IELTS General Reading Practice Test 1 with Answers

IELTS General Reading Practice Test 1 – The Medicine | Central Library | Environment

 

Reading Passage 1

Questions 1 – 4

Read the information on the Medicine in the passage below
Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage? In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet write

YES  if the statement agrees with the given information
NO    if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

Example
You must shake the bottle before you take the medicine YES

The Medicine

• This medicine must be taken as directed
• Before using shake the bottle
• Dose: 50ml to be taken twice daily after the midday and evening meals.

Instructions

• Do not take this medicine on an empty stomach or immediately before lying down.
• If any of the following occur, discontinue taking the medicine and contact your doctor: dizziness, vomiting, blurred vision.
• This medicine is not available without a prescription and is not suitable for children under 5 years.
• Once you have begun to take this medicine you must continue to take it until the bottle is empty, unless advised otherwise by your doctor.
• Only one course of this medicine should be taken in a period of 6 months.
• Expiry date : 16 February 2004

1. You should lie down after you have taken the medicine.
2. You must stop taking the medicine if your eyesight is affected.
3. You must stop taking the medicine when you feel better
4. This medicine is suitable for a person of any age.

Questions 5 – 9

Look at the notice below.
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER answer the following questions.
Write your answers in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.

Example

What has been found in some Fancy Foods Products?  Pieces of metal

5. Where can you find the batch number on your jars?
6. How much will you receive for an opened jar of contaminated chicken curry?
7. If you have eaten chicken curry from a jar with one of the batch numbers listed, whom should you contact?
8. What information do they ask you to provide about the jar of chicken curry you ate?
9. What is the maximum reward Fancy Foods is offering for information about who contaminated the product?

Fancy Foods wishes to inform the public that pieces of metal have been found in some jars of Fancy Foods Chicken Curry (spicy). The batches of the jars involved have some numbers from J6617 to J6624. The batch number is printed on the bottom of each jar.

If you have any jars with these batch numbers, please return them (preferably unopened) to the supermarket where you purchased them. You can also return them to the factory (Fancy Foods Retailers, Blacktown). Fancy Foods will pay $10  for each jar returned unopened and $5 for each jar already opened.

No payment will be made for empty jars, which do not need to be returned. However, the company’s retailing manager will be interested to hear from people who have consumed chicken curry from any of the above batch numbers. In particular, it will be helpful if they can give information about the place of purchase of the product.

Jars of Fancy Foods Chicken Curry ( Coconut) and Fancy Foods Chicken Curry ( Mango) have not been affected and do not need to be returned.

Reward

Fancy Foods will pay a reward of $10000 to $50000 for information which leads to the conviction of any person found guilty of placing metal pieces in its products. If you have such information please contact the Customer Relations Manager, Fancy Foods Retailers, Blacktown.

Questions 10 -13

Look at the extract from a brochure on the following page.
From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable headings for Sections C – F
Write the appropriate numbers i – viii in boxes 10 -13 on your answer sheet.

Example
Section A vii

10. Section C
11. Section D
12. Section E
13. Section F

List of Headings

i  Payment options
ii Save money by not paying interest
iii Choosing your style of furniture
iv Free advice on furnishing your home
v Location of stores
vi Applying for a card
vii Ordering furniture from home
viii A wide range of furniture

Fabulous Furniture

Section A

Have you ever wanted to buy a small bedside table? Or a dinner table for 20 people? If you want it, we’ve got it! Fabulous Furniture has Australia’s widest choice of furniture.

Section B

If you visit a Fabulous Furniture store, you can have your furniture – right now – using our Fabulous Furniture Credit Card. When you see something you really want, you can have it straight away and pay later.

Section C

Unlike most cards, the Fabulous Furniture Credit Card offers a full 60-day interest-free period on every Fabulous purchase – no matter when you make your purchase. This leaves you with more money to spend on other things.

