Academic Reading test 2 - section 1 practice test

This is the first section of your IELTS Reading test. You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions
1–13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

A bar at the folies (Un bar aux folies)

A  One of the most critically renowned paintings of the 19th-century modernist movement is the French
painter Edouard Manet’s masterwork, A Bar at the Folies. Originally belonging to the composer
Emmanuel Chabrier, it is now in the possession of The Courtauld Gallery in London, where it has also
become a favourite with the crowds.

B  The painting is set late at night in a nineteenth-century Parisian nightclub. A barmaid stands alone
behind her bar, fitted out in a black bodice that has a frilly white neckline, and with a spray of flowers
sitting across her décolletage. She rests her hands on the bar and gazes out forlornly at a point just
below the viewer, not quite making eye contact. Also on the bar are some bottles of liquor and a bowl of
oranges, but much of the activity in the room takes place in the reflection of a mirror behind the barmaid.
Through this mirror we see an auditorium, bustling with blurred figures and faces: men in top hats, a
woman examining the scene below her through binoculars, another in long gloves, even the feet of a
trapeze artist demonstrating acrobatic feats above his adoring crowd. In the foreground of the reflection
a man with a thick moustache is talking with the barmaid. 

C  Although the Folies (-Bergère) was an actual establishment in late nineteenth-century Paris, and the
subject of the painting was a real barmaid who worked there, Manet did not attempt to recapture every
detail of the bar in his rendition. The painting was largely completed in a private studio belonging to the
painter, where the barmaid posed with a number of bottles, and this was then integrated with quick
sketches the artist made at the Folies itself. 

D  Even more confounding than Manet’s relaxed attention to detail, however, is the relationship in the
painting between the activity in the mirrored reflection and that which we see in the unreflected
foreground. In a similar vein to Diego Velazquez’ much earlier work Las Meninas, Manet uses the mirror
to toy with our ideas about which details are true to life and which are not. In the foreground, for
example, the barmaid is positioned upright, her face betraying an expression of lonely detachment, yet
in the mirrored reflection she appears to be leaning forward and to the side, apparently engaging in
conversation with her moustachioed customer. As a result of this, the customer’s stance is also altered.
In the mirror, he should be blocked from view as a result of where the barmaid is standing, yet Manet
has re-positioned him to the side. The overall impact on the viewer is one of a dreamlike disjuncture
between reality and illusion. 

E  Why would Manet engage in such deceit? Perhaps for that very reason: to depict two different states
of mind or emotion. Manet seems to be conveying his understanding of the modern workplace, a place 
– from his perspective – of alienation, where workers felt torn from their ‘true’ selves and forced to
assume an artificial working identity. What we see in the mirrored reflection is the barmaid’s working
self, busy serving a customer. The front-on view, however, bears witness to how the barmaid truly feels
at work: hopeless, adrift, and alone.

F  Ever since its debut at the Paris Salon of 1882, art historians have produced reams of books and
journal articles disputing the positioning of the barmaid and patron in A Bar at the Folies. Some have
even conducted staged representations of the painting in order to ascertain whether Manet’s seemingly
distorted point of view might have been possible after all. Yet while academics are understandably
drawn to the compositional enigma of the painting, the layperson is always likely to see the much
simpler, more human story beneath. No doubt this is the way Manet would have wanted it. 
Questions 1–5 Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs, A–F. Which paragraph contains the
following information?

Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet.

1. a description of how Manet created the painting

2. aspects of the painting that scholars are most interested in
3. the writer’s view of the idea that Manet wants to communicate
4. examples to show why the bar scene is unrealistic
5. a statement about the popularity of the painting 

Questions 6–10 Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.Write your answers in
boxes 6–10 on your answer sheet.

6. Who was the first owner of A Bar at the Folies?

7. What is the barmaid wearing?
8. Which room is seen at the back of the painting?
9. Who is performing for the audience?
10. Where did most of the work on the painting take place?

Questions 11–13
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–F, below.
Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.

