Reading 2026-10 Test 11 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

About this set: compiled and lightly cleaned up from real test material that test-takers recalled. IELTS draws from a global question pool, so this material circulates worldwide. To give you a complete, sittable test, material reported around the same period is assembled together — so a set may combine content from several exam dates, not one single sitting. Any audio is a recreation for practice. Organized for study convenience. Based on test-taker recalls — not official IELTS material.

Reading Passage 1: Maori Fish Hooks

The discovery of ancient fishing hooks in New Zealand has revealed that the Māori people were remarkably skilled at crafting highly effective tools for catching fish. These hooks, often made from organic materials such as bone or shell, functioned with surprising precision, even when compared to modern alternatives. However, for many centuries, their true purpose was misunderstood by researchers and collectors alike. Many assumed these intricately shaped hooks served only decorative, ceremonial, or ritualistic purposes due to their unusual appearance and craftsmanship. Ironically, in recent years, engineers and product designers have turned to modern technologies – such as 3D scanning and computer-aided manufacturing – to recreate these hooks. These reproductions, now made using high-tech materials, replicate the original Māori designs that were created over a millennium ago.

When the Māori first arrived in New Zealand from the Pacific Islands, they encountered an environment rich in natural resources. They quickly adapted by using familiar materials such as bones and stones to make their fishing hooks and began practicing intensive agriculture. Their fishing lines and nets, made from native plants like flax and cabbage trees, proved just as strong – if not stronger – than those used by Europeans, which were typically made from hemp. Although the structure of the Māori hooks was highly efficient for catching fish, their form was somewhat limited. This was because the materials they had access to could not be forged or bent like metal, thus restricting the range of shapes the hooks could take.

More than 230 years after the Māori settled, Europeans landed in New Zealand and began exploring the land. As they moved through the region, they came across various local fishing tools, including the Māori hooks. Despite their effectiveness, many Europeans viewed the tools with skepticism. They considered them awkward and ineffective, failing to recognize the ingenuity of the designs. Even modern archaeologists sometimes share this view, finding the hooks odd and questioning their efficiency. In 1777, however, William Anderson made an observation that challenged this view. He noted that although the hooks looked unconventional, the Māori had already developed advanced methods of intensive farming – evidence of their broader ingenuity. Still, the unusual appearance of the hooks overshadowed how successful they truly were.

Recent research conducted by Victoria University has revealed that Māori fishing hooks functioned quite differently from those used by Europeans. Rather than piercing directly like a standard hook, Māori hooks worked by rotating the fish away from the point and catching it securely under the jaw. This rotational mechanism proved remarkably effective in practice. Unlike the lever-based mechanisms common in European designs, the Māori hooks employed a unique principle that required neither barbs nor baiting in the same manner, showcasing a distinctly original approach to fishing.

After the 1700s, Māori craftsmen began using new materials introduced by Europeans, such as metals. However, they did not abandon their traditional designs. Instead, they incorporated the new materials into the same forms they had long used. As bones and stones fell out of use, hooks made from traded metals became more common. Some artisans even used rare and valuable materials like ivory or greenstone, crafting hooks that were later taken into luxury markets and sold as jewelry, blurring the line between utility and art.

Following the 1800s, Europe began exporting mass-produced hooks to New Zealand. These items were cheaper and quickly gained popularity among local users. Despite their affordability, the production of traditional Māori hooks declined due to the nails and other metallic materials required, which were difficult to manipulate without specialized tools. In the early 1900s, however, interest in Pacific culture grew, and collectors began to seek out original Māori fishing hooks once again. This renewed attention turned the hooks into coveted antique items. Unfortunately, the demand also led to a wave of imitations—many of the hooks appearing on the market today are fake, though they can usually be identified by their inconsistent design and materials.

The Māori did not only adapt their fishing hooks through European influence but also modified other traditional items using both metals and more recently, synthetic plastic. Importantly, these changes were often adaptations rather than complete replacements, preserving core aspects of Māori design. What is perhaps most remarkable is that many hooks found on boats in New Zealand today still bear a striking resemblance to the ancient forms crafted hundreds of years ago, a testament to the enduring utility and brilliance of traditional Māori design.

Questions 1–8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1–8 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
People have mistaken opinions about fishing hooks’ functions.
- A. TRUE
- B. FALSE
- C. NOT GIVEN
2
Fishing is more difficult in New Zealand than Pacific islands.
3
Māoris use new materials to build hooks after they arrived New Zealand.
4
Māoris’ hooks are limited in forms because of the material limitation it used.
5
The fishing line of Māoris is worse than the European.
6
Europeans are given fishing hooks as a gift from local Māoris.
7
According to William Anderson, Māoris have already engaged in crop growing.
8
Hooks of Māoris are functioned in the same way to the hooks of European.

