IELTS Academic Reading test 1

This page will help you practise for the IELTS Academic reading test.
Read about the settlement at Skara Brae and answer the questions.
Skara Brae
Off the Northern tip of Scotland, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea, lies a group of 70 or so islands
called the Orkneys. These largely treeless isles are frequently battered by Atlantic storms, gales and rain. It was
during one such storm in the winter of 1850, when the combination of wind and high tides stripped away the grass
from the top of a small hill called Skerrabra on the west side of the largest island known simply as ‘The Mainland’.
This revealed a number of stone dwellings.
The local landowner started excavations on the site, and within twenty years the remains of four ancient houses were
unearthed. However, work was later abandoned until 1925 when another storm damaged some of the excavated
buildings. A sea wall was proposed to protect the site, and, during construction, yet more buildings were discovered.
It was first believed that the village was an Iron Age settlement, dating from around 1500 years ago. However,
radiocarbon dating proved that it was in fact much older. It was a Neolithic village and dated back to 3000 B.C. The
village had been inhabited for a period of about 600 years. The Neolithic village of Skara Brae now consists of eight
dwellings, connected by low, covered passages. The stone buildings are extremely well-preserved, thanks to the
layer of sand that protected the settlement. The interior fittings, furniture and household objects also survive to this
day. 
The houses were partly built into a mound of waste material known as ‘midden’, which would have provided both
stability and a thick layer of thick insulation against the harsh climate. From the outside, the village would have
looked like a low, round mound, from which the rooves emerge. Nothing remains of these, so it is assumed that
driftwood or whalebone beams supported a roof made of turf, skins, seaweed or straw. The dwellings were all
connected by a series of passageways covered by stone slabs. This allowed the villagers to travel from one house to
another without stepping outside – not a bad idea, considering the harsh climate. There was only one main
passageway leading outside the village, which could be sealed from the inside.
Evidence suggests that there were never more than eight dwellings, suggesting a total population of no more than
100 people. The houses are all very similar in design, consisting of a large square room with a central fireplace. The
furnishings were all made of stone, given the shortage of wood on the islands. Two stone-edged compartments on
either side of the fireplace appear to be beds. Every house also had a distinctive shelved, stone dresser. Its position,
opposite the doorway and illuminated by the fire, indicating that this piece of furniture was not just a useful storage
space, but had special significance. There was a sunken floor tank in each dwelling, possibly to supply shell fish.
The village also had a remarkably sophisticated drainage system.
One of the buildings, now known as ‘house seven’, is intriguingly different from the others. This building is
detached from the others, and has a door which door could only be secured from the outside, suggesting that the
house may have served as a type of jail – an unusual necessity in a village of less than a hundred people. ‘House
eight’ is also unique, having none of the furnishings of the other houses. Excavators have found that the floor of the
building is littered with fragments from the manufacture of tools, suggesting that the room was a workshop.
The standardised house design has led some to believe that there was no hierarchy of rank within the settlement at
Skara Brae, and that all villagers were equal. Whether or not this is true is debatable. However, it is likely that life
here was probably quite comfortable for the Neolithic people. The villagers kept sheep and cattle, and grew wheat
and barley. They probably traded these commodities for pottery. They would have hunted red deer and boar for their
meat and skins. They would also have consumed fish, seal and whale meat, and the eggs of sea birds. The skin and
bones of these animals would have provided tools such as needles and knives. Flint for cutting tools would have
been traded or gathered from the shore.  Fuel probably came from seaweed, making the inside of the dwellings
smoky and probably smelly. Driftwood was probably too valuable to burn.
Why Skara Brae was deserted is still unknown. For some time it was thought that the people met with disaster. This
theory came about when beads from a necklace were found abandoned on the floor.  It was thought that the woman
who dropped them was in too much of a panic to pick them up. However, it is more likely that environmental and
social factors forced people to leave. Firstly, the encroachment of sand and salt water would have made farming
increasingly difficult. Second, there may have been changes in Neolithic society. Construction of large henge
monuments in other parts of the island suggests that an elite ruling body, with the power to control other people, was
emerging. Tight-knit communities like the one at Skara Brae were being replaced by larger, organised civilizations. 

1. The village of Skara Brae is located on an island called  The Mainland

2. In 1925, …  excavations resumed after a storm

3. The village is about…  5000 years old

Choose the correct material from the list. You may need an answer more than once. You will not need to use them
all.

4. What preserved the village for such a long time?  sand

5. What surrounded the walls and kept the buildings warm?  midden

6. What building material did the villagers lack?  wood

7. What did villagers obtain from other settlements, by exchanging goods?  pottery

8. What did villagers burn for warmth and cooking?  seaweed

9. What were the passage roofs made of?  stone

Answer the questions with up to three words or a number.

Which piece of furniture appears to be most important?     dresser

How many of the buildings have identical features?     6

What discovery caused people to believe there had been a disaster at Skara Brae?   .
beads

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 IELTS Academic Reading test 2

Read a text about 'Wind Power in the US' and answer some questions.
Read the text and then answer questions 1-5.

