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 Sentence Completion
IELTS Reading Diagram Labelling
IELTS Reading Multiple Choice 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 PassageIn Praise or Fast Food
In Praise or Fast Food
The media and a multitude of cookbook writers would have us believe that modern, fast, processed food is a disaster and that it is a mark of sophistication to bemoan the steel roller mill and sliced white bread while yearning for stone-ground flour and a brick oven. Perhaps, we should call those who scorn industrialized food, culinary Luddites, after the 19th-century English workers who rebelled against the machines that destroyed their way of life. Instead of technology, what these Luddites abhor is commercial sauces and any synthetic aid to flavoring our food. Culinary Luddism has come to signify more than just taste, however. It presents itself as a moral and political crusade, and it is here that I begin to back off. As a historian, I cannot accept the notion that the sunny, rural days of yesterday are in such contrast to the grey industrial present. I refute the philosophy that so crudely pits fresh and natural against processed and preserved, local against global, slow against fast, and additive-free against contaminated. History shows, I believe, that the Luddites have things back to front. It will come as a shock to many to discover that the notion of food being fresh and natural is a rather modern one. For our ancestors, what was natural frequently tasted bad. Fresh meat was rank and tough, fresh fruit inedibly sour, and fresh vegetables bitter. Natural was unreliable. Fresh milk soured, eggs went rotten, and everywhere seasons of plenty were followed by seasons of hunger. What’s more, natural was usually indigestible. Grains, which supplied 50 to 90 percent of the calories in most societies, had to be threshed, ground, and cooked to be fit for consumption. So to make food tasty, safe, digestible, and healthy, our forebears bred, ground, soaked, leached, curdled, fermented, and cooked naturally occurring plants and animals until they were nothing at all like their original form. They created sweet oranges and juicy apples and non-bitter legumes, happily abandoning their more natural but less tasty ancestors. They dried their meat and fruit, salted and smoked their fish, curdled and fermented their dairy products, and cheerfully used additives and preservatives like sugar, salt, oil, and vinegar to make the food edible. Eating fresh, natural food was regarded with suspicion verging on horror; only the uncivilized, the poor, and the starving resorted to it. The ancient Greeks regarded the consumption of greens and root vegetables as a sign of bad times, and many succeeding civilizations believed the same. Happiness was not a verdant garden abounding in fresh fruits, but a securely locked storehouse jammed with preserved, processed foods. What about the idea that the best food is handmade in the country? That food comes from the country goes without saying. However, the idea that country people eat better than city dwellers is preposterous. Very few of our ancestors working the land were independent peasants baking their bread and salting down their pigs. Most were burdened with heavy taxes and rent, often paid directly by the food they produced. Many were ultimately serfs or slaves, who subsisted on what was leftover watery soup and gritty flatbread. The dishes we call ethnic and assume to be of peasant origin were invented for the urban, or at least urbane, aristocrats who collected the surplus. This is as true of the lasagna of northern Italy as it is of the chicken korma of Mughal Delhi, the moo shu pork of imperial China, and the pilafs
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 3 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.
27 ………………………………….. = mass, produced bread.
28 ………………………………….. = traditionally produced bread
29 ………………………………….. enhanced by synthetic products
Ready to tackle Diagram Label Completion tasks with confidence? Click here to access our comprehensive guide and learn how to accurately label parts or components of diagrams in the IELTS Reading section.
Questions 30-34
Complete the sentences.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 30-34 on your answer sheet.
30The writer does not believe that a ……………………. philosophy of food production is superior to an industrialized philosophy of food production. 31In the past, the majority of fresh, natural food ……………………. and could not be relied on. 32Most people’s intake consisted largely of.. ………………….., which required a great deal of preparation. 33The ……………………. of food was unrecognizable once it had gone through the various processes of making it edible. 34For the ancient Greeks, a ……………………. full of food was preferable to a garden full of fruit.
Enhance your sentence completion skills in the IELTS Reading section. Click here to access our comprehensive guide and learn effective strategies for filling in missing words or phrases in sentences.
Questions 35-40
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.
Write your answers in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
35What does the writer say about peasants?
They had a better diet than most people living in cities.
They were largely self-sufficient.
Much of what they produced went to a landowner.
They created imaginative soup and flatbread dishes.
