IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 2 with Answers

IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 2 | How to Spot a liar | Study of Chimpanzee Culture | Shoes

SECTION 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1

How to Spot a liar

A.
However much we may abhor it, deception comes naturally to all living things. Birds do it by feigning injury to lead hungry predators away from nesting young. Spider crabs do it by disguise: adorning themselves with strips of kelp and other debris, they pretend to be something they are not – and so escape their enemies. Nature amply rewards successful deceivers by allowing them to survive long enough to mate and reproduce. So it may come as no surprise to learn that human beings- who, according to psychologist Gerald Johnson of the University of South California, or lied to about 200 times a day, roughly one untruth every 5 minutes- often deceive for exactly the same reasons: to save their own skins or to get something they can’t get by other means. ieltsxpress

B.
But knowing how to catch deceit can be just as important a survival skill as knowing how to tell a lie and get away with it. A person able to spot falsehood quickly is unlikely to be swindled by an unscrupulous business associate or hoodwinked by a devious spouse. Luckily, nature provides more than enough clues to trap dissemblers in their own tangled webs- if you know where to look. By closely observing facial expressions, body language and tone of voice, practically anyone can recognise the tell-tale signs of lying. Researchers are even programming computers – like those used on Lie Detector -to get at the truth by analysing the same physical cues available to the naked eye and ear. “With the proper training, many people can learn to reliably detect lies,” says Paul Ekman, professor of psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, who has spent the past 15 years studying the secret art of deception.

C.
In order to know what kind of Lies work best, successful liars need to accurately assess other people’s emotional states. Ackman’s research shows that this same emotional intelligence is essential for good lie detectors, too. The emotional state to watch out for is stress, the conflict most liars feel between the truth and what they actually say and do.

D.
Even high-tech lie detectors don’t detect lies as such; they merely detect the physical cues of emotions, which may or may not correspond to what the person being tested is saying. Polygraphs, for instance, measure respiration, heart rate and skin conductivity, which tend to increase when people are nervous – as they usually are when lying.ieltsxpress

E.
Nervous people typically perspire, and the salts contained in perspiration conducts electricity. That’s why sudden leap in skin conductivity indicates nervousness -about getting caught, perhaps -which makes, in turn, suggest that someone is being economical with the truth. On the other hand, it might also mean that the lights in the television Studio are too hot- which is one reason polygraph tests are inadmissible in court. “Good lie detectors don’t rely on a single thing” says Ekma ,but interpret clusters of verbal and non-verbal clues that suggest someone might be lying.”

F.
The clues are written all over the face. Because the musculature of the face is directly connected to the areas of the brain that processes emotion, the countenance can be a window to the soul. Neurological studies even suggest that genuine emotions travel different pathways through the brain than insincere ones. If a patient paralyzed by stroke on one side of the face, for example, is asked to smile deliberately, only the mobile side of the mouth is raised. But tell that same person a funny joke, and the patient breaks into a full and spontaneous smile. Very few people -most notably, actors and politicians- are able to consciously control all of their facial expressions. Lies can often be caught when the liars true feelings briefly leak through the mask of deception. We don’t think before we feel, Ekman says. “Expressions tend to show up on the face before we’re even conscious of experiencing an emotion.” ieltsxpress

G.
One of the most difficult facial expressions to fake- or conceal, if it’s genuinely felt – is sadness. When someone is truly sad, the forehead wrinkles with grief and the inner corners of the eyebrows are pulled up. Fewer than 15% of the people Ekman tested were able to produce this eyebrow movement voluntarily. By contrast, the lowering of the eyebrows associated with an angry scowl can be replicated at will but almost everybody. “ If someone claims they are sad and the inner corners of their eyebrows don’t go up, Ekmam says, the sadness is probably false.”

H.
The smile, on the other hand, is one of the easiest facial expressions to counterfeit. It takes just two muscles -the zygomaticus major muscles that extend from the cheekbones to the corners of the lips- to produce a grin. But there’s a catch. A genuine smile affects not only the corners of the lips but also the orbicularis oculi, the muscle around the eye that produces the distinctive “crow’s feet” associated with people who laugh a lot. A counterfeit grin can be unmasked if the corners of the lips go up, the eyes crinkle, but the inner corners of the eyebrows are not lowered, a movement controlled by the orbicularis oculi that is difficult to fake. The absence of lowered eyebrows is one reason why the smile looks so strained and stiff. ielts xpress

Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

YES – if the statement agrees with the information
NO – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this

1. All living animals can lie.
2. Some people tell lies for self-preservation.
3. Scientists have used computers to analyze which part of the brain is responsible for telling lies.
4. Lying as a survival skill is more important than detecting a lie.
5. To be a good liar, one has to understand other people’s emotions.

