IELTS Reading Passages with Answers and Explanations
Browse IELTS reading passages with full answer keys, per-question explanations, and exam-style practice links.
- The hazards of multitasking
You arrive at the office, review your to-do list and start to feel a headache coming on. You resolve to tackle the items as quickly as possible. While you return calls, you sort e-mail and other letters. You begin key...
- Ambergris - what is it and where does it come from?
In the ancient world, they waxy grey substance we now refer to as ambergris was highly prized for its medicinal properties, and was widely used as a spice, which was believed to be an aphrodisiac when added to food or...
- Socotra Island
When scientists began the first substantial exploration of the islands 30 years ago, they found a fascinating collection of unusual plants and animals - a unique combination of 'relict' populations (organisms that hav...
- Creative Problem-Solving
In a recent study, researchers at Northwestern University in the United States found that people were more likely to solve word puzzles with sudden insight when they were amused, having just seen a short comedy routin...
- Public art programs: research update
Researcher Howard Spector suggests that active art experiences benefit all age groups by providing individuals with the means to freely and creatively express themselves. Self-expression, in turn, promotes individuali...
- Sign, Baby, Sign!
Language is a powerful tool that humans use for a wide variety of purposes-from expressing emotions and sharing ideas to passing down cultural values and acquiring knowledge. It is not limited to spoken words; gesture...
- What makes a musical expert?
How does someone become expert in music? And is it really possible to have a talent for music? Does that class of people acknowledged to be musical experts just have more of the same basic skills we are all endowed wi...
- Learning to be bilingual
Few people would consider mastering more than one language a bad idea. Consequently, parents who speak different languages from each other are generally keen for their children to learn both. They understand that the...
- The Future of Food Packaging
Food companies spend a lot of time thinking about packaging as a way to represent their brand and make consumers love their products. More than cosmetic details like labels or logos, a food container can suggest playf...
- In Deep Water
While we know that the sea is a big place, few of us realise just how big it really is. More than 66% of the world's surface is covered by ocean, and the sea makes up 97% of the environments on Earth that can support...
- Sleep Study on Modern-Day Hunter-Gatherers Dispels Popular Notions
The sleep troubles common in modern life have long been blamed on our industrial society, from the city lights, long work hours and commutes, to caffeine and the Internet. Sleep researchers often look back on a time w...
- The fashion industry
The fashion industry is a multibillion-dollar global enterprise devoted to the business of making and selling clothes. It encompasses all types of garments, from designer fashions to ordinary everyday clothing. Becaus...
- New Filter Promises Clean Water For Millions
An ingenious invention is set to bring clean water to the third world, and while the science may be cutting edge, the materials are extremely down to earth. A handful of clay yesterday's coffee grounds and some cow ma...
- A Brief History of Humans and Food
During the journey from our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the present day, there have been three seismic changes that have impacted the food we eat: the discovery of cooking, the emergence of agriculture, and the inven...
- The strange world of sight
Two of the great British men of the 17th century, the philosopher John Locke and the physicist Isaac Newton, were both aware that objects are not coloured, and that against all appearances light is not coloured either...
- Children's literature studies today
Firstly, unlike literature for adults, children's literature is not generally written by its own readers. Adults write for children, and thus adult perceptions of what children are and of what they could and should be...
- Classical music over the centuries
The production of any great art form, and classical music is no exception, does not usually occur in a society dominated by the basic material demands of food and shelter. Art and music have flourished in those period...
- The importance of being playful
While it has long been recognized that play affords benefits that last through adulthood, psychologists in the US are now becoming concerned that lack of play could actually be harming their country's kids. In the pas...
- The history of colours and the meanings people have given them
The use of colours has a long history in human development. Prehistoric paintings in caves were found to contain yellow and red earth, white chalk, and a black made from the soot of burned animal fat. Over time, new c...
- Investing in the Future
The founding and development of many universities has been dependent on philanthropy. This has been true from some of the oldest universities such as Bologna, Oxford and Cambridge in the twelfth century, to relative n...
- The Constant Evolution of the Humble Tomato
Famous for their taste, color, and organic appearance, heirloom tomatoes are favorites of gardeners and advocates of locally grown foods. The tomato enthusiast might conclude that, given the immense varieties, heirloo...
- Memory Decoding
Try this memory test: Study each face and compose a vivid image for the person's first and last name. Rose Leo, for example, could be a rosebud and a lion. Fill in the blanks on the next page. The Examinations School...
- The last man who knew everything
Thomas Young (1773-1829) contributed 63 articles to the great British encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, including 46 biographical entries (mostly on scientists and classical scholars), and substantial essays on...
- The costs of brand loyalty
A Londoner with a sudden urge for giant African snails could do worse than head to the bustling marketplace in Brixton, a part of south London that is home to many people from Africa. Markets like Brixton market that...
- The Long Road to Artificial Intelligence
In 1950, the computing pioneer Alan Turing published a paper in the journal Mind entitled 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'. It was the first serious, scholarly treatment of the concept of Artificial Intelligence...
- New Understanding of Giraffes in the Wild
Even as the tallest animals on Earth, giraffes can be easy to overlook. Despite being a favorite in zoos, until recently almost nobody studied giraffes in the wild. 'When I first became interested in giraffes in 2008...
- The Origin and Development of Applause
Scholars aren't quite sure about the origins of applause, but the form that is still most common, clapping the hands together, was formalized in Western culture during and after performances. During the time of the Ro...
- The geography of taste buds
Scientists have long known that the surface of the tongue is covered with taste buds: onion-shaped bundles of cells that stand guard for the digestive system. Long before our modern world of supermarkets and restauran...
- Living walls – a successful environmental project
Canadian entrepreneur Alan Darlington, president of Nedlaw Living Walls and holder of a PhD in plant sciences, admits that people may have a point when they say that academics don’t necessarily make good businessmen....
- Look – who was talking
When did we start talking to each other and how long did it take us to become so good at it? One view of language development, held by linguists such as Noam Chomsky and anthropologists such as Richard Klein, is that...