36Lasagna is an example of a dish
Invented by peasants.
Created for wealthy city-dwellers.
That was only truly popular in northern Italy.
That tastes like dishes from several other countries.
37Which of the following is NOT an important factor mentioned in the eighth and ninth paragraphs?
The development of take-away food as an option
The arduous nature of food preparation before mass-production
The global benefits of industrialized food production
The range of advantages that industrialized food production had
38What is the important point the writer wishes to make in the tenth paragraph?
There are disadvantages to modem food production as well as advantages.
People need to have a balanced diet.
People everywhere now have a huge range of food to choose from.
Demand for food that is traditionally produced exploits the people that produce it.
39The writer mentions chocolate, pasta, and canned tomatoes in the same paragraph because
The industrialized version has advantages over the natural version.
They are all products associated with a sophisticated lifestyle.
They are all products that have suffered from over-commercialization.
They are the most popular examples of industrial foods.
40What is the overall point that the writer makes in the reading passage?
People should learn the history of the food they consume.
Modem industrial food is generally superior to raw and natural food.
Criticism of industrial food production is largely misplaced.
People should be more grateful for the range of foods they can now choose from.
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.
27Answer: steel roller mill 28Answer: brick oven 29Answer: flavoring 30Answer: rural 31Answer: tasted bad 32Answer: grains 33Answer: original form 34Answer: storehouse 35Answer: C 36Answer: B 37Answer: A 38Answer: D 39Answer: A 40Answer: 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.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published April 2023. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on the Reading Passage below.
Persistent Bullying Reading Answers
How can it be prevented? Peter Smith, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, directed the Sheffield Anti-Bullying Intervention Project, funded by the Department for Education.
Here he reports on his findings.
A Bullying can take a variety of forms, from the verbal – being taunted or called hurtful names – to the physical – being kicked or shoved – as well as indirect forms, such as being excluded from social groups. A survey I conducted with Irene Whitney found that in British primary schools up to a quarter of pupils reported experience of bullying, which in about one in ten cases was persistent. There was less bullying in secondary schools, with about one in twenty-five suffering persistent bullying, but these cases may be particularly recalcitrant.
B Bullying is clearly unpleasant, and can make the child experiencing it feel unworthy and depressed. In extreme cases it can even lead to suicide, though this is thankfully rare. Victimised pupils are more likely to experience difficulties with interpersonal relationships as adults, while children who persistently bully are more likely to grow up to be physically violent, and convicted of anti-social offences.
C Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem. ‘There is no bullying at this school’ has been a common refrain, almost certainly untrue. Fortunately more schools are now saying: There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear policy for dealing with it.’
D Three factors are involved in this change. First is an awareness of the severity of the problem. Second, a number of resources to help tackle bullying have become available in Britain. For example, the Scottish Council for Research in Education produced a package of materials, Action Against Bullying, circulated to all schools in England and Wales as well as in Scotland in summer 1992, with a second pack, Supporting Schools Against Bullying, produced the following year. In Ireland, Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in Post-Primary Schools was published in 1993. Third, there is evidence that these materials work, and that schools can achieve something. This comes from carefully conducted ‘before and after’ evaluations of interventions in schools, monitored by a research team. In Norway, after an intervention campaign was introduced nationally, an evaluation of forty-two schools suggested that, over a two-year period, bullying was halved. The Sheffield investigation, which involved sixteen primary schools and seven secondary schools, found that most schools succeeded in reducing bullying.
E Evidence suggests that a key step is to develop a policy on bullying, saying clearly what is meant by bullying, and giving explicit guidelines on what will be done if it occurs, what records will be kept, who will be informed, what sanctions will be employed. The policy should be developed through consultation, over a period of time – not just imposed from the head teacher’s office! Pupils, parents and staff should feel they have been involved in the policy, which needs to be disseminated and implemented effectively.
Other actions can be taken to back up the policy. There are ways of dealing with the topic through the curriculum, using video, drama and literature. These are useful for raising awareness, and can best be tied into early phases of development, while the school is starting to discuss the issue of bullying. They are also useful in renewing the policy for new pupils, or revising it in the light of experience. But curriculum work alone may only have short-term effects; it should be an addition to policy work, not a substitute.
