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IELTS® General Reading Practice 45

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This reading practice simulates one part of the IELTS Academic Reading test. You should spend about twenty minutes on it. Read the passage and answer questions 28-40.

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In the beginning of print media, local news was limited, in that news agencies were only able to publish their findings and stories through the popular printing press. However, this invention marked quite an achievement for the mid-1700s. When choosing the best place to utilize the printing press f...
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Questions 28-34
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-J from the box below.

Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 28-34 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

  1. increased publishing costs
  2. decreased publishing costs
  3. created a competition between newspaper companies
  4. happened after the publication of the Federalist Papers
  5. mentioned life before the Revolutionary War
  6. understood people's need for entertainment
  7. created chaos in the government
  8. supported the financial burden and publishing costs
  9. dropped and focused on sensationalism instead
  10. made Boston the perfect place to start a newspaper

28. A high percentage of readers and the interest in self-governing

29. The introduction of the Stamp Tax

30. The nation's move into the “party press era”

31. Media bias in newspapers existed because politicians

32. Yellow journalism was created because Pulitzer

33. A strong demand for newspapers

34. In order to satisfy readers' desires, the journalistic standard

The answer is J. In the first paragraph, it is stated: "When choosing the best place to utilize the printing press for the first 'local newspaper', Boston's extremely literate population and its interest in self-government made it the perfect location." This demonstrates that a high percentage of readers and the interest in self-governing made Boston the optimal place to start a newspaper. Therefore, (J) is the best choice because it directly matches the sentence from the text.

Associated Text:
"When choosing the best place to utilize the printing press for the first 'local newspaper', Boston's extremely literate population and its interest in self-government made it the perfect location."

The answer is A. In the first paragraph, the text states: "However, the Stamp Tax of 1765 raised costs for publishers, leading several newspapers into bankruptcy due to the increasing cost of paper." This sentence clearly indicates that the introduction of the Stamp Tax led to increased publishing costs, making (A) the correct answer.

Associated Text:
"However, the Stamp Tax of 1765 raised costs for publishers, leading several newspapers into bankruptcy due to the increasing cost of paper."

The answer is D. In the second paragraph, it says: "Then, the publication of the Federalist Papers, as well as the Anti-Federalist Papers in the 1780s, moved the nation into the 'party press era'." This means that the move into the party press era occurred after the publication of the Federalist Papers, so (D) is the correct choice.

Associated Text:
"Then, the publication of the Federalist Papers, as well as the Anti-Federalist Papers in the 1780s, moved the nation into the 'party press era'."

The answer is H. In the second paragraph, the text states: "Subscriptions and advertisements were not always able to comprehensively cover printing costs. As a solution, political parties settled the debts for the newspapers that aided specific parties and their policies." This shows media bias existed because politicians supported the financial burden and publishing costs, thereby influencing newspaper content. So, (H) is correct.

Associated Text:
"Subscriptions and advertisements were not always able to comprehensively cover printing costs. As a solution, political parties settled the debts for the newspapers that aided specific parties and their policies."

The answer is F. In the third paragraph, it is written: "However, readers still wanted to be entertained as they read the daily 'news', without having to rely on just one type of information. In other words, the demand called for a proper balance between informative and entertaining types of news. Joseph Pulitzer recognized this need and consequently became the father of 'yellow journalism'." This demonstrates that yellow journalism was created because Pulitzer understood people's need for entertainment. Thus, (F) is the correct answer.

Associated Text:
"However, readers still wanted to be entertained as they read the daily 'news', without having to rely on just one type of information. In other words, the demand called for a proper balance between informative and entertaining types of news. Joseph Pulitzer recognized this need and consequently became the father of 'yellow journalism'."

The answer is C. In the fourth paragraph, it states: "As the demand for these papers was high, competition between various newspaper companies led to increasingly sensationalized covers and tabloid-style articles." This shows that strong demand created competition, making (C) the best answer.

Associated Text:
"As the demand for these papers was high, competition between various newspaper companies led to increasingly sensationalized covers and tabloid-style articles."

The answer is I. In the same (fourth) paragraph, it is written: "For quite some time after Putlizer's first tabloid-style paper, the print media was succumbing to the demands of the public without printing to a high journalistic standard." This makes it clear that journalistic standard dropped and focused on sensationalism instead to satisfy readers' desires, supporting (I) as the correct answer.

Associated Text:
"For quite some time after Putlizer's first tabloid-style paper, the print media was succumbing to the demands of the public without printing to a high journalistic standard."

Questions 35-40
Complete the short answers below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in 35-40 on your answer sheet.

35. Who changed the path of The New York Times in 1896?

36. The New York Times was the first publication to go back to what?

37. When did the practice of muckraking start?

38. What did muckraking seek to reveal?

39. What type of writing pieces were part of the muckraking style?

40. Who was kept safe due to the new laws passed during the Progressive Era?

The answer is Adolph Ochs. In the fifth paragraph, the passage states: "In 1896, Adolph Ochs purchased the New York Times in order to create a sophisticated newspaper, as he felt that society was in a dire need for authentic news coverage." This sentence directly answers who changed the path of The New York Times in 1896.

Associated Text:
"In 1896, Adolph Ochs purchased the New York Times in order to create a sophisticated newspaper, as he felt that society was in a dire need for authentic news coverage."

The answer is informational model. The passage explains in paragraph five: "Thus, the New York Times was the first publication to return to the informational model, exhibiting impartiality in terms of politics and accuracy in its contents." The sentence clearly states what the New York Times was the first to return to.

Associated Text:
"Thus, the New York Times was the first publication to return to the informational model, exhibiting impartiality in terms of politics and accuracy in its contents."

The answer is the Progressive Era. In the sixth paragraph, the text says: "As such, other types of news coverage developed when the Progressive Era came to fruition, and lasted until the 1920s. Perhaps the most notable 'new' form of the time was 'muckraking', which involved writing news coverage to expose corruption." This indicates that muckraking began during the Progressive Era.

Associated Text:
"As such, other types of news coverage developed when the Progressive Era came to fruition, and lasted until the 1920s. Perhaps the most notable 'new' form of the time was 'muckraking', which involved writing news coverage to expose corruption."

The answer is corruption. In the sixth paragraph, the passage says: "Perhaps the most notable 'new' form of the time was 'muckraking', which involved writing news coverage to expose corruption." This shows directly what muckraking sought to reveal.

Associated Text:
"Perhaps the most notable 'new' form of the time was 'muckraking', which involved writing news coverage to expose corruption."

The answer is investigative pieces. In the sixth paragraph, it is stated: "journalists used muckraking to work on investigative pieces, which ultimately led to changes in the way factories treated industrial workers." This indicates the type of writing used in muckraking.

Associated Text:
"journalists used muckraking to work on investigative pieces, which ultimately led to changes in the way factories treated industrial workers."

The answer is consumers and employees. In the sixth paragraph, the passage states: "As a result, laws were passed that would protect consumers and employees for a long time to come." This explains who was protected due to new laws.

Associated Text:
"As a result, laws were passed that would protect consumers and employees for a long time to come."

Answer Sheet
1
N/A
2
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3
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4
N/A
5
N/A
6
N/A
7
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8
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9
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10
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11
N/A
12
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13
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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
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25
N/A
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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