Comprehensive guide covering essential IELTS preparation strategies and techniques to help you achieve your target band score.
Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Table Completion
IELTS Reading True/False/Not given
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
IELTS reading passage – Art or Craft
Art or Craft
A. Craftsmen have traditionally been considered distinct from artists. Craftsmen, such as woodworkers and plasterers, had their own guild, whereas the artist was thought to be a more solitary being confined to an existence in a studio or attic. Furthermore, whereas craftsmen could rely on a reasonably consistent income, artists were frequently living on the breadline, and the term “starving artist” became a synonym to describe the impoverished existence of artists in general. Even today, the lives of a craftsman and an artist could not be more dissimilar. However, what exactly distinguishes craft from art, both practically and philosophically?
B. The nature of the finished product or piece is one of the primary distinctions between art and craft. Fundamentally, the idea of craft has traditionally been connected to the creation of goods that are useful or practical. Contrarily, art is not constrained by the confines of practicality. While an artist’s creation is often without a practical purpose, a craftsman’s teapot or vase should typically be able to carry tea or flowers. In actuality, the sole purpose of art and its existence is to simply “be,” which is why Dada artist Meret Oppenheim made the fur lined teacup. The “cup” as such was evidently never meant to be used in a practical manner, any more than a chocolate teapot possibly was.
C. Artistry in craftsmanship is consequently simply a by product because the number one focus is on what something does, now no longer what it is. The opposite is real for artwork. Artistic merchandise attraction is purely at the degree of the imagination. As the prestigious philosopher, Kant, stated, ‘At its best, artwork cultivates and expands the human spirit.’ Whether the artist answerable for a chunk of artwork has sufficient expertise to acquire that is any other matter. However, the purpose of all artists stays the same: to produce a piece that also goes beyond the mundane and uplifts the viewer. In contrast, the world of the craftsman and his paintings stay lodged firmly in the practicality of the everyday world. An item produced through an artist is consequently essentially specific from the one produced through a craftsman
D. Differences among the 2 disciplines of art and craft make bigger additionally to the method required to produce the finished object. The British philosopher R.G. Collingwood, who set out a list of standards that distinguish art from craft, focused on the distinction between the two subjects in their ‘planning and execution. With a craft, Collingwood argued, the ‘result to be acquired is preconceived or thought out before being arrived at.’ The craftsman, Collingwood says, ‘knows what he desires to make before he makes it’. This foreknowledge, consistent with Collingwood, has to now no longer be vague but precise. In fact, such making plans are taken into consideration to be ‘indispensable’ to craft. In this respect, the craft is essentially one-of-a-kind from the artwork. Art is located by Collingwood at the different end of the creative continuum, the introduction of art being described as a method that evolves non-deterministically. The artist is, therefore, just as unaware as everybody else as to what the end product of the introduction will be, while he’s actually in the process of creating. Contrast this with the craftsman who already knows what the end product will seem like before she or he has even begun to create it.
E. Since the artist isn’t always following a set of standard guidelines in the process of creation, she or he has no guidelines like the craftsman. Whilst the desk or chair created by the craftsman, for example, has to conform to certain expectations in look and design, no such limitations are imposed on the artist. For it is the artist alone who, via a trial-and-error approach, will create the final object.
F. The object merely evolves over time. Whereas the craftsman can pretty correctly predict when a product can be completed taking technical methods into account, the artist can do no such thing. The artist is at the mercy of inspiration alone and pretty apart from not being capable of having a projected completion date, might also additionally never be capable of assuring that the object will be completed at all. Unfinished symphonies by wonderful composers and works of literature by no means finished through their authors testify to this.
G. Having no particular end goal in mind, the emphasis at the finished product which is true of craftsmanship is placed Instead on the act of creation itself with the artist. The creation of the work of art is an exploration and a battle and direction of discovery for the artist. It could be said that the artist is producing as much for himself as for people who will view the finished product. This act of creation is very distinct from the manufacturing of an object that is crafted, therefore. The aim of creating craftwork is monetary compensation. Craft is produced for purchase and is basically a money-generating industry. Any craftsman who observed the artistic approach to creation might quickly be out of a job. Craftsmen are predicted to deliver, artists are not. This is probably the maximum fundamental distinction that separates the craftsman from the artist.
