Reading 2026-04 Test 3 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

Rebuilt from test-taker recalls — not official IELTS material. Audio and passages are recreations for practice.

Reading Passage 1 - Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was born in 1888, into a prominent family in Wellington, New Zealand. She became one of New Zealand's bestknown writers, using the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. The daughter of a banker, and born into a middle-class family, she was also a first cousin of Countess Elizabeth von Arnim, a distinguished novelist in her time. Mansfield had two older sisters and a younger brother. Her father, Harold Beauchamp, went on to become the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand. In 1893, the Mansfield family moved to Karori, a suburb of Wellington, where Mansfield would spend the happiest years of her childhood; she later used her memories of this time as an inspiration for her Prelude story.

Her first published stories appeared in the High School Reporter and the Wellington Girls' High School magazine in 1898 and 1899. In 1902, she developed strong feelings for a musician who played the cello, Arnold Trowell, although her feelings were not, for the most part, returned. Mansfield herself was an accomplished cellist, having received lessons from Trowell's father. Mansfield wrote in her journals of feeling isolated to some extent in New Zealand, and, in general terms of her interest in the Maori people (New Zealand's native people), who were often portrayed in a sympathetic light in her later stories, such as How Pearl Button was Kidnapped.

She moved to London in 1903, where she attended Queen's college, along with her two sisters. Mansfield recommenced playing the cello, an occupation that she believed, during her time at Queen's, she would take up professionally. She also began contributing to the college newspaper, with such a dedication to it that she eventually became its editor. She was particularly interested in the works of the French writers of this period and on the 19th-century British writer, Oscar Wilde, and she was appreciated amongst fellow students at Queen's for her lively and charismatic approach to life and work. She met fellow writer Ida Baker, a South African, at the college, and the pair became lifelong friends. Mansfield did not actively support the suffragette movement in the UK. Women in New Zealand had gained the right to vote in 1893.

Mansfield first began journeying into the other parts of Europe in the period 1903-1906, mainly to Belgium and Germany. After finishing her schooling in England, she returned to her New Zealand home in 1906, only then beginning to write short stories in a serious way. She had several works published in Australia in a magazine called Native Comparison, which was her first paid writing work, and by this time she had her mind set on becoming a professional writer. It was also the first occasion on which she used the pseudonym 'k.Mansfield'.

Mansfield rapidly grew discontented with the provincial New Zealand lifestyle, and with her family. Two years later she headed again in London. Her father sent her an annual subsidy of €100 for the rest of her life. In later years, she would express both admiration and disdain for New Zealand in her journals.

In 1911, Mansfield met John Middleton Murry, the Oxford scholar and editor of the literary magazine Rhythm. They were later to marry in 1918. Mansfield became a co-editor of Rhythm, which was subsequently called The Blue Review, in which more of her works were published. She and Murry lived in various houses in England and briefly in Paris. The Blue Review failed to gain enough readers and was no longer published. Their attempt to set up as writers in Paris was cut short by Murry's bankruptcy, which resulted from the failure of this and other journals. Life back in England meant frequently changed addresses and very limited funds.

Between 1915 and 1918, Mansfield moved between England and Bandol, France. She and Murry developed close contact with other well-known writers of the time such as DH Lawrence, Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley. By October 1918 Mansfield had become seriously ill; she had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and was advised to enter a sanatorium. She could no longer spend time with writers in London. In the autumn of 1918 she was so ill that she decided to go to Ospedale in Italy. It was the publication of Bliss and Other Stories in 1920 that was to solidify Mansfield's reputation as a writer.

Mansfield also spent time in Menton, France, as the tenant of her father's cousin at 'The Villa Isola Bella'. There she wrote she pronounced to be '...the only story that satisfies me to any extent'.

Mansfield produced a great deal of work in the final years of her life, and much of her prose and poetry remained unpublished at her death in 1923. After her death, her husband, Murry, took on the task of editing and publishing her works. His efforts resulted in two additional volumes of short stories. The Doves' Nest and Something Childish, published in 1923 and 1924 respectively, the publication of her Poems as well as a collection of critical writings (Novels and Novelist) and a number of editions of Mansfield's previously unpublished letters and journals.

Questions 1-6: True/False/Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-6 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 name Katherine Mansfield, that appears on the writer's book, was exactly the same as her origin name
2
Mansfield won a prize for a story she wrote for the High School Reporter
3
How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped portrayed Maori people in a favorable way.
4
When Mansfield was at Queen's college, she planned to be a professional writer.
5
Mansfield was unpopular with the other students at Queen's college
6
In London, Mansfield showed little interest in politics.

