LONGAEVA: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Reading Questions and Answers

Originally published July 2026. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Information
IELTS Reading Summary Completion
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
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IELTS Reading Passage – LONGAEVA: Ancient Bristlecone Pine
LONGAEVA: Ancient Bristlecone Pine
Questions 1-4
The reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-I, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1Human activity threats bristlecone pines habitat2 Explanations for a ring of bristlecone pines3An accountable recording provided from the past till now4 Survived in a hostile environment
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Questions 5 – 7
Choose the correct letter, A, B, c, or D. Write your answers in boxes 5-7 on your answer sheet.
5 According to passage A, what aspect of bristlecone pines attracts the author’s attention?
ABrutal environment they liveBRemarkable long ageCThey only live in CaliforniaDOutstanding height
6 Why do we investigate Bristlecone pines in higher altitudes of California’s the White Mountains?
ABecause the oldest ones researched in this regionBBecause most bizarre ones are in this regionCBecause precipitation is rich in this regionDBecause sea level is comparatively high in this region
7 Why there are repeated patterns of wide and narrow rings?
A Because sea level rises which affect tree ringB Because the tree ring pattern is completely randomC Because ancient organisms affect its growthD Because the variation of climate change is different
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Questions 8-13
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than three words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
The bristlecone’s special adaptation is beneficial for photosynthesizing, reserving the____8_____of leave replacement, and providing sufficient chlorophyll. Probably because seeds do not rely on primary _____9_____, the Germination rate is high. Because of cambium dieback, only narrow ____10_____ remain complete. Due to multiple factors such as windy, cold climate and____11_____, bristlecones’ rings have tight and solid structure full of resin. Moreover, bristlecone stands are safe from fire because of little ____12_____plants spread in this place. The summits of Owens Valley are higher than they emerge if you observe from a ___13_____.
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Answers 
1Answer: I2Answer: C3Answer: D4Answer: A5Answer: B6Answer: A7Answer: D8Answer: ENERGY9Answer: STRATIFICATION10Answer: BARK11Answer: DRY AIR12Answer: GROUND COVER13Answer: DISTANCE
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Our Vanishing Night Reading Questions and Answers

Originally published July 2026. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Information
IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions
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IELTS Reading Passage – Our Vanishing Night
Our Vanishing Night
A Otters are semiaquatic (or in the case of the sea otter, aquatic) mammals. They are members of the Mustelid family which includes badgers, polecats, martens, weasels, stoats and minks, and have inhabited the earth for the last 30 million years and over the years have undergone subtle changes to the carnivore bodies to exploit the rich aquatic environment. Otters have long thin body and short legs—ideal for pushing dense undergrowth or hunting in tunnels. An adult male may be up to 4 feet long and 30 pounds. Females are smaller, around 16 pounds typically. The Eurasian otter’s nose is about the smallest among the otter species and has a characteristic shape described as a shallow “W”. An otter’s tail (or rudder, or stern) is stout at the base and tapers towards the tip where it flattens. This forms part of the propulsion unit when swimming fast under water. Otter fur consists of two types of hair: stout guard hairs which form a waterproof outer covering, and under-fur which is dense and fine, equivalent to an otter’s thermal underwear. The fur must be kept in good condition by grooming. Sea water reduces the waterproofing and insulating qualities of otter fur when salt water gets in the fur. This is why freshwater pools are important to otters living on the coast:. After swimming, they wash the salts off in the pools and then squirm on the ground to rub dry against vegetation.
B Scent is used for hunting on land, for communication and for detecting danger. Otterine sense of smell is likely to be similar in sensitivity to dogs. Otters have small eyes and are probably short-sighted on land. But they do have the ability to modify the shape of the lens in the eye to make it more spherical, and hence overcome the refraction of water. In clear water and good light, otters can hunt fish by sight. The otter’s eyes and nostrils arc placed high on its head so that it can see and breathe even when the rest of the body is submerged. The long whiskers growing around the muzzle are used to detect the presence of fish. They detect regular vibrations caused by the beat of the fish’s tail as it swims away. This allows otters to hunt even in very murky water. Underwater, the otter holds its legs against the body, except for steering, and the hind end of the body is flexed in a series of vertical undulations. River otters have webbing which extends for much of the length of each digit, though not to the very end. Giant otters and sea otters have even more prominent webs, while the Asian short-clawed otter has no webbing—they hunt for shrimps in ditches and paddy fields so they don’t need the swimming speed. Otter ears are protected by valves which close them against water pressure.