11. Manet misrepresents the images in the mirror because he

12. Manet felt modern workers were alienated because they
13. Academics have re-constructed the painting in real life because they

 A. wanted to find out if the painting’s perspective was realistic

B. felt they had to work very hard at boring and difficult jobs
C. wanted to understand the lives of ordinary people at the time
D. felt like they had to become different people
E. wanted to manipulate our sense of reality
F. wanted to focus on the detail in the painting

Academic Reading test 2 - section 2 practice test

This is the second section of your IELTS Academic Reading test. You should spend about 20 minutes
on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on the following pages.

Questions 14–19
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A–F.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A–F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–ix, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings

i. A legacy is established
ii. Formal education unhelpful  
iii. An education in two parts  
iv. Branching out in new directions 
v. Childhood and family life 
vi. Change necessary to stay creative 
vii. Conflicted opinions over Davis’ earlier work 
viii. Davis’ unique style of trumpet playing  
ix. Personal and professional struggles 

14. Paragraph A
15. Paragraph B
16. Paragraph C
17. Paragraph D
18. Paragraph E
19. Paragraph F

Miles Davis - Icon and iconoclast

An iconoclast is somebody who challenges traditional beliefs or customs
    
A  At the age of thirteen, Miles Davis was given his first trumpet, lessons were arranged with a local
trumpet player, and a musical odyssey began. These early lessons, paid for and supported by his
father, had a profound effect on shaping Davis’ signature sound. Whereas most trumpeters of the era
favoured the use of vibrato (a wobbly quiver in pitch inflected in the instrument’s tone), Davis was taught
to play with a long, straight tone, a preference his instructor reportedly drilled into the young trumpeter
with a rap on the knuckles every time Davis began using vibrato. This clear, distinctive style never left
Davis. He continued playing with it for the rest of his career, once remarking, ‘If I can’t get that sound, I
can’t play anything.’

B  Having graduated from high school in 1944, Davis moved to New York City, where he continued his
musical education both in the clubs and in the classroom. His enrolment in the prestigious Julliard
School of Music was short-lived, however – he soon dropped out, criticising what he perceived as an
over-emphasis on the classical European repertoire and a neglect of jazz. Davis did later acknowledge,
however, that this time at the school was invaluable in terms of developing his trumpet-playing
technique and giving him a solid grounding in music theory. Much of his early training took place in the
form of jam sessions and performances in the clubs of 52nd Street, where he played alongside both up-
and-coming and established members of the jazz pantheon such as Coleman Hawkins, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’
Davis, and Thelonious Monk.

C  In the late 1940s, Davis collaborated with nine other instrumentalists, including a French horn and a
tuba player, to produce The Birth of Cool, an album now renowned for the inchoate sounds of what
would later become known as ‘cool’ jazz. In contrast to popular jazz styles of the day, which featured
rapid, rollicking beats, shrieking vocals, and short, sharp horn blasts, Davis’ album was the forerunner of
a different kind of sound – thin, light horn-playing, hushed drums and a more restrained, formal
arrangement. Although it received little acclaim at the time (the liner notes to one of Davis’ later
recordings call it a ‘spectacular failure’), in hindsight The Birth of Cool has become recognised as a
pivotal moment in jazz history, cementing – alongside his 1958 recording, Kind of Blue – Davis’ legacy
as one of the most innovative musicians of his era.  
D  Though Davis’ trumpet playing may have sounded effortless and breezy, this ease rarely carried over
into the rest of his life. The early 1950s, in particular, were a time of great personal turmoil. After
returning from a stint in Paris, Davis suffered from prolonged depression, which he attributed to the
unravelling of a number of relationships, including his romance with a French actress and some musical
partnerships that ruptured as a result of creative disputes. Davis was also frustrated by his perception
that he had been overlooked by the music critics, who were hailing the success of his collaborators and
descendants in the ‘cool’ tradition, such as Gerry Mulligan and Dave Brubeck, but who afforded him little
credit for introducing the cool sound in the first place.    