Section D

• You may choose to pay the full amount within 60 days. In this case, you pay no interest.
• You may spread your payments over a longer period. In this case, interest will be charged after the initial 60-day interest free period.

Section E

Application is absolutely free! Nor are there any annual fees or administration fees. Just fill in the application form and bring it to your nearest Fabulous Furniture store. Your application will be processed promptly and you can begin making purchases immediately after your application is approved.

Section F

We have stores in every major city, so you’re never far away from a Fabulous Furniture store. For our addresses, just check in your local telephone directory.

---

Reading Passage 2

 

Questions 14- 20

Read the passage about personal computers below and look at the statements below ( Questions 14- 20)
In boxes 14- 20 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

14. There are two computers and two printers available for public use at the library.
15. You can buy floppy disks at the information desk
16. The information desk is closed at weekends
17. It is essential to reserve a computer three days in advance if you want to use one.
18. If you are more than a quarter of an hour late, you could lose your reservation for the computer.
19. Library employees do not have detailed knowledge of computers.
20. The library runs courses for people who want to learn about computers.

Central Library

Personal Computers Available For Public To Use

2 personal computers are available for a fee of $5.00. There is also an inkjet printer attached to each terminal. The library has a number of commercially available programs for word processing and spreadsheets.

A4 paper can be bought from the desk if you wish to print your work. Alternatively you can bring your own paper. If you wish to store information however, you will need to bring your own floppy disk.

Bookings

Because of high demand, a maximum of one hour’s use per person per day is permitted. Bookings may be made up to three days in advance. Bookings may be made in person at the information desk or by phoning 86738901 during normal office hours. If for some reason you cannot keep your appointment, please telephone. If the library is not notified and you are 15 minutes late, your time can be given to someone else. Please sign in the visitor’s book at the information desk when you first arrive to use the computer.

Please note that staff are not available to train people or give a lot of detailed instruction on how to use the programs. Prior knowledge is, therefore, necessary. However, tutorial groups are available for some of the programs and classes are offered on a regular basis. Please see the loans desk for more information about our computer courses.

Good Reasons For Choosing Atlas English Language College

On an English course with Atlas English Language college, you improve your language skills and make friends from all over the world!

1. Because Atlas courses start every Monday of the year, there’s bound to be one that fits in with your academic, personal or professional commitments. Whatever your level of language ability, from beginner to advanced, you can choose to study for any length of time, from two weeks to a full year. Courses match a range of individual requirements, from intensive examination preparation to short summer programmes. Most courses commence at 9 am and run till 3 pm.

2. If you take an intensive full time course, we will help you to select the Specialist Interest Options which best suit your goals. From then on, our teacher will discuss your work with you on a weekly basis. This means that you should develop the language skills that you need – and that you are helped to study at your own pace.

3. The popularity and success of any language school depend greatly on the quality of the teachers and the methods they employ. All Atlas teachers have specialist qualifications in the teaching of English to foreign students and are all native speakers. We employ only experienced professionals with a proven record of success in the classroom.

Atlas’s teaching methodology is constantly revised as more is discovered about the process of learning a new language. Our teachers have access to an extensive range of materials, including the very latest in language teaching methodology.

On your first day at school, you will take a test which enables our Director of Studies to place you at the appropriate study level. Your progress will be continuously assessed and, once you have achieved specific linguistic goals, you will move up to a higher level of study.

Every Atlas course fee includes accommodation in carefully selected homestay families. Breakfast and Dinner each day are also included, so you need have no concerns about having to look for somewhere to live once you get to the school.

On completion of any intensive examination or summer course, you will receive the Atlas Course Certificate of Attendance. On completion of a four-week course or longer you will also receive the Atlas Academic Record that reflects your ability in every aspect of the language from conversation to writing. Such a record will allow you to present your linguistic credentials to academic institutions or potential employers around the world.