Art or Craft reading questions
Questions 1-10
Complete the table below. Choose 10 answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-L, next to questions 1-10.
the finished product has an emotional and spiritual level appeal
the final product has no ambition to be anything more than it appears.
only the functional use is considered for the final object.
no practical purpose as such is imagined for the created object.
the process of creation is actually a means to an end.
whether there is an end product or not, the product is itself secondary to the process of production.
not having to stick to a set of rules, the process is a matter of experimentation
there is no line of error for experimentation, all of the process are following a set of rules.
the goal is defined from the outset
the process is undefined and fluid
it is useful but not commercially practical
the production process is a mixture of following experimentation and guidelines.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?In boxes 11-12 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in passage
11. One of the key differences between craft and art is the type of final item or piece.
12. Artists also have to follow a set of rules like craftsmen.
Enhance your skills in identifying information as True, False, or Not Given. Click here to discover expert strategies and techniques for mastering this question type in the IELTS Reading section.
Questions 13-14
Choose the correct letter A, B, or C. Write the correct option letter in boxes 13-14 on your answer sheet.
13. Which of the following people can predict the time when the object production will get completed?
Craftsmen
Artist
None of these
14. Which of the following is the most basic difference between a craftsman and an artist?
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.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions
IELTS Reading Multiple choice questions
IELTS Reading locating information
IELTS Reading Notes Completion
IELTS reading passage – Endangered Chocolate
A.The cocoa tree, which was formerly indigenous to the tropical American jungle, contains foreign characteristics. Slender and Shrubby, Cacao has acclimated to living near the leaf-littered forest floor. The huge leaves of this plant droop away from the light. Cacao does not blossom at the airfields of its outer and higher stems, as do other plants. Instead, its aromatic white buds dangle from the trunk, and a few thick branches emerge when the leaves fall off. These little flowers develop into pods with pulp similar to the size of rugby balls. The low-hanging pods hold magical seeds with a bitter flavor.
B.Ancient people in Mesoamerica learned the mystery of these beans more than 2,000 years ago. When you dismiss the grains from the pod together with the pulp, when you let them ferment and parch in the sun, and then roast them over a low fire, something extraordinary occurs: they turn chocolatey. If you then crush and press the beans, which are at least fifty percent cocoa butter, you will acquire a crumbly confectionary. Chestnut brown paste is chocolate at its purest and most straightforward.
C.The Maya and Aztecs cherished this chocolate, which they combined with water and spices to create restorative drinks. It was a palatable prize that was offered to their gods, used as a coin, and kept as if it were gold. long after the sixteenth-century introduction of the beverage to Europe by Spanish explorers. There was an atmosphere of aristocratic elegance in chocolate. The Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus called the cacao tree genus Theobroma in 1753, which means “food of the gods.”
D.In the past two hundred years, the bean has been considerably democratized, going from a titled drink into across-the-board candy bars, cocoa powders, and confections. Today, chocolate is earning favor around the world, with new demands emerging in Eastern Europe and Asia. This is both profitable and destructive news since, even while farmers are creating historical portions of cacao beans, some academics are concerned that this is not adequate to meet global needs. Cacao also has some concerning problems.
E.Philippe Petithuguenin, director of the cacao program at France’s Centre for International Cooperation in Development-Oriented Agricultural Research (CiRAD), just gave a presentation at a conference in the Dominican Republic. On the global map, he revealed that cacao grows in a miniature area within 180 degrees north and south of the equator. Cacao has been cultivated throughout this hot, humid tropical belt for the past four centuries, from South America and the Caribbean to West Africa, East Asia, New Guinea, and Vanuatu in the Pacific.
F.Today, 70% of all cacao beans are sourced from West and Central Africa. Farmers in several parts engage in so-called pioneer farming.” They clear sections of the forest of all but the tallest canopy trees and then plant cacao, shading the young cacao with temporary banana plantations. This type of forest may generate 50 to 60 pods per tree annually for the next 25 to 30 years. Eventually, however, pests, diseases, and soil depletion reduce crop production. The farmers then proceed to clear a fresh forest area, unless farmers of other crops arrive first. Petit-Huguenin stated, “You cannot continue chopping the tropical forest because the forest itself is threatened.” The global demand for chocolate grows by an average of 3% every year. In the absence of land for new plants in tropical forests, how can this be accomplished?’
G.Many farmers are more concerned about sidestepping sickness. Cacao, especially when produced in plantations, is sensitive to several diseases, mostly rotting diseases caused by various species of fungi that infect the pods or kill the trees. This fungus and other infections may ruin entire cacao-growing areas and kill more than a quarter of the world’s annual yield.