There are also ways of working with individual pupils, or in small groups. Assertiveness training for pupils who are liable to be victims is worthwhile, and certain approaches to group bullying such as ‘no blame’, can be useful in changing the behaviour of bullying pupils without confronting them directly, although other sanctions may be needed for those who continue with persistent bullying.
Work in the playground is important, too. One helpful step is to train lunchtime supervisors to distinguish bullying from playful fighting, and help them break up conflicts. Another possibility is to improve the playground environment, so that pupils are less likely to be led into bullying from boredom or frustration.
F With these developments, schools can expect that at least the most serious kinds of bullying can largely be prevented. The more effort put in and the wider the whole school involvement, the more substantial the results are likely to be. The reduction in bullying – and the consequent improvement in pupil happiness – is surely a worthwhile objective.
Questions 1-4
The reading passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-vii, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i The role of video violence
ii The failure of government policy
iii Reasons for the increased rate of bullying
iv Research into how common bullying is in British schools
v The reaction from schools to enquiries about bullying
vi The effect of bullying on the children involved
vii Developments that have led to a new approach by schools
1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
Questions 5-8
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
5 A recent survey found that in British secondary schools
A there was more bullying than had previously been the case.
B there was less bullying than in primary schools.
C cases of persistent bullying were very common.
D indirect forms of bullying were particularly difficult to deal with.
6 Children who are bullied
A are twice as likely to commit suicide as the average person.
B find it more difficult to relate to adults.
C are less likely to be violent in later life.
D may have difficulty forming relationships in later life.
7 The writer thinks that the declaration ‘There is no bullying at this school’
A is no longer true in many schools.
B was not in fact made by many schools.
C reflected the school’s lack of concern.
D reflected a lack of knowledge and resources.
8 What were the findings of research carried out in Norway?
A Bullying declined by 50% after an anti-bullying campaign.
B Twenty-one schools reduced bullying as a result of an anti-bullying campaign.
C Two years is the optimum length for an anti-bullying campaign.
D Bullying is a less serious problem in Norway than in the UK.
Questions 9-13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
What steps should schools take to reduce bullying?
The most important step is for the school authorities to produce a 9 ………………. which makes the school’s attitude towards bullying quite clear.
It should include detailed 10 ………………. as to how the school and its staff will react if bullying occurs.
In addition, action can be taken through the 11 ……………….
This is particularly useful in the early part of the process, as a way of raising awareness and encouraging discussion.
On its own, however, it is insufficient to bring about a permanent solution.
Effective work can also be done with individual pupils and small groups.
For example, potential 12 ………………. of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident.
Or again,in dealing with group bullying, a ‘no blame’ approach, which avoids confronting the offender too directly, is often effective.
Playground supervision will be more effective if members of staff are trained to recognise the difference between bullying and mere 13 ……………….
Question 14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 14 on your answer sheet.
14 Which of the following is the most suitable title for the Reading Passage?
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published April 2023. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on the Reading Passage below.
Stainless Steel Reading Answers
Uses
A In any ordinary kitchen, there are numerous items made from stainless steel, including cutlery, utensils, and appliances. ‘Inox’ or ‘18/10’ may be stamped on the base of a good stainless steel pot: ‘Inox’ is short for the French inoxydable; while 18 refers to the percentage of chromium in the stainless steel, and 10 to its nickel content.
B In hospitals, laboratories and factories, stainless steel is used for many instruments and pieces of equipment because it can easily be sterilised, and it remains relatively bacteria-free, thus improving hygiene. Since it is mostly rust-free, stainless steel also does not need painting, so proves cost-effective.
C As a decorative element, stainless steel has been incorporated into skyscrapers, like the Chrysler Building in New York, and the Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, the latter considered one of the most stunning contemporary structures in China. Bridges, monuments, and sculptures are often stainless steel; and, cars, trains, and aircraft contain stainless steel parts.
Recent alloys
D As most pure metals serve little practical purpose, they are often combined or alloyed. Some examples of ancient alloys are bronze (copper + tin) and brass (copper + zinc). Carbon steel (iron + carbon), first made in small quantities in China in the sixth century AD, was produced industrially only in mid-nineteenth-century Europe. Stainless steel, which retains the strength of carbon steel with some added benefits, consists of iron, carbon, chromium, and nickel, and may contain trace elements. Stainless steel is a new invention – Austenitic stainless steel was patented by German engineers in 1912, the same year that Americans created ferritic stainless steel, while Martensitic stainless steel was patented as late as 1919.
