is criticized by other branches of psychology. Option (C) is directly supported by this statement.

Associated Text:
The soundness of the methods of psychologists in the field of personality assessment and the value of their work is under constant fire from other psychologists, and it is far from easy to prove their worth.

The answer is d. In Section G, it is stated that "The growth of psychology has probably helped responsible members of society to become more aware of the difficulties of assessment." This demonstrates that their work provides insight into the difficult realities of personality assessments. Option (D) is directly supported by this statement.

Associated Text:
The growth of psychology has probably helped responsible members of society to become more aware of the difficulties of assessment.

The answer is e. Section F says, "The success of psychologists in personality assessment has been limited, in comparison with what they have achieved in the fields of abilities and training. The result seems to be that most people continue to rely on unscientific methods of assessment." This suggests that the failures of psychologists have had more influence (helped the field learn what to avoid) than their successes. Option (E) is supported by this analysis.

Associated Text:
The success of psychologists in personality assessment has been limited, in comparison with what they have achieved in the fields of abilities and training. The result seems to be that most people continue to rely on unscientific methods of assessment.

Questions 4-10
The reading passage has seven sections, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for sections A-G from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number i-x in boxes 4-10 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
  1. The benefits of making personality assessments naturally
  2. Many incorrectly assume psychologists are the best to assess personality
  3. When judgements go wrong, results can be problematic
  4. Different ways psychologists successfully assess personality
  5. The overall failure of psychological personality assessment is still helpful in away
  6. Judgements on others’ personalities’ are constantly happening around us
  7. Groups other than psychology have claimed to be able to assess personality
  8. Not much progress has been made to find an acceptable method of personality assessment
  9. In different environments, judgements on others’ personalities can affect our success
  10. Future methods to help psychologists make personality assessments even more effectively

4. Section A

5. Section B

6. Section C

7. Section D

8. Section E

9. Section F

10. Section G

The answer is vi. Section A describes how daily life consists of contact with other people and that "all these involve mutual interpretations of personal qualities." This matches heading (vi): 'Judgements on others’ personalities’ are constantly happening around us.'

Associated Text:
Our daily lives are largely made up of contact we have with other people. In these interactions, we are constantly making judgments of their personalities and accommodating our behavior to them in accordance with these judgments.

The answer is ix. Section B relates to how success in different vocations depends on skill in making judgments about others. This matches heading (ix): 'In different environments, judgements on others’ personalities can affect our success.'

Associated Text:
Success in many vocations largely depends on our skill in making judgements about others.

The answer is iii. Section C talks about the consequences when judgments go wrong, such as mismatched party guests or hiring mistakes. This matches heading (iii): 'When judgements go wrong, results can be problematic.'

Associated Text:
But whenever we are pinned down to a definite decision about a person, which cannot easily be revised through any feedback, the inadequacies of our judgments become apparent. The hostess who wrongly thinks that the Smiths and the Joneses will get on well together can do little to retrieve the success of her party. A school or a business may be saddled for years with an undesirable member of staff because the selection committee which interviewed him for a quarter of an hour misjudged his personality.

The answer is vii. Section D discusses the popularity of unscientific assessment systems, such as physiognomy, phrenology, graphology, and palm-reading, showing that other groups have claimed expertise in assessment. This matches heading (vii): 'Groups other than psychology have claimed to be able to assess personality.'

Associated Text:
However, the popularity of such unscientific systems as Lavater’s physiognomy in the eighteenth century, Gall’s phrenology in the nineteenth, and of handwriting interpretations by graphologists, or palm-readings by Gypsies, show that people are aware of weaknesses in their judgments and wish to have better methods of diagnosis.

The answer is ii. Section E begins by saying, "This belief is hardly justified, for the primary aim of psychology had long been to establish the general laws and principles..." This follows the statement in Section D that people turn to psychology believing psychologists are specialists. This matches heading (ii): 'Many incorrectly assume psychologists are the best to assess personality.'

Associated Text:
This belief is hardly justified, for the primary aim of psychology had long been to establish the general laws and principles underlying behavior and thinking, rather than to apply these to concrete problems of the individual person.

The answer is viii. Section F discusses how, despite many efforts, "psychology seems to be no nearer to providing society with practicable techniques which are sufficiently reliable and accurate to win general acceptance." This matches heading (viii): 'Not much progress has been made to find an acceptable method of personality assessment.'

Associated Text:
And yet psychology seems to be no nearer to providing society with practicable techniques which are sufficiently reliable and accurate to win general acceptance.

The answer is v. Section G says the growth of psychology has made people more aware of difficulties, which has been helpful, but psychologists have yet to provide better methods. This matches heading (v): 'The overall failure of psychological personality assessment is still helpful in a way.'

Associated Text:
The growth of psychology has probably helped responsible members of society to become more aware of the difficulties of assessment.

Questions 11-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 11-14 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.

11. People often feel that they have been wrongly assessed.

12. Unscientific systems of personality assessment have been of some use.

13. People make false assumptions about the expertise of psychologists.

14. It is likely that some psychologists are no better than anyone else at assessing personality.

The answer is TRUE. In Section B, it states, "we also recognize that misinterpretations easily arise – particularly on the part of others who judge us!" This shows that people often feel that they have been misjudged by others, supporting the answer TRUE.

Associated Text:
we also recognize that misinterpretations easily arise – particularly on the part of others who judge us!

The answer is NOT GIVEN. In Section D, the passage only mentions the popularity of unscientific systems such as Lavater’s physiognomy and graphology, noting people’s tendency to use them, but it does not state whether these methods have actually been of some use. Therefore, the statement is NOT GIVEN.

Associated Text:
the popularity of such unscientific systems as Lavater’s physiognomy in the eighteenth century, Gall’s phrenology in the nineteenth, and of handwriting interpretations by graphologists, or palm-readings by Gypsies, show that people are aware of weaknesses in their judgments and wish to have better methods of diagnosis.

The answer is TRUE. Section D states, "It is natural that they should turn to psychology for help, in the belief that psychologists are specialists in what we call human nature." Section E continues, "This belief is hardly justified..." This confirms that people make false assumptions about psychologists’ expertise.

Associated Text:
It is natural that they should turn to psychology for help, in the belief that psychologists are specialists in what we call human nature. This belief is hardly justified, for the primary aim of psychology had long been to establish the general laws and principles underlying behavior and thinking, rather than to apply these to concrete problems of the individual person.

The answer is TRUE. Section E says, "They would not claim to have any superior skills in judging their fellow men. Indeed, they are more aware of the difficulties in making judgements than a non-psychologist would be, and therefore may be more reluctant to commit themselves to definite predictions or decisions about other people." This indicates that some psychologists are likely no better than others at personality assessment.

Associated Text:
They would not claim to have any superior skills in judging their fellow men. Indeed, they are more aware of the difficulties in making judgements than a non-psychologist would be, and therefore may be more reluctant to commit themselves to definite predictions or decisions about other people.

Answer Sheet
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
N/A
16
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17
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18
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19
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20
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21
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22
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23
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24
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25
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26
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27
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28
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29
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30
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31
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32
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33
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34
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35
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36
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37
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38
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39
N/A
40
N/A
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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