H.Cacao produced in the Bahia area of Brazil was eliminated by a disease called “witches’ broom.” In the 1980s, Brazil’s cocoa bean output declined by 75% as the third biggest producer. According to Petithuguenin, if a genuinely terrible illness like a witches’ broom arrived in West Africa (the largest producer in the world), the outcome would be ruinous. If another manufacturer were to fail at this time, the results would be seen globally. In the United States, for instance, imported cacao is the cornerstone of an $8.6 billion domestic chocolate sector, sustaining the nation’s dairy and nut enterprises. Twenty percent of all dairy products in the United States are used in confectionery.
I.Today, researchers are trying to handle this issue by creating disease-resistant plants. However, even the most desirable plants are useless if there is nowhere to cultivate them. Farmers who cultivate cacao typically receive a pittance for their beans compared to the profits earned by the rest of the chocolate industry. Most are at the mercy of local intermediaries, who purchase the beans and resell them to chocolate producers at a significantly higher price. These individuals must be removed from the process to improve the situation for farmers. However, the economics of cacao are fast shifting due to the dwindling bean supply. Some businesses have realized that they must collaborate more closely with farmers to guarantee the implementation of sustainable agricultural methods. They must restore and buffer the forest with ground cover, bushes, small trees, and canopy trees. The soil will then be more resilient and productive. They must also empower the farmers by guaranteeing them a greater price for their cacao beans in order to encourage them to cultivate cacao and preserve their way of life.
Endangered Chocolate IELTS reading questions
Questions 1-3
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D. Write your answers on your answer sheet from 1-3
1.The cacao plant’s flowers appear
at the tips of its uppermost branches.
across each of its branches.
primarily in the trunk.
is nearing its leaves.
2.Banana trees are planted alongside cocoa plants in Africa in order to
The effect a chocolate manufacturing collapse may have on other sectors.
safeguards the young plants.
give an additional crop.
Contribute to improving soil quality.
3. What is the author referring to in paragraph H when he states that the waves will be felt globally?
the effect a chocolate manufacturing collapse may have on other sectors
the potential for disease transmission to other crops.
the economic consequences for the world’s chocolate farmers?
the connection between Brazilian and African cultivators
Ready to improve your performance in Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)? Click here to access our comprehensive guide on how to tackle MCQs effectively in the IELTS Reading section.
Questions 4-9
The reading passage has nine paragraphs labeled A-I. Which paragraph contains the following information?
From 4–9, write the correct letter A-I in your answer sheet 4-9.
4. a collection of cacao-growing regions
5. an illustration of the disease’s impact on one cacao-growing region.
6. information on an old chocolate beverage.
7. A quick explanation of how the contemporary chocolate business has evolved
8. the average lifespan and yield of a cocoa plantation?
9. a reference to the scientific identification of the cacao plant.
Questions 10-13
Complete the notes below. Write no more than two words from the passage for each answer. Write your answers on your answer sheet from 10-13.
Ways of dealing with the plant’s problems
Chocolate makers must deal directly with farmers as opposed to relying on 10
__________. It is necessary to discover plants that are resistant to 11 ______.
Need to encourage farmers to employ 12 ____. techniques to cultivate cocoa plants
Ensure that farmers receive a portion of the 13____ produced by the chocolate business.
3 Answer: A – The impact a collapse in chocolate production could have on other industries.
4 Answer: E
5 Answer: H
6 Answer: C
7 Answer: D
8 Answer: F
9 Answer: C
10 Answer: Local (middlemen)
11 Answer: Disease
12 Answer: Sustainable
13 Answer: Profits
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.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Matching Features IELTS Reading True/False/Not given IELTS Reading Matching heading questions
Stay informed and prepared for success – Explore our comprehensive Reading Test Info page to get valuable insights, exam format details, and expert tips for mastering the IELTS Reading section.
IELTS Reading Passage: Mobile phones and driving
Mobile phones and driving
A. Mobile phones used to be expensive items when they were first introduced, but they have now been around for more than ten years and are quite common. These cell phones are now more affordable for the majority of people thanks to technological advancement and public demand. The most contentious issue in today’s world, though, is whether or not one should use a cell phone while driving. Will it have any effect on us or pose a threat to others? Alternately, the likelihood of an accident won’t change.
