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?
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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.
Video Games and Violence
For quite some time now, video games that involve significant amounts of violence have been blamed for growing numbers of violence by young people, the demographic most likely to play these games. Debate about this has even reached the courts, with both sides of the argument claiming that the scientific literature supports their opinions. Some experts involved have proclaimed that the debate is scientifically settled and that only people holding personal concerns and biases oppose these established truths.
Scientifically, two competing social theories have been formulated about the potential effects of video game violence. The first is that video games increase violence because they teach players how to be violent and reinforce violent tendencies. The second theory is that video games have a possibly beneficial effect, because they provide a socially acceptable outlet for the release of aggression and thereby promote better mental health.
Articles reviewing the effects of video games on general populations have found links between playing violent video games and changes in behaviour, and/or thought process, with some finding that people who played realistic violent games for 45 minutes had a greater increase in violent and aggressive feelings than persons who played unrealistic violent video games or non-violent video games for the same period. What seems clear though is that certain populations are more at risk and/or are more likely to play violent video games than others.
Studies suggest that at-risk individuals are usually male, have pre-existing personality disorders or traits, for example a conduct disorder, have pre-existing mental health conditions, have had difficult or traumatic upbringings, and are insecure with poor self-esteem. Children with attention deficit disorder were also seen to be at a higher risk of showing addictive behaviour to violent video games and that violent video games might be a significant risk variable for aggressive behaviour in persons who already have aggressive personality traits.
There are, of course, plenty of other groups of people (probably the majority of users) who play and enjoy video games, with or without violence, that have no character disorders at all. Another recent key report which relied on parents’ self-report of their children’s video game playing behaviours suggest that spending a large amount of time playing violent video games was correlated with troublesome behaviour and poor academic achievement. The same study also indicated that children who played more educational games had more positive outcomes.
What is interesting is that the comic book debate of the 1950’s is eerily similar when compared to the current debate about the effects of video games on children. In 1954, the US Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on the effects of comic books on America’s youth. The primary focus of the Senate hearings was ‘crime and horror’ comic books, some of which graphically showed horrific images, such as dismembered bodies.
Concerns were voiced that these comics would lead to a decline in public morals, an increase in violence and aggression, an increase in general lawlessness, and societal disrespect and deterioration. Medical and social science experts became involved in the debate, writing articles in reputable journals. Many of the concerns that dominate the current video game debate were also expressed and it could show the frequently experienced perception that violent behaviour is always more prevalent in the present than in the past and that people just search for a scapegoat on which to blame it.
Although many articles have suggested a connection between violent video games and aggression, several studies have found no such relationship. One study in fact showed that non-gamers and excessive gamers both had lower self-reported mental wellness scores than low to moderate gamers. This finding suggests that excessive playing may be detrimental, but that there are some protective and non-harmful consequences to playing in moderation.
This finding is in line with social theory, which suggests that video games, like sports, may provide an outlet for individuals to work through aggression and, therefore, have better mental functioning and overall lower levels of aggression. The same study pointed to the positive attributes of violent video game playing, such as improved visual-spatial coordination, increased peripheral attention, and increased decision-making capabilities. People who play a lot of video games also generally have better overall computer skills than people who do not.
Another study examining the multivariate risk issues for youth violence showed that the most common positive predictors of youth violence were delinquent peer influences, antisocial personality traits, depression, and parents or guardians who use psychological abuse in family relationships. The factors that were not found to be predictive of youth violence included neighbourhood quality, parental use of domestic physical violence in intimate relationships, and exposure to violent television or video games.
A recent neurological study provided further evidence that video games do not increase violent behaviour by users. The study examined whether there was a change in brain imaging that suggested a loss of distinction between virtual and actual violence in players of violent video games compared with controls. What was found was that the ability to differentiate automatically between real and virtual violence was not diminished by a long-term history of violent video game play, and nor were gamers’ neural responses to real violence subject to desensitization processes. This would indicate that video games do not cause people to lose their grip on what is real in comparison with what is fantasy.
Many questions are raised by the split nature of the scientific literature regarding violence and video games and it should also be remembered that a correlation does not prove a causation. Stakeholders need to examine the current video game debate in order to decide how to sensibly influence social policy.
Questions 27-33
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
27 Violent video games are most likely to be played by people in their youth and middle age.
28 It has been claimed that people, who still feel the effects of violent video games are not decided and clear, have vested interests in the debate.
29 lt is claimed that men and women are more or less equally threatened by the effects of violent video games.
30 One study has found a link between usage of violent video games and poor school performance.
31 Various violent video games are based on stories previously published in comic books.
32 Some of the comic books of the 1950’s had shocking images of mutilated people.
33 It has been claimed that violence has always been present in society and video games are just the latest thing to blame it on.
Questions 34-39
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
Studies Defending the Use of Violent Video Games
Study 1
Non-gamers and excessive gamers had similar grading in terms of 34………….It shows excessive gaming can have protective effects.Similar ideas in social theory – users can rid themselves of 35……. and therefore have a better mental condition.Gaming can improve visual spatial coordination, peripheral attention, 36………. and computer skills.