C A number of constraints and preferences limit suitable habitats for otters. Water is a must and the rivers must be large enough to support a healthy population of fish. Being such shy and wary creatures, they will prefer territories where man’s activities do not impinge greatly. Of course, there must also be no other otter already in residence—this has only become significant again recently as populations start to recover. A typical range for a male river otter might be 25km of river, a female’s range less than half this. However, the productivity of the river affects this hugely and one study found male ranges between 12 and 80km. Coastal otters have a much more abundant food supply and ranges for males and females may be just a few kilometers of coastline. Because male ranges are usually larger, a male otter may find his range overlaps with two or three females. Otters will eat anything that they can get hold of—there are records of sparrows and snakes and slugs being gobbled. Apart from fish the most common prey are crayfish, crabs and water birds. Small mammals are occasionally taken, most commonly rabbits but sometimes even moles.
D Eurasian otters will breed any time where food is readily available. In places where condition is more severe, Sweden for example where the lakes are frozen for much of winter, cubs are born in Spring. This ensures that they are well grown before severe weather returns. In the Shetlands, cubs are born in summer when fish is more abundant. Though otters can breed every year, some do not. Again, this depends on food availability. Other factors such as food range and quality of the female may have an effect. Gestation for Eurasian otter is 63 days, with the exception of North American river otter whose embryos may undergo delayed implantation.
E Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances. Nests are lined with bedding (reeds, waterside plants, grass) to keep the cubs warm while mummy is away feeding. Litter Size varies between 1 and 5 (2 or 3 being the most common). For some unknown reason, coastal otters tend to produce smaller litters. At five weeks they open their eyes—a tiny cub of 700g. At seven weeks they’re weaned onto solid food. At ten weeks they leave the nest, blinking into daylight for the first time. After three months they finally meet the water and learn to swim. After eight months they are hunting, though the mother still provides a lot of food herself. Finally, after nine months she can chase them all away with a clear conscience, and relax—until the next fella shows up.
F The plight of the British otter was recognised in the early 60s, but it wasn’t until the late 70s that the chief cause was discovered. Pesticides, such as dieldrin and aldrin, were first used in ‘1955 in agriculture and other industries—these chemicals are very persistent and had already been recognised as the cause of huge declines in the population of peregrine falcons, sparrowhawks and other predators. The pesticides entered the river systems and the food chain—micro-organisms, fish and finally otters, with every step increasing the concentration of the chemicals. From 1962 the chemicals were phased out, but while some species recovered quickly, otter numbers did not—and continued to fall into the 80s. This was probably due mainly to habitat destruction and road deaths. Acting on populations fragmented by the sudden decimation in the 50s and 60s, the loss of just a handful of otters in one area can make an entire population enviable and spell the end.
G Otter numbers are recovering all around Britain—populations are growing again in the few areas where they had remained and have expanded from those areas into the rest of the country. This is almost entirely due to law and conservation efforts, slowing down and reversing the destruction of suitable otter habitat and reintroductions from captive breeding programs. Releasing captive-bred otters is seen by many as a last resort. The argument runs that where there is no suitable habitat for them they will not survive after release and when1 there is suitable habitat;, natural populations should be able to expand into the area. However, reintroducing animals into a fragmented and fragile population may add just enough impetus for it to stabilise and expand, rather than die out. This is what the Otter Trust accomplished in Norfolk, where the otter population may have been as low as twenty animals at the beginning of the 1980s. The Otter Trust has now finished its captive breeding program entirely. Great news because it means it is no longer’ needed.
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Questions 1-9Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information? NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. A description of how otters regulate vision underwater2. The fit-for-purpose characteristics of otter’s body shape3. A reference to an underdeveloped sense4. An explanation of why agriculture failed in otter conservation efforts5. A description of some of the otter’s social characteristics6. A description of how baby otters grow7. The conflicted opinions on how to preserve8. A reference to a legislative act9. An explanation of how otters compensate for heat loss
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Questions 10-13Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
10. What affects the outer fur of otters?11. What skill is not necessary for Asian short-clawed otters?12. Which type of otters has the shortest range?13. Which type of animals do otters hunt occasionally?