B. Various nations around the globe have started imposing heavy violations as a national policy. Ireland imposes the harshest penalties on the continent, with the UK, Australia, and Finland joining the ranks of nations opposing this extremely dangerous act more recently. (a third offence can mean 3 months imprisonment). In addition to this, the offenders are charged 2000 Euros and 2 weeks in jail in Europe(the Netherlands).
C. As we continue to take our eyes off the road to talk on the phone or, even more dangerously, text, the statistics for motor vehicle accidents are rising daily. Speaking on the phone while driving increases the likelihood of an accident, and texting while driving increases the likelihood of an accident by nine times. The use of a cell phone by the driver has repeatedly and unequivocally been shown to significantly increase the risk of a car accident in study after study that has been replicated around the world.
D. Although the Ministry of Transport is still putting together a report based on public consultation, a proposal made by a previous Labour-led Government in New Zealand suggests a $50 fine and 27 demerit points for anyone using a cell phone while driving. The government is aware that, even though this is just a pending idea, it will be challenging to police, but something needs to be done and people need to be aware of the potential repercussions. Contrary to popular belief, hands-free devices can be just as hazardous as handheld phones when used, according to research from Waikato University.
E. On the one hand, it will be difficult to break the habit of using a cell phone while driving because it has become a part of our daily lives. However, it has been demonstrated that when faced with a hazard on the road, our reaction times are never quick enough. If you are conversing with someone else at the same time, your reaction time will be even slower. The average person finds that it takes them two and a half seconds to react in a dangerous situation. If you are on the phone, that reaction time can increase by two seconds. You have two things competing for your attention: your conversation and driving. It is a physical and cognitive distraction because you have to take one hand off the wheel to hold the phone due to the demands of the conversation and the road. However, an American radio host argued that outlawing cell phones while driving was going too far, asking, “If we outlaw cell phones, what comes next? There are no billboards, coffee shops, or CD players? The host acknowledged that texting while driving posed a risk, but talking on the phone did not.
F. Texting while driving can lead our eyes off the road and was a definite hazard; majority of the individuals accepted this and agreed with him. Now, a question arises that not holding a conversation while driving is as distracting as eating food or reaching for a CD. Even when mobile phones did not come into existence accidents still used to take place so do we really need to take this matter seriously?
G. Of course, people will have different views on this, and it will always be a contentious topic. The number of nations that have laws prohibiting using cell phones while driving is growing, but there are still many more that have yet to follow. Although there is a lack of data, it appears that tests, surveys, and research are conducted frequently in an effort to draw conclusions about how hazardous and possibly fatal this habit may be.
Look at the following list of the statement (Questions 1-5) based on ‘Mobile phones and driving’
Match the statement with the correct person or department A-E.
A.Ministry of Transport B.Road safety groups C.Waikato University D.American radio host E. The New Zealand government
1. Is assembling the public’s feedback at the moment. 2. proposed particular sanctions for using a phone while driving. 3. The likelihood of an accident is higher, as demonstrated by statistics. 4. Believes that using a phone while driving can be dangerous. 5. The risk of talking on the phone is exaggerated.
Improve your performance in Matching Features questions by clicking here to access our comprehensive guide. Learn how to match specific features or characteristics with the options provided in the IELTS Reading section.
Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 6-10 an your answer sheet write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts with the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6. The world’s strictest regulations regarding cell phone use while driving are found in Ireland. 7. Speaking on the phone while driving increases the risk of an accident by nine times, according to research by organisations that promote road safety. 8. If the driver is on a mobile device, reaction times in an emergency are doubled. 9. Statistics show that eating while driving is just as risky as using a phone. 10. For a clearer conclusion, more investigation is necessary.
Enhance your skills in identifying information as True, False, or Not Given. Click here to discover expert strategies and techniques for mastering this question type in the IELTS Reading section.
Questions 11-13
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A – G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B – D from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-x in boxes 11-13.
List of Headings
i. Effects of mobile phones on risks ii. statistics on texting iii. worldwide responses iv. More research required v. Proof from around the globe vi. Difficulties with enforcement vii. global consensus on punishment viii. Data that contradicts each other ix. The Dangers of Interacting with Passengers x. weighing the risks
1. A 2. E 3. B 4. C 5. D 6. Not given 7. False 8. False 9. Not given 10. True 11. iii 12. v 13. vi
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.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
IELTS Reading Sentence Completion
Stay informed and prepared for success – Explore our comprehensive Reading Test Info page to get valuable insights, exam format details, and expert tips for mastering the IELTS Reading section.