Wind Power in the US

Prompted by the oil crises of the 1970s, a wind-power industry flourished briefly in the United States. But then
world oil prices dropped, and funding for research into renewable energy was cut. By the mid 1980s US interest in
wind energy as a large-scale source of energy had almost disappeared. The development of wind power at this time
suffered not only from badly designed equipment, but also from poor long-term planning, economic projections that
were too optimistic and the difficulty of finding suitable locations for the wind turbines.
Only now are technological advances beginning to offer hope that wind power will come to be accepted as a reliable
and important source of electricity. There have been significant successes in California, in particular, where wind
farms now have a capacity of 1500 megawatts, comparable to a large nuclear or fossil-fuelled power station, and
produce 1.5 per cent of the state’s electricity.
Nevertheless, in the US, the image of wind power is still distorted by early failures. One of the most persistent
criticisms is that wind power is not a significant energy resource. Researchers at the Battelle Northwest Laboratory,
however, estimate that today wind turbine technology could supply 20 per cent of the electrical power the country
needs. As a local resource, wind power has even greater potential. Minnesota’s energy commission calculates that a
wind farm on one of the state’s south western ridges could supply almost all that state’s electricity. North Dakota
alone has enough sites suitable for wind farms to supply more than a third of all electricity consumed in the
continental US.
The prevailing notion that wind power is too costly results largely from early research which focused on turbines
with huge blades that stood hundreds of metres tall. These machines were not designed for ease of production or
maintenance, and they were enormously expensive. Because the major factors influencing the overall cost of wind
power are the cost of the turbine and its supporting systems, including land, as well as operating and maintenance
costs, it is hardly surprising that it was thought at the time that wind energy could not be supplied at a commercially
competitive price. More recent developments such as those seen on California wind farms have dramatically
changed the economic picture for wind energy. These systems, like installations in Hawaii and several European
countries, have benefited from the economies of scale that come through standardised manufacturing and
purchasing. The result has been a dramatic drop in capital costs: the installed cost of new wind turbines stood at
$1000 per kilowatt in 1993, down from about $4000 per kilowatt in 1980, and continues to fall. Design
improvements and more efficient maintenance programs for large numbers of turbines have reduced operating costs
as well. The cost of electricity delivered by wind farm turbines has decreased from about 30 cents per kilowatt-hour
to between 7 and 9 cents, which is generally less than the cost of electricity from conventional power stations.
Reliability has also improved dramatically. The latest turbines run more than 95 per cent of the time, compared with
around 60 per cent in the early 1980s. Another misconception is that improved designs are needed to make wind
power feasible. Out of the numerous wind turbine designs proposed or built by inventors or developers, the
propeller-blade type, which is based on detailed analytical models as well as extensive experimental data, has
emerged as predominant among the more than 20,000 machines now in commercial operation world-wide. Like the
gas-driven turbines that power jet aircraft, these are sophisticated pieces of rotating machinery. They are already
highly efficient, and there is no reason to believe that other configurations will produce major benefits. Like other
ways of generating electricity, wind power does not leave the environment entirely unharmed. There are many
potential problems, ranging from interference with telecommunications to impact on wildlife and natural habitats.
But these effects must be balanced against those associated with other forms of electricity generation. Conventional
power stations impose hidden costs on society, such as the control of air pollution, the management of nuclear waste
and global warming. As wind power has been ignored in the US over the past few years, expertise and commercial
exploitation in the field have shifted to Europe. The European Union spends 10 times as much as the US
government on research and development of wind energy. It estimates that at least 10 per cent of Europe’s electrical
power could be supplied by land-based wind-turbines using current technology. Indeed, according to the American
Wind Energy Association, an independent organisation based in Washington, Denmark, Britain, Spain and the
Netherlands will each surpass the US in the generating capacity of wind turbines installed during the rest of the
decade.

1  Which one of the statements is true?

 Cost was a big factor in preventing the development of wind power
 Wind power can provide enough electricty for the United States
 Wind power has developed steadily since the 1970s.
 Some US states are powered solely by wind

2  What is the general view of wind energy in the United States?

 very positive
 it will reduce global warming
 it can only provide small amounts of energy
 very negative

3  Which of these factors has not contributed to the reduced cost of wind energy?
 state subsidies
 economies of scale
 standardisation of design
 more efficient maintenance

4  Wind turbine designs ...

 are already very good
 are expected to improve in the future
 will be much more efficient in the future
 are good for the environment

5  Wind energy is more developed in Europe than the USA

 false
 IELTS Academic Reading test 3
Read the passage and then complete Parts 1, 2 and 3.
The gangs behind bars - prison gangs

Part 1
Prison gangs are flourishing across the country. Organized, stealthy and deadly, they are reaching out from their
cells to organize and control crime in America's streets.
Prison gangs are flourishing from California to Massachusetts. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of Prisons found that
prison disturbances soared by about 400 percent in the early nineties, which authorities say indicated that gangs
were becoming more active. In states such as Illinois, as much as 60 percent of the prison population belong to
gangs, Godwin says. The Florida DC has identified 240 street gangs operating in their prisons. Street gangs, as
opposed to gangs originating in prisons, are emerging as a larger problem on the East Coast.
Of the 143,000 inmates Texas houses in state pens, 5,000 have been identified as gang members and another 10,000
are under suspicion. Texas prison-gang expert Sammy Buentello says the state's prisons are not infested with gangs,
but those that have set up shop are highly organized. "They have a paramilitary type structure;' he says. "A majority
of the people that come in have had experience with street-gang membership and have been brought up in that
environment accepting it as the norm. But some join for survival."
After James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death in Jasper last June, rumors spread throughout Texas linking two of the
suspected assailants to racially charged prison gangs. While authorities and inmates dismiss these rumors, the Jasper
murder occurred only weeks after a San Antonio grand jury indicted 16 members of the Mexican Mafia, one of the
state's largest and most lethal prison gangs, for ordering the deaths of five people in San Antonio from within prison
walls.

Part 2

Section A
As they are being released into the community on parole, these people are becoming involved in actions related to
prison-gang business. Consequently, it is no longer just a corrections problem--it is also a community problem. It is
a misnomer that when you lock a gang member up they cease criminal activity. It has only been in the last five years
that law enforcement has realized that what happens on the inside can affect what happens on the outside and vice
versa.