Questions 9–13

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 9–13 on your answer sheet.

How hooks changed after Europeans arrived

After 1700s

They abandoned their previous hooks.

Some valued hooks are made into (9) ________.

After 1800s

Mass production makes production cheaper and Māoris import more.

The difficulty associated with the material like (10) ________ and other metals makes the hooks production less.

After 1900s

Some (11) ________ were again interested in hooks.

Many hooks are (12) ________ which can be identified easily.

Conclusion

We can find the hooks’ design of old times today on (13) ________.

Reading Passage 2: Future Food Supply

A Six miles outside the town of Decorah, Iowa in the USA, an 890-acre stretch of rolling fields and woods called Heritage Farm is letting its crops go to seed. Everything about Heritage Farm is in stark contrast to the surrounding acres of intensively farmed fields of corn and soybean that are typical of modern agriculture. Heritage Farm is devoted to collecting rather than growing seeds. It is home to the Seed Savers Exchange, one of the largest non government-owned seed banks in the United States.

B In 1975 Diane Ott Whealy was given the seedlings of two plant varieties that her great grandfather had brought to America from Bavaria in 1870: Grandpa Ott’s morning glory and his German Pink tomato. Wanting to preserve similar traditional varieties, known as heirloom plants, Diane and her husband, Kent, decided to establish a place where the seeds of the past could be kept and traded. The exchange now has more than 13,000 members, and the many thousands of heirloom varieties they have donated are kept in its walk-in coolers, freezers, and root cellars. As you walk around an old red barn that is covered in Grandpa Ott’s beautiful morning glory blossoms, you come across the different vegetables, herbs, and flowers they have planted there.

C “Each year our members list their seeds in this,” Diane Ott Whealy says, handing over a copy of the Seed Savers Exchange 2010 Yearbook. It is as thick as a big-city telephone directory, with page after page of exotic beans, garlic, potatoes, peppers, apples, pears, and plums—each with its own name and personal history. For example, there’s an Estonian Yellow Cherry tomato, which was brought to the seed bank by “an elderly Russian lady” who lived in Tallinn, and a Persian Star garlic from “a bazaar in Samarkand.” There’s also a bean donated by archaeologists searching for pygmy elephant fossils in New Mexico.

D Heirloom vegetables have become fashionable in the United States and Europe over the past decade, prized by a food movement that emphasizes eating locally and preserving the flavor and uniqueness of heirloom varieties. Found mostly in farmers' markets and boutique groceries, heirloom varieties have been squeezed out of supermarkets in favor of modern single-variety fruits and vegetables bred to ship well and have a uniform appearance, not to enhance flavor. But the movement to preserve heirloom varieties goes way beyond the current interest in North America and Europe in tasty, locally grown food. It’s also a campaign to protect the world’s future food supply. Most people in the well-fed world give little thought to where their food comes from or how it’s grown. They wander through well-stocked supermarkets without realizing that there may be problem ahead. We’ve been hearing for some time about the loss of flora and fauna in our rainforests. Very little, by contrast, is being said or done about the parallel decline in the diversity of the foods we eat.

E Food variety extinction is happening all over the world - and it's happening fast. In the United States an estimated 90 percent of historic fruit and vegetable varieties are no longer grown. Of the 7,000 different apple varieties that were grown in the 1800s, fewer than a hundred remain. In the Philippines thousands of varieties of rice once thrived; now only about a hundred are grown there. In China 90 percent of the wheat varieties cultivated just a hundred years ago have disappeared. Experts estimate that in total we have lost more than 50 percent of the world's food varieties over the past century.

F Why is this a problem? Because if disease or future climate change affects one of the handful of plants we've come to depend on to feed our growing planet, we might desperately need one of those varieties we've let become extinct. The loss of the world's cereal diversity is a particular cause for concern. A fungus called Ug99, which was first identified in Uganda in 1999, is spreading across the world's wheat crops. From Uganda it moved to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen. By 2007 it had jumped the Persian Gulf into Iran. Scientists predict that the fungus will soon make its way into India and Pakistan, then spread to Russia and China, and eventually the USA.

G Roughly 90 percent of the world's wheat has no defense against this particular fungus. If it reached the USA, an estimated one billion dollars' worth of crops would be at risk. Scientists believe that in Asia and Africa alone, the portion currently in danger could leave one billion people without their primary food source. A famine with significant humanitarian consequences could follow, according to Rick Ward of Cornell University.