Questions 6-9
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9.

6. How does the lie detector work?

A It detects whether one’s emotional state is stable.
B It detects one’s brain activity level.
C It detects body behavior during one’s verbal response.
D It analyses one’s verbal response word by word.

7. Lie detectors can’t be used as evidence in a court of law because

A Lights often cause lie detectors to malfunction.
B They are based on too many verbal and non-verbal clues.
C Polygraph tests are often inaccurate.
D There may be many causes of certain body behavior.

8. Why does the author mention the paralyzed patients?

A To demonstrate how a paralyzed patient smiles
B To show the relation between true emotions and body behavior
C To examine how they were paralyzed
D To show the importance of happiness from recovery

9. The author uses politicians to exemplify that they can

A Have emotions.
B Imitate actors.
C Detect other people’s lives.
D Mask their true feelings.

Questions 10-13
Classify the following facial traits as referring to
A sadness
B anger
C happiness

Write the correct letter A, B or C in boxes 10-13.

10. ABC Inner corners of eyebrows raised
11. ABC The whole eyebrows lowered
12. ABC Lines formed around
13. ABC Lines form above eyebrows

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SECTION 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

The Study of Chimpanzee Culture

A.
After studying the similarities between chimpanzees and humans for years, researchers have recognised these resemblances run much deeper than anyone first thought in the latest decade. For instance, the nut cracking observed in the Tai Forest is not a simple chimpanzee behaviour, but a separate adaptation found only in that particular part of Africa, as well as a trait which is considered to be an expression of chimpanzee culture by biologists. These researchers frequently quote the word ‘culture’ to describe elementary animal behaviours, like the regional dialects of different species of songbirds, but it turns out that the rich and varied cultural traditions chimpanzees enjoyed rank secondly in complexity only to human traditions.

B.
During the past two years, the major research group which studies chimpanzees collaborated unprecedentedly and documented some distinct cultural patterns, ranging from animals’ use of tools to their forms of communication and social customs. This emerging picture of chimpanzees affects how human beings ponder upon these amazing creatures. Also, it alters our conception of human uniqueness and shows us the extraordinary ability of our ancient ancestors to create cultures.

C.
Although we know that Homo sapiens and Pan Troglodytes have coexisted for hundreds of millennia and their genetic similarities surpass 98 per cent, we still knew next to nothing about chimpanzee behaviour in the wild until 40 years ago. All this began to change in the 1960s when Toshisada Nishida of Kyoto University in Japan and renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall launched their studies of wild chimpanzees at two field sites in Tanzania. (Goodall’s research station at Gombe—the first of its kind—is more famous, but Nishida’s site at Mahale is the second oldest chimpanzee research site in the world.)ieltsxpress

D.
During these primary studies, as the chimpanzees became more and more accustomed to close observation, the remarkable discoveries emerged. Researchers witnessed a variety of unexpected behaviours, ranging from fashioning and using tools, hunting, meat eating, food sharing to lethal fights between members of neighbouring communities.

E.
In 1973, 13 forms of tool use and 8 social activities which appeared to differ between the Gombe chimpanzees and chimpanzee species elsewhere were recorded by Goodall. She speculated that some variations shared what she referred to as a ‘cultural origin’. But what exactly did Goodall mean by ‘culture’? According to the Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary, culture is defined as ‘the customs. . .and achievements of a particular time or people.’ The diversity of human cultures extends from technological variations to marriage rituals, from culinary habits to myths and legends. Of course, animals do not have myths and legends, but they do share the capacity to pass on behavioural traits from one generation to another, not through their genes but via learning. From biologists’ view, this is the fundamental criterion for a cultural trait—something can be learnt by observing the established skills of others and then passed on to following generations.

F.
What are the implications for chimpanzees themselves? We must place a high value upon the tragic loss of chimpanzees, who are decimated just when finally we are coming to appreciate these astonishing animals more completely. The population of chimpanzees has plummeted and continued to fall due to illegal trapping, logging and, most recently, the bushmeat trade within the past century. The latter is particularly alarming because logging has driven roadways, which are now used to ship wild animal meat—including chimpanzee meat to consumers as far afield as Europe, into forests. Such destruction threatens not only the animals themselves but also a host of fascinatingly different ape cultures. ieltsxpress

G.
However, the cultural richness of the ape may contribute to its salvation. For example, the conservation efforts have already altered the attitudes of some local people. After several organisations showed videotapes illustrating the cognitive prowess of chimpanzees, one Zairian viewer was heard to exclaim, ‘Ah, this ape is so like me, I can no longer eat him.’