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Does Education Fuel Economic Growth?Reading Questions and Answers

Originally published July 2026. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Information
IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
IELTS Reading Summary Completion
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IELTS Reading passage – Does Education Fuel Economic Growth?
Does Education Fuel Economic Growth?
A Over the last decade, a huge database about the lives of southwest German villagers between 1600 and 1900 has been compiled by a team led by Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Economics. It includes court records, guild ledgers, parish registers, village censuses, tax lists and – the most recent addition – 9,000 handwritten inventories listing over a million personal possessions belonging to ordinary women and men across three centuries. Ogilvie, who discovered the inventories in the archives of two German communities 30 years ago, believes they may hold the answer t a conundrum that has long puzzled economists: the lack of evidence for a causal link between education and a country’s economic growth.
B As Ogilvie explains, ‘Education helps us to work more productively, invent better technology, and earn more … surely it must be critical for economic growth? But, if you look back through history, there’s no evidence that having a high literacy rate made a country industrialise earlier.’ Between 1600 and 1900, England had only mediocre literacy rates by European standards, yet its economy g -ew fast and it was the first country to industrialise. During this period, German and Scandinavia had excellent literacy rates, but their economies grew slowly and they industrialised late. ‘Modern cross-country analyses have also struggled to find evidence that education causes economic growth, even though there is plenty of evidence that growth increases education,’ she adds.
C In the handwritten inventories that Ogilvie is analysing are the belongings of women and men at marriage, remarriage and death. From badger skins to Bibles, sewing machines to scarlet bodices – the villagers’ entire worldly goods are included. Inventories of agricultural equipment and craft tods reveal economic activities; ownership of books and education- related objects like pens and slates suggests how people learned. In addition, the tax lists included in the database record the value of farms, workshops, assets and debts; signatures and people’s estimates of their age indicate literacy and numeracy levels; and court records reveal obstacles (such as the activities of the guilds) that stifled industry. Previous studies usually had just one way of linking education with economic growth – the presence of schools and printing presses, perhaps, or school enrolment, or the ability to sign names. According to Ogilvie, the database provides multiple indicators for the same individuals, making it possible to analyse links between literacy, numeracy, wealth, and industriousness, for individual women and men over the long term.
D Ogilvie and her team have been building the vast database of material possessions on top of their full demographic reconstruction of the people who lived in these two German communities. ‘We can follow the same people – and their descendants – across 300 years of educational and economic change,’ she says. Individual lives have unfolded before their eyes. Stories like that of the 24-year-olds Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmullerin, who were chastised in 1707 for reading books in church instead of listening to the sermon. ‘This tells us they were continuing to develop their reading skills at least a decade after leaving school,’ explains Ogilvie. The database also reveals the case of Juliana Schweickherdt, a 50-year-old spinster living in the small Black Forest community of Wildberg, who was reprimanded in 1752 by the local weavers’ guild for ‘weaving cloth and combing wool, counter to the guild ordinance’. When Juliana continued taking jobs reserved for male guild members, she was summoned before the guild court and told to pay a fine equivalent to one third of a servant’s annual wage. It was a small act of defiance by today’s standards, but it reflects a time when laws in Germany and elsewhere regulated people’s access to labour markets. The dominance of guilds not only prevented people from using their skills, but also held back even the simplest industrial innovation.
E The data-gathering phase of the project has been completed md now, according to Ogilvie, it is time ‘to ask the big questions’. One way to look at whether education causes economic growth is to ‘hold wealth constant’. This involves following the lives of different people with the same level of wealth over a period of time. If wealth is constant, it is possible to discover whether education was, for example, linked to the cultivation of new crops, or to the adoption of industrial innovations like sewing machines. The team will also ask what aspect of education helped people engage more with productive and innovative activities. Was it, for instance, literacy, numeracy, book ownership, years of schooling? Was there a threshold level – a tipping point – that needed to be reached to affect economic performance?
F Ogilvie hopes to start finding answers to these questions over the next few years. One thing is already clear, fie says: the relationship between education and economic growth is far from straightforward. ‘German-speaking central Europe is an excellent laboratory for testing theor.es of economic growth,’ she explains. Between 1600 and 1900, literacy rates and book ownership were high and yet the region remained poor. It was also the case that local guilds and merchant associations were extremely powerful and legislated against anything that undermined their monopolies. In villages throughout the region, guilds blocked labour migration and resisted changes that might reduce their influence. ‘Early findings suggest that the potential benefits of education for the economy can be held back by other barriers, and this has implications for today,’ says Ogilvie. ‘Huge amounts are spent improving education in developing countries, but this spending can fail to deliver economic growth if restrictions block people – especially women and the poor – from using their education in economically productive ways. If economic institutions are poorly set up, for instance, education can’t lead to growth.’