E  In the latter decades of his career, Davis broke out of exclusive jazz settings and began to diversify
his output across a range of musical styles. In the 1960s, he was influenced by early funk performers
such as Sly and the Family Stone, which then expanded into the jazz-rock fusion genre – of which he
was a frontrunner – in the 1970s. Electronic recording effects and electric instruments were incorporated
into his sound. By the 1980s, Davis was pushing the boundaries further, covering pop anthems such as
Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time and Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, dabbling in hip hop, and even
appearing in some movies.

F  Not everyone was supportive of Davis’ change of tune. Compared to the recordings of his early
career, universally applauded as linchpins of the jazz oeuvre, trumpeter Wynston Marsalis derided his
fusion work as being ‘not true jazz’, and pianist Bill Evans denounced the ‘corrupting influence’ of record
companies, noting that rock and pop ‘draw wider audiences’. In the face of this criticism Davis remained
defiant, commenting that his earlier recordings were part of a moment in time that he had no ‘feel’ for
any more. He firmly believed that remaining stylistically inert would have hampered his ability to develop
new ways of producing music. From this perspective, Davis’ continual revamping of genre was not
merely a rebellion, but an evolution, a necessary path that allowed him to release his full musical
potential.

Questions 20–26
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 20–26 on your answer sheet, write
Yes - if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
No - if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
Not Given - if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

20. Davis’ trumpet teacher wanted him to play with vibrato. 

21. According to Davis, studying at Julliard helped him to improve his musical abilities.
22. Playing in jazz clubs in New York was the best way to become famous.
23. The Birth of Cool featured music that was faster and louder than most jazz at the time. 
24. Davis’ personal troubles had a negative effect on his trumpet playing. 
25. Davis felt that his contribution to cool jazz had not been acknowledged.
26. Davis was a traditionalist who wanted to keep the jazz sound pure.
Academic Reading test 2 - section 3 practice test
This is the third section of your IELTS Academic Reading test. You should spend about 20 minutes on
Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

A  In the early days of mountaineering, questions of safety, standards of practice, and environmental
impact were not widely considered. The sport gained traction following the successful 1786 ascent of
Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe, by two French mountaineers, Jacques Balmat and
Michel-Gabriel Paccard. This event established the beginning of modern mountaineering, but the sole
consideration over the next hundred years was the success or failure of climbers in reaching the summit
and claiming the prestige of having made the first ascent. 

B  Toward the end of the nineteenth century, however, developments in technology spurred debate
regarding climbing practices. Of particular concern in this era was the introduction of pitons (metal
spikes that climbers hammer into the rock face for leverage) and the use of belaying techniques. A few,
such as Italian climber Guido Ray, supported these methods as ways to render climbing less
burdensome and more ‘acrobatic’. Others felt that they were only of value as a safety net if all else
failed. Austrian Paul Preuss went so far as to eschew all artificial aids, scaling astonishing heights using
only his shoes and his bare hands.  Albert Mummery, a well known British mountaineer and author who
climbed the European Alps, and, more famously, the Himalayas, where he died at the age of 39
attempting a notoriously difficult ascent, developed the notion of ‘fair means’ as a kind of informal
protocol by which the use of ‘walk-through’ guidebooks and equipment such as ladders and grappling
hooks were discouraged. 

C  By the 1940s, bolts had begun to replace pitons as the climber’s choice of equipment, and criticism
surrounding their use was no less fierce. In 1948, when two American climbers scaled Mount Brussels
in the Canadian Rockies using a small number of pitons and bolts, climber Frank Smythe wrote of their
efforts: ‘I still regard Mount Brussels as unclimbed, and my feelings are no different from those I should
have were I to hear that a helicopter had deposited its passenger on the summit of that mountain just so
that he could boast that he had trodden an untrodden mountain top.’

