IELTS Reading lesson 1: TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN?

In this lesson, we'll learn how to answer True/False/Not Given questions on IELTS
Reading. This type of question looks like this on the question paper:

Do the following
statements agree with the
information given in
Reading Passage?
In boxes on your answer
sheet, write:
TRUE if the statement
agrees with the Useful information:
information. -Questions follow the order of the text.
FALSE if the statement
-Questions repeat keywords from sentences.
contradicts the
information. -If a question contains information NOT stated in the text, it has a "Not
NOT GIVEN if there is Given" answer.
no information on this.
Answering strategy:
-Read the first passage.
-Look up answers for the first few questions.
-If you find an answer - read the whole sentence carefully, and only then answer the question.
Look at the following example:
Tips:
Scientists are using a technique from electronics to control specific plant
-This type of question
properties.  True
needs attention to detail.
Don't just look for The answer to it should be somewhere in the first (or second) paragraph.
keywords - read the whole The first sentence of the first paragraph tells us about electronics, and then
question and the whole we have:
sentence with an answer. Biologists are creating this same modularity in – wait for it – plants, by
-Words designing gene "circuits" that control specific plant characteristics – color,
like often, always, never, a size, resistance to drought, you name it.
nd some can completely same modularity = same technique as in electronics
change the meaning of the control specific plant characteristics = control specific plant
Programmable
question. plants
Be careful! properties
In-The
electronics,
order of even the
questions So, this statement just summarizes the first paragraph. It is true.
most advanced
can help you. Thecomputer
answer
isfor just
questiona 4 complex
will be Some synthetic biologists work with the genetic circuits of mammals 
arrangement
between of simple,
answers for NG.
modular
questionsparts
3 andthat 5control
in the
specific functions; the The second passage only tells us that:
text.
same integrated circuit Most of today's synthetic biologists work with simple microorganisms, like
-If you can't find the
might be found in an E. coli or yeast.
answer to some question,
iPhone, or intooanmuch
don't spend aircraft.
time
Biologists are creating this
on it and return to it in the
same
end. modularity
Probably, in – waitthis
 It is unknown whether the biologists work in the field or mammals or not  If not mentioned in the
text, the answer would be Not Given.

Most of synthetic biologists work with mammals.  False

The passage states that the biologist conduct in microorganisms. Thus, by saying that they work in relations
to mammals will be false, as there are no further evidence
Most of today's synthetic biologists work with simple microorganisms, like E. coli or yeast.
This example shows how important it is to read the questions carefully, as one word can drastically
change the meaning of the whole question.
Note that the last paragraph was not used at all. This sometimes happens, so don't worry if some of
the paragraphs in your text don't contain any answers.

IELTS Reading Lesson 2: Multiple Choice

In this lesson, we'll learn how to answer multiple choice questions on IELTS Reading.
Multiple-choice question asks you to choose the correct answer from 3 or 4 proposed
answers. This type of question looks like this on the question paper:
Choose the correct
letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct
letter in boxes on your
answer sheet.

Useful information about multiple choice questions:

Questions follow the order of the text.
Questions repeat keywords (or their synonyms) from the text.
Multiple-choice questions have 3 or 4 answers, only one of which is correct. Usually, there are
such types of answers:
A. Irrelevant answer that gives information, which is not stated in the text.
B. Answer that gives completely opposite information.
C. Answer that gives information that figures in the text, but not what you're asked about.
D. Correct answer.
You should choose the correct answer, and not confuse it with other answers. To understand what I
mean, see an:
Answering strategy:
1. Read the first question and underline the keywords.
2. Read the text from the beginning, simultaneously scanning it for the information that relates to the
question.
3. Once you found the keywords or their synonyms in the text - look for the answer (it should be
somewhere close).
4. Once you've found the answer, read the next few lines of the text to make sure that it is correct. Also,
reread the question.
 5. Repeat this strategy with other questions, but now read the text from the place where you stopped the
last time.
If you prefer another strategy, you can use it too. Remember: there is no 'right' strategy for
answering IELTS Reading questions. You can try different answering strategies and figure out which
one works best for you.

Tips:
Example:
 Scan text for the
key That
Rice words
Fightsand
theirWarming
Global synonyms. Multiple choice question:
 Cross
More than outhalf the
the 1. What is the negative effect of rice?
answers relies
global population which
on A. It is a regular part of more than half of the world population’s diet.
rice as are
a regular obviously
part of B. Rice paddies emit more methane than the coal mining industry.
wrong.
their diet. This
But rice will
paddies C. Its plantations produce 17% of the world’s total methane emissions.
help you
have a downside for the to
identify D. Rice has genetically modified sort SUSIBA2, which is harmful for
planet too: they producethe
as
correct answers health.
much as 17 percent of the
world's more quickly.
total methane In this question key words are “rice” and “negative effect”.
emissions.
 The That order
is even of Now let's consider all the answers:
more than
questions
coal mining can Answer A gives us true, but completely opposite information from what
emissions,
helpwhich
you. make
Answer up we're looking for. The first sentence tells us that:
10 percent
for of
question
the total!
4 will
So, More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of
ChristerbeJansson, between
a plant their diet.
biochemist
answers
at the Pacificfor
But it has a positive effect! And we're looking for the negative one. So
Northwest
questions National
3 and 5
this answer is false.
Laboratory,
in thespent
text. the past
10  years Answer B also gives us true information, but it is not what you’re asked
Don't developing
rely on
SUSIBA2, about. Look at the third sentence, which contains information that answer B
your a geneticallyown
modified rice plant that uses:
knowledge, the
emits almost
correctno methane.
answer That is even more than coal mining emissions, which make up 10
contains ONLY percent of the total!
information This sentence is used only to highlight the negative effect, not to state
stated in the text. it.
Multiple choice Answer C is correct. The second sentence clearly states the negative
exercises with detailed effect:
explanations: But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: they produce as
much as 17 percent of the world's total methane emissions.
downside = negative effect
As you see, it's very important to search for keywords or their synonyms in the text.