Section B
According to gang investigators, the gang leaders communicate orders through letters. Where mail is monitored they
may use a code--for instance, making every 12th word of a seemingly benign letter significant. They use visits, they
put messages into their artwork and in some states they use the telephone.

Section C
Of the two kinds of gangs, prison gangs and street gangs, the prison gangs are better organized, according to gang
investigators. They are low-key, discreet--even stealthy. They monitor members and dictate how they behave and
treat each other. A serious violation means death, say investigators.

Section D
The street gangs are more flagrant. "Their members are going into the prisons and realizing that one of the reasons
they are in prison is that they kept such a high profile" making it easier for the police to catch them, says Buentello.
"So, they are coming out more sophisticated and more dangerous because they aren't as easily detected. They also
network and keep track of who is out and so forth."

Section E
According to gang investigators and prisoners, the prison gangs were formed for protection against predatory
inmates, but racketeering, black markets and racism became factors. They developed within the prison system in
California, Texas and Illinois in the 1940s.
Part 3
Godwin says Texas should never have outlawed smoking in the prisons, adding cigarettes as trade-goods contraband
to the prohibited list. "If you go back to the Civil War era, to Andersonville prison," Godwin says of the prisoner-of-
war facility for Union soldiers, "you will see that the first thing that developed was a gang because someone had to
control the contraband--that is power. I'm convinced that if you put three people on an island somewhere, two would
clique up and become predatory against the other at some point."
But protection remains an important factor. When a new inmate enters the prison system he is challenged to a fight,
according to a Texas state-pen prisoner. The outcome determines who can fight, who will be extorted for protection
money and who will become a servant to other prisoners. Those who can't join a gang or afford to spend $5 a week
in commissary items for protection are destined to be servants. Godwin explains: "The environment is set up so that
when you put that many people with antisocial behavior and criminal history together, someone is going to be the
predator and someone the prey, and that is reality."
The Texas inmate describes a system in which gangs often recruit like fraternities, targeting short-term inmates
because they can help the gang--pay them back, so to speak--when they leave prison for the free world. Most of the
groups thrive on lifelong membership, according to the Florida DC, with "blood in, blood out" oaths extending
leadership and membership beyond the prison into the lucrative drug trade, extortion and pressure rackets.
Prison gangs operating in Texas and Florida include Neta, the Texas Syndicate, the Aztecs, the Mexican Mafia, the
New Black Panthers, the Black Guerrilla Family, Mandingo Warriors, Aryan Brotherhood, La Nuestra Familia, the
Aryan Circle and the White Knights. Some of these gangs have alliances, and some are mortal enemies. Many on
this list originated in California over the decades, some of them (such as the Texas Syndicate) to protect members
from the other gangs. In addition, street gangs such as the Crips and Bloods and traditional racial-hate groups such
as the Ku Klux Klan also operate in the prisons.
What prisoners may not realize is that because the gangs are monitored by prison authorities the law-enforcement
community is becoming very sophisticated about the gangs. "Sixty percent of what we learn about what is going on
in the city streets of Florida" is garnered in prison and not from observing the streets, says Godwin.
Prison officials say they concentrate on inmate behavior to identify gang members. They do not single out gang
leaders to strike any deals because acknowledging the gang as anything other than a "security-threat group" gives
them too much credibility. This has been a particular problem in Puerto Rico with the native and political Neta gang.
Recognizing groups during the 1970s, in a system in which prisoners have the right to vote, has led to a tendency
among politicians to award clemency to some inmates.

For Part 1, questions 1 – 5, complete each sentence with the correct ending.

1. The rising number of criminal gangs ...  has

become evident in prisons

2. Prisoners organized in gangs ...  have been

manipulating crime from inside prison

3. Most prisoners ...  have experience of street

gangs

4. Some Texan state prisoners ...  are organized as if

in a martial regime
5. The outcome of fights ...  determines who does
what in prison

For Part 2, questions 6 – 10, choose the correct heading for Sections labelled A to E in the passage.

6. Section A  inter-relationship of prison

and outside community

7. Section B  Secretive leadership from the

inside

8. Section C  Discipline within prison gangs

9. Section D  Skills learnt at prisons

10. Section E  Origins of prison gangs

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IELTS Academic Reading test 4

This page will help you practise for the IELTS Academic reading test.
Read the article and answer the questions
A Revolution in Knowledge Sharing

The pressure to transform our institutions of learning continues. Virtually every enterprise and institution is
grappling with the disruptions and opportunities caused by Web-enabled infrastructures and practices. New best
practices, business models, innovations, and strategies are emerging, including new ways to acquire, assimilate, and
share knowledge. Using technologies that are already developed or that will be deployed over the next five years,
best practices in knowledge sharing not only are diffusing rapidly but will be substantially reinvented in all settings:
educational institutions, corporations, government organizations, associations, and nonprofits. But institutions of
learning are in a unique position to benefit from an added opportunity: providing leadership in e-knowledge.

E-knowledge finds expression in many shapes and forms in a profoundly networked world. It is not just a digitised
collection of knowledge. E-knowledge consists of knowledge objects and knowledge flows that combine content,
context, and insights on application. E-knowledge also emerges from interactivity within and among communities of
practice and from the troves of tacit knowledge and tradecraft that can be understood only through conversations
with knowledgeable practitioners.

E-knowing is the act of achieving understanding by interacting with individuals, communities of practice, and
knowledge in a networked world. E-knowledge commerce consists of the transactions based on the sharing of
knowledge. These transactions can involve the exchange of digital content/context and/or tacit knowledge through
interactivity.