Questions 7-13: Note Completion

Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Katherine Mansfield's adult years

7. _________ moved from England back to New Zealand

8. first paid writing work was in a publication based in _________

9. her _________ and the New Zealand way of life made her feel dissatisfied

1908

returned to London

1911-1919

Met John Middleton Murry in 1911

10. _________ prevented Mansfield and Murry from staying together in Paris

11. spent time with distinguished _________

from 1916, tuberculosis restricted the time she spent in London

1920

12. her _________ was consolidated when Bliss and Other Stories was published

wrote several stories at 'Villa Isola Bella'

1923-1924

13. Mansfield's _________ published more of her works after her death

Reading Passage 2 - Viking Ireland

A recent excavation in Dublin challenges long-held ideas about when the Scandinavian raiders known as Vikings arrived in Ireland.

When Irish archaeologists working under Dublin's South Great George's Street unearthed the remains of four young men buried with fragments of Viking shields, daggers, and personal ornaments, in the excavation, appeared to be simply more evidence of the Viking presence in Ireland. At least 77 Viking burial sites have been found across the base of artifacts that accompanied them, and the South Great George's Street burials seemed to be further examples. Yet when archaeologist Linzi Simpson sent the remains for analysis, the tests showed that the men had been buried in Irish soil for years, or even decades, before the accepted date for establishing the first year-round Viking settlement in Dublin.

Simpson's findings are now adding new weight to an idea gaining growing acceptance that instead of a sudden, calamitous Invasion, the arrival of the Vikings in Ireland started with small-scale settlements and trade links connected Ireland with Northern Europe. Furthermore, those trading contacts may have occurred generations before the violent raids described in contemporary texts, works written by monks living in isolated monasteries. These were often the only places where literate people lived and were especially targeted by Viking raiders for their food suppliers and treasures. Scholars continue to examine the texts written by monks but are also considering their limitations. 'Most researchers accept now that the raids were not the first contact, as the old texts suggest,' says Viking expert Gareth Williams. How did the Vikings know where all those monasteries were? It's because there was already contact. They were already trading before those raids happened.'

Although the earlier dates for a Viking presence in Dublin that have been identified by Simpson and independent archaeologists differ from the later dates by only a few decades, when combined with other evidence, they are challenging the chronology of Viking settlement in Ireland. Since the 1960s, archaeologists have been gathering information about the mid-ninth-century settlement that lay under the sidewalks of Fishamble Street in Dublin. According to archeologist Ruth Jonson, the Vikings started with sporadic summer raids, but after some years of profitable plunder, they decided to stay and built settlements for the winter.

Carbon dating, which measures the age of organic materials based on the amount of radioactive carbon 14 remaining in a specimen, usually gives a range of likely dates for the time of death. The older the material, the wider the range. In the case of the four individuals excavated at the South Great George's Street site, Simpson found that two of them had a 95 percent probability of having died between 670 and 680, with a 68 percent probability of death occurring between 690 and 790. Thus, the entire most likely range was before the first documented arrival of Vikings in 795. A third individual lived slightly later, with a 95 percent probability of having died between 680 and 882. The dates were not what Simpson had thought they would be. These dates seem impossibly early and difficult to reconcile with the available historical and archaeological sources,' she says.

The fourth individual excavated at South Great George's Street was the most intact of the group and revealed the most about the lives and hardships of Vikings at this time. A powerfully built man in his late teens or early 20s, he was approximately 1.70m. tall by the day's standards, with the muscular torso and upper limbs that would have come from hard, ocean-going rowing. His bones showed streets associated with heavy lifting beginning in childhood. Unlike the three other men, he was not buried with weapons. Like one of the other men found at the site, he had a congenital deformity at the base of his spine, perhaps indicating they were relatives. Carbon dating gave a wider range for his lifetime, showing a 95 percent probability that he died between 786 and 955.

Tests were also carried out on the four South Great George's Street men's isotopic oxygen levels. Such tests indicate where a person spent their childhood based on a chemical signature left by groundwater in developing teeth. The results showed that the two men with the spinal had spent their childhood in Scandinavia. However, the other two had spent their childhoods in Ireland or Scotland, another sign of permanent settlement by Viking families and not just summer raids by warriors.