H.
How did an international team of chimpanzee experts perform the most comprehensive survey of the animals ever attempted? Although scientists have been delving into chimpanzee culture for several decades, sometimes their studies contained a fatal defect. So far, most attempts to document cultural diversity among chimpanzees have solely relied upon officially published accounts of the behaviours reported at each research site. But this approach probably neglects a good deal of cultural variation for three reasons.

I.
First, scientists normally don’t publish an extensive list of all the activities they do not see at a particular location. Yet this is the very information we need to know—which behaviours were and were not observed at each site. Second, there are many reports describing chimpanzee behaviours without expressing how common they are; without this information, we can’t determine whether a particular action was a transient phenomenon or a routine event that should be considered part of its culture. Finally, researchers’ description of potentially significant chimpanzee behaviours often lacks sufficient detail, which makes it difficult for scientists from other spots to report the presence or absence of the activities. ieltsxpress

J.
To tackle these problems, my colleague and I determined to take a new approach. We asked field researchers at each site to list all the behaviours which they suspected were local traditions. With this information, we assembled a comprehensive list of 65 candidates for cultural behaviours.

K.
Then we distributed our list to team leaders at each site. They consulted with their colleagues and classified each behaviour regarding its occurrence or absence in the chimpanzee community. The major brackets contained customary behaviour (occurs in most or all of the able-bodied members of at least one age or sex class, such as all adult males), habitual (less common than customary but occurs repeatedly in several individuals), present (observed at the site but not habitual), absent (never seen), and unknown. ieltsxpress

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has eleven paragraphs, A-K.
Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-K, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14. an approach to research on chimpanzees culture that is only based on official sources
15. mention of a new system designed by two scientists who aim to solve the problem
16. reasons why previous research on ape culture is problematic
17. new classification of data observed or collected
18. an example showing that the tragic outcome of animals leads to an indication of a change in local people’s attitude in the preservation

Questions 19-23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

19. The research found that scientists can make chimpanzees possess the same complex culture as human beings.
20. Humans and apes lived together long time ago and shared most of their genetic substance.
21. Even Toshisada Nishida and Jane Goodall’s beginning studies observed many surprising features of civilised behaviours among chimpanzees.
22. Chimpanzees, like humans, have the ability to deliver cultural behaviours mostly from genetic inheritance.
23. For decades, researchers have investigated chimpanzees by data obtained from both unobserved and observed approaches. ieltsxpress

Questions 24-27
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.

When did the unexpected discoveries of chimpanzee behaviour start?
24. ______________
Which country is the researching site of Toshisada Nishida and Jane Goodall?
25. ______________
What did the chimpanzee have to get used to in the initial study?
26. ______________
What term can be used to depict that Jane Goodall found the chimpanzees in different regions used the different tools in 1973?
27. ______________

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SECTION 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below

Section A
Shoes—we wear them nearly every day. We walk, run, jump, climb, and stand in them for hours on end. Yet we hardly think about them because they are such an ordinary part of our daily lives. Shoes were not always an important part of people’s wardrobes. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians made and wore sandals, but actually went barefoot most of the time. These people lived in regions where the weather was temperate, and shoes were not needed to keep their feet warm. Archaeologists have found shoes in the ruins of these civilizations, but they seem to have been worn mainly by royalty, who could afford to employ tailors and shoemakers.

Section B
As shoes became more common in ancient Egypt, the first ones were simple sandals created mainly to protect the soles of the feet from rough surfaces. The easiest way to make shoes in these ancient times was to use materials that were readily available, including tree bark, leaves, and grasses. In ancient Egypt, sandals were made of rushes, which are grassy plants with hollow stalks. Rushes are the same plants used today to make chair bottoms, mats, and baskets.

Among the ancient Greeks, sandals were woven of similar plant materials, but the Greeks also varied the process by tying small pieces of wood together with dried grass. In later years, they made sandals with leather from the hides of animals. The first Greek shoes were purely functional, but over time most were dyed and decorated to make fashion statements. Women began to wear soft, enclosed leather shoes, and these grew increasingly fancy in the later years of the Greek civilization.

The Romans wore sandals much like the Greeks did, but used more pieces of leather to make them. Some Roman sandals had straps that wrapped around the ankles. Shoemakers often dyed these sandals in bright colors that represented the different jobs held by the people wearing them. The patricians, or privileged classes, wore red sandals with moon-shaped ornaments on the back. Senators wore brown shoes with four black leather straps wound around the lower leg. Consuls, or legal officers, wore white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy leather sandals that were more like boots—but with bare toes!

Meanwhile, people who lived in cold northern climates were making their shoes from the hides of furry animals, such as polar bears and yaks. The soles and tops of these shoes were made from pieces of soft leather sewn together. This type of shoe—whether or not it used fur—was called a moccasin. Some Native American groups made and wore moccasins for thousands of years. Some moccasins were plain, and others were adorned with beadwork.