IELTS Reading Lesson 3: Sentence Completion

There are questions on IELTS Reading that ask you to fill in the gaps in the sentences. Those gaps
should be filled with words taken directly from the reading text. And you are given a word limit, for
example: "Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS ..."
This type of question is called sentence completion and may look like this on the question paper:
 Complete the
sentences below.
Write NO MORE
THAN THREE
WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in
boxes 28–30 on your Useful information about sentence completion questions:
answer sheet.
You should complete statements that paraphrase sentences from the text.
You're given a word limit.
28. Nowadays,
Questions follow the order of the text.
scientists consider atoms’
structures similar to tiny So, you are given sentences, which you must complete. Those sentences
________________ . are not exactly taken from the text: they are paraphrased. But they
keep the initial meaning.
Keywords from questions may be your pointers: they'll help you to find the passage that contains the answer.
But to find the answer  Understand the meaning of the question  Find the sentence with the same
meaning in the text.
Note: if you are asked to complete a sentence with no more than two words, you can write one or two words.
Answering strategy:
1. Read the text.
2. Use keywords to find the needed paragraph.
3. Make sure you understand the question statement and search for sentence with similar meaning.
4. Once you've found the answer, check if it fits into the statement grammatically and doesn't exceed
the word limit.
5. Repeat this strategy with other questions.
If you prefer, you can read the text by passages.

Tips:
 Make sure that
your answer
doesn't exceed the
word limit. Example:
 Make sure that
How atoms were
your answer fits Sentence completion questions:
discovered
into the sentence
Hundreds of years ago 1. The type of random jittery movement of tiny particles is
grammatically.
in 1785 Dutch scientist called__________________.
 The order of
Jan Ingenhousz was The keywords here are a type of movement, and they direct us to the third
questions can help
studying a strange paragraph. There, we can see a phrase with the same meaning:
you. The answer
phenomenon that he this very particular type of movement – by then called Brownian motion.
for question 4 will
couldn’t quite make sense It refers to the movement of tiny particles described in the first two
be between
of. Minute particles of paragraphs.
answers for
coal dust were darting
questions 3 and 5 So, the answer is Brownian motion.
about on the surface of
in the text.
some alcohol in his lab.
 If the text
About 50 years later, in
introduces new
1827, the Scottish botanist
terms, some
 2. Einstein explained the phenomenon of particles' strange motion by the fact that they were
collapsing with _____________________.
The keywords here are Einstein explained. The fourth paragraph tells us that:
Einstein's theory was that the particles from the pollen grains were being moved around because they
were constantly crashing into millions of tinier molecules of water.
Look how the synonyms are used:
Einstein's theory = Einstein explained
crashing into = collapsing with
Now we see that the correct answer is water molecules.
But why not "molecules of water" as it was stated in the text? Because the question asked to
complete the sentences with NO MORE THAN TWO words, so three-word answer is automatically
incorrect. That's why here we had to rephrase the correct answer to make it fit into the word number
boundaries. You should always pay attention to this!
3. Nowadays, scientists consider atoms' structures similar to tiny __________________.
Atoms' structures are discussed in the last paragraph, where we can find a paraphrase of our question
statement:
But physicists now know that atoms are not solid little balls. It's better to think of them as tiny electrical,
"planetary" systems.
Scientists = physicists
Nowadays = now
Consider = think of them as
The correct answer: planetary systems.
4. __________________ are parts that are circling around the nucleus.
Again, the nucleus was introduced only in the last paragraph, so we should search for the answer there.
The last sentence of the last paragraph states that:
The electrons orbit this nucleus, like planets.
Knowing that circle around = orbit
The correct answer is obvious: electrons.