Questions 21 – 26

The text on Atlas English Language College on the above page has seven paragraphs (A -G) .
Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs  B- G from the list of headings given below.
Write the appropriate numbers (i – ix) in boxes 21 – 26 on your answer sheet.
NB: There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings

i  Recognition of your achievements
ii Courses start every week
iii Other services/Pastoral care/Personal arrangements
iv A personal approach
v Two meals every day
vi First-class staff
vii Up-to-date classroom practice
viii Discovering a new language
ix Monitored achievement

21. Paragraph B
22. Paragraph C
23. Paragraph D
24. Paragraph E
25. Paragraph F
26. Paragraph G

---

Reading Passage 3

Questions 27 – 40
Read the passage below and answer the questions from 27 – 40

Question 27

From the list below choose the most suitable title for the whole of the reading passage.
Write the appropriate letter A -D in box 27 on your answer sheet.

A. Pollution control in coal mining
B. The greenhouse effect
C. The coal industry and the environment
D. Sustainable population growth

Questions 28 -31

The reading passage has four sections A – D.
Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write the appropriate numbers i-viii in boxes 28 – 31 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i Global warming
ii The dangers of the coal industry
iii Superclean coal
iv Environment protection measures
v Coal as an energy source
vi Coal and the enhanced greenhouse effect
vii Research and development
viii Mining site drainage

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

A. Coal is expected to continue to account for almost 27 percent of the world’s energy needs. However, with growins international awareness of pressures on the environment and the need to achieve sustainable development of energy sources, the way in which the resource is extracted, transported and used is critical.

A wide range of pollution control devices and practices is in place at most modern mines and significant resources are spent on rehabilitating mined land. In addition, major research and development programmes are being devoted to lifting efficiencies and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases during coal consumption. Such measures are helping coal to maintain its status as a major supplier of the world’s energy needs.

B. The coal industry has been targeted by its critics as a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect. However, the greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon involving the increase in global temperature due to the presence of greenhouse gases – water vapour, carbon-dioxide, tropospheric ozone, methane and nitrous oxide -in the atmosphere. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth’s average surface temperature would be 33-35 degrees C lower, or -15 degrees C. Life on earth as we know it today, would not be possible.

There is concern that this natural phenomenon is being altered by a greater build-up of gases from human activity, perhaps giving rise to additional warming and changes in the earth’s climate. This additional build-up and its forecast outcome has been called the enhanced greenhouse effect. Considerable uncertainty exists, however, about the enhanced greenhouse effect, particularly in relation to the extent and timing of any future increases in global temperature.

Greenhouse gases arise from a wide range of sources and their increasing concentration is largely related to the compound effects of increased population, improved living standards, and changes in lifestyle. From a current base of 5 billion, the United Nations predicts that the global population may stabilize in the twenty-first century between 8 and 14 billion, with more than 90 percent of the projected increase taking place in the world’s developing nations. The associated activities to support that growth, particularly to produce the required energy and food will cause further increases in greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge therefore, is to attain a sustainable balance between population, economic growth and the environment.

The major greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. Chlorofluorocarbons ( CFCs) are the only major contributor to the greenhouse effect that does not occur naturally, coming from such sources as refrigeration, plastics and manufacture. Coal’s total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is thought to be about 18 percent, with about half of this coming from electricity generation.

C. The world-wide coal industry allocates extensive resources to researching and developing new technologies and ways of capturing greenhouse gases. Efficiencies are likely to be improved dramatically, and hence CO2 emissions reduced, through combustion and gasification techniques which are now at pilot and demonstration stages.

Clean coal is another avenue for improving fuel conservation efficiency. Investigations are underway into superclean coal( 3-5 percent ash) and ultraclean coal (less than 1 percent ash). Superclean coal has the potential to enhance the combustion efficiency of conventional pulverised fuel power plants. Ultra clean coal will enable coal to be used in advanced power systems such as coal-fired gas turbines, which operate in combined cycles and have the potential to achieve much greater efficiencies.