The evidence of an earlier-than-expected Viking presence in Ireland, based as it is on forensic tests conducted on a handful of burials, may seem slight. But seemingly small pieces of evidence can overturn well-established conventions in archaeology. Both Simpson and Johnson stress more excavations and tests will be needed before anyone can rewrite the history of Viking settlement, and such work is years away. Williams adds, There are two possibilities raised by (Simpson's) work. Either there was Viking activity earlier than we've realized in Ireland, or there is something in the water or soil in Dublin skewing the data, and both possibilities need further research.' Nevertheless, Williams agrees with Simpson and others that the chronology of the Viking presence in Ireland is uncertain and that they were possibly trading or raiding in Ireland before 795. 'It's a poorly documented part of history, says Williams. But before there was Viking settlement, there was this big trading zone in the North Sea. Did it extend to the Irish Sea? We don't have any evidence to say that, but it could be just a matter of time.'

Questions 14-19: Matching headings

Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below. Write the correct number from i to viii.

LIST OF HEADINGS

A possible genetic link between the Vikings and the Irish

ii. An assumed similarity with previous discoveries

v. The need for additional data

viii. A decision to remain in Ireland for longer periods

vi. A research technique providing unexpected information

iv. An insight into the lifestyle of a particular Viking

vii. The particular locations Vikings grew up

iii. Doubts about the truth of historical documents

14
Section A
15
Section B
16
Section C
17
Section D
18
Section E
19
Section F
20
Section G

Questions 21-23: Matching experts

Match each statement with the correct expert, A, B, or C.

LIST OF EXPERTS

A. Linzi Simpson

B. Gareth Williams

C. Ruth Johnson

21
The Vikings were aware of the financial benefits of staying in Ireland.
22
The inconsistency in sets of data came as a surprise.
23
It may be the case that the archaeological evidence gathered so far is being affected by geological factors.

Questions 24-26: Short Answer

Choose ONE WORD for each given answer.

THE FOURTH VIKING OF SOUTH GREAT GEORGE'S STREET

When the remains of the fourth Viking were excavated at South Great George's Street, it became clear that they were of a male who was tall by the days' 24 _________ of that time. Due to strenuous physical activity, his torso as well as his arms were well-developed, but several of his bones indicated stresses that would have dated from his 25 _________. He also had a genetic abnormality in his lower 26 _________. His burial differed from that of the other three Vikings discovered at the site, as no weapons were included.

Reading Passage 3 - Science in the Kitchen

There is a recent movement in the world of food, in which chefs are collaborating with scientists to teach themselves the chemistry and physics of cuisine. Even academics are getting excited about the results. Colin Osborne of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London is enthused: 'Chefs are using unusual methods to produce exciting dishes that would be impossible without modern science,' he says.

You may wonder what's wrong with long-established culinary traditions. The fact is, many culturally ingrained cooking methods are less than perfect. Osborne gives the example of the common belief that frying meat seals in moisture, while researchers who weighed the meat actually found that moisture is lost in the process. Another example is the age-old technique of adding salt when boiling vegetables to raise the water's boiling point, thus cooking the vegetables faster. In fact, the amount of salt typically added does not raise the temperature significantly or improve the flavour, since only a minuscule amount is absorbed.

Hervé This, director of the Molecular Gastronomy team at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, spends much of his time trying to disprove culinary old wives' tales. He is empirically testing traditional beliefs about cooking and disproving the more absurd, tackling such questions as whether it's better to add vinaigrette to potato salad while the potatoes are still hot. 'The first modern chemists used kitchen equipment to do their experiments,' Hervé This explains. 'Since then, chemistry has undergone massive changes - but cooking methods have remained largely as they were in the Middle Ages.'

It's seriously important work, says Peter Barham, a physicist at Bristol University. 'If you understand what's going on in cooking, you'll be better equipped to improve it.' Barham contends that it's difficult to get good results from cookery books, because recipes are typically poorly written. In stark contrast, he notes, scientific papers are subject to peer review, whereby experts pore over experiments to ensure they can be accurately reproduced.

Barham also collaborates with leading British chef Heston Blumenthal, proprietor of The Fat Duck, a restaurant in the south of England. The restaurant is widely regarded as one of the best in the world, serving delightfully unexpected dishes such as nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream. When Simon Campbell of the Royal Society of Chemistry bestowed an honorary fellowship on Blumenthal for creative applications of science to cooking, he said: 'The scientific community admires and respects the research that Mr Blumenthal has performed to harness cuisine to science. Through his inquisitive and innovative approach to food he has underlined spectacularly how chemistry permeates all aspects of texture, taste and smell.'

Although some dishes sound gimmicky, this innovative approach to cooking is paying off. El Bulli in Catalonia, Spain - directed by chef Ferran Adrià - is another leading restaurant enthusiastically engaging with science. It's only open for six months of the year (to allow six months for research and development), yet is rumoured to be booked out for an entire year in advance.