Properties
E The name, stainless steel, is misleading since, where there is very little oxygen or a great amount of salt, the alloy will, indeed, stain. In addition, stainless steel parts should not be joined together with stainless steel nuts or bolts as friction damages the elements; another alloy, like bronze, or pure aluminium or titanium must be used.
F In general, stainless steel does not deteriorate as ordinary carbon steel does, which rusts in air and water. Rust is a layer of iron oxide that forms when oxygen reacts with the iron in carbon steel. Because iron oxide molecules are larger than those of iron alone, they wear down the steel, causing it to flake and eventually snap. Stainless steel, however, contains between 13-26% chromium, and, with exposure to oxygen, forms chromium oxide, which has molecules the same size as the iron ones beneath, meaning they bond strongly to form an invisible film that prevents oxygen or water from penetrating.
As a result, the surface of stainless steel neither rusts nor corrodes. Furthermore, if scratched, the protective chromium-oxide layer of stainless steel repairs itself in a process known as passivation, which also occurs with aluminium, titanium, and zinc.
Varieties
G There are over 150 grades of stainless steel with various properties, each distinguished by its crystalline structure. Austenitic stainless steel, comprising 70% of global production, is barely magnetic, but ferritic and Martensitic stainless steel function as magnets because they contain more nickel or manganese. Ferritic stainless steel – soft and slightly corrosive – is cheap to produce, and has many applications, while Martensitic stainless steel, with more carbon than the other types, is incredibly strong, so it is used in fighter jet bodies but is also the costliest to produce.
Recyclability
H Stainless steel can be recycled completely, and these days, the average stainless steel object comprises around 60% of recycled material.
Cutting-edge application
I In the last few years, 3D printers have become widespread, and stainless steel infused with bronze is the hardest material that a 3D printer can currently use.
J In 3D printing, an inkjet head deposits alternate layers of stainless steel powder and organic binder into a build box. After each layer of binder is spread, overhead heaters dry the object before another layer of powder is added. Upon completion of printing, the whole object, still in its build box, is sintered in an oven, which means the object is heated to just below the melting point, so the binder evaporates. Next, the porous object is placed in a furnace so that molten bronze can replace the binder. To finish, the object is blasted with tiny beads that smooth the surface.
Appraisal
K In less than a century, stainless steel has become essential due to its relatively cheap production cost, its durability, and its renewability. Used in the new manufacturing process of 3D printing, its future looks bright.
Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter A, B,C, or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1 A stainless steel pot with “18/10” stamped on it contains
A 18% carbon and 10% iron.
B 18%ironand 10% carbon.
C 18% chromium and 10% nickel.
D 18% nickel and 10% chromium.
2 Hospitals and laboratories use stainless steel equipment because it
A is easy to clean.
B is inexpensive.
C is not disturbed by magnets.
D withstands high temperatures.
3 Stainless steel has been used in some famous buildings for its
A durability.
B beauty.
C modernity.
D reflective quality.
4 The first type of stainless steel was patented in
A China in 1912.
B Germany in 1912.
C the UK in 1919.
D the US in 1919.
Questions 5-11
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
In boxes 5-11 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.
5 Stainless steel does not stain.
6 Carbon steel rusts as its surface molecules are smaller than those of iron oxide.
7 Passivation is unique to stainless steel.
8 Austenitic stainless steel is the most commonly produced type.
9 These days, Martensitic stainless steel is mainly produced in China.
10 Currently, the recycling of stainless steel takes place in many countries.
11 Close to two-thirds of a stainless steel object is made up of recycled metal.
Questions 12-14
Label the diagrams below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 12-14 on your answer sheet.
Essential strategies and practice techniques for this IELTS Reading question type. Learn how to manage time and improve accuracy.
Originally published April 2023. Last reviewed 3 July 2026.
How Bacteria Invented Gene Editing
A This week the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority okayed a proposal to modify human embryos through gene editing. The research, which will be carried out at the Francis Crick Institute in London, should improve our understanding of human development. It will also undoubtedly attract controversy – particularly with claims that manipulating embryonic genomes is a first step towards designer babies. Those concerns shouldn’t be ignored. After all, gene editing of the kind that will soon be undertaken at the Francis Crick Institute doesn’t occur naturally in humans or other animals.