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Questions 14-18
Reading Passage has six sections, A-F. Which section contains the following information?
14. an explanation of the need for research to focus on individuals with a fairly consistent income15. examples of the sources the database has been compiled from16. an account of one individual’s refusal to obey an order17. a reference to a region being particularly suited to research into tie link between education and economic growth18. examples of the items included in a list of personal possessions
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Questions 19-22
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Demographic reconstruction of two German communities
The database that Ogilvie and her team has compiled sheds light on the lives of a range of individuals, as well as those of their (19) ……………….. , over a 300-year period. For example, Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmullerin were reprimanded for reading while they should have been paying attention to a (20) ……………… There was also Juliana Schweickherdt, who came to the notice of the weavers’ guild in the year 1752 for breaking guild rules. As a punishment, she was later given a (21) …………………. Cases like this illustrate how the guilds could prevent (22) ………………. and stop skilled people from working.
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Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about literacy rates in Section B?
A Very little research has been done into the link between high literacy rates and improved earnings.B Literacy rates in Germany between 1600 and 1900 were very good.C There is strong evidence that high literacy rates in the modern world result in economic growth.D England is a good example of how high literacy rates helped a country industrialise.E Economic growth can help to improve literacy rates.
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Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make in Section F about guilds in German-speaking Central Europe between 1600 and 1900?
A They helped young people to learn a skill.B They were opposed to people moving to an area for work.C They kept better records than guilds in other parts of the world.D They opposed practices that threatened their control over a trade.E They predominantly consisted of wealthy merchants.
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From Sunny and Pizza to Bread and Water Reading Questions and Answers

Originally published July 2026. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Information
IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
IELTS Reading Sentence Completion
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IELTS Reading passage – From Sunny and Pizza to Bread and Water
From Sunny and Pizza to Bread and Water
A Another bad week in a bad month for the food and drink industry. Sunny Delight, formerly the UK’s third largest selling drink, is to be taken off the shelves by Asda after plummeting sales, the supermarket said at the weekend. Yesterday, it was the turn of Northern Foods, makers of biscuits, pies, pizzas and ready meals, to admit that the trend to healthier food was causing it problems. The company’s chief executive, Pat O’Driscoll, issued its second profits warning in two months as its biscuit sales slumped by 12% year on year in January and February, and pastry sates by 11%. Shares fell 17% to a five-year low of £1.08p.
B The National Consumer Council’s food expert, Sue Dibb, said the news showed companies would have to change to survive. “It looks as though we’ve reached the tipping point on food. Our research showed that two thirds of consumers have made changes to what they eat in the last year. Supermarkets are getting competitive about health. Companies are having to wake up or lose their customers.” Foods analyst Clive Black, of Shore Capital, said that a “sea change” in eating habits was behind the industry’s problems. “Anyone who hasn’t realised over recent years that fruit and veg are good and doughnuts and cream cakes are bad must have been living on the moon,” he said. “But over the past year or so, the penny really seems to have dropped.”
C Like other supermarket groups, Asda said it had seen a marked change in buying patterns in the past year. “Customers want more natural and authentic products,” Jon Bett, the trading manager for chilled drinks, said. “The market for carbonated drinks has declined 7 to 8% in the last year, while the juice market has doubled and water sales have grown phenomenally.” The trend had been driven by media coverage and the “Jamie Oliver effect”, he added.
D The decline of Sunny Delight is matched by the fall of other soft drinks – two weeks ago, Britvic admitted a “severe decline” in sales of its carbonated drinks, which include Tango, 7UP and Pepsi – although the fate of the SunnyD brand has attracted particular schadenfreude. Sunny Delight burst on to the market in 1998 and reached the league table of top brands in 1999 by selling itself as a healthy drink, although its original recipe was only 5% juice with plenty of sugar and water as well as vegetable oil, thickeners, added vitamins, flavourings, and colourings.