D. Defendants of mining point out that, environmentally, coal mining has two important factors in its favour. It makes only temporary use of the land and produces no toxic chemical wastes. By carefully pre planning projects, implementing pollution control measures, monitoring the effects of mining and rehabilitating mined areas, the coal industry minimises the impact on the neighbouring community, the immediate environment and long term land capability.

Dust levels are controlled by spraying roads and stockpiles, and water pollution is controlled by carefully separating clean water runoff from runoff which contains sediments or salt from mine workings. The latter is treated and re-used for dust suppression. Noise is controlled by modifying equipment and by using insulation and sound enclosures around machinery.

Since mining activities represent only a temporary use of the land, extensive rehabilitation measures are adopted to ensure that land capability after mining meets agreed and appropriate standards which in some cases, are superior to the land’s pre-mining condition. Whether the mining is underground, the surface area can be simultaneously used for forests, cattle grazing and crop raising, or even reservoirs and urban development, with little or no disruption to the existing land use. In all cases, mining is subject to stringent controls and approval processes.

In open-cut operations, however, the land is used exclusively for mining but land rehabilitation measures generally progress with the mine’s development. As core samples are extracted to assess the quality and quantity of coal at a site, they are also analysed to assess the ability of the soil or subsoil material to support vegetation. Topsoils are stripped and stockpiled prior to mining for subsequent dispersal over rehabilitated areas. As mining ceases in one section of the open-cut, the disturbed area is reshaped. Drainage within and off the site is carefully designed to make the new land surface as stable as the local environment allows; often dams are built to protect the area from soil erosion and to serve as permanent sources of water. Based on the soil requirements, the land is suitably fertilised and revegetated.

Questions 32 -36

Choose the appropriate letters A -D and write them in boxes 32 -36 on your answer sheet.

32. The global increase in greenhouse gases has been attributed to

A. Industrial pollution in developing countries
B. Coal mining and electricity generation
C. Reduced rainfall in many parts of the world
D. Trends in population and lifestyle

33. The proportion of all greenhouse gases created by coal is approximately

A. 14 per cent
B. 18 per cent
C. 27 per cent
D. 90 per cent

34. Current research aims to increase the energy-produced efficiency of coal by

A. Burning it at a lower temperature
B. developing new gasification techniques
C. extracting CO2 from it
D. recycling greenhouse gases

35. Compared with ordinary coal, new ‘clean’ coals may generate power

A. More cleanly and more efficiently
B. More cleanly but less efficiently
C. More cleanly but at a higher cost
D. More cleanly but much more slowly

36. To control dust at mine sites, mining companies often use

A. Chemicals which may be toxic
B. Topsoil taken from the site before mining.
C. Fresh water from nearby dams.
D. Runoff water containing sediments.

Questions 37 – 40

Do the following statements reflect the opinion of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 37 – 40 on your answer sheet write

YES  if the statement reflects the opinion of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN  if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

37. The coal industry should be abandoned in favour of alternate energy sources because of the environmental damage it causes.
38. The greatest threats to the environment are the gases produced by industries which support the high standard of living of a growing world population.
39. World population in the twenty-first century will probably exceed 8 billion.
40. CFC emissions have been substantially reduced in recent years.

---

IELTS General Reading Practice Test 1 Answers

1. NO
2. YES
3. NO
4. NO
5. (On the) bottom (of jar)
6. $5
7. (company’s) retailing manager
8. Place of purchase
9. $50,000
10. ii
11. i
12. vi
13. v
14. TRUE
15. FALSE
16. NOT GIVEN
17. NOT GIVEN
18. TRUE
13. NOT GIVEN
20. TRUE

21. iv
22. vi
23. vii
24. ix
25. iii
26. i
27. C
28. v
29. vi
30. vii
31. iv
32. D
33. B
34. B
35. A
36. D
37. No
38. Yes
39. Yes
40. Not Given

Also Check: Cambridge IELTS 15 General Training Reading 4 with Answers