IELTS Reading passage–Do You Look Your Age?
Do You Look Your Age?
It can be hard to guess someone’s exact age. A range of factors may leave marks on our appearance: how much sleep We’ve had – even the way we dress and our view of ourselves. The good news is that just as these factors can add years on to your appearance, it follows that they can also take years off. We don’t always have control over some of those social factors that can make us look younger, but there are other steps we can take to try to stop the ravages of age.
SOCIAL FACTORS
Last month, the University of Southern Denmark published a report, The Influence of Environmental Factors on Facial Ageing, which showed that how we live can affect how old we look. In it, 1,826 twins were photographed and then ten female nurses aged between 25-46 years were asked to guess how old the “models” were. The results were intriguing. They showed that belonging to a high social class can make us look up to four years younger, and many other lifestyle factors were shown to affect the way we look. Having children was found to make men look a full year younger, though it had no effect on women, and having four or more children cancelled out the benefit.
Depression and sun exposure were the biggest factors in making you look old before your time. Depression added up to three and a half years to a woman’s perceived age (and 2.4 years for men). Sun exposure piled on at least an extra year. Smoking put on six months for a woman and a year for a man. Meanwhile, having a high BMI (body mass index) was found to take a whole year off for both men and women. “If you are not depressed, not a smoker and not too skinny, you are basically doing well,” says Professor Kaare Christensen (married, three children, non-smoker), one of the report’s authors. Professor Christensen’s report concluded that it was more dangerous for our health to look a year older, than to actually be a year older.
NUTRITION
This is possibly the biggest change we can make fairly easily. There are four main factors that prematurely age us: smoking, too much alcohol, lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, and insufficient protein intake. You can immediately tell a smoker. It’s not just the lines around the mouth and eyes, but smoking is dehydrating to the body. Every time you inhale on a cigarette, you’re taking toxins into the body which have to be diffused and detoxified by the liver and kidneys, and they’re dependent on plenty of fresh water to carry toxins away. Most smokers don’t drink anywhere near enough water.
The really big, quick fix, though, is eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. You can see if someone doesn’t eat enough, or any, fresh fruit and veg in a minute. The skin lacks a freshness and translucency. This is because the skin is the last organ to benefit from the nutrients you eat – the likes of the brain, heart, and lungs all get first share. If someone’s diet is lacking in fruit and veg, the skin will become dehydrated. This is a sign that sufficient nutrients aren’t being delivered, so from an anti-ageing point of view, it’s important to have live, fresh food and raw food is vital. If you have to cook, steaming will retain at least some of the vitamins and minerals.
The other really important thing, and one we tend to miss out on in our diet-obsessed culture, is adequate intake of essential fatty acids (EFAs), from oily fish, nuts, and seeds. EFAs are vital for prolonging life expectancy because every cell in the body has a phospholipid bilayer that protects it, but they also give the skin a dewy, “bouncy”, youthful feel. One of the worst things you can do in terms of looking old is to go on a low-fat diet. Stress is another big one for adding years. We can help support the adrenal and thyroid glands, which take a hammering when we’re stressed, by eating plenty of fresh vitamin C and magnesium for the adrenal glands; and iodine, selenium, zinc, and B vitamins to support the thyroid.
EXERCISE
We’ve come to think of exercise as a pure slimming pursuit and women tend to be rather scared of lifting weights, but building lean tissue through weight-bearing exercise is key to keeping the years at bay. Exercise can help reduce the effects of ageing by slowing down the decline of type II muscle fibres. Generally, type I muscle fibres deal with aerobic activities and type II with anaerobic ones. The type II responds to resistance work to improve muscle tone. With ageing, there’s a reduction in frequency, duration, and intensity of habitual activity: we generally move less. So, these type II fibres deteriorate because they simply don’t get enough stimuli.
SKIN CARE
Almost every skin cream promises to make you look younger. It’s a promise many are seduced by, but many end up disappointed. The problem is not that products don’t work, but starting too late, and then not spending enough money. A lot of people skip good skin care until they think they need it, and by then it’s actually too late. In women, the skin around the eyes is the first to go, in men it’s the hands. A good routine should start early because maintenance is much easier than repair.