IELTS Reading Lesson 4: Matching Paragraphs

Useful information:
Headings do NOT follow the order of the text and are listed randomly.
You need to get the general idea of each paragraph, not the specific details.
Sometimes the first few lines of the paragraph can give you its main idea.
Answering strategy:
1. Look through the list of headings.
2. Read the first paragraph. Don't pay much attention to details, just get the general idea of it. You can
ask yourself: "What does the author want to tell me in this paragraph?" or "How would most likely this
text be called if I saw it in the newspaper?". These questions will help you to think in the right
direction.
3. Read the headings list attentively and choose the best match.
4. If you don't see a match, move on to the next paragraph.
 5. If you are unsure about the right match (you think that paragraphs A and D are OK), write down all
possible answers. Don't guess yet! Maybe some of your choices will be crossed out later.
6. Move on to the next paragraph and repeat this strategy.
Tips:
TheDon't
lost giants of
waste too
Australian
much time fauna
on one Matching paragraphs questions:
paragraph.
(A) Australia's You can
wildlife is Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct
skip it and come
unique. The vast majority letter, A-F, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet:
of the back later.that live
animals 1. Extinction of monstrous creatures ______
there Try
are all not
the found 2. The largest mammal ______
anywhereheadings for–each
else and
paragraph.
things were Even if1
no different 3. Myths and reality _____
million you already
years ago used
during
some headings, 4. Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia _____
the Pleistocene: the ageit's
of
always better
the super-sized to
mammal. 5. Importance of animal protection _____
double-check!
Before humanity became 6. Giant lizards _____
Earth's
 If you see undisputed
some 7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals _____
superpower, giant
unfamiliar wordsbeasts 8. Mystery the giants' disappearance _____
of all inshapes and
the text, don'tsizes
Explanations:
dominated
worry! In this every
section you
continent, but should the Paragraph A
just get
Pleistocene the main of
mammals After reading this paragraph we can see that its main idea is to describe
idea of each
Australia were different. the wildlife in Australia during the Pleistocene. This idea is briefly
Some ofparagraph.
them could Andgrow written in the first sentence:
youofcan
to the size do itcars, or
small Australia's wildlife is unique.
without
possessed knowing
teeth longer
all the words. So, we can immediately cross out the irrelevant headings:
than knife blades.
1. Extinction of monstrous creatures (there is nothing written about
(B) None of these animals
animals' extinction in the first paragraph)
survive today – although
2. The largest mammal
exactly why that's the case
3. Myths and reality (the text just gives information about the animals; it says nothing about whether it
is a mystery. Humans,
is real)
with their advanced
4. Incredible
hunting creatures
techniques and of Pleistocene Australia
use5. ofImportance
fire to modify of animal
the protection (animal protection is not mentioned)
landscape,
6. Giant lizardsmay (nothing
have about lizards)
played a central
7. Arrival role in the Aboriginals (nothing about Aboriginals)
of Australian
megafauna's
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance (we're not given any information about animals' disappearance)
disappearance, but this
So, is
idea we're
stilllefta with twoof
matter headings. But despite that the super-sized mammal is mentioned in the text, the
focusdebate.
heated of this paragraph is Australia's wildlife during the Pleistocene. So, the correct answer is the
Incredible creatures of Pleistocene Australia.
(C) Even if we cannot be
Paragraph
sure that Bthe arrival of
This paragraph
Australian says that
Aboriginals on we don't know why these creatures disappeared. And again, the first sentence of
thethis paragraph
continent summarizes
had its main idea:
catastrophic
None of these effects on its
animals survive today – although exactly why that's the case is a mystery.
native
Now we animals,
can cross it seems
out the irrelevant headings:
that the animals had a
rather spiritual effect on
the humans. The
 1. Extinction of monstrous creatures
2. The largest mammal
3. Myths and reality
5. Importance of animal protection
6. Giant lizards
7. Arrival of Australian Aboriginals
8. Mystery the giants' disappearance
Both headings that are left look good. But the first one doesn't give enough information, as it is
highlighted in the paragraph that the case is a mystery. So the correct answer is Mystery the giants'
disappearance.
Paragraph C
These sentences contain the paragraph's main idea:
The Aboriginal mythological "Dreamtime" includes a cast of monstrous creatures, many of which bear a
close resemblance to some of the real-life monsters that once stalked Australia's plains. Are the myths
based in fact? Perhaps: after all, these creatures are far stranger than anything dreamed up by humans.
So the text tells us about myths and reality, which is the correct heading.
Note that the arrival of Australian Aboriginals is also mentioned in this paragraph, but it doesn't play a
key role.
Paragraph D
This paragraph is clearly about Diprotodon:
The two-ton weighting Diprotodon comfortably holds the title of largest marsupial ever. In size and
appearance, it looked superficially like a modern rhinoceros, but the Diprotodon seems to have had a
social lifestyle more like that of an elephant, another mammal with which it shares anatomical
similarities.
So, the main idea of paragraph D is The largest mammal.
Paragraph E
The whole paragraph is dedicated to the giant lizard Megalania:
... Megalania – was the largest terrestrial lizard ...
So, Giant lizards is the correct choice of heading.
Paragraph F
Paragraph F tells a bit more about other extinct species and ends with a conclusion:
Unfortunately, all of these species are extinct nowadays. This fact shows us that even strong, monstrous
creatures can easily die out. So we need to care about animals that surround us today and don't let them
disappear as it happened to their distant ancestors.
This conclusion is the main idea of this paragraph - we need to protect animals. That's why the correct
heading is Importance of animal protection.

IELTS Reading Lesson 5: Skimming and Scanning

Skimming and scanning are two very effective (yet different) strategies for speed-reading.
 Speed-reading: quickly read the text according to your purpose, getting only the information you
need.
Skimming
 Skimming means quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. To skim effectively, you need
to read only a part of the material.
How to skim?
1. Read the first paragraph attentively to get an idea of what will be discussed in the text.
2. Read the first (and sometimes the second) sentence of each paragraph - they give the main idea of the
paragraph.
3. After you have read the first sentences, your eyes should drop down to the end of the paragraph,
looking for important pieces of information, such as dates and names.
4. Read the last paragraph attentively as it may contain the summary.
Here’s a picture that illustrates skimming process:

Scanning
Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some questions.
Underline!
The questions on the IELTS Reading test often include dates, names, numbers, new terms, or
other keywords. So, it’s a very good idea to underline those keywords while reading, so you could find the
answers in the text more easily.
How to scan?
1. Underline the important information while reading the text (dates, numbers, names, etc.)
2. When you read the question, identify the key word and scan the text for it. This way you’ll find the
answer more quickly.
Scanning process looks like this:

Practice
Now it's time for practice. Like on a real IELTS Reading test, you have to read the text and answer the
questions below.
First of all, let's practice skimming. When reading a text for the first time, you should skim over it to grasp
the main idea. In this example, read the highlighted text and quickly look over the rest of the text (you have
about 1-2 minutes):
Are electric cars really
eco-friendly? After you’ve skimmed the text, you should get the general idea:
Electric car drivers are one man imported an electric car to Singapore and was fined for that
saving the planet, right? because the car was considered as a polluter. It turned out that electric
Their vehicles produce
none of the pollutants that
dinosaur-burning, fossil-
fuel-powered machines
cars can also be dangerous for the environment because electric energy used to charge them is produced
at power stations, which emit pollutants.
1. What is the aim of this text?
A. To discourage people from visiting Singapore
B. To prove that electric cars are less eco-friendly than fossil-fuel-powered machines
C. To show that we need to count the emissions of power stations to see how green an electric car is.
 This question can be answered immediately after you skimmed over the text. Here, you’re required
to understand only the main idea of the passage.
The correct answer is C. It’s also stated in the last paragraph:
But what about the bigger picture - should we be factoring in the emissions of power stations when working
out how green an electric car is? The logical answer is yes.
2. When the owner of the electric car went to Singapore, he received
A. a rebate of around US$10,800
B. a fine of around US$10,800
C. a fine of around US$15,000
 This question, unlike the previous one, requires specific detail: amount of money. To answer it, you
should scan the text for words $10,800 and $15,000. Don’t read the text again! Just search for these two
keywords. Once you have found the right sentence, read it attentively to get the answer.
The sentence that contains these keywords is in the third paragraph:
Instead of an expected rebate of around S$15,000 (US$10,800) he received a fine of the same amount for
being a gross polluter.
Now it’s clear to us that the correct answer is B.
3. To prove that electric car was a gross polluter, the authorities in Singapore calculated the
______________ of generating the electricity to charge the car.
After you skimmed over the article, you should know that the Singapore authorities and charging car were
mentioned somewhere in the middle of the text. Moreover, you have another clue: the answer should be
after the answer to question 3. You can find the right answer by these keywords:
-authorities in Singapore
-electricity to charge the car.
If you scan the text for these keywords, you will find the answer in the fourth paragraph:
The Singapore authorities calculated the ‘carbon cost’ of generating the electricity that will be used to
charge the car.
The correct answer is carbon cost.

IELTS Reading lesson 6: Classification.

Useful information:
-Answers here do not necessarily appear in order of the passage.
-You may use each option more than once.
 Classification questions look like this on the question paper:
Classify the following statements as referring to
A Matthew Walker
B Ravi Allada
C Paul-Antoine Libourel

Write the appropriate letters A, B or C in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet:

1) There are three main behavioral features incident to sleep.

2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd.

3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep but developed it.

5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.

How to answer classification questions in IELTS Reading?

1. Look at the given options (A, B, C).
2. Skim over the text to get its general idea and see where each option is described. It may be useful to
underline the options in the text, so it will be easier for you to find them later.
3. Attentively read all the information that relates to option A.
4. Read the statements. If the statement corresponds to what you have just read, then classify it as A.
You may use scanning to find the keywords from the statement in the text.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with other options (B, C etc.)
Practice
To understand the theory better, let’s look at the following example: read the text and answer the
questions below.
Questions 1-7

Classify the following statements as referring to

A. Matthew Walker
B. Ravi Allada
C. Paul-Antoine Libourel
Write the appropriate letters A, B or C in boxes 1-7:
1) There are three main behavioral features incident to sleep. ______
2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd. ______
3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye movement sleep. ______
4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep but developed it. ______
5) Sleep makes animals' reaction slower. ______
6) Every major system in human's body suffers because of lack of sleep. ______
7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.
Let’s take a closer look at the answering strategy and use it in practice.
+Firstly, you look at the given options and skim over the text. You have 3 options on which you should
focus:
 Matthew Walker
 Ravi Allada
 Paul-Antoine Libourel
+After skimming  “divide” the text into 3 parts, each part relating to one option. We’ve colored
information relating to Matthew Walker in blue, information about Ravi Allada in rose , and the part
about Paul-Antoine Libourel in yellow.
Now, read the first part attentively and look through the list of statements.
 Why do we sleep?
Researchers have found that sleep is beneficial to humans in many ways: it helps us process memories,
and keeps our social and emotional lives on track. Yet we still do not really know how, why or even
exactly when sleep evolved.
“The cost of losing consciousness to survival is astronomical,” says Matthew Walker at the University of
California in Berkeley. Whatever functions sleep performs, they must be so fundamentally important that
they far outweigh the obvious vulnerability associated with being asleep.
This means we can confidently reject one of the simplest theories of sleep: that we drift off simply
because we have nothing better to do. This could be described as the indolence theory of sleep. Once an
animal has eaten, seen off any rivals and exhausted any potential mating opportunities, it effectively has
an empty schedule, and losing consciousness kills time for a few hours.
It is a fun idea, but considering that a sleeping animal is significantly more likely to be caught and eaten
than a waking animal, this hypothesis makes “zero sense”, says Walker.
There is now an emerging consensus on the behavioural features that define sleep, and these features can
be used to look for sleep in simple animals, says Ravi Allada at Northwestern University in Evanston,
Illinois.
There are three main elements, says Allada. First and foremost, sleep renders an animal quiet and still:
muscles are not very active during sleep. Second, sleep makes animals slower to respond. For instance, if
you make a loud noise near a sleeping animal, it will react more slowly than an awake animal. And
finally, we can recognise sleep because it keeps animals from getting tired.
“I believe that the behavioural features used to characterise sleep are quite reliable for identifying this
behaviour in animals… and to differentiate sleep from a simple rest,” says Paul-Antoine Libourel at the
Lyon Neuroscience Research Center in France.
According to Libourel, sleep now appears to be an almost universal feature of animal life. “This suggests
that sleep is fundamental for the survival of species. Natural selection did not suppress it. In fact, natural
selection did the exact opposite: it built on the concept of sleep, adding in new stages and new functions.”
“At some point in prehistory, the most famous of all stages of sleep appeared: rapid eye movement
(REM) sleep,” says Walker. “Non-REM sleep was the original form.”
Sleep impacts every major system in the body. Cut down on sleep and it is not just your brain that
struggles: the reproductive, metabolic, cardiovascular, thermoregulatory and immune systems all suffer
too, says Libourel.
All the explanations for sleep we have looked at ultimately boil down to the same thing: sleep is a state
we enter to fix the systems that are put under stress when we are awake.

