Reading 2026-05 Test 7 — 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 — Food for thought

A. Why not eat insects? So asked British entomologist Vincent M. Holt in the title of his 1885 treatise on the benefits of what he named entomophagy – the consumption of insects (and similar creatures) as a food source. The prospect of eating dishes such as “wireworm sauce” and “slug soup” failed to garner favour amongst those in the stuffy, proper, Victorian social milieu of his time, however, and Holt’s visionary ideas were considered at best eccentric, at worst an offense to every refined palate. Anticipating such a reaction, Holt acknowledged the difficulty in unseating deep-rooted prejudices against insect cuisine, but quietly asserted his confidence that “we shall some day quite gladly cook and eat them”.

B. It has taken nearly 150 years but an eclectic Western-driven movement has finally mounted around the entomophagic cause. In Los Angeles and other cosmopolitan Western cities, insects have been caught up in the endless pursuit of novel and authentic delicacies. “Eating grasshoppers is a thing you do here”, bugsupplier Bricia Lopez has explained. “There’s more of a ‘cool’ factor involved.” Meanwhile, the Food and Agricultural Organization has considered a policy paper on the subject, initiated farming projects in Laos, and set down plans for a world congress on insect farming in 2013.

C. Eating insects is not a new phenomenon. In fact, insects and other such creatures are already eaten in 80 per cent of the world’s countries, prepared in customary dishes ranging from deep-fried tarantula in Cambodia to bowls of baby bees in China. With the specialist knowledge that Western companies and organisations can bring to the table, however, these hand-prepared delicacies have the potential to be produced on a scale large enough to lower costs and open up mass markets. A new American company, for example, is attempting to develop pressurisation machines that would de-shell insects and make them available in the form of cutlets. According to the entrepreneur behind the company, Matthew Krisiloff, this will be the key to pleasing the uninitiated palate.

D. Insects certainly possess some key advantages over traditional Western meat sources. According to research findings from Professor Arnold van Huis, a Dutch entomologist, breeding insects results in far fewer noxious by-products. Insects produce less ammonia than pig and poultry farming, ten times less methane than livestock, and 300 times less nitrous oxide. Huis also notes that insects – being coldblooded creatures – can convert food to protein at a rate far superior to that of cows, since the latter exhaust much of their energy just keeping themselves warm.

E. Although insects are sometimes perceived by Westerners as unhygienic or disease-ridden, they are a reliable option in light of recent global epidemics (as Holt pointed out many years ago, insects are “decidedly more particular in their feeding than ourselves”). Because bugs are genetically distant from humans, species-hopping diseases such as swine flu or mad cow disease are much less likely to start or spread amongst grasshoppers or slugs than in poultry and cattle. Furthermore, the squalid, cramped quarters that encourage diseases to propagate among many animal populations are actually the residence of choice for insects, which thrive in such conditions.

F. Then, of course, there are the commercial gains. As FAO Forestry Manager Patrick Durst notes, in developing countries many rural people and traditional forest dwellers have remarkable knowledge about managing insect populations to produce food. Until now, they have only used this knowledge to meet their own subsistence needs, but Durst believes that, with the adoption of modern technology and improved promotional methods, opportunities to expand the market to new consumers will flourish. This could provide a crucial step into the global economic arena for those primarily rural, impoverished populations who have been excluded from the rise of manufacturing and large-scale agriculture.

G. Nevertheless, much stands in the way of the entomophagic movement. One problem is the damage that has been caused, and continues to be caused, by Western organisations prepared to kill off grasshoppers and locusts – complete food proteins – in favour of preserving the incomplete protein crops of millet, wheat, barley and maize. Entomologist Florence Dunkel has described the consequences of such interventions. While examining children’s diets as a part of her field work in Mali, Dunkel discovered that a protein deficiency syndrome called kwashiorkor was increasing in incidence. Children in the area were once protected against kwashiorkor by a diet high in grasshoppers, but these had become unsafe to eat after pesticide use in the area increased.