Your skin also becomes more transparent as you get older, so you need to adapt your make-up and hair colour accordingly. Foundation should be lighter than you’d imagine, and sheerer, and if you want to cover grey, don’t be tempted to go for a too-dark hair colour or block colour – highlights are kind. Don’t forget to apply moisturiser around the back of the neck: It’s the only bit of skin attached to a bone, so it’s important that you look after it to avoid sagging.
For each question, only ONE of the choices is correct.
27. According to surveys, which of the following social factors makes a person look older?
A Having more than four children B Having a high BMI C Spending a long time in the sun
28. Which of the following nutritional factors makes a person look older?
A Eating lots of fruit and vegetables B Not eating enough protein C Eating lots of meat
29. How can exercise help make a person look younger?
A By making them feel happier B It helps keep type II muscle fibres in better condition. C It increases oxygen flow.
30. What is the main problem with skincare products?
A People don’t use them early enough. B People spend too much money on them. C Most skincare products don’t work.
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Questions 31-35
Complete the following sentences using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each gap.
The Danish survey used photographs of (31)…………………. The greatest difference people can make relatively easily is with (32)………………… The human body uses the (33)……………………to get rid of toxins. A (34)……………………….diet makes people look much older. People should use (35)………………………..on the back of the neck.
Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 36 – 40 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
36. A person’s social class can affect how old they look. 37. Having children makes men and women look younger. 38. Smokers need to drink more water than non-smokers. 39. Some people don’t get enough fatty acids because they are slimming. 40. Most skin creams contain vitamins that are good for the skin.
Enhance your skills in identifying information as True, False, or Not Given. Click here to discover expert strategies and techniques for mastering this question type in the IELTS Reading section.
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.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given
Stay informed and prepared for success – Explore our comprehensive Reading Test Info page to get valuable insights, exam format details, and expert tips for mastering the IELTS Reading section.
IELTS Reading passage –Caffeine
Caffeine
Almost 200 years ago, a young German chemist named Friedrich Ferdinand Runge isolated a molecule from coffee beans; he named the substance kaffein. Today, scientists are still studying the properties of this bitter, white powder. More than sixty plants are known to produce caffeine, whose pungent taste helps protect them from insect predators.
Caffeine is probably the most widely used drug in the world. Humans have been consuming caffeine for hundreds of years, primarily In the form of coffee, tea, and cocoa. Today, it is also added to soft drinks and energy drinks and is a component of some over-the-counter medications. Many of the world’s people, including children, ingest it in some form daily.
The body absorbs caffeine in less than an hour, and it remains in the system for only a few hours, passing from the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream within about ten minutes and circulating to other organs, including the brain. Caffeine molecules are small and soluble in fat, properties that allow them to pass through a protective shield known as the blood-brain barrier and directly target the central nervous system.
Caffeine acts on the body in many ways, some of them probably still unknown. However, caffeine accomplishes its principal action as a stimulant by inhibiting adenosine, a chemical that binds to receptors on nerve cells and slows down their activity. Caffeine binds to the same receptors, robbing adenosine of the ability to do its job and leaving caffeine free to stimulate nerve cells, which in turn release epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), a hormone that increases heart rate and blood pressure, supplies an energy boost and in general makes people feel good.
For all its popularity, caffeine retains a somewhat negative image. It is, after all, a mildly habit forming stimulant that has been linked to nervousness and anxiety and that causes insomnia. It affects most of the body’s major organs. Recent research casts doubt on the magnitude of many of these seemingly undesirable effects and even suggests that a daily dose of caffeine may reduce the risk of some chronic diseases, while providing short-term benefits as well.
Daily caffeine consumption has been associated with lowered incidence of type I diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. How caffeine works to thwart diabetes, a condition characterised by high levels of glucose in the blood, remains unknown, but glucose tolerance or more efficient glucose metabolism may be involved. Parkinson’s disease, a central nervous system disorder that causes tremor and joint stiffness, is linked to insufficient amounts of a substance called dopamine in the brain. Caffeine may interact with brain cells that produce dopamine and help maintain a steady supply. The role of caffeine in Alzheimer’s disease, which damages the brain and causes memory loss and confusion, may be related to a problem In the blood—brain barrier, possibly a contributor in Alzheimer’s, if not the major cause. Caffeine has been found to protect the barrier against disruption, resulting from high levels of cholesterol.