Answers & explanations

A. As you’ve read the information relating to Matthew Walker, look through the list of statements and see
which ones correspond to what you have just read:
1) There are three main behavioral features incident to sleep.
2) The idea that we sleep because we have nothing else to do is absurd.
3) At some point in the evolution, a new stage of sleep appeared: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep, but developed it.
5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.
6) Every major system in human’s body suffers because of lack of sleep.
7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.
Sentences 2 and 3 belong to Matthew Walker. At the beginning of the text, he said:
This means we can confidently reject one of the simplest theories of sleep: that we drift off simply because
we have nothing better to do.
 At the end of the passage, there’s Walker’s quote:
At some point in prehistory, the most famous of all stages of sleep appeared: rapid eye movement (REM)
sleep.
B. Other statements are not referred to Mr. Walker, so we put the letter A near statements 2 and 3 and
move on to the next part. Now you should carefully read Ravi Allada’s part and look through the rest of the
statements:
1) There are three main behavioral features incident to sleep.
4) Natural selection did not suppress sleep but developed it.
5) Sleep makes animals’ reaction slower.
6) Every major system in human’s body suffers because of lack of sleep.
7) Muscles are not very active during sleep.
Again, it is clear from the text that Ravi Allada describes 3 behavioral features that define sleep (statement
1). The first feature corresponds to statement 7:
First and foremost, sleep renders an animal quiet and still: muscles are not very active during sleep.
The second feature corresponds to statement 5:
Second, sleep makes animals slower to respond.
So, statements 1, 5, and 7 correspond to answer B.
C.  Now, there are only statements 4 and 6 left. If you read the information referred to Paul-Antoine
Libourel, you will make sure that statements 4 and 6 correspond to answer C.