Transactable e-knowledge can be exchanged for free or for fee. E-knowledge is enabling not only the emergence of
new best practices but also the reinvention of the fundamental business models and strategies that exist for e-
learning and knowledge management. E-knowledge is technologically realized by the fusion of e-learning and
knowledge management and through the networking of knowledge workers.

Transactable e-knowledge and knowledge net-working will become the lifeblood of knowledge sharing. They will
create a vibrant market for e-knowledge commerce and will stimulate dramatic changes in the knowledge ecologies
of enterprises of all kinds. They will support a “Knowledge Economy” based on creating, distributing, and adding
value to knowledge, the very activities in which colleges and universities are engaged. Yet few colleges and
universities have taken sufficient account of the need to use their knowledge assets to achieve strategic
differentiation.

In “It Doesn’t Matter,” a recent article in Harvard Business Review, Nicholas G. Carr endorsed corporate leaders’
growing view that information technology offers only limited potential for strategic differentiation. Similar points
are starting to be made about e-learning, and knowledge management has been under fire as ineffectual for some
time.

The truth is that e-learning and knowledge management can provide strategic differentiation only if they drive
genuine innovation and business practice changes that yield greater value for learners. Carr’s article provoked a host
of contrary responses, including a letter from John Seely Brown and John Hagel III. Brown is well-known for his
insights into the ways in which knowledge sharing can provide organizations with a solid basis for strategic
differentiation.

Reprinted with permission. © 2003 Donald M. Norris, Jon Mason, Robby Robson, Paul Lefrere, and Geoff Collier.
“A Revolution in Knowledge Sharing,” EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 38, no. 5 (September/October 2003): 14-26.
Read the article and complete the summary below. For questions 1-4, choose NO MORE than TWO WORDS for
each answer.

Thanks to the advent of the computer, learning institutions today are providing new ways of acquiring knowledge,

through tools that are   (diffusing) fast and which are being
already   (deployed) in all fields and settings, despite the 

(disruptions)  the process may entail, which all institutions are now  .(grappling
with)

 IELTS Academic Reading test 5

This page will help you practise for the IELTS General reading test. This test has two reading passages about
courses at a college and 14 questions. This is the second section of a full reading test. You can also do part
1 and part 3.
For questions 1 – 8 label the diagram below. Choose A LETTER or ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Bagpipe Finger Positions

There are nine notes most commonly played on the Great Highland Bagpipe. This page shows charts and diagrams
for the hand and fingering positions for the bagpipe/practice chanter and explains how to play each of these
individual notes as well as several less commonly played notes.
The nine basic notes are sounded using the eight finger holes found on the chanter. The holes are named for the note
that is sounded when that hole is open. Located on the front of the chanter are seven holes. Located from the bottom
up are Low-A up to High-G. Located on the back near the top is High-A. (Piper's typically don't refer to a "Low-G
hole" as Low-G is sounded when all the finger holes are closed. If anything, such a term would apply to the opening
the base of the chanter or, if present, the twin vents located to either side below the Low-A hole.)
Finger Locations
On the two hands, the only fingers not used to sound notes are the left little finger — completely unused, if a piper
were to choose a finger to be amputated, this would be it! — and the right thumb which simply holds the chanter.
Positioning the hands, the left index finger covers the High-G hole, and the right index finger covers the D hole. The
rest of the fingers fall into place. Note: This information is oriented to the standard "right-handed" hand positions.
Much like guitars, many left-handed people opt to learn the pipe pipes as a right-hander. One left-handed piper I
know wishes he had, in fact, learned as a right-hander. (In his case, simply for uniformity with other band members.)
That said, it is perfectly acceptable to play left-handed.
Finger/Hand/Arm Positioning
A few things to know. The chanter is not played with the fingertips, which is a common beginner's error. With the
left (top) hand, the holes are covered with the pads of the fingers in front of the joint. With the right (bottom) hand,
the holes are covered behind the first joint, with the exception of the little finger which is played with the pad in
front of the joint. The top thumb's pad covers the High-A hole. The bottom thumb holds the chanter a little lower
than is typically natural, that is, it rests in the vicinity of where the C finger is on the opposite side of the chanter,
perhaps a little lower or higher, but definitely below the level of the D finger. The fingers are kept relatively straight,
though not locked stiff, just ever so slightly curved. The back of each hand should be parallel with the back of the
forearm, not bent in, not bent out. You should be able to rest a ruler along the back of both the arm and the hand
without a gap.
When you raise fingers to play notes, they should be raised approximately the thickness of a finger. To be safe, if
you were to pass a finger under that raised finger, the passing finger should brush both the chanter and the raised
finger. A little higher is fine, you want the finger high enough that the note will sound clearly, but not have "fly
away finger syndrome"—, you need to keep control. Also a raised finger should stay above its hole so it's ready to
come straight down to close the hole, not having to move forward, backward or side to side to meet the hole.
A quick word about that unused high-hand little finger. That little finger will "float" with the E finger, just tagging
along with the ride. You don't want to make any effort to force it somewhere it doesn't naturally go. It should have a
relaxed natural slight curl. If it goes up when raising the E finger, that's fine. If it goes down when lowering the E
finger, that's fine. If you find that it bumps into anything, either the chanter or your other fingers, then you probably
need to angle your top hand more—imagine that your index finger is the pivot and you back your E finger away
from the chanter a bit. Just ignore it and let it do what it wants to do. After a while, you'll never even think about
it. Text copyright 2004-2007 Andrew T. Lenz, Jr., www.BagpipeJourney.com. Used with permission.
For questions 1 – 8 label the diagram below. Choose A LETTER or ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

For questions 9 – 15 complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from passage 3 for
each answer.