D  Climbing purists aside, it was not until the 1970s that the general tide began to turn against bolting
and pitons. The USA, and much of the western world, was waking up to the damage it had been
causing to the planet, and environmentalist campaigns and new government policies were becoming
widespread. This new awareness and sensitivity to environmental issues spilled over into the rock
climbing community. As a result, a stripped-down style of rock climbing known as ‘clean climbing’
became widely adopted. Clean climbing helped preserve rock faces and, compared with older
approaches, it was much simpler to practise. This was partly due to the hallmark of clean climbing – the
use of nuts – which were favoured over bolts because they could be placed into the rock wall with one
hand while climbers maintained their grip on the rock with the other.    

E  Not everyone embraced the clean climbing movement, however. A decade later, debates over two
more developments were erupting. The first related to the practice of chipping, in which climbers chip
away pieces of rock in order to create tiny cracks in which to insert their fingers. The other major point of
contention was a process that involves setting bolts in reverse from the top of the climb down. Rappel
bolting makes almost any rock face climbable with relative ease, and as a result of this new technique,
the sport has lost much of its risk factor and sense of pioneering spirit; indeed, it has become more
about muscle power and technical mastery than a psychological trial of fearlessness under pressure.
Because of this shift in focus, many amateur climbers have flocked to indoor climbing gyms, where the
risk of serious harm is negligible.   
F  Given the environmental damage rock climbing can cause, this may be a positive outcome. It is ironic
that most rock climbers and mountaineers love the outdoors and have great respect for the majesty of
nature and the impressive challenges she poses, but that in the pursuit of their goals they inevitably
trample sensitive vegetation, damaging and disturbing delicate flora and lichens which grow on ledges
and cliff faces. Two researchers from a Canadian university, Doug Larson and Michelle McMillan, have
found that rock faces that are regularly climbed have lost up to 80% of the coverage and diversity of
native plant species. If that were not bad enough, non-native species have also been inadvertently
introduced, having been carried in on climbers’ boots. 

G  This leaves rock climbing with an uncertain future. Climbers are not the only user group that wishes
to enjoy the wilderness – hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders visit the same areas, and more
importantly, they are much better organised, with long-established lobby groups protecting their
interests. With increased pressure on limited natural resources, it has been suggested that climbers put
aside their differences over the ethics of various climbing techniques, and focus on the effect of their
practices on the environment and their relationship with other users and landowners.

H  In any event, there can be no doubt that the era of the rock climber as a lone wolf or intrepid pioneer
is over. Like many other forms of recreation, rock climbing has increasingly come under the fold of
institutional efforts to curb dangerous behaviour and properly manage our natural environments. This
may have spoiled the magic, but it has also made the sport safer and more sustainable, and governing
bodies would do well to consider heightening such efforts in the future.  

belaying: fastening or controlling of a climber’s rope by wrapping it around a metal device or another
person
  
Questions 27–32 Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A–H.Which paragraph contains the
following information? Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 27–32 on your answer sheet.

27. examples of the impact of climbers on ecosystems

28. an account of how politics affected rock climbing 
29. a less dangerous alternative to climbing rock faces 
30. a recommendation for better regulation
31. a reference to a climber who did not use any tools or ropes for assistance
32. examples of different types of people who use the outdoors for recreation
Questions 33–39
Complete the flow chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 33–39 on your answer sheet.

A rock climbing time line 

Late 19th century

Some climbers discuss whether pitons and ropes should only be considered 33 ....................
34 ………….….. calls for guidelines based on unwritten rules which discourage climbing aids.

1940s
New equipment becomes controversial. Frank Smythe says that Mt Brussels is effectively 35
……………….. because of the techniques that were used in order to scale the mountain.

1970s
36 ……………….. is more environmentally friendly. 37 ……………….. are introduced as a climbing aid.

1980s – today
Climbers discuss the merits of new techniques for making hand holds, and also of 38 ………………..... Many say that
climbing is now a test of physical strength and 39 ……………….., rather than of courage.

Question 40 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer
sheet. Choose the most appropriate title for the reading passage.

A. A history of rock climbing

B. Ethics and issues in rock climbing
C. Current trends in rock climbing
D. Sport climbers versus traditional climbers