IELTS Reading Lesson 7 - Diagram Completion

Answering strategy:
 Read the text, underlining the new terms and important names.
 Look at the diagram and think which parts of it you can label.
  Check your assumptions by looking back at underlined terms and label the parts you’re sure of.
 If there are some unlabeled parts left, check the diagram for keywords. Then, scan the text for the right
answer.
Tips:
 Always underline new terms in the text - 99% that will be used in the questions.
 The keywords in the diagram may help you to complete it.
Example:
Label the parts of a leaf on the diagram below. Choose ONE WORD from the Reading Passage for each
answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
Leaves' structure Remember this useful technique: underline new terms as you read. In this
example, we've underlined all the new terms for you
Plants play a very
important role in our
surroundings. Trees Answers and explanations
provide us with fresh air, 1. The arrow near the number 1 points to the little threads in the middle of
shade in summer, food, the leaf. After you look at the underlined words, you’ll see what’s
and other benefits without written in the fourth paragraph:
which we cannot even
think of living. If you look closer at leaves, you will notice networks of thin threads.
Those networks are called veins.
One of the most principal So the correct answer is: veins or vein.
organs of a tree is a leaf.
2. The second arrow points to a large vein in the center of the leaf. The last
The leaves are the organs
for photosynthesis - a sentence of the fourth paragraph says:
process when carbon The main vein of a leaf, running down the center of the leaf, is called
dioxide is turned into midrib.
oxygen. The structures of
So, the correct answer is: midrib.
leaves are adapted for
efficient photosynthesis. 3. The bracket near number 3 captures the main part of the leaf. The third
paragraph tells us that
Most leaves are broad and The blade is the broad, flat part of the leaf.
so have a large surface
area allowing them to Thus, the correct answer is blade.
absorb more light. Also, 4. The fourth part you have to label is the part of the leaf that connects it to
they are thin, which means the plant’s stem. And once again, you scan the text for the underlined
a short distance for carbon words and see this phrase in the last paragraph:
dioxide to diffuse in and
oxygen to diffuse out The area of some plants that connects the plant's stem and leaf is called
easily. The blade is the the petiole.
broad, flat part of the leaf. So, the correct answer is petiole.
Photosynthesis occurs in
the blade, which has many Test 1
green food-making cells.
READING PASSAGE 1
If you look closer at You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on
leaves, you will notice Reading Passage 1 below.
networks of thin threads.
Those networks are Aphantasia: A life without mental images
called veins: they support Close your eyes and imagine walking along a sandy beach and
the structure of the leaf
and transport substances to
then gazing over the horizon as the Sun rises. How clear is the
and from the cells in the image that springs to mind?
leaf. The main vein of a
leaf, running down the
center of the leaf, is
Most people can readily conjure images inside their head - known as their mind's eye. But this year scientists
have described a condition, aphantasia, in which some people are unable to visualize mental images.
Niel Kenmuir, from Lancaster, has always had a blind mind's eye. He knew he was different even in
childhood. "My stepfather, when I couldn't sleep, told me to count sheep, and he explained what he meant, I
tried to do it and I couldn't," he says. "I couldn't see any sheep jumping over fences, there was nothing to
count."
Our memories are often tied up in images, think back to a wedding or first day at school. As a result, Niel
admits, some aspects of his memory are "terrible", but he is very good at remembering facts. And, like
others with aphantasia, he struggles to recognize faces. Yet he does not see aphantasia as a disability, but
simply a different way of experiencing life.
Mind's eye blind
Ironically, Niel now works in a bookshop, although he largely sticks to the non-fiction aisles. His condition
begs the question of what is going on inside his picture-less mind. I asked him what happens when he tries
to picture his fiancée. "This is the hardest thing to describe, what happens in my head when I think about
things," he says. "When I think about my fiancee there is no image, but I am definitely thinking about her, I
know today she has her hair up at the back, she's brunette. But I'm not describing an image I am looking at,
I'm remembering features about her, that's the strangest thing and maybe that is a source of some regret."
The response from his mates is a very sympathetic: "You're weird." But while Niel is very relaxed about his
inability to picture things, it is often a cause of distress for others. One person who took part in a study into
aphantasia said he had started to feel "isolated" and "alone" after discovering that other people could see
images in their heads. Being unable to reminisce about his mother years after her death led to him being
"extremely distraught".
The super-visualizer
At the other end of the spectrum is children's book illustrator, Lauren Beard, whose work on the Fairytale
Hairdresser series will be familiar to many six-year-olds. Her career relies on the vivid images that leap into
her mind's eye when she reads text from her author. When I met her in her box-room studio in Manchester,
she was working on a dramatic scene in the next book. The text describes a baby perilously climbing onto a
chandelier.
"Straightaway I can visualise this grand glass chandelier in some sort of French kind of ballroom, and the
little baby just swinging off it and really heavy thick curtains," she says. "I think I have a strong imagination,
so I can create the world and then keep adding to it so it gets sort of bigger and bigger in my mind and the
characters too they sort of evolve. I couldn't really imagine what it's like to not imagine, I think it must be a
bit of a shame really."
Not many people have mental imagery as vibrant as Lauren or as blank as Niel. They are the two extremes
of visualization. Adam Zeman, a professor of cognitive and behavioral neurology, wants to compare the
lives and experiences of people with aphantasia and its polar-opposite hyperphantasia. His team, based at the
University of Exeter, coined the term aphantasia this year in a study in the journal Cortex.
Prof Zeman tells the BBC: "People who have contacted us say they are really delighted that this has been
recognized and has been given a name because they have been trying to explain to people for years that
there is this oddity that they find hard to convey to others." How we imagine is clearly very subjective - one
person's vivid scene could be another's grainy picture. But Prof Zeman is certain that aphantasia is real.
People often report being able to dream in pictures, and there have been reported cases of people losing the
ability to think in images after a brain injury.
He is adamant that aphantasia is "not a disorder" and says it may affect up to one in 50 people. But he adds:
"I think it makes quite an important difference to their experience of life because many of us spend our lives
with imagery hovering somewhere in the mind's eye which we inspect from time to time, it's a variability of
human experience."
Questions 1–5
Do the following statements agree with the information in the IELTS reading text?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. Aphantasia is a condition that describes people, for whom it is hard to visualize mental images.
2. Niel Kenmuir was unable to count sheep in his head.
3. People with aphantasia struggle to remember personal traits and clothes of different people.
4. Niel regrets that he cannot portray an image of his fiancée in his mind.
5. The inability to picture things in someone's head is often a cause of distress for a person.
6. All people with aphantasia start to feel 'isolated' or 'alone' at some point in their lives.
7. Lauren Beard's career depends on her imagination.
8. The author met Lauren Beard when she was working on a comedy scene in her next book.

Questions 9–13
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
9. Only a small fraction of people have imagination as __________________ as Lauren does.
10. Hyperphantasia is _____________________ to aphantasia.
11. There are a lot of subjectivity in comparing people's imagination - somebody's vivid scene could be
another person's ____________________________.
12. Prof Zeman is ____________________________ that aphantasia is not an illness.
13. Many people spend their lives with ____________________ somewhere in the mind's eye.
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Life lessons from villains, crooks, and gangsters

(A) A notorious Mexican drug baron’s audacious escape from prison in July doesn’t, at first, appear to have
much to teach corporate boards. But some in the business world suggest otherwise. Beyond the morally
reprehensible side of criminals' work, some business gurus say organized crime syndicates, computer
hackers, pirates and others operating outside the law could teach legitimate corporations a thing or two about
how to hustle and respond to rapid change.