H. A further issue is the persistent fear many Westerners still have about eating insects. “The problem is the ick factor— the eyes, the wings, the legs,” Krisiloff has said. “It’s not as simple as hiding it in a bug nugget. People won’t accept it beyond the novelty. When you think of a chicken, you think of a chicken breast, not the eyes, wings, and beak.” For Marcel Dicke, the key lies in camouflaging the fact that people are eating insects at all. Insect flour is one of his propositions, as is changing the language of insect cuisine. “If you say it’s mealworms, it makes people think of ringworm”, he notes. “So stop saying ‘worm’. If we use Latin names, say it’s a Tenebrio quiche, it sounds much more fancy”. For Krisiloff, Dicke and others, keeping quiet about the gritty reality of our food is often the best approach. It is yet to be seen if history will truly redeem Vincent Holt and his suggestion that British families should gather around their dining tables for a breakfast of “moths on toast”. It is clear, however, that entomophagy, far from being a kooky sideshow to the real business of food production, has much to offer in meeting the challenges that global societies in the 21st century will face.

Questions 1–8: Matching headings

Reading Passage 1 has nine paragraphs, A–I. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A–H from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i–xi, in boxes 1–8 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i. A historical delicacy

ii. The poor may benefit

iii. Presentation is key to changing attitudes

iv. Environmentally friendly production

v. Tradition meets technology

vi. A cultural pioneer

vii. Western practices harm locals

viii. Good source of nutrients

ix. Growing popularity

x. A healthy choice

xi. A safety risk

1
Section A
2
Section B
3
Section C
4
Section D
5
Section E
6
Section F
7
Section G
8
Section H

Questions 9–13: Note completion

Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Van Huis

Insects are cleaner & do not release as many harmful gases

9. Insects use food intake economically in the production of protein as they waste less _________

Durst

10. Traditional knowledge could be combined with modern methods for mass production instead of just covering _________

11. This could help _________ people gain access to world markets.

Dunkel

Due to increased 12 _________, more children in Mali are suffering from 13 _________

Reading Passage 2 — Pantomime

A. A pantomime performance is a unique blend of eccentricity and absurdity, a wild mixture of songs, jokes, outrageous costumes and slapstick physical humour. For many British children, their first family trip to see a pantomime in the Christmas holiday season is their introduction to the magic of the theatre. But what has become a quintessentially British form of entertainment is more than just simple fun. As an art form, pantomime presents a tale of good and evil, where hope finally triumphs after danger and virtual despair.

B. The story of pantomime begins with the commedia dell'arte tradition in 16th-century Italy. These improvised shows took place in streets and marketplaces in Italy and eventually throughout Europe. Distinctive masks enabled audiences to recognise the people in these stories immediately; they also allowed actors to be rude or disrespectful without fear of being recognised. The key roles in the cast were invariably rich old men, usually portrayed as cowardly and disreputable; young lovers whose parents refuse to let them marry; and ingenious and quick-witted servants. Many commedia plots show the latter, whose lives are a constant struggle to find food and money, outwitting the old men or overthrowing their masters. This theme of the victory of the underdog is still an essential feature of pantomime today.

C. By the mid-18th century, many thousands of people were going to theatres across Britain every night. Among the most popular performances were harlequinades, a new kind of entertainment which interwove Ovid's first-century Latin poem Metamorphoses with aspects of the Italian commedia. Created by actor John Rich, these early pantomimes cleverly mixed spectacle, music, ballet and myth, and were tremendously enjoyable to watch. Amazing transformations happened at the touch of a magic wand, with mechanical serpents and flying vehicles. They also showed that even early pantomime was fascinated by the crossing of boundaries: the ambiguity of men dressed as women, and the fun of animal characters played by human beings.

D. Despite their popularity, Rich's spectacular performances attracted huge controversy. Critics bitterly attacked pantomimes, complaining that they would bring about the downfall of Shakespeare and the death of serious theatre. David Garrick, the great 18th-century actor-manager, was quick to join these criticisms, while also realising the commercial opportunities of this new art form. But how could Garrick take advantage of the craze and still maintain his position as the defender of 'legitimate' theatre? His tactic was to set about changing pantomime's cultural identity, partly by confining shows to his theatre's Christmas season. Pantomimes became associated with the frivolity of the holiday season rather than being denounced as a threat. In doing so, Garrick created a convention which has survived to this day.