Habitual coffee and tea drinkers had long been observed to have a lower incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers, although no one knew why. A recent study found that caffeine affects skin cells damaged by ultraviolet radiation, a main cause of skin cancer. Caffeine interferes with protein that cancerous cells need to survive, leaving the damaged cells to die before they become cancerous. Drinking caffeinated coffee has also been associated with a decreased incidence of endometrial cancer—that is, cancer of the cells lining the uterus. The strongest effect appears to be in overweight women, who are at greatest risk for the disease. Researchers believe blood sugar, fat cells and estrogen may play a role. Although the mechanism remains unknown, people who drink more than two cups of coffee or tea a day reportedly have about half the risk of developing chronic liver disease as those who drink less than one cup of coffee daily; caffeinated coffee has also been associated with lowered risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
While many of caffeine’s undesirable effects, such as elevated heart rate and blood pressure, are brief, some short-term benefits, including pain relief, increased alertness, and increased physical endurance, have also been attributed to caffeine. As a component of numerous over-the-counter diet pills and pain relievers, caffeine increases their effectiveness and helps the body absorb them more quickly. By constricting blood vessels in the brain, it can alleviate headaches —even migraines—and can help counter the drowsiness caused by antihistamines.
Caffeine does not alter the need for sleep, but does offer a temporary solution to fatigue for people who need to stay alert. Research has shown that sleep-deprived individuals who consumed caffeine had improved memory and reasoning abilities, at least in the short term. Studies of runners and cyclists have shown that caffeine can improve their stamina—hence its addition to energy boosting sports drinks.
People who consume a lot of caffeine regularly may develop temporary withdrawal symptoms, headache being the most common, if they quit or cut back on it abruptly. Fortunately, these symptoms last only a day or two in most cases. Individuals who are more sensitive to the stimulatory side effects of caffeine may want to avoid it, but most doctors agree that the equivalent of three cups of coffee a day does not harm healthy people. There is no medical basis to give up daily caffeine and many reasons to include a moderate amount in one’s diet.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet, write-
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN If there is no information on this
1. 200 years ago, people did not drink coffee regularly. 2. Children generally do not consume caffeine. 3. The nervous system is affected by caffeine. 4. Caffeine causes the heart to beat faster. 5. Caffeine can be addictive. 6. Alzheimer’s disease may be caused in part by caffeine consumption. 7. Drinking coffee can help protect against some skin cancers. 8. Caffeine may increase the incidence of endometrial cancer. 9. Caffeine can help some medications work faster.
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Questions 10-13
Choose the correct letter from A, B, or C.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
10. Caffeine is used to treat ____________.
A. Headaches. B. Liver cancer. C. High blood pressure
11. Some athletes use caffeine to _____________.
A. Maintain their alertness. B. Improve their speed. C. Increase their endurance.
12. Symptoms of caffeine withdrawal ____________.
A. ;Are usually short-lived. B. May last as long as a week. C. Can become an ongoing problem.
13. Drinking three cups of coffee a day _____________.
A. Will probably not cause problems. B. Is harmful to your health. C. May be recommended by a doctor.
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1. Answer: Not Given 2. Answer: False 3. Answer: True 4. Answer: True 5. Answer: True 6. Answer: False 7. Answer: True 8. Answer: False 9. Answer: True 10. Answer: B 11. Answer: C 12. Answer: A 13. Answer: A
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Originally published March 2025. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:
IELTS reading Matching Headings
IELTS reading Diagram completion
IELTS reading Matching Information
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IELTS Reading Passage – The Cloud Messenger
The Cloud Messenger
Luke Howard had been speaking for nearly an hour, during which time his audience had found itself in a state of gradually mounting excitement. By the time that he reached the concluding words of his address, the Plough Court laboratory was in an uproar. Everyone in the audience had recognized the importance of what they had just heard, and all were in a mood to have it confirmed aloud by their friends and neighbours in the room. Over the course of the past hour, they had been introduced not only to new explanations of the formation and lifespan of clouds, but also to a poetic new terminology: ‘Cirrus’, ‘Stratus’, ‘Cumulus’, ‘Nimbus’, and the other names, too, the names of intermediate compounds and modified forms, whose differences were based on altitude, air temperature and the shaping powers of upward radiation. There was much that needed to be taken on board.