Guitar players and pipers who are left-handed can play their instruments as if (left-
handed)

Beginners tend to think that the chanter is played with  (the fingertips)

While the  (High-A) hole is covered by the left hand, the right thumb just holds the chanter.

It is important to keep the back of    (each hand) neither bent in nor bent out.
Why is it important to keep a raised finger just above its hole?  (to keep control)

What shouldn’t the left hand pinky do?  (bump into anything)
What should you imagine your index finger to look like if your high-hand pinky does not “flow”

naturally?  (the pivot)

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 IELTS Academic Reading test 6

Read about social housing in Britain and answer the questions.
Social housing in Britain
A  During the past 20 years in Britain there has been a significant decrease in the number of social homes in the
housing stock, down from 5.3m to 4.8m. The proportion of social housing has fallen from 29% to 18% during the
same period. This is largely due to the policies of Margaret Thatcher's government during the 1980's which forced
local councils to sell homes under market price to existing tenants under a 'right to buy' scheme and prevented them
from building new houses. New social homes were then to be paid for by central government and managed by local
housing associations.

B  Next month, the government is expected to announce a significant increase in the Social Housing Department's
£1.7 billion annual budget and also intends to make the application process for social housing simpler. The
additional £2 billion will build about 50,000 new houses each year at current building costs. Still more houses could
be built if subsidies were reduced.

C  The UK government is hoping that the extra investment will improve the housing situation. Britain with her
increasing population builds fewer new houses than are needed, with a shortfall of 100,000 a year according to
Shelter, a housing charity. The result is a boom in house prices that has made owning a home unaffordable for many,
especially in London and the south of England. Key public sector workers, such as nurses and teachers, are among
those affected.

D   In order to increase the social housing stock the government is using a process known as planning gain. Town
councils are increasing the amount of social housing developers must build as part of a new building project and
which they must give to the local housing association. Even without the financial support of central the government,
some local councils in England are using planning gain to increase the proportion of social housing stock. In
expensive Cambridge, the council wants 25% of new housing to be social; the figure is 35% in Bristol, while
Manchester is planning 40% over the next twenty years.

E   Will this housing policy create new sink estates? Hopefully, not. Housing planners have learnt from the mistakes
of the 1960s and 1970s when large council housing estates were constructed. Builders have got better at design and
planning mixed-use developments where social housing is mixed with, and indistinguishable from, private housing.
Social housing developments are winning design awards - a project in London won the Housing Design Award —
though it is true that some council estates that now illustrate some of the worst aspects of 1960s architecture won
awards at the time.

F   The management of social housing stock has largely moved from local councils to housing associations. Housing
associations look after the maintenance of the existing housing stock, getting repairs done and dealing with problems
like prostitution and drugs while employing estate security and on-site maintenance staff. One significant change is
that planners have learned to build smaller housing developments.

G  The significant drawback of social housing still remains: it discourages mobility. What happens to the nurse who
lives in cheap social housing in one town, and is offered a job in a region that does not provide her with new social
housing? The government wants to encourage initiative but is providing a housing system that makes it difficult for
people to change their lives. Public-sector workers are increasingly being priced out of London and other expensive
parts of the country and, as a result, are unable to take advantage of opportunities available to them.
1. Match each heading to the most suitable paragraph.

Paragraph A  A Shrinking supply

2. Paragraph B  Increased spending

3. Paragraph C  Public sector workers squeezed out

4. Paragraph D  New demands on developers

5. Paragraph E  Learning from the past

6. Paragraph F  Councils give way to housing associations

7. Paragraph G  Still difficult to move around

Select True, False, or Not given

8. During the Thatcher years, there was a block on building social homes. False

9. The housing problem in London is worse than in the rest of south-east England. Not given

10. Local authorities are starting to depend on the 'planning gain' scheme. True

11. One way to make social housing more successful is to make it similar to private housing. 
True
12. Local councils are unable to deal with crimes committed on social housing land. Not given

13. It would not be helpful to modify pubic workers salary depending on where they lived. 
False

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 IELTS Academic Reading test 7

Read about energy tracking software and answer the questions.
Energy monitoring software
A  Life is improving for managers at the 2,700 stores of Sainsbury, one of the world's largest supermarket groups. A
program from PA, a big software company, will make a boring job much simpler: collecting data about each shop's
energy consumption, whether from refrigeration, lights or air conditioning. The automated data collection is part of
Sainsbury's plan to reduce by 50% emissions of greenhouse gases from existing shops by 2019.
B  Sainsbury and PA may well be pioneers, but they are not alone. While governments discuss levels of carbon
emissions, many companies have already started to make reductions, or are at least preparing to – leading to more
and more software firms offering products to help. If predictions are correct the market for carbon-management
software could soon become as large as those for other important business applications such as enterprise
application software (EAS) programs, a $7 billion market last year.
C  Many companies have measured energy consumption for some time in an attempt to reduce running costs. Other
firms have tracked emissions of different types in order to comply with pollution regulations. In recent times, public
pressure has led to more companies publishing emissions data in their annual reports or to organizations like the
Carbon Monitoring Project. However, most firms will need to upgrade from the basic tools, such as spreadsheets,
they they have been using.
D  Things are changing, in spite of the recession, says Jim Scarfe, CEO of CarbonReduct, a consultancy. Increased
energy costs and new regulations are all pushing companies to monitor their emissions and do so with appropriate
software, he states. In the USA, for example, the Carbon Reduction Plan will come into force next year. Among
other things, it requires firms that use more than 8,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per annum to evaluate and
report the energy they consume.
E  Expecting an increase in demand, many software-publishers have moved into the market, mostly with internet-
based services. In a recent survey SRP Research, another consultancy, listed no fewer than 183 suppliers.  Some
emphasise reporting, others compliance and still others improving business processes. There are well-established
companies, such as EnergySoft and LMG. Many start-ups, such as CarbonModel and GreenData, have appeared.
Even Large software firms like Oracle and IBM have also moved into the market.
F  For the time being, the needs of most firms are simple: making sure that energy data is collected and can be
audited. But in the years ahead, this will change, predicts Susanna Sierra of SRP. Companies will need software that
collects energy data automatically, while helping them to find the best ways to reduce emissions and allowing them
to manage other resources, such as water.
G  Scarfe and Sierra both expect that Oracle and SAP, which already dominate most types of business software, will
control the market in this area, too, because it is a good match for their other products. These giants also have the
resources to buy the best technology. In June SAP purchased Green Standards, a start-up. Oracle is thought to be
planning a similar purchase soon. But they have other rivals. LMG has been buying companies selling
environmental software. Some expect great things from X8, a start-up founded by Jana Novic, who pioneered EAS
software.
H  All this interest gives an idea of how important the business of monitoring environmental performance  is likely
to become. Scarfe recently suggested that in time it could even be as big a market as financial accounting.
1. Match each heading to the most suitable paragraph.