E. At the end of the 18th century, popular theatre saw the arrival of the white-faced Clown, in the form of actor Joseph Grimaldi. By the early 19th century, Britain was at war with France; there was intense civil unrest and violent confrontations between the government and the people. Grimaldi's hilarious antics embodied the freedom and liberty of British culture by contrast with the country's supposedly dull, humourless enemies. His anarchic activities included chasing and imprisoning policemen and stealing gigantic quantities of sausages. But the Clown was never caught or sent to jail. Audiences were thrilled by his mischief and his endless eating precisely because he created on stage the fantasy of a different world: a world without hunger, a world of comic revenge against a highly repressive government. Grimaldi became one of the great satirists of his age, a character who offered ludicrous commentaries on everything from the ruling classes to fashion, technology and new forms of transport.

F. By the late 19th century, photography had arrived, the telegraph had been invented and the first motor cars were starting to appear on British streets. Meanwhile, the spotlight on the comic stage shifted away from the Clown and towards an unexpected star, the pantomime 'Dame': a tired housewife - always played by a man struggling to cope in an unfriendly world. Dan Leno was the celebrated performer who created and played this talkative and eccentric working-class woman, a mother facing the difficulties of poverty, which he and his audiences knew all too well. In the Dame, Leno developed a persona whose theatrical power comes from the locking together of compassion and laughter. At the same time, artists such as Leno began to infuse pantomime with the plots and dilemmas of working people's culture.

G. Pantomimes are as popular today as they have ever been. Our delight in this form comes from a complex mixture of emotions and relationships. Pantomime offers us the anarchic excitements of a topsy-turvy world only to give up the assurance of harmony restored. The engaging character of the Dame exemplifies pantomime's self-proclaimed absurdity. Her comical conversations with the audience cut across the boundaries between performers and spectators, drawing us into her chaotic world. While she presides over the anarchy which Grimaldi once visited on policemen, the Dame also embodies the collective ties which bind us together as families, as neighbours, and as members of society.

Questions 14–20: Matching headings

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Choose the correct number, i–viii, in boxes 14–20.

List of Headings

i. A character who provoked sympathy and amusement

ii. Outdoor performances with a standard set of characters

iii. Pantomime as a means of focusing on political issues

iv. Discovering pantomime at a young age

v. A way of dealing with a negative attitude toward pantomime

vi. An explanation of how a pantomime character appeals to modern audiences

vii. Debate about the origins of pantomime

viii. A successful merging of artistic sources

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

Questions 21–23: Sentence completion

Complete the sentences below. Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

21
Commedia dell' arte actors used ______ to disguise their real identities.
22
Harlequinades combined elements of a 16th-century art form with a_______write centuries earlier.
23
In early 19th-century pantomimes, _______were often victims of the Clown's act.

Questions 24–26: Matching

Look at the following statements (Questions 24–26) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, A, B, C or D.

List of People

A. John Rich

B. David Garrick

C. Joseph Grimaldi

D. Dan Leno

24
His performances focused on the situation of the less wealthy sections of society.
25
He introduced elements of the supernatural to the pantomime genre.
26
His pantomime character was never seen to be punished for his on-stage crimes.

Reading Passage 3 — Women and the vision thing

Many believe that bias against women lingers in the business world, particularly when it comes to evaluating their leadership ability. Recently, we had a chance to see whether that assumption was true. In a study of thousands of 360-degree assessments collected by INSEAD’s executive education program over the past five years, we looked at whether women actually received lower ratings than men. To our surprise, we found the opposite: as a group, women outshone men in most of the leadership dimensions measured. There was one exception, however, and it was a big one: Women scored lower on ‘envisioning’ — the ability to recognize new opportunities and trends in the environment and develop a new strategic direction for an era.

But was this weakness a perception or a belief? And how could someone not perceive explored these issues with successful female executives, we arrived at another question: Was a reputation for vision even something many of them wanted to achieve?

A brilliant career

A leading services company CEO well call Anne Dumas typified in many ways the women we spoke with. The pillar of her leadership style was a principle taught to her 20 years ago by her first boss: Always stay close to the details. As she explained it: “I think strategy comes naturally from knowing your business and the forces that influence your market, clients, and suppliers — not at a high level but at a detailed level. Intermediaries kill your insight. You obviously can’t monitor everything, but nothing should keep you from knowing in detail the processes on which your company runs — not supervising everything but understanding at a detailed level what is going on. Otherwise, you are hostage to people who will play politics. At best you don’t have full information; at worst you’re vulnerable to hidden agendas. My job is to go to the relevant detail level.”