B It is, however, a lot more common in nature than you might think, and it’s been going on for a surprisingly long time – revelations that have challenged what biologists thought they knew about the way evolution works. We’re talking here about one particular gene editing technique called CRISPR-Cas, or just CRISPR. It’s relatively fast, cheap and easy to edit genes with CRISPR – factors that explain why the technique has exploded in popularity in the last few years. But CRISPR wasn’t dreamed up from scratch in a laboratory. This gene editing tool actually evolved in single-celled microbes.
C CRISPR went unnoticed by biologists for decades. It was only at the tail end of the 1980s that researchers studying Escherichia coli noticed that there were some odd repetitive sequences at the end of one of the bacterial genes. Later, these sequences would be named Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats – CRISPRs. For several years the significance of these CRISPRs was a mystery, even when researchers noticed that they were always separated from one another by equally odd ‘spacer’ gene sequences.
D Then, a little over a decade ago, scientists made an important discovery. Those ‘spacer’ sequences look odd because they aren’t bacterial in origin. Many are actually snippets of DNA from viruses that are known to attack bacteria. In 2005, three research groups independently reached the same conclusion: CRISPR and its associated genetic sequences were acting as a bacterial immune system. In simple terms, this is how it works. A bacterial cell generates special proteins from genes associated with the CRISPR repeats (these are called CRISPR associated – Cas – proteins). If a virus invades the cell, these Cas proteins bind to the viral DNA and help cut out a chunk. Then, that chunk of viral DNA gets carried back to the bacterial cell’s genome where it is inserted – becoming a spacer. From now on, the bacterial cell can use the spacer to recognise that particular virus and attack it more effectively.
E These findings were a revelation. Geneticists quickly realised that the CRISPR system effectively involves microbes deliberately editing their own genomes – suggesting the system could form the basis of a brand new type of genetic engineering technology. They worked out the mechanics of the CRISPR system and got it working in their lab experiments. It was a breakthrough that paved the way for this week’s announcement by the HFEA. Exactly who took the key steps to turn CRISPR into a useful genetic tool is, however, the subject of a huge controversy. Perhaps that’s inevitable – credit for developing CRISPR gene editing will probably guarantee both scientific fame and financial wealth.
F Beyond these very important practical applications, though, there’s another CRISPR story. It’s the account of how the discovery of CRISPR has influenced evolutionary biology. Sometimes overlooked is the fact that it wasn’t just geneticists who were excited by CRISPR’s discovery – so too were biologists. They realised CRISPR was evidence of a completely unexpected parallel between the way humans and bacteria fight infections. We’ve known for a long time that part of our immune system “learns” about the pathogens it has seen before so it can adapt and fight infections better in future. Vertebrate animals were thought to be the only organisms with such a sophisticated adaptive immune system. In light of the discovery of CRISPR, it seemed some bacteria had their own version. In fact, it turned out that lots of bacteria have their own version. At the last count, the CRISPR adaptive immune system was estimated to be present in about 40% of bacteria. Among the other major group of single-celled microbes – the archaea – CRISPR is even more common. It’s seen in about 90% of them. If it’s that common today, CRISPR must have a history stretching back over millions – possibly even billions – of years. “It’s clearly been around for a while,” says Darren Griffin at the University of Kent.
G The animal adaptive immune system, then, isn’t nearly as unique as we thought. And there’s one feature of CRISPR that makes it arguably even better than our adaptive immune system: CRISPR is heritable. When we are infected by a pathogen, our adaptive immune system learns from the experience, making our next encounter with that pathogen less of an ordeal. This is why vaccination is so effective: it involves priming us with a weakened version of a pathogen to train our adaptive immune system. Your children, though, won’t benefit from the wealth of experience locked away in your adaptive immune system. They have to experience an infection – or be vaccinated – first hand before they can learn to deal with a given pathogen.