H The population of the world is expected to reach nine billion by 2045. Some experts say we'll need to double our food production to keep up with this growth. Given the added challenge of climate change and disease, it is becoming ever more urgent to find ways to increase food yield. The world has become increasingly dependent upon a technology-driven, one-size-fits-all approach to food supply. Yet the best hope for securing our food's future may depend on our ability to preserve the locally cultivated foods of the past.

Questions 14–20

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 14–20 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

14
Heritage Farm is different from most other nearby farms.
- A. TRUE
- B. FALSE
- C. NOT GIVEN
15
Most nongovernment-owned seed banks are bigger than Seed Savers Exchange.
16
Diane Ott Whealy's grandfather taught her a lot about seed varieties.
17
The seeds people give to the Seed Savers Exchange are stored outdoors.
18
Diane and her husband choose which heirloom seeds to grow on Heritage Farm.
19
The seeds are listed in alphabetical order in The Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook.
20
The Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook describes how each seed was obtained.

Questions 21–26

Complete the notes below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 21–26 on your answer sheet.

The food we grow and eat

Supermarkets

sell fruit and vegetables that transport well

want fruit and vegetables to be standard in their (21) ________

Public awareness

while people know about plants disappearing from (22) ________, very few know about the decline in fruit and vegetable varieties

Extinction of food varieties

less than 100 of the (23) ________ types once available in the USA are still grown

over (24) ________ of food varieties around the world have disappeared in the last 100 years

Current problems in food production

a particular fungus is attacking wheat in various countries

Rick Ward believes the threat to food supplies in Asia and Africa might lead to a (25) ________

Food production in the future

climate change and disease may put pressure on food production

twice the amount of food may be needed because of an increase in (26) ________

Reading Passage 3: Memory Champions

The Examinations School at Oxford University is where, last August, 34 contestants gathered at the World Memory Championships. It is an impressive historical venue, known for its austere yet grandiose setting of oak-paneled rooms, large Gothic windows, and looming portraits of eminent dukes and earls. It is here that generations of Oxford students have been tested in their final exams on their memory and knowledge, and it is here that these contestants were challenged to demonstrate their exceptional mnemonic abilities. Reciting poems, memorizing digit sequences, and recalling faces from photographs are just a few of the tasks that test the limits of human memory in this competitive setting.

They are using a technique known as the loci method, reportedly originating in 477 BC with the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos. He was able to memorize the guest list at a dinner by closing his eyes and recalling each individual around the table. The loci method, which was rediscovered and popularized by Simonides, has become an integral part of historical and modern memory training. This method involves associating items to be remembered with specific physical locations, creating a mental map that facilitates recall. After Simonides's discovery, the loci method became widely embraced across ancient Greece, serving as a fundamental technique for orators and scholars. It was so effective that it was incorporated into educational curricula and became a cornerstone of rhetorical training. Aristotle wrote favorably about it, recognizing its value and effectiveness. Later, a number of treatises on the art of memory were published in Rome, further cementing its importance and utility in memory training. This method not only aids in memorization but also enhances the ability to retrieve information by navigating through these mental loci, effectively walking through a structured memory palace.

One memory champion, Ed Cooke, can memorize the order of ten decks of playing cards in less than one hour or one deck of cards in less than one minute. Psychologists Elizabeth Valentine and John Wilding have teamed up with Eleanor Maguire to study how memory champions like Cooke operate differently from average individuals. Their collaboration aims to explore the neural underpinnings that might explain the exceptional memory skills exhibited by competitors in high-pressure environments such as memory championships. When the researchers analyzed the brain scans from the number memorization, they found that the memory champions were activating some brain regions that were different from those the control subjects were using. These regions are known to be involved in visual memory and spatial navigation.

To enable himself to memorize quickly, Ed Cooke has memorized a specific human being, verb, and object that he associates with every card in the deck. This detailed and highly personalized system allows him to rapidly encode and decode information during competitions. When Cooke commits a deck to memory, he does it three cards in one go, with every three-card group forming a composite picture of a person doing something to an object. This method not only enhances the memorization process but also makes the recall process faster and more efficient. He then places those images along a specific familiar path in his mind, creating a vivid mental journey that he can easily traverse. When it comes to recall, Cooke takes a mental walk along his route and translates the images into cards, effectively and efficiently converting his vivid mental images back into the specific order of the deck. This innovative approach to memory exercises showcases the extraordinary capabilities of mental athletes and the sophisticated strategies they employ to achieve their remarkable feats.