Paragraph A  New software for a boring job

2. Paragraph B  A rosy outlook for carbon

management systems

3. Paragraph C  Basic software will not be

enough

4. Paragraph D  Higher demands from software

to come

5. Paragraph E  A fight for a slice of the market

6. Paragraph F  Higher demands from software to

come

7. Paragraph G  The major players

8. Paragraph H  Huge industrial growth predicted

Select True, False, or Not given

9. Most companies now report their carbon emissions in their annual statements.  False

10. The Carbon Reduction Plan is currently working to reduce carbon emissions.  False

11. There now seems to be a gap in the market for internet-based carbon-measurement software. 
Not given

12. Future software is likely to measure a wider range of a company's resources.  True
13. The market will probably be made up of mainly start-up businesses.  False

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 IELTS Academic Reading test 8

Read the article about human rights and answer the questions.
Writing and Righting Rights
A  ‘Morality is a private and costly luxury’, wrote the author Henry James, in a statement that seems to condemn all
the poor and mistreated to the rubbish heap. Indeed, while morality has been defined in the United Nations; ‘human
rights’ declarations, upholding such values is neither cheap nor straightforward.
B The declaration, formed and ratified after the Second World War, and in particular the dreadful treatment of those
affected by the Holocaust, focused mainly on civil and political rights. Despite international support and the
compelling nature of the statements it sought to uphold, the document proved too vague for use in court.
Consequently, in the 1960s, two more covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, were added so as to make the declaration more
legally binding. 
C During the years that followed, support for the two covenants split. Capitalist countries put more emphasis on
upholding the political and civil rights enshrined in the former covenant. Communist countries favoured the social
and economic rights of the latter. And while the West accused the Soviet Union of neglecting citizens’ civil rights,
the Soviet government’s response was that it considered social and economic rights more important. Current
communist governments make the same argument today.
D Activist groups, at least those that were founded in the west such as Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch, have unsurprisingly focused on civil rights. By exposing the plight of torture victims and political prisoners,
they have managed to put pressure on unjust regimes, and, with their not inconsiderable clout, have occasionally
managed to shame leaders into improving conditions. Much less emphasis has been placed on the second covenant,
meaning that socio-economic rights, such as housing, food, health care and fair wages, have gone unchecked. This is
set to change, however, as human-rights groups seek to persuade governments to give equal importance to the right
to vote as to the right to a home and regular meals.
E Considering the size of the population who are not currently benefitting from such provisions, this may seem like
a fool’s errand.   But human rights veterans have achieved the seemingly impossible before. Twenty five years ago,
nobody believed that Amnesty International’s letter-writing and lobbying tactics could bring down torturers and
censors, yet they have succeeded on multiple occasions.
F However, social and economic rights are new territory for these groups, and the goal that bit harder to achieve.
Campaigners within these organizations are understandably apprehensive. Even so, Amnesty International spent
several years drawing up provisional changes to its policy in order to explicitly incorporate economic and social
rights into their mandate. These were discussed and adopted at a meeting of hundreds of delegates in Senegal in
2001.
G   Amnesty’s new mission has enabled it to work on a much wider range of issues. In the Palestine territories, it
campaigns against curfews and rights to work. In Kenya, it highlighted how lack of secure tenure leads to people
living in slum conditions that lacked basic sanitation and policing.
H  Amnesty’s workload has been alleviated by the fact that Economic, social and cultural rights are now widely
recognized as enforceable in both national and international courts of law. Mechanisms have been developed at the
UN and in African, American and European regional systems that enable victims of violations to enforce their
economic, social and cultural rights.  Policies have been put into place to ensure that aspects such as health,
education, housing, food, poverty, cultural rights, sanitation and water are monitored.
I  Despite the advances, great challenges remain. Under the Obama government of the  US, such ideals are still
considered ‘goals’ and ‘aspirations’ rather than rights, and a number of influential states continue to be skeptical
about the validity of individual claims to economic, social and cultural human rights. Meanwhile, those countries
that accept the new rights do not always safeguard them in their national constitutions, or provide effective remedies
for the victims of such violations.
J  And while some governments make excuses for failing to take action, claiming they lack the necessary resources,
Amnesty International sees it as a lack of political will or purposeful discrimination. ‘Now that economic cultural
and social rights are based on and are enforceable by international law,’ they say, ‘they demand immediate respect
and cannot be deferred to the future’.
1. Match each heading to the most suitable paragraph.