H CRISPR is different. When a microbe with CRISPR is attacked by a virus, the record of the encounter is hardwired into the microbe’s DNA as a new spacer. This is then automatically passed on when the cell divides into daughter cells, which means those daughter cells know how to fight the virus even before they’ve seen it. We don’t know for sure why the CRISPR adaptive immune system works in a way that seems, at least superficially, superior to ours. But perhaps our biological complexity is the problem, says Griffin. “In complex organisms any minor [genetic] changes cause profound effects on the organism,” he says. Microbes might be sturdy enough to constantly edit their genomes during their lives and cope with the consequences – but animals probably aren’t. The discovery of this heritable immune system was, however, a biologically astonishing one. It means that some microbes write their lifetime experiences of their environment into their genome and then pass the information to their offspring – and that is something that evolutionary biologists did not think happened.
I Darwin’s theory of evolution is based on the idea that natural selection acts on the naturally occurring random variation in a population. Some organisms are better adapted to the environment than others, and more likely to survive and reproduce, but this is largely because they just happened to be born that way. But before Darwin, other scientists had suggested different mechanisms through which evolution might work. One of the most famous ideas was proposed by a French scientist called Jean-Bapteste Lamarck. He thought organisms actually changed during their life, acquiring useful new adaptations non-randomly in response to their environmental experiences. They then passed on these changes to their offspring.
J People often use giraffes to illustrate Lamarck’s hypothesis. The idea is that even deep in prehistory, the giraffe’s ancestor had a penchant for leaves at the top of trees. This early giraffe had a relatively short neck, but during its life it spent so much time stretching to reach leaves that its neck lengthened slightly. The crucial point, said Lamarck, was that this slightly longer neck was somehow inherited by the giraffe’s offspring. These giraffes also stretched to reach high leaves during their lives, meaning their necks lengthened just a little bit more, and so on. Once Darwin’s ideas gained traction, Lamarck’s ideas became deeply unpopular. But the CRISPR immune system – in which specific lifetime experiences of the environment are passed on to the next generation – is one of a tiny handful of natural phenomena that arguably obeys Lamarckian principles.
K “The realisation that Lamarckian type of evolution does occur and is common enough, was as startling to biologists as it seems to a layperson,” says Eugene Koonin at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who explored the idea with his colleagues in 2009, and does so again in a paper due to be published later this year. This isn’t to say that all of Lamarck’s thoughts on evolution are back in vogue. “Lamarck had additional ideas that were important to him, such as the inherent drive to perfection that to him was a key feature of evolution,” says Koonin. No modern evolutionary biologist goes along with that idea. But the discovery of the CRISPR system still implies that evolution isn’t purely the result of Darwinian random natural selection. It can sometimes involve elements of non-random Lamarckism too – a “continuum”, as Koonin puts it. In other words, the CRISPR story has had a profound scientific impact far beyond the doors of the genetic engineering lab. It truly was a transformative discovery.
Questions 1–5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 The research carried out at the Francis Crick Institute in London is likely to be controversial.
2 Gene editing, like the one in the upcoming research, can happen naturally in humans or other animals.
3 CRISPR-Cas is a gene editing technique.
4 CRISPR was noticed when the researchers saw some odd repetitive sequences at the ends of all bacterial genes.
5 A group of American researchers made an important revelation about the CRISPR.
Questions 6–9
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 6–9 on your answer sheet.
6 ‘Spacer’ sequences look odd because:
A they are a bacterial immune system
B they are DNA from viruses
C they aren’t bacterial in origin
D all of the above
7 The ones, who were excited about the CRISPR’s discovery, were:
A biologists
B geneticists
C physicists
D A and B
8 Word “learns” in the line 44, 6th paragraph means:
A determines
B gains awareness
C adapts
D studies
9 What makes CRISPR better than even our adaptive immune system?
A long history of existence
B immortality
C heritability
D adaptiveness
Questions 10–16
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10–16 on your answer sheet.
10 Vaccination is so effective, because it involves ………….. with a weakened version of a pathogen.
11 CRISPR adaptive immune system works in a way that seems, at least superficially, superior to ours. But perhaps our ………….. is the problem, according to Griffin.
12 Some microbes write their experience into the genome and pass the information to their ……………..
13 Before Darwin, one of the most famous ideas was proposed by a ………………… scientist, Lamarck.
14 ………………… are often used to demonstrate Lamarck’s hypothesis.
15 Lamarck’s ideas became deeply unpopular as soon as Darwin’s ideas ……………………. .
16 No ……………… biologist agrees with Lamarck’s idea that inherent drive to perfection is the key feature of evolution.