(B) Far from encouraging illegality, these gurus argue that – in the same way big corporations sometimes
emulate start-ups – business leaders could learn from the underworld about flexibility, innovation, and the
ability to pivot quickly. “There is a nimbleness to criminal organizations that legacy corporations [with
large, complex layers of management] don’t have,” said Marc Goodman, head of the Future Crimes Institute
and global cyber-crime advisor. While traditional businesses focus on rules they have to follow, criminals
look to circumvent them. “For criminals, the sky is the limit and that creates the opportunity to think much,
much bigger.”

(C) Joaquin Guzman, the head of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel, for instance, slipped out of his prison cell
through a tiny hole in his shower that led to a mile-long tunnel fitted with lights and ventilation. Making a
break for it required creative thinking, long-term planning and perseverance – essential skills similar to those
needed to achieve success in big business.

(D) While Devin Liddell, who heads brand strategy for Seattle-based design consultancy, Teague, condemns
the violence and other illegal activities he became curious as to how criminal groups endure. Some cartels
stay in business despite multiple efforts by law enforcement on both sides of the US border and millions of
dollars from international agencies to shut them down. Liddell genuinely believes there’s a lesson in
longevity here. One strategy he underlined was how the bad guys respond to change. In order to bypass the
border between Mexico and the US, for example, the Sinaloa cartel went to great lengths. It built a vast
underground tunnel, hired family members as border agents and even used a catapult to circumvent a high-
tech fence.

(E) By contrast, many legitimate businesses fail because they hesitate to adapt quickly to changing market
winds. One high-profile example is movie and game rental company Blockbuster, which didn’t keep up with
the market and lost business to mail order video rentals and streaming technologies. The brand has all but
faded from view. Liddell argues the difference between the two groups is that criminal organisations often
have improvisation encoded into their daily behaviour, while larger companies think of innovation as a set
process. “This is a leadership challenge,” said Liddell. “How well companies innovate and organise is a
reflection of leadership.”
Left-field thinking

(F) Cash-strapped start-ups also use unorthodox strategies to problem solve and build their businesses up
from scratch. This creativity and innovation is often borne out of necessity, such as tight budgets. Both
criminals and start-up founders “question authority, act outside the system and see new and clever ways of
doing things,” said Goodman. “Either they become Elon Musk or El Chapo.” And, some entrepreneurs
aren’t even afraid to operate in legal grey areas in their effort to disrupt the marketplace. The co-founders of
music streaming service Napster, for example, knowingly broke music copyright rules with their first online
file sharing service, but their technology paved the way for legal innovation as regulators caught up.

(G) Goodman and others believe thinking hard about problem solving before worrying about restrictions
could prevent established companies falling victim to rivals less constrained by tradition. In their book The
Misfit Economy, Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips examine how individuals can apply that mindset to
become more innovative and entrepreneurial within corporate structures. They studied not just violent
criminals like Somali pirates, but others who break the rules to find creative solutions to their business
problems, such as people living in the slums of Mumbai or computer hackers. They picked out five common
traits among this group: the ability to hustle, pivot, provoke, hack, and copycat.

(H) Clay gives a Saudi entrepreneur named Walid Abdul-Wahab as a prime example. Abdul-Wahab worked
with Amish farmers to bring camel milk to American consumers even before US regulators approved it.
Through perseverance, he eventually found a network of Amish camel milk farmers and started selling the
product via social media. Now his company, Desert Farms, sells to giant mainstream retailers like Whole
Foods Market. Those on the fringe don’t always have the option of traditional, corporate jobs and that forces
them to think more creatively about how to make a living, Clay said. They must develop grit and resilience
to last outside the cushy confines of cubicle life. “In many cases, scarcity is the mother of invention,” Clay
said.
Questions 14-21
Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs A-H. Match the headings below with the paragraphs. Write the
correct letter, A-H, in boxes 14-21 on your answer sheet.
14. Jailbreak with creative thinking ______
15. Five common traits among rule-breakers ______
16. Comparison between criminals and traditional businessmen ______
17. Can drug baron's espace teach legitimate corporations? ______
18. Great entrepreneur ______
19. How criminal groups deceive the law ______
20. The difference between legal and illegal organizations ______
21. Similarity between criminals and start-up founders ______
Questions 22–25
Complete the sentences below.
Write ONLY ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22–25 on your answer sheet.
22. To escape from a prison, Joaquin Guzman had to use such traits as creative thinking, long-term planning,
and _______________________.
23. The Sinaloa cartel built a grand underground tunnel and even used a ______________ to avoid the
fence.
24. The main difference between the two groups is that criminals, unlike large corporations, often have
_____________ encoded into their daily lives.
25. Due to being persuasive, Walid Abdul-Wahab found a ______________ of Amish camel milk farmers.
Question 26
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
26. The main goal of this article is to:
A. Show different ways of illegal activity.
B. Give an overview of various criminals and their gangs.
C. Draw a comparison between legal and illegal business, providing examples.
D. Justify criminals with creative thinking.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Britain needs strong TV industry

Comedy writer Armando Iannucci has called for an industry-wide defense of the BBC and British
programmed-makers. "The Thick of It" creator made his remarks in the annual MacTaggart Lecture at the
Edinburgh TV Festival.
"It's more important than ever that we have stronger, more popular channels... that act as beacons, drawing
audiences to the best content," he said. Speaking earlier, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale rejected
suggestions that he wanted to dismantle the BBC.