Paragraph A  The price of ethics

2. Paragraph B  Initial efforts to support human

rights

3. Paragraph C  Opposing priorities

4. Paragraph D  A proposal to adopt a wider

perspective

5. Paragraph E  Where there is a will, there is a way

6. Paragraph F  The motion is carried

7. Paragraph G  Examples of recent campaigns

8. Paragraph H  Where the law stands on socio-

economic rights

9. Paragraph I  Something to hope for or something

to enforce

10. Paragraph J  Inactivity is inexcusable

Select True, False, or Not given

11. Amnesty fights for both individuals and groups involved in human rights violations.   Not
given
12. Amnesty workers are worried that, by they are taking on too big an objective.  True

13. Obama’s government has neglected human social and economic rights.  Not given

14. The passage gives an example of a campaign to improve education in Kenya.  False

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IELTS Academic Reading test 9

Read the article about the generations and answer the questions.
The Generational Power Balance
Throughout history, the clash between the old and the young has been a defining feature of both reality and
literature. Parents have power over their children… but as those juveniles approach adolescence, they begin to put
pressure on their parents’ power. They test the rules; they rebel; they create their own rules. The parents are puzzled,
frustrated and resentful about the shift in the balance of power.  They fight back; try to exert their leadership in an
attempt to maintain their power. But as they grow towards old age, they are forced to relinquish it, while the world
changes into a place they cease to recognize from their youth.
The friction between old and young is set to become a feature of the twenty first century, as we approach a period
where the balance of power reaches virgin territory.  This is not to say that relationships between the generations are
expected to worsen; rather that the unprecedented demographic changes to come will have knock-on effects that we
cannot yet imagine. 
How can we be so sure that trials lie ahead? Demographic trends are incredibly easy to predict. Decades pass
between the birth of children and their growth into adulthood, while rises in life expectancy due to affluence and
better medical care are gradual. Consequently, it is possible to predict accurately what proportion of the population
will be economically active, and what proportion will be dependant, for a considerable time in the future.  Hence, we
know that rising as people are living longer and having fewer children – and having them later in life - population
structure will skew much more towards the aged.
Statistical prediction is one thing. Predicting the implications of such trends on society is another thing entirely. In
the 1900s, demographers could – or at least should – have predicted that trend toward city-living as opposed to
country-living was likely to continue, as indeed it did, becoming one of the most defining features of the twentieth
century. The political, economic, social and environmental implications of this shift were much harder to predict,
however.
Many economically developed countries already fear that by 2025, there will be too few young tax-payers in the
working population to support those in old age. This is the generation that requires pensions, medical care, local
services and other benefits. Governments are already putting in steps, such as compulsory work pensions and
increases in the retirement age in an attempt to mitigate the problem.  How effective these measures prove to be
remains to be seen. Moreover, this isn’t just a predicament for richer countries.  All less economically developed
countries outside the AIDS stricken regions of Sub-Saharan African are experiencing the same demographic trends,
and, unless their economies develop extremely quickly, their populations will suffer much more. 
Economically, therefore, adults will be at the mercy of the elderly.  Governments will be obliged to put money and
efforts into the provision for the elderly and working adults will have to forego their share. But perhaps such a
conclusion is too glib. The scenario could pan out in differently.  After all, rising elderly populations also bring
opportunities for the young, such as in employment in products and services geared towards the older generation.
Moreover, the shift comes at a time when seniority is beginning to count for less in the workplace than in the past.
Youthful traits, such as innovation, creativity and familiarity with new technology are being recognized more and
more. Perhaps power will not shift towards the elderly as much as demographic data suggests. 
Add another twist, and we realize that the older generation are not the old-fashioned bedridden fuddy-duddies that
they perhaps were perceived to be in the past. The over-seventies look younger and are fitter than ever. Moreover,
their tastes are less divergent from those of younger generations than they used to be. They listen to rock music,
study at university, embrace new hobbies, travel and socialize. The lines between youth and age, culturally at least,
have blurred. 
This may mean that a standard retirement age may become a thing of the past, as vigorous people in their seventies
and eighties choose to carry on working. Such a trend would greatly ease the tax burden on the younger generations,
as well as giving the older generation more choice. However, it comes as a two edged coin, as young, inexperienced
workers would be forced to compete for jobs with the seasoned workers,; while those in employment may never get
the promotion they desire if the old guy at the top refuses to quit.
Of course, the predictions envisaged in this scenario will only come to pass if the world develops in a relatively
benign way. In the twentieth century population shifts were irrevocably altered by world war and economic
depression, and similar events could afflict coming generations too.  Until we know for sure, we can rest easy in the
knowledge that the problems which arise now are the problems of success – problems that arise through economic
growth, better medication, reduced inequality and by maintaining peace.
Select True, False, or Not given

1. The population patterns predicted for the 21st century have never happened before.   True

2. Predictions about the size of the human population can be made quite successfully.  True

3. In 1900 it was difficult to see that many people would move to urban areas.  False
4. Many rich countries are concerned about a significant imbalance in old and young people by

2025.  True

5. The consequences of an imbalance between the old and the young would be worse in developed countries than in

developing countries.  Not given

6. In most developed countries today the elderly are respected less than in the past.  Not given
Write ONE WORD for each answer.

In future, working age adults will probably have to    (forego) their allocation of government
funds, as they are used to provide for the elderly.