E The health watchdog the Food Commission accused then owners Procter and Gamble of a con for selling it from fridge cabinets. In 1999, paediatrician Duncan Cameron reported a new and alarming condition in the medical journals: Sunny Delight Syndrome. A girl of five had turned bright yellow after drinking five litres a day. She was overdosing on beta-carotene, the additive used to give the drink its orange colour, and the pigment was being deposited in her skin. The marketing dream turned to a nightmare: by coincidence television adverts at the time showed two white snowmen raiding the fridge for SunnyD and turning bright orange. Its collapse was as dramatic as its rise to fame, and Gerber Foods Soft Drinks, which bought distribution rights to the brand in 2005, has been unable to reverse its fortunes despite efforts to reduce the sugar content, change the recipe, and introduce new variations, including a bright green apple and kiwi flavour.
F Kath Dalmeny, the Food Commission’s senior policy adviser, greeted the news of SunnyD’s delisting with satisfaction. “There is no appetite any more for products that claim to be healthy but have no real nutritional value. Sunny Delight didn’t live up to its claims and parents have seen through that kind of marketing.” Gerber Funds Suit Drinks said SunnyD was suffering from an inherited and unjustified image problem. The marketing director, Rob Spencer, told The Grocer magazine: “In Asda, two thirds of our sales come from no added sugar versions, which are up by 1% year on year.”
G But market research figures from the company AC Nielsen show that the pressure on Sunny Delight and Northern Foods is part of a wider trend. Sales of pizzas and frozen foods fell by 9.2% last year. Most products seen as unhealthy declined – confectionery by 3.1%/bagged snacks by 1.2%, and carbonated soft drinks by 1.7% – while those seen as healthy boomed. Drinking yoghurts were up 51%, juices 15.6%, and water 9.4%. Ethical investment analysts EIRIS recently listed leading food manufacturers according to the percentage of turnover derived from products which fall into the unhealthy category. It said Unilever, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Cadbury Schweppes had the highest risk of suffering a backlash.
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Questions 1-4
The text has 7 paragraphs (A – G).
Which paragraph contains each of the following pieces of information?
1. Most consumers have changed their eating habits over the last year.2. The suggestion that parents are more aware of how advertisers try to sell products3. The ingredients of a once-popular drink4. A description of an advertisement
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Questions 5-8
Complete the following sentences using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each gap.
Shops are becoming more (5)…………………..about stocking healthy food and drink products.Sunny Delight was originally marketed as a (6)…………………….Gerber Foods Soft Drinks has the (7)………………………..for Sunny Delight.The most dramatic change in consumption has been for (8)……………………..
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Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 9 -13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contradicts the informationNOT GIVEN If there is no information on this
9. Most of the foods produced by Northern Foods are healthy.10. Duncan Cameron is a doctor.11. Rob Spencer works for Asda.12. Sales of Coca-Cola are declining in Britain.13. Fast food companies are looking to developing countries to increase their profits.
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Bath Music Festival & Big Rock Climbing Centre Reading Questions and Answers

Originally published July 2026. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Information
IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
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IELTS Reading passage –Bath Music Festival & Big Rock Climbing Centre
Bath International Music Festival
A   Bath International Music Festival
From electronics to folk, jazz and classical, this festival is renowned for bringing world-class musicians to this historical city. Starting with a great night of free music, ‘Party in the city’ this year is going to be no exception.
B   The Great Escape
Often referred to as Europe’s leading festival for new music, more than 300 bands will perform to around 10,000 people in 30-plus venues, meaning you are sure to see the next big thing in music.
C   Springwatch Festival
The much loved television series Springwatch celebrates the countryside as it does every year, with sheep herding, wood carving demonstrations, insect hunts and more activities, accompanied by live music and a great farmers’ market, offering all sorts of mouth-watering produce.
D   Wychwood Music Festival
Rightly nominated for the best family festival award every year since it began in 2005, this festival offers a combination of different music genres – many featuring artists from around the Wychwood area – and comedy, alongside a selection of outdoor cafes serving amazing world foods.
E   Love Food Festival
Bringing together a selection of the finest produce, this festival aims to educate visitors about how food should be produced and where it should come from, through sampling a range of tasty treats, cooked on site.
F   The 3 Wishes Faery Festival
The UK’s most magical event, this is a three-day festival of folk art, live music and fashion shows set in the beautiful wild surroundings of Bodmin Moor. If you don’t fancy taking a tent, some local residents usually offer to put visitors up.