Section C
As the centuries passed, the primary material for shoes continued to be leather, and the process of making shoes did not change quickly. A wood and metal framework called a “last” was wrapped with pieces of leather that were then sewn together. As late as the mid-1800s, lasts were straight on both sides; this meant that there was no difference in shape between left and right shoes. It also meant that shoes were uncomfortable and that breaking them in was not easy. The lasts were made in different sizes, but for a long time only two widths were available—thin and stout.

For centuries, shoes were sewn by hand, just as they had been by the ancient Egyptians. Machines to assist shoemakers were not used until the rolling machine was invented in 1845. This device was used to pound pieces of leather into thin strips. About the same time, Elias Howe invented the sewing machine, and pieces of shoe leather could now be sewn together more quickly. Another inventor, Lyman Reed Blake, created a machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the upper parts. Because shoes could be made faster and more cheaply, people who had never owned shoes before could now afford to buy and wear them.

Section D

In Europe and North America during the seventeenth century, most people wore boots because they were practical. Even in many large cities, dirt roads were common, and people had to walk along muddy pathways and across streams. By the eighteenth century, however, more city streets were paved with cobblestones, and it was easier to keep shoes clean. Shoes became more decorative, and fancy buckles of gold and silver were often used. Most shoes worn in the United States throughout the nineteenth century were patterned after European styles.

The major change in shoes over the last century has been the use of materials other than leather. Humphrey O’Sullivan invented the first rubber heel for shoes in 1898. Rubber heels were popular because they lasted much longer than heels made of leather. The use of rubber soles came next. The first rubbersoled shoes were called plimsolls, and they were manufactured in the United States in the late 1800s.
The first American shoes made without leather were invented in 1917. The upper material was made of a flexible canvas. Those were the original “sneakers,” a word that was used because the rubber sole made the shoe very quiet, unlike most leather shoes, which often squeaked when people walked.

Many people today choose athletic shoes for casual wear, but not until the late 1970s were shoes designed with amateur athletes in mind. Shoes made of rubber and canvas were worn by tennis, volleyball, and basketball players. By the 1980s, companies began to design athletic shoes for specific sports, helping athletes perform better while protecting their feet and providing comfort.
Shoes have come a long way since the ancient Egyptians created their first sandals.

Many more types of materials are used, and shoes have never been more comfortable or supportive for feet. Even so, it is interesting that the basic sandal, crafted by people more than four thousand years ago, still has many similarities to shoes we wear today.

Questions 28 – 31
Look at the sections A – D. For which sections are the following headings true? Choose the correct number.

28. SECTION A
29. SECTION B
30. SECTION C
31. SECTION D

1. Shoes have come a long way
2. The first American shoes
3. New Trends, Materials, and Designs
4. The leather shoes
5. Shoes in Early Civilizations
6. Shoes for royalty
7. From Sandals to Sneakers Shoes Step Forward
8. The Shoemaking Process

Questions 32 – 36
Choose the correct answer.

32. What was the purpose of the first shoe?

A. Comfortable
B. Fashionable
C. Functional
D. Popularity

33. Which event happened first in the history of shoes?

A. the making and wearing of moccasins
B. the making and wearing of sandals
C. the making and wearing of boots
D. the making and wearing of sneakers

34. Which civilization was the first to wear shoes to make a fashion statement?

A. Greek
B. Roman
C. Egyptian
D. Persian

35. The First American shoes were made of which material

A. leather
B. flexible canvas
C. grass
D. animal hide

36. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. to inform about the first sneaker
B. to inform about the history of moccasins
C. to inform about ancient Greeks
D. to inform about the history of shoes

Questions 37 – 40
Complete the sentences by using one or three words and/ or a number.
The first American Shoes were 37. ____________
During 17th century, Europeans and North American mostly wore 38. ____________
The word sneaker is used because the rubber sole shoes are 39. ____________
In 1980s, companies made personalized 40. ____________ shoes.

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IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 2 Online Answers

1. YES
2. YES
3. NOT GIVEN
4. NO
5. YES
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. D
10. A
11. B
12. C
13. A
14. H
15. J
16. I
17. K
18. G
19. NOT GIVEN
20. TRUE

21. TRUE
22. FALSE
23. FALSE
24. In the 1960s
25. Tanzania
26. Close observation
27. Cultural origin
28. 7
29. 5
30. 8
31. 3
32. C
33. B
34. A
35. B
36. D
37. Without leather
38. Boots
39. Very quiet
40. sports

Also Practice: Cambridge IELTS 11 Academic Reading Test 4 with Answers