Such restaurants are part of the movement known as 'molecular gastronomy', an expression coined by physicist Nicholas Kurti, working in collaboration with Hervé This. Kurti once quipped that it is a sad reflection that we know the temperature inside the stars better than the temperature inside a soufflé. Kurti and Hervé This devised the expression 'molecular gastronomy' during the 1980s to denote the science of 'culinary transformations and eating phenomena' and differentiate it from food science.

'Twenty years ago the worlds of science and cooking were neatly compartmentalised,' agrees author Harold McGee, a top food science writer. 'There was food science: an applied science mainly concerned with understanding the materials and process of industrial manufacturing. And there was the world of domestic and restaurant cooking, traditional crafts that had never attracted much scientific attention.' A lot has changed in the two decades since he published his influential book on the topic. In a revised edition, McGee says the book was 'riding a rising wave of general interest in food, a wave that grew and grew, and knocked down the barriers between science and cooking, especially in the last decade. Science has found its way into the kitchen, and cooking into laboratories.'

So what does the future hold? Rachel Edwards-Stuart is a graduate PhD student who is studying some remarkable food additives, including modified cellulose gels that solidify on heating and melt again as they are cooled. The idea is to make dishes that develop different flavours as they are eaten. Her other project is creating drinks that change flavour. 'The concept came from... Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where Willy Wonka makes a bubble gum that is a whole meal in one sweet,' she says.

Unfortunately, Edwards-Stuart was unable to say more, due to a confidentiality agreement with the restaurant for which she conducts her research. While Hervé This, Blumenthal and Edwards-Stuart are the pioneers, the next phase will be to bring science into kitchens at home. Already there are books that provide an insight into the wondrous chemistry that turns humble ingredients into cuisine. And as the movement grows it will not be long before we see laboratory test tubes, flasks and maybe the odd centrifuge on sale next to carving knives, rolling pins and pressure cookers.

Questions 27-31: Yes/No/Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet, write: YES - if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer, NO - if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer, NOT GIVEN - if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

27
Scientists and chefs have a long-established history of working together.
28
Traditional ways of cooking tend to be supported by modern scientific research.
29
The food produced by Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck is unconventional.
30
El Bulli is the most popular restaurant of its kind in Spain.
31
McGee has plans to open his own restaurant.

Questions 32-35: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

32
The purpose of Hervé This's research is to
- A. determine how chemistry has influenced modern cooking.
- B. provide a scientific basis for traditional cooking methods.
- C. show that long-held beliefs about cooking are wrong.
- D. offer practical advice to those who cook at home.
33
According to Peter Barham, one difference between cookery books and scientific papers is that
- A. scientific papers are checked by more people.
- B. the writers of cookery books need not be qualified.
- C. the language used in scientific papers is more complicated.
- D. recipe writers can profit more financially than scientific writers.
34
Nicholas Kurti referred to a soufflé in order to
- A. give an example of a dish that can easily be ruined by excess heat.
- B. highlight the inadequacy of scientific research into cooking.
- C. show that cooking is similar to other scientific processes.
- D. confess his own limitations as a cook.
35
One aspect of Rachel Edwards-Stuart's research involves
- A. matching solid food to complementary liquids.
- B. determining which tastes appeal to young people.
- C. studying how food changes form in certain conditions.
- D. evaluating the risk of damage from using preservatives in food.

Questions 36-40: Sentence Completion (Matching endings)

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.

List of Endings

A there used to be a clear division between cooking and science.

B well-established cooking traditions have come back into fashion.

C cooking has failed to keep pace with scientific developments.

D an imaginary invention inspired scientific research.

E science has helped cooks make meals that would otherwise be unachievable.

F an award was given to acknowledge work in scientific gastronomy.

G there is new terminology to describe the study of culinary reactions.

H the home cook is not able to achieve the same level of innovation as a professional chef.

36
Colin Osborne explains that
37
Hervé This's research has led him to the view that
38
Thanks to the joint effort of Nicholas Kurti and Hervé This
39
Food writer Harold McGee says that
40
Rachel Edwards-Stuart gives an example of a case where

Answer sheet

Fill in as you go — checking is instant and local, and every miss lands in your mistake log with the lesson that fixes it.

Saved on this device — no account needed. Sign in on your progress page if you want it synced elsewhere.