Nowadays, in the workplace hierarchy, less status is given to people with    .(seniority)

The difference between the definition of an old person and a young one is more    (blurred) than
in the past.
Complete the summary with ONE or TWO words from the text.
In future, governments may abolish the fixed    (retirement age), meaning that fitter elderly
could help to contribute towards relieving the

    (tax burden) on the working population. However, there are negative implications of this, as
experienced workers may be considered more employable, and there would be fewer opportunities for

    (promotion) among younger workers. However, it is worth remembering that all these
difficulties come as a result of

    .(success)

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IELTS Academic Reading test 10

Read the article about education in Britain and answer the questions.
Unfair Education
In a country where government and families alike are tightening their belts and trying to make do with less, you
could be pardoned for thinking that private education would be in a bit of a jam right now. And yet, although fees at
independent schools in Britain have approximately doubled over the last two and a half decades, pupil numbers are
the highest since records started in 1974.
Although there are numerous reasons why parents might choose to fork out an average of £12,500 per year on their
child’s education, there is one which stands out more than any other: their reputation for getting their students into
elite universities, such as the American Ivy League colleges and Britain’s most prestigious universities: Oxford and
Cambridge.
Private schools with experience in these admissions processes run like well-oiled machines. Their informed careers
advisers have in-depth tactical knowledge of which colleges would best suit each candidate, and help them to edit
their personal statements to reflect the qualities that elite universities are looking for. Interview training sessions
guide young applicants through an interview system which has been described as being ‘more reminiscent of an old-
boy network than justice for society’. Those with family members and teachers who have successfully gone through
the admissions process are at a considerable advantage to those who are the first to apply among their social group.
Consequently, the social mix of students at the top universities remains sadly biased towards the rich and privately
educated – although thanks to increasing numbers of bursaries providing free private school education to
academically gifted youngsters, it is possible to be one without the other. Even so, the fact is that 7% of British
children go to private schools, while more than 40% of the intake at Oxford and Cambridge is privately educated,
and this statistic depicts a worryingly skewed trend.
The proportion matters because, although there are obviously plenty of other universities offering excellent study
programmes, an Oxbridge or Ivy-League degree undoubtedly enhances employability in the ruling professions.
According to recent studies by the UK educational charity The Sutton Trust, over 30% of leading professionals in
the United Kingdom, including almost 80% of lawyers, 47% of highflyers in financial services and 41% of top
journalists attended Oxford or Cambridge. Every university-educated Prime Minister since 1937 except one, Gordon
Brown, is an alumnus of one or the other, as are approximately two-thirds of the current government cabinet.
This bias is bad news not only for the clever but underprivileged students who have to settle for a less renowned
university; it is bad news for Britain, as decisions that affect the whole nation are made by a select group with a
narrow pool of experience, rather than one that is representative of society as a whole.
This disproportion was brought to public attention in 2000, when politician Gordon Brown launched an attack on the
selection processes at Oxford University. He publicised the story of Laura Spence, a gifted students who had the
“best A-level qualifications you can have”, but nevertheless was turned down by Magdalen College, Oxford.  Later,
Member of Parliament David Lammy used the freedom of information act to examine admissions data at Oxford and
Cambridge Universities, and found that almost 90% of the student body at both universities was drawn from the
upper and middle classes, that in 2009 Oxford accepted only one British black Caribbean undergraduate, and it
focused its attentions on admissions events at private schools such as Kate Middleton’s school, Marlborough
College, and Prince William’s alma mater, Eton.
Since then, universities have been forced to up their game welcoming the less privileged among their students.
Quotas have been put into place to ensure that the colleges admit a larger proportion of less privileged students.
These targets are not often met, however, and they have brought about a new practice in which parents privately
educate their children up to the age of 16, giving them a sound academic background, then put them in state
education for their two final years, to better improve their chances of being accepted at a top university as part of
their ‘less privileged’ quota.
Even so, Oxford now spends $4 million a year on student outreach, a $1.6 million increase since 2006–07. Much of
this is spent on school visits and teacher-training programmes aimed at supporting poor and minority students who
wish to apply to the university. The university has also launched a summer school, which allows around 500
academically talented, state-school students a chance to experience studying at Oxford for a week.
And yet these strategies depend on state schools being able to educate students to the same level as private schools;
where stringent selection processes, partnered with high budgets, parental support and top-class facilities allow
schools to spew out students of an impressively high academic calibre.  State schools have much less opportunity to
do this.
Or have they? One commentator argues that the success of private schools is not in their money, but in their
organisation. State schools fail their pupils because, under government control, they lack options. But if head
teachers at state schools were given the same freedom as those at private schools, namely to sack poor teachers and
pay more to good ones, parents would not need to send their children to private schools any more.
Select True, False, or Not given

1. Numbers of pupils at private schools have doubled since 1975.  

2. On average, the cost of tuition at a private school in the UK is £12,500 per child, per year. 
3. The interview process at elite universities gives private and state-educated students an equal chance of

success. 

4. All students at private schools in Britain come from rich families. 

5. Most leading politicians and judges in the UK were educated at Oxford or Cambridge

University. 

6. Former prime minister Gordon Brown was educated at to Oxford University.  

7. Both Kate Middleton and Prince William applied to Oxford University. 

Complete the spaces with up to 4 words from the text.
One study found that nearly nine tenths of students entering Oxford and Cambridge universities came from the

 .

Universities must now adhere to     to ensure that they admit a socio-economic mix of
students.
This has led to parents choosing to educate their children in    

to increase their chances of getting into an elite university. Oxford’s    

programme has been expanded to attract the less privileged. However, private schools can educate students to a

higher standard because they have more money and they employ strict    .
However, one commentator believes that state schools would do better if their head teachers were allowed more

 .