Study 2
It examined the various risk factors for youth violence – peers, personality, depression and psychological abuse.Non-factors were 37…………., violence at home and violent TV and video games.
Study 3
A neurological study examining variations in 38…………. when users interacted with virtual and real violence.Results showed that users’ differentiation between virtual or real violence was not affected by the use of violent video games.The 39………… with regards to real violence in users’ neural reactions were also not affected.It shows video games do not affect people’s perceptions of what is real or what is fantasy.
Question 40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
40 What is the writer’s purpose in the reading passage?
A To defend the use of violent video game usage.
B To discourage people from using violent video games.
C To examine examples of violence by users of violent video games.
D To review what has been discovered about the effects of violent video games.
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.
A Neurologists tend to divide the experience of love into three distinct categories: attraction, lust, and attachment. The combination of all three can make for an intoxicating and lasting bond, but they have not always experienced together. Frequently, for example, we lust after those with whom we have no desire of having a long-term relationship; at other times, we feel ‘attached’ to people in the sense of being drawn to them emotionally or spiritually, but not drawn to them physically.
It is accurate to describe these as ‘stages’ of love — lust tends to come first, then attraction, which lasts for months or years, and finally attachment, which can keep people together for decades. These are separate chemical substrates, so they can overlap; however, evidence suggests that attraction has a limited lifespan.
B Lust is typically experienced soon after puberty. This is when estrogen and testosterone — the underlying chemical substrates for lust in women and men respectively — activate themselves in our bodies for the first time. The primary purpose of lust is believed to be procreation, and the experience is one of feeling physically drawn, or even ‘pulled’ towards another person. Pheromones, physical attractiveness, and our socialized predispositions for what we seek in a mate are the factors that activate the sensation of lust. Despite the strength, it can have over our psyche, lust on its own is a very fleeting experience. It can firmly steer people together for their initial encounters, but it has no power to keep them there.
C If the relationship is to last, something called attraction must take place. The attraction is the intoxicating sensation experienced in the initial period of knowing someone. The ‘symptoms’ include dizziness, flushed skin, and a loss of appetite and sleep. These are a result of a chemical cocktail of dopamine and norepinephrine that PEA — a transmitter chemical — unleashes into the bloodstream when attraction takes place.
Dopamine is responsible for the blissful feelings of self- confidence, joy, and motivation that new love brings about; norepinephrine, similar to adrenaline, brings about palpitations and anxiety. The attraction has more staying power than lust; while its intensity fades after a few weeks, the effect of the PEA transmission can continue for some time between eighteen months and four years. After that, our bodies build up a natural tolerance.
D At this stage, a transition to a phase called attachment can occur. The ‘rush’ of attraction is replaced by endorphins like oxytocin and vasopressin that feel like a gentle, warm sort of pleasantness — a safe feeling that calms the mind, numbs pain, and soothes anxiety. This is a much more pleasant feeling in which to spend an extended period of time — potentially, forty, fifty or more years, depending on when you meet your partner.
It allows you to live your life with someone, without their being the central obsession of your life. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that PEA transmission will evolve into the endorphin stage — in many instances, it will be replaced by a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. It is not a coincidence that peak divorce rates occur at between four and seven years, as PEA transmission wears away and attachment does not materialize in many people’s brains.
E Even neurologists agree that chemistry isn’t everything. There are numerous other factors such as culture and personality, for which science may never have an explanation. While dopamine is bliss, however, ignorance is not — neurology has much to contribute to satisfaction in our personal lives. It may not be a good idea to commit to marriage or spending the rest of your life with someone if you still feel the blissful rush of PEA transmission, for example.
Once your brain has succumbed to the warming opiates of oxytocin and vasopressin, this will be a safer commitment. Attachment brings other needs to the foreground, however; while people enjoy the security that attachment brings about, they do not lose their desires for either lust or attraction. Losing the ability to give your partner the rush of PEA transmission, while knowing that he may feel this for other people, can bring about jealousy and anxiety in people. Acknowledging and discussing these insecurities can alleviate them as it is likely that, to some extent, both partners will be feeling them.
Questions 27-33
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Lust
Attraction
Attachment
Designed to encourage 27 ……………..
Two chemicals are released through a third one called PEA.
Chemicals in the brain work to reduce physical and mental suffering, and calm 31 …………
Generated by natural scent, look and 28 ……………..
29………….. is a feel-good chemical, norepinephrine, brings about elevated heart rate and nervousness.
Separate chemical processes mean PEA transmission does not always progress to 32 …………….. There is a relationship between 33 ……………… and the failure of attachment to occur.
Has weak staying power
Can last for up to 30 ……………..
—
Questions 34-39
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage ?
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
34 We cannot explain all romantic decisions based on chemical processes.
35 Knowing about brain chemistry can actually harm our happiness.
36 Long-term relationship commitments should be made after attraction has faded.
37 Relationship insecurities fade away once the attachment phase begins.
38 Growing resistance to PEA transmission is experienced as mental anguish.
39 Talking about the effects of PEA resistance on a relationship can make anxiety worse.
Question 40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
40 Which is the most suitable title for the Reading Passage?