Clouds, as everyone in the room would already have known, were staging posts in the rise and fall of water as it made its way on endless compensating journeys between the earth and the fruitful sky. Yet the nature of the means of their exact construction remained a mystery to most observers who, on the whole, were still in thrall to the vesicular or ‘bubble’ theory that had dominated meteorological thinking for the better part of a century. The earlier speculations, in all their strangeness, had mostly been forgotten or were treated as historical curiosities to be glanced at, derided and then abandoned. Howard, however, was adamant that clouds were formed from actual solid drops of water and ice, condensed from their vaporous forms by the fall in temperature which they encountered as they ascended through the rapidly cooling lower atmosphere. Balloon pioneers during the 1780s had continued just how cold it could get up in the realm of the clouds: the temperature fell some 6.5″C for every thousand meters they ascended. By the time the middle of a major cumulus cloud had been reached, the temperature would have dropped to below freezing, while the oxygen concentration of the air would be starting to thin choir dangerously. That was what the balloonists meant by ‘dizzy heights’.
Howard was not, of course, the first to insist that clouds were best understood as entities with physical properties of their own, obeying the same essential laws which governed the rest of the natural world (with one or two interesting anomalies: water, after all, is a very strange material). It had long been accepted by many of the more scientifically minded that clouds, despite their distance and their seeming intangibility, should be studied and apprehended like any other objects in creation.
There was more, however, and better. Luke Howard also claimed that there was a fixed and constant number of basic cloud types, and this number was not (as the audience might have anticipated) in the hundreds or the thousands, like the teeming clouds themselves, with each as individual as a thumbprint. Had this been the case, it would render them both unclassifiable and unaccountable; just so many stains upon the sky. Howard’s claim, on the contrary, was that there were just three basic families of cloud, into which every one of the thousands of ambiguous forms could be categorized with certainty. The clouds obeyed a system and, once recognized in outline, their basic forms would be ‘as distinguishable from each other as a tree from a hill, or the latter from a lake’, for each displayed the simplest possible visual characteristics.
The names which Howard devised or they were designed to convey a descriptive sense of each cloud type’s outward characteristics (a practice derived from the usual procedures of natural history classification) and were taken from the Latin, for ease of adoption by the learned of different nations’: Cirrus (from the Latin for fibre or hair), Cumulus (from the Latin for heap or pile) and Stratus (from the Latin for layer or sheet). Clouds were thus divided into tendrils, heaps and layers: the three formations at the heart of their design. Howard then went on to name four other cloud types, all of which were either modifications or aggregates of the three major families of formation. Clouds continually unite, pass into one another and disperse, but always in recognizable stages. The rain cloud Nimbus, for example (from the Latin for cloud), was, according to Howard, a rainy combination of all three types, although Nimbus was reclassified as nimbostratus by meteorologists in 1932, by which time the science of rain had developed beyond all recognition.
The modification of clouds was a major new idea, and what struck the audience most vividly about it was its elegant and powerful fittingness. All of what they had just heard seemed so clear and so self-evident. Some must have wondered how it was that no one – not even in antiquity – had named or graded the clouds before, or if they had, why their efforts had left no trace in the language. How could it be that the task had been waiting for Howard, who had succeeded in wringing a kind of exactitude from out of the vaporous clouds? Their forms, though shapeless and unresolved, had, at last, it seemed, been securely grasped. Howard had given a set of names to a radical fluidity and impermanence that seemed every bit as magical, to that first audience, as the Eskimo’s fabled vocabulary of snow.
You need to choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings bellow.
Write the correct number i-x in the boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
The lists of headings are as follows
i. An easily understood system ii. Doubts dismissed iii. Not a totally unconventional view iv. Theories compared v. A momentous occasion vi. A controversial use of terminology vii. Initial confusion viii. Previous beliefs replaced ix. More straightforward than expected x. An obvious thing to do
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Questions 37-40
Reading Passage has 3 has six paragraphs.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
37. An example of modification made to work done by Howard. 38. A comparison between Howard’s work and another classification system. 39. A reference to the fact that Howard presented a very large amount of information. 40. An assumption is that the audience asked themselves a question.
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27. Answer: E 28. Answer: H 29. Answer: C 30. Answer: I 31. Answer: A 32. Answer: J 33. Answer: DIZZY HEIGHTS 34. Answer: MAJOR CUMULUS CLOUD 35. Answer: OXYGEN 36. Answer: 6.5° CELSIUS, 1000 METERS 37. Answer: E 38. Answer: F 39. Answer: A 40. Answer: F
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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.