G   Bath International Dance Festival
Featuring demonstrations from world champion dancers and star from the TV series Strictly Come Dancing, the festival promises toe-tapping action, including a world record attempt, where everyone is invited to join in.
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Questions 1-8
Look at the seven advertisements for festivals in the UK, A-G, in the text above.For which festival are the following statements true?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet. NB  you may use any letter more than once.
1. Visitor can help to make one particular event a success at this festival.2. People can listen to local musicians here.3. At this festival, people can listen to music in lots of different places.4. It is not necessary to pay for one of the events here.5. It is possible to stay overnight at this festival.6. Children will enjoy this festival.7. Visitors can get advice here.8. People can watch craftspeople at work here.
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Questions 9-14.
BIG ROCK CLIMBING CENTRE
Big Rock Climbing Center is a modern, friendly professionally run centre offering over 1,200 square metres of fantastic indoor climbing. We use trained and experienced instructors to give you the opportunity to learn and develop climbing skills, keep fit and have fun. Master our 11 m-high climbing walls using a rope harness, for an unbeatable sense of achievement. Or experience the thrills of climbing without any harness in our special low-level arena, which has foam mats on the floor to cushion any fall safety.
Who is Big Rock for?
Almost anyone can enjoy Big Rock. Previous climbing experience and specialist equipment are not required. You can come on your own or with friends and family. Comes as a fun alternative to the gym or for a special day out with the kids. If you’re visiting with friends or family but not climbing, or just fancy coming to look, please feel free to relax in our excellent cafe overlooking the climbing areas.
Mobile Climbing Wall
Available on a day hire basis at any location, the big Rock mobile Climbing Wall is the perfect way to enhance any show, festival or event. The mobile wall can be used indoors or outdoors and features four unique 7.3 m-high climbing faces designed to allow four people to climb simultaneously. Quick to set up and pack up, the mobile climbing wall is staffed by qualified and experienced climbing instructors, providing the opportunity to climb the wall in a controlled and safe environment. When considering what to wear, we’ve found that trousers and t-shirts are ideal. We will however, ask people to remove scarves. Most flat shoes are suitable as long as they are enclosed and support the foot. The mobile wall is very adaptable and can be operated in light rain and winds up to 50 kph. There are however, particular measures that we take in such conditions.
What about hiring the Mobile Climbing Wall for my school or college?
As climbing is different from the usual team games practiced at schools, we’ve found that some students who don’t usually like participating in sports are willing to have a go on the mobile climbing wall. If you’re concerned that some children may not want to take part because they feel nervous if they climb, then please be assured that our instructors will support them up to a level which they’re comfortable with. They will still benefit greatly from the experience.
Questions 9-14
Do the following statement agree with the information given in the text above?
In boxes 9-14 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
 9. When climbing at the big Rock Centre, it is compulsory to be attached by a rope.10. People who just want to watch the climbing can enter the Centre without paying.11. People can arrange to have a climbing session in their own garden if they wish.12. A certain item of clothing is forbidden for participants.13. The Mobile Climbing wall can only be used in dry, calm weather.14. It is inadvisable for children who are afraid of heights to use the Mobile Climbing Wall.
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Answer:
1. G2. D3. B4. A5. F6. D7. E8. C9. FALSE10. NOT GIVEN11. TRUE12. TRUE13. FALSE14. FALSE
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Keep taking the tablets Reading Ielts Answers and Questions

Published 3 July 2026.

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Sentence Ending
IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given
IELTS Reading Summary Completion
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Keep Taking the Tablets Reading Passage 
Keep Taking the Tablets
A. Aspirin, which was first called “one of the most astonishing medical breakthroughs” by Diarmuid Jeffreys, “is incredibly versatile, curing some of the most dangerous human maladies, reducing headaches, and repairing limbs.” It can ease your pain.
B. There is widespread agreement on its worth due to its long history of recognition. Willow tree extract was a common pain reliever in ancient Egypt. Centuries later, the Greek physician Hippocrates advocated willow bark as a treatment for labour pains and as an antipyretic. However, from the 17th century until the 19th century, salicylates, chemicals found in willow trees, were not the subject of much scientific research. There was a passion for discovering and synthesizing active chemicals. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, was first discovered and improved in the late 19th century by Friedrich Bayer, a German pharmaceutical business.