In her four years as CEO, Dumas had achieved some impressive results. She had doubled revenues and operating margins, given the company a new strategic direction, and undertaken a fundamental reorganization of the company’s core processes and structures. More recently, she had turned her attention to developing her leadership team.

Another executive, Sarah Lin, a tech industry veteran, echoed this sentiment. She believed that the traditional concept of a visionary leader — a solitary figure announcing a grand, top-down strategy— was outdated. "My 'vision' isn't a prophecy I deliver from on high," Lin stated. "It's a collaborative synthesis. It emerges from deep immersion in the work my team is doing, from understanding the granular challenges and the small, incremental innovations. The big picture is built from a mosaic of details." This hands-on approach, while highly effective in fostering agile and responsive teams, often remains invisible in traditional leadership assessments, which tend to value charismatic, broad-stroke pronouncements.

This discrepancy points to a potential gender-based bias in how "vision" is defined and recognized. The archetype of a visionary leader is often male, associated with bold, future-oriented rhetoric. Female leaders, who may build strategy from the ground up through collaboration and detailed mastery, might not fit this mould. Consequently, their strategic contributions are sometimes overlooked or undervalued as mere operational excellence, rather than being recognized as a different, yet equally valid, form of visionary leadership. The question, therefore, may not be whether women lack vision, but whether the business world has a narrow definition of what vision looks like in practice.

Questions 27–31: True/False/Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 27–31 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.

27
The study from INSEAD confirmed that women receive lower overall leadership ratings than men.
28
The study found that women outperformed men in every single leadership dimension.
29
Anne Dumas believes that understanding detailed processes protects a leader from office politics.
30
Anne Dumas's first boss was the CEO of a leading services company.
31
Sarah Lin works in the technology sector.

Questions 32–36: Multiple choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 32–36 on your answer sheet.

32
The INSEAD study was surprising because it showed that women
- A. were significantly better at envisioning than men.
- B. received higher ratings in most leadership areas.
- C. were biased against male leaders.
- D. had not improved their leadership skills over five years.
33
According to the passage, 'envisioning' is the ability to
- A. manage a team of executives effectively.
- B. double a company's revenues and margins.
- C. identify new opportunities and set a new strategic direction.
- D. understand the detailed processes of a company.
34
The core principle of Anne Dumas's leadership style is to
- A. supervise every single company process.
- B. delegate all strategic planning to intermediaries.
- C. remain closely connected to the details.
- D. avoid hidden agendas by playing politics.
35
What impressive achievement did Anne Dumas accomplish as CEO?
- A. She increased the company's market share by 100%.
- B. She developed a new leadership team from scratch.
- C. She doubled the company's revenues and operating margins.
- D. She taught her first boss a new leadership principle.
36
According to the passage, the traditional concept of a visionary leader is often
- A. collaborative and detail-oriented.
- B. female and operational.
- C. charismatic and broad-strokes.
- D. invisible and undervalued.

Questions 37–40: Summary completion

Complete the summary using the list of words, A–G, below. Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet.

A. archetype

B. collaboration

C. bias

D. operational excellence

E. study

F. prophecy

G. principle

37
The passage suggests a potential 37 .................... in how leadership vision is perceived.
38
The authors argue that the common 38 .................... of a visionary leader is typically male and associated with bold rhetoric.
39
Female leaders like Sarah Lin, however, often develop strategy through 39 .................... and a deep understanding of details.
40
Because this approach does not fit the traditional mould, their strategic work might be misclassified as 40 .................... instead of visionary leadership.