'Champion supporters'

Iannucci co-wrote "I'm Alan Partridge", wrote the movie "In the Loop" and created and wrote the
hit "HBO" and "Sky Atlantic show Veep". He delivered the 40th annual MacTaggart Lecture, which has
previously been given by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, former BBC director general Greg Dyke, Jeremy
Paxman and Rupert Murdoch. Iannucci said: "Faced with a global audience, British television needs its
champion supporters."
He continued his praise for British programming by saying the global success of American TV shows had
come about because they were emulating British television. "The best US shows are modelling themselves
on what used to make British TV so world-beating," he said. "US prime-time schedules are now littered with
those quirky formats from the UK - the "Who Do You Think You Are"'s and the variants on "Strictly Come
Dancing" - as well as the single-camera non-audience sitcom, which we brought into the mainstream first.
We have changed international viewing for the better."
With the renewal of the BBC's royal charter approaching, Iannucci also praised the corporation. He said: "If
public service broadcasting - one of the best things we've ever done creatively as a country - if it was a car
industry, our ministers would be out championing it overseas, trying to win contracts, boasting of the British
jobs that would bring." In July, the government issued a green paper setting out issues that will be explored
during negotiations over the future of the BBC, including the broadcaster's size, its funding and governance.
Primarily Mr Whittingdale wanted to appoint a panel of five people, but finally he invited two more people
to advise on the channer renewal, namely former Channel 4 boss Dawn Airey and journalism professor
Stewart Purvis, a former editor-in-chief of ITN. Iannucci bemoaned the lack of "creatives" involved in the
discussions.
"When the media, communications and information industries make up nearly 8% our GDP, larger than the
car and oil and gas industries put together, we need to be heard, as those industries are heard. But when I see
the panel of experts who've been asked by the culture secretary to take a root and branch look at the BBC, I
don't see anyone who is a part of that cast and crew list. I see executives, media owners, industry gurus, all
talented people - but not a single person who's made a classic and enduring television show."

'Don't be modest.’

Iannucci suggested one way of easing the strain on the license fee was "by pushing ourselves more
commercially abroad".
"Use the BBC's name, one of the most recognized brands in the world," he said. "And use the reputation of
British television across all networks, to capitalize financially oversees. Be more aggressive in selling our
shows, through advertising, through proper international subscription channels, freeing up BBC Worldwide
to be fully commercial, whatever it takes.
"Frankly, don't be icky and modest about making money, let's monetize the bezeesus Mary and Joseph out of
our programs abroad so that money can come back, take some pressure off the license fee at home and be
invested in even more ambitious quality shows, that can only add to our value."
Mr Whittingdale, who was interviewed by ITV News' Alastair Stewart at the festival, said he wanted an
open debate about whether the corporation should do everything it has done in the past. He said he had a
slight sense that people who rushed to defend the BBC were "trying to have an argument that's never been
started".
"Whatever my view is, I don't determine what programs the BBC should show," he added. "That's the job of
the BBC." Mr Whittingdale said any speculation that the Conservative Party had always wanted to change
the BBC due to issues such as its editorial line was "absolute nonsense".
Questions 27-31
Do the following statements agree with the information in the IELTS reading text?
In boxes 27–31 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

27. Armando Iannucci expressed the need of having more popular channels.
28. John Whittingdale wanted to dismantle the BBC.
29. Iannucci delivered the 30th annual MacTaggart Lecture.
30. Iannucci believes that British television has contributed to the success of American TV shows.
31. There have been negotiations over the future of the BBC in July.

Questions 32–35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet.
32. Iannucci praised everything EXCEPT ______.
A. US shows
B. British shows
C. Corporation
D. British programming
33. To advise on the charter renewal Mr Whittingdale appointed a panel of _________.
A. five people
B. two people
C. seven people
D. four people
34. Who of these people was NOT invited to the discussion concerning BBC renewal?
A. Armando Iannucci
B. Dawn Airey
C. John Whittingdale
D. Stewart Purvis
35. There panel of experts lacks:
A. media owners
B. people who make enduring TV-shows
C. gurus of Television industry
D. top executives
Questions 36–40
Complete the summary below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet.

Easing the strain on the

license fees
Iannucci recommended Section 1
increasing BBC's profit by 1. False
pushing ourselves 2. True
more 36____________. H 3. Not Given
e suggests being more
4. True
aggressive in selling
British shows, through 5. True
advertising and proper 6. Not Given
international 37 7. True
______. Also, he invokes 8. False
producers to stop being 38
9. Vibrant
__________ and modest
about making money and 10. Polar-opposite
invest into even 39 11. Grainy picture
___________ quality 12. Adamant
shows. However, Mr 13. Imagery hovering
Whittingdale denied
Section 2
any 40__________ that
14. C
the Conservative Party had
always wanted to change 15. G
the BBC because of its 16. B
editorial line. 17. A
18. H
19. D
20. E
21. F
22. Perseverance
23. Catapult
24. Improvisation
25. Network
26. C
Section 3
27. True
28. False
29. Not Given
30. True
31. False
32. A
33. C
34. A
35. B
36. commercially abroad
37. subscription channels
38. icky
39. more ambitious
40. speculation