Show answer key

1. FALSE
FALSE is correct because her origin name was Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp Murry, but she used the pen name Katherine Mansfield.
2. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage says her stories were published in the High School Reporter, but does not mention her winning a prize.
3. TRUE
TRUE is correct because the passage states that Maori people 'were often portrayed in a sympathetic light' in her stories, including How Pearl Button was Kidnapped.
4. FALSE
FALSE is correct because at Queen's college she believed she would take up playing the cello professionally, not writing.
5. FALSE
FALSE is correct because she was 'appreciated amongst fellow students at Queen's for her lively and charismatic approach to life and work,' showing she was popular.
6. TRUE
TRUE is correct because the passage says Mansfield did not actively support the suffragette movement in the UK, showing little interest in politics.
7. 1906
1906 is correct because after finishing her schooling in England, she returned to her New Zealand home in 1906.
8. Australia
Australia is correct because her first paid writing work was published in a magazine called Native Comparison, which was in Australia.
9. family
Family is correct because the passage says she grew discontented with the provincial New Zealand lifestyle and with her family.
10. bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is correct because their attempt to set up as writers in Paris was cut short by Murry's bankruptcy.
11. writers
Writers is correct because she and Murry developed close contact with other well-known writers of the time such as DH Lawrence, Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley.
12. reputation
Reputation is correct because it was the publication of Bliss and Other Stories in 1920 that was to solidify Mansfield's reputation as a writer.
13. husband
Husband is correct because after her death, her husband, Murry, took on the task of editing and publishing her works.
14. ii
ii is correct because Section A is about Mansfield's family background and early life, matching the heading 'Family and early years'.
15. v
v is correct because Section B discusses her time at Queen's college, matching 'Education in England'.
16. viii
viii is correct because Section C covers her return to New Zealand and early writing, matching 'Return and first publications'.
17. vi
vi is correct because Section D describes her dissatisfaction and move back to London, matching 'Discontent and departure'.
18. iv
iv is correct because Section E discusses her marriage and financial struggles, matching 'Marriage and hardship'.
19. vii
vii is correct because Section F covers her illness and growing reputation, matching 'Illness and recognition'.
20. iii
iii is correct because Section G is about her death and posthumous publications, matching 'Legacy and posthumous works'.
21. C
C (Ruth Johnson) is correct because she explains that after years of profitable plunder, the Vikings decided to stay and built settlements for the winter, showing awareness of financial benefits. Option B (Gareth Williams) is tempting but he discusses earlier contact, not financial motives.
22. A
A (Linzi Simpson) is correct because she says, 'The dates were not what Simpson had thought they would be. These dates seem impossibly early and difficult to reconcile...,' showing her surprise at the inconsistency.
23. B
B (Gareth Williams) is correct because he says, 'there is something in the water or soil in Dublin skewing the data,' suggesting geological factors may affect the evidence.
24. Standards
Standards is correct because the passage says he was approximately 1.70m tall by the day's standards.
25. childhood
Childhood is correct because his bones showed stresses associated with heavy lifting beginning in childhood.
26. spine
Spine is correct because he had a congenital deformity at the base of his spine.
27. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage does not mention whether scientists and chefs have a long-established history of working together.
28. NO
NO is correct because the passage gives examples where traditional cooking methods are disproved by scientific research, such as frying meat or adding salt to boiling water.
29. YES
YES is correct because The Fat Duck serves 'delightfully unexpected dishes such as nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream,' showing the food is unconventional.
30. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage says El Bulli is booked out for a year but does not state it is the most popular restaurant of its kind in Spain.
31. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because there is no information about McGee planning to open his own restaurant.
32. C
C is correct because Hervé This spends his time 'trying to disprove culinary old wives' tales,' showing he aims to show that long-held beliefs about cooking are wrong. Option B is tempting but his focus is on disproving, not supporting, traditions.
33. A
A is correct because Barham says scientific papers are subject to peer review, meaning experts check them, unlike cookery books.
34. B
B is correct because Kurti said it is sad we know more about the temperature inside stars than inside a soufflé, highlighting the lack of scientific research into cooking.
35. C
C is correct because Edwards-Stuart is studying food additives that 'solidify on heating and melt again as they are cooled,' which is about how food changes form in certain conditions.
36. E
E is correct because Colin Osborne explains that many traditional cooking methods are not scientifically accurate, such as frying meat to seal in moisture.
37. C
C is correct because Hervé This's research has led him to believe that many traditional beliefs about cooking are incorrect.
38. G
G is correct because Nicholas Kurti and Hervé This together coined the term 'molecular gastronomy'.
39. A
A is correct because Harold McGee says that science and cooking used to be separate but now the barriers have been knocked down.
40. D
D is correct because Rachel Edwards-Stuart gives the example of drinks that change flavour, inspired by Willy Wonka's bubble gum that is a whole meal in one sweet.

Want the full timed experience? Try the free full mock exam — real recalled questions, in the real exam interface.

Start mock exam →