C. There were many reasons why the scientific community of the late nineteenth century was open to experimenting. First, they were eager to find answers to some of the biggest questions in their field. Today, even the most fundamental scientific endeavours, like sequencing the human genome, require a team of experts, a network of computers, and many millions of dollars whereas once a lone researcher with a few chemicals and a test tube can discover new knowledge.
D. However, a knowledge of science and academic inquiry alone is insufficient to account for social innovation. The 19th century saw an intensification of both scientific progress and the rise of industry. People back then had resources, energy, and the determination to follow through on their adventures. The discovery of aspirin was a long process with many small milestones leading up to the big announcement. The great scientific, medical, and economic breakthroughs of this century are responsible for all of this.
E. There is an astonishing correlation between enormous wealth and advances in the pharmaceutical industry. Huge sums of money were spent on advertising to ensure its continued viability as a popular pain reliever during its first 70 years of existence. In the 1970s, pharmaceutical companies devoted resources to promoting new pain relievers such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen. As these findings unfold, new information becomes available about aspirin’s ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and other problems. may have been lost forever.
F. Against this background, the relationship between huge amounts of money and drugs is puzzling. Continuous access to our products for innovation and scientific research is built on commercial success. In contrast, the commercial market can eliminate products as much as more desirable ones emerge. Aspirin is an example of a potential ‘miracle drug’ that has existed for over 70 years without any clear knowledge of its mechanism of action, yet is highly profitable. If ibuprofen and paracetamol were on the market ten years before him, aspirin might not exist today. The drug had been lying around for some time, so no one had looked into it.
G. The relatively recently discovered benefits of aspirin have been identified by public sector scientists, not by multinational pharmaceutical companies. That’s why. The pharmaceutical industry, which “only invests in profitable research,” has decided that aspirin is no longer profitable. With low production costs, low-profit margins, and no patent protection, anyone can make one. This could lead to a drop in sales of more expensive products and bankruptcy, so pharmaceutical companies have put a strong brake on promoting the drug.
H. So how can we get more drug companies interested in the medical use of aspirin? Jeffreys argues that more federal funding should be spent on clinical research. If I was in healthcare, I would make a different decision. That said, “This drug is really affordable. It could potentially be used in a variety of other situations.” You’d have to spend a lot more money to find out.I. In addition to describing the creation of the “wonder medication,” Jeffries’s book investigates the necessity of such study by analysing the nature of the innovation and the roles played by major corporations, public funding, and regulation.    
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IELTS Reading Questions – Keep Taking the Tablets
Questions 27‐32
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-H from the box below. Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
the discovery of new medical applications.
the negative effects of publicity.
the large pharmaceutical companies.
the industrial revolution.
the medical uses of a particular tree
the limited availability of new drugs.
the chemical found in the willow tree.
commercial advertising campaigns.
27. Ancient Greeks and Egyptians had practical knowledge28. Successful replication made Frederick Bayer & Co. possible.29. Aspirin’s success can be traced in part to the results of30. Aspirin achieved market penetration as an analgesic31. Aspirin availability may have been compromised if.32. No one has studied how aspirin actually works.
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Questions 33-37
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage? In boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet write –
YES – if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO – if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN – if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
33. Nineteenth-century scientists were able to make important discoveries through small-scale studies.34. The industrial revolution of the 19th century changed where scientists look for answers.35. The discovery and development of aspirin in the 19th century followed a set schedule.36. New pain relievers surpassed aspirin in the 1970s.37. The availability of pharmaceuticals may be affected, for better or worse, by the actions of commercial firms.
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Questions 38‐40
Complete the summary below using the list of words A-I below. Write the correct letter A-l in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet
useful
cheap
state
international
major drug companies
profitable
commercial
public sector scientists
health officials
Jeffreys argues that the reason why 38. ……. did not find out about new uses of aspirin is that aspirin is no longer a 39. ….. He, therefore, suggests that there should be 40. …………… support for further research into the possible applications of the drug.
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Keep Taking the Tablets Reading Answers
27. E 28. G 29. D30. H 31. A32. C 33. Yes 34. Not Given35. No36. Not Given 37. Yes38. E39. F40. C 
We hope you found this post useful in helping you to study for the IELTS Test. If you have any questions please let us know in the comments below or on the Facebook page.
The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook, then follow us on Instagram and Pinterest. If you need help preparing for the IELTS Test, join the IELTS Achieve Academy and see how we can assist you to achieve your desired band score. We offer an essay correction service, mock exams and online courses.