The term ‘photographic memory’ is frequently used to describe people with exceptional recall. Yet, most researchers agree there is no proof that such a memory truly exists. If it is indeed a myth, it highlights how learned strategies are often more effective than natural talent. The belief in ‘photographic memory’ remains a point of contention among the public and scientists alike. Despite the absence of solid scientific evidence, this myth endures, reflecting how society’s fascination with remarkable memory tends to ignore the practical techniques and training that genuinely drive mnemonic success.

The most renowned of the naturals was the Russian journalist S.V. Shereshevski, who could remember long sequences of numbers learned decades before, as well as poems, strings of meaningless syllables, and nearly anything else he was asked to recall. Shereshevski also experienced synaesthesia, a rare sensory condition where the senses are interconnected, which significantly improved his memorization ability. His skills were not limited to these accomplishments; his remarkable memory covered an almost endless range of information, making him a figure of great interest and study. This synthetic trait not only made his memorization tasks easier but also more vivid and long-lasting. His case has been extensively examined, as it offers deep insights into the potential of human memory when enhanced by neurological variations.

K. Anders Ericsson, a well-known psychologist, claims that anyone can develop memory abilities comparable to those of memory champions through consistent practice and proper techniques. During two years of experimentation, S.V. increased his ability to recall numbers from seven to over eighty. This study led Ericsson to conclude that there is no such thing as an innately superior memory. When he revisited original case reports of natural memorizers, he discovered that their remarkable abilities were actually based on the use of specific techniques — sometimes unconsciously — combined with extensive practice. Strategists are usually outstanding at remembering only certain kinds of material, whereas naturals exhibit strong memory across many types of tasks and can retain those memories more easily.

Questions 27–32

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 27–32 on your answer sheet.

27
a description of how a contestant remembers complex sequences
28
an example of how one person’s memory was improved over time
29
a description of a memorizing competition
30
a commonly held belief about memory that many experts say is unproven
31
a reference to the first recorded use of memorizing through location
32
a reference to an unusual condition which results in improved memory

Questions 33–36

Complete the summary below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 33–36 on your answer sheet.

A (33) ________, an action, and a thing are assigned to consecutive cards in the pack.

Combining these images allows Cooke to memorise (34) ________ at a time.

The mind pictures are then positioned on a (35) ________.

The pack of cards is remembered by going for a (36) ________ while the pictures are converted back into cards.

Questions 37–40

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–F, below.

Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet.

List of Endings

A used mainly for educational purposes.

B activated brain areas associated with visual and spatial memory.

C became widespread in ancient Greece for memorizing speeches and texts.

D the result of techniques and extensive practice.

E retaining a wide variety of tasks.

F benefited from additional cognitive abilities.

37
Valentine, Wilding and Maguire’s experiment shows that the memory contestants
38
After Simonides discovered the loci method in 477 BC, it
39
Ericsson finds out that natural memorizers are better than strategic memorizers at
40
According to K. Anders Ericsson, Shereshevsky’s skills were

Answer sheet

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Show answer key

1. A
The answer is TRUE because the passage says that for many centuries, researchers and collectors misunderstood the true purpose of Māori fishing hooks and thought they were only decorative or ceremonial.
2. C
The answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not compare the difficulty of fishing in New Zealand to the Pacific Islands.
3. B
The answer is FALSE because the passage says the Māori used familiar materials like bones and stones when they first arrived, and only started using new materials like metals after the 1700s.
4. A
The answer is TRUE because the passage explains that the form of Māori hooks was limited because the materials they used could not be forged or bent like metal.
5. B
The answer is FALSE because the passage says Māori fishing lines and nets made from native plants were just as strong, if not stronger, than those used by Europeans.
6. C
The answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not mention Europeans being given fishing hooks as gifts by the Māori.
7. A
The answer is TRUE because William Anderson observed that the Māori had already developed advanced methods of intensive farming, showing they were engaged in crop growing.
8. B
The answer is FALSE because the passage says Māori hooks functioned differently from European hooks, using a rotational mechanism instead of piercing directly.
9. jewelry / jewellery
10. nails
11. collectors
12. fake
13. boats
14. A
15. B
16. C
17. B
18. C
19. C
20. A
21. appearance
22. rainforests
23. apple
24. 50 / 50 percent / 50%
25. famine
26. population
27. D
28. G
29. A
30. E
31. B
32. F
33. human being
34. three cards
35. path
36. mental walk
37. B
38. C
39. E
40. D

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Reading Passage 1: Maori Fish Hooks

Reading Passage 2: Future Food Supply

Reading Passage 3: Memory Champions

Answer sheet

Answer key