Answer sheet

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Show answer key

1. vi
Section A is best summarized by vi because it discusses the historical resistance to eating insects and Holt's early advocacy, matching 'A pioneer with an unpopular idea'.
2. ix
Section B fits ix as it describes the recent rise of insect eating in Western cities and organizations, showing 'A new trend in Western cities'.
3. v
Section C matches v since it explains how Western expertise could help mass-produce insect foods, which is 'The potential for large-scale production'.
4. iv
Section D is about the environmental benefits of insect farming, so iv 'Environmental advantages' is correct.
5. x
Section E discusses insects as a safer food source due to their genetic distance from humans, so x 'A safer food source' is the best heading.
6. ii
Section F is about how traditional knowledge and modern technology could help rural people enter global markets, matching ii 'Economic opportunities for the poor'.
7. vii
Section G describes the obstacles to insect eating, including Western attitudes and pesticide use, so vii 'Barriers to progress' is correct.
8. iii
Section H focuses on the psychological and linguistic challenges of getting Westerners to eat insects, matching iii 'Overcoming cultural resistance'.
9. energy
The answer is 'energy' because Paragraph D says insects convert food to protein more efficiently than cows, who 'exhaust much of their energy just keeping themselves warm'.
10. subsistence needs
The answer is 'subsistence needs' since Paragraph F mentions rural people have used insect knowledge for their own needs, but combining it with modern methods could open mass markets.
11. rural, impoverished
'Rural, impoverished' is correct because Paragraph F says this could help 'primarily rural, impoverished populations' access the global economy.
12. pesticide use
'Pesticide use' is the answer as Paragraph G explains that increased pesticide use made grasshoppers unsafe, leading to more children suffering.
13. protein deficiency
'Protein deficiency' is correct because Paragraph G states children were once protected from 'a protein deficiency syndrome called kwashiorkor' by eating grasshoppers.
14. iv
Paragraph A is best summarized by iv because it introduces pantomime as a blend of fun and moral themes, matching 'A mixture of fun and morality'.
15. ii
Paragraph B fits ii as it describes the origins of pantomime in Italian commedia dell'arte, matching 'The roots of pantomime'.
16. vii
Paragraph C matches vii since it discusses the development of harlequinades and their features, which is 'A new kind of entertainment'.
17. v
Paragraph D is about the controversy and seasonal association of pantomime, so v 'A controversial art form' is correct.
18. iii
Paragraph E focuses on Grimaldi's Clown and his social commentary, matching iii 'A satirical character'.
19. i
Paragraph F is about the rise of the Dame and her connection to working-class issues, so i 'A new star' is the best heading.
20. vi
Paragraph G discusses the enduring popularity and social role of pantomime, matching vi 'A lasting appeal'.
21. masks
The answer is 'masks' because Paragraph B says commedia actors used 'distinctive masks' to disguise themselves.
22. poem
The answer is 'poem' since Paragraph C states harlequinades mixed commedia with Ovid's 'Latin poem Metamorphoses'.
23. policemen
'Policemen' is correct because Paragraph E describes the Clown 'chasing and imprisoning policemen'.
24. D
D (Dan Leno) is correct because Paragraph F says his Dame character focused on the struggles of the working class.
25. A
A (John Rich) is correct as Paragraph C notes he created pantomimes with 'amazing transformations' and magical elements.
26. C
C (Joseph Grimaldi) is correct since Paragraph E says the Clown 'was never caught or sent to jail' for his mischief.
27. FALSE
FALSE is correct because the passage says women actually received higher ratings than men in most leadership areas.
28. FALSE
FALSE is correct as the passage states women outperformed men in most, but not all, leadership dimensions; they scored lower on 'envisioning'.
29. TRUE
TRUE is correct because Anne Dumas says knowing details protects her from being 'hostage to people who will play politics'.
30. FALSE
FALSE is correct since Anne Dumas's first boss taught her a principle, but was not the CEO; Dumas herself later became CEO.
31. TRUE
TRUE is correct as Sarah Lin is described as 'a tech industry veteran'.
32. B
B is correct because the study was surprising as women 'outshone men in most of the leadership dimensions measured'.
33. C
C is correct since 'envisioning' is defined as 'the ability to recognize new opportunities and trends... and develop a new strategic direction'.
34. C
C is correct because Anne Dumas's core principle is to 'stay close to the details' and 'understand at a detailed level what is going on'.
35. C
C is correct as the passage says she 'doubled revenues and operating margins' as CEO.
36. C
C is correct because the traditional visionary leader is described as 'a solitary figure announcing a grand, top-down strategy' and associated with 'bold, future-oriented rhetoric'.
37. C
C ('bias') is correct because the passage discusses a 'potential gender-based bias in how "vision" is defined and recognized'.
38. A
A ('archetype') is correct as the passage says the 'archetype of a visionary leader is often male, associated with bold, future-oriented rhetoric'.
39. B
B ('collaboration') is correct since the passage says female leaders build strategy 'from the ground up through collaboration and detailed mastery'.
40. D
D ('operational excellence') is correct because the passage says women's strategic contributions are sometimes 'overlooked or undervalued as mere operational excellence'.

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