Reading 2026-02 Test 28 — 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: Learning to Walk

These days the feet of a typical city dweller rarely encounter terrain any more uneven than a crack in the pavement. While that may not seem like a problem, it turns out that by flattening our urban environment we have put ourselves at risk of a surprising number of chronic illnesses and disabilities. Fortunately, the commercial market has come to the rescue with a choice of products. Research into the idea that flat floors could be detrimental to our health was pioneered back in the late 1960s in Long Beach, California. Podiatrist Charles Brantingham and physiologist Bruce Beekman were concerned with the growing epidemic of high blood pressure, varicose veins and deep-vein thromboses and reckoned they might be linked to the uniformity of the surfaces that we tend to stand and walk on.

The trouble, they believed, was that walking continuously on flat floors, sidewalks and streets concentrates forces on just a few areas of the foot. As a result, these surfaces are likely to be far more conducive to chronic stress syndromes than natural surfaces, where the foot meets the ground in a wide variety of orientations. They understood that the anatomy of the foot parallels that of the human hand - each having 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments - and that modern lifestyles waste all this potential flexibility.

Brantingham and Beekman became convinced that the damage could be rectified by making people wobble. To test their ideas, they got 65 factory workers to try standing on a variable terrain floor - spongy mats with varying degrees of resistance across the surface. This modest irregularity allowed the soles of the volunteers' feet to deviate slightly from the horizontal each time they shifted position. As the researchers hoped, this simple intervention made a huge difference, within a few weeks. Even if people were wobbling slightly, it activated a host of muscles in their legs, which in turn helped pump blood back to their hearts. The muscle action prevented the pooling of blood in their feet and legs, reducing the stress on the heart and circulation. Yet decades later, the flooring of the world's largest workplaces remains relentlessly smooth. Earlier this year, however, the idea was revived when other researchers in the US announced findings from a similar experiment with people over 60. John Fisher and colleagues at the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene designed a mat intended to replicate the effect of walking on cobblestones.

In tests funded by the National Institute of Aging, they got some 50 adults to walk on the tools in their bare feet for less than an hour, three times a week. After 16 weeks, these people showed marked improvements in mobility, and even a significant reduction in blood pressure. People in a control group who walked on ordinary floors also improved but not as dramatically. The mats are now available for purchase and production is being scaled up. Even so, demand could exceed supply if this foot-stimulating activity really is a 'useful nonpharmacological approach for preventing or controlling hypertension of older adults, as the researchers believe.

They are not alone in recognising the benefits of cobblestones. Reflexologists have long advocated walking on textured surfaces to stimulate so-called 'acupoints' on the soles of the feet. They believe that pressure applied to particular spots on the foot connects directly to particular organs of the body and somehow enhances their function. In China, spas, apartment blocks and even factories promote their cobblestone paths as healthful amenities. Fisher admits he got the concept from regular visits to the country. Here, city dwellers take daily walks along cobbled paths for five or ten minutes, perhaps several times a day, to improve their health. The idea is now taking off in Europe too.

People in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can now visit 'barefoot parks' and walk along 'paths of the senses' - with mud, logs, stone and moss underfoot. And it is not difficult to construct your own path with simple everyday objects such as stones or bamboo poles. But if none of these solutions appeal, there is another option. A new shoe on the market claims to transform flat, hard, artificial surfaces into something like uneven ground. 'These shoes have an unbelievable effect,' says Benno Nigg, an exercise scientist at Calgary University in Canada.

Known as the Masai Barefoot Technology, the shoes have rounded soles that cause you to rock slightly when you stand still, exercising the small muscles around the ankle that are responsible for stability. Forces in the joint are reduced, putting less strain on the system, Nigg claims.

Some of these options may not appeal to all consumers and there is a far simpler alternative.

If the urban environment is detrimental to our health, then it is obvious where we should turn. A weekend or even a few hours spent in the countryside could help alleviate a sufferer's aches and pains, and would require only the spending of time. However, for many modern citizens, the countryside is not as accessible as it once was and is in fact a dwindling resource. Our concrete cities are growing at a terrifying rate - perhaps at the same rate as our health problems.

1
Brantingham and Beekman were the first researchers to investigate the relationship between health problems and flat floors.
2
The subjects in Fisher's control group experienced a decline in their physical condition.
3
The manufacturers are increasing the number of cobblestone mats they are making.
4
Fisher based his ideas on what he saw during an overseas trip.
5
The Masai Barefoot Technology shoes are made to fit people of all ages.
6
The writer suggests that Brantingham and Beekman's findings were
- A. ignored by big companies.
- B. doubted by other researchers.
- C. applicable to a narrow range of people.
- D. surprising to them.
7
What claim is made by the designers of the cobblestone mats?
- A. They need to be used continuously in order to have a lasting effect.
- B. They would be as beneficial to younger people as to older people.
- C. They could be an effective alternative to medical intervention.
- D. Their effects may vary depending on individual users.
8
Which of the following points does the writer make in the final paragraph?
- A. People should question new theories that scientists put forward.
- B. High prices do not necessarily equate to a quality product.
- C. People are setting up home in the country for health reasons.
- D. The natural environment is fast disappearing.
9
In their research, Brantingham and Beekman looked at the complex physical _____ of the foot and noted that the surfaces of modern environments restrict its movement.
10
They invented a mat which they tried out on factory workers. Whenever the workers walked on it, the different levels of _____ in the mat would encourage greater muscle action.
11
In turn, this lessened the effect of _____ on the cardiovascular system.
12
Similar research was undertaken by John Fisher and colleagues in Oregon. As a result of their findings, they decided to market cobblestone mats to the elderly as a means of dealing with _____.
13
Reflexologists claim that by manipulating specific parts of the feet, the performance of certain _____ will also improve.
14
Finally, Benno Nigg at Calgary University believes that specially shaped _____ should give health benefits.

Reading Passage 2: The Importance of Law

The law influences all of us virtually all the time, it governs almost all aspects of our behavior, and even what happens to us when we are no longer alive. It affects us from the embryo onwards. It governs the air we breathe, the food and drink we consume, our travel, family relationships, and our property. It applies at the bottom of the ocean and in space. Each time we examine a label on a food product, engage in work as an employee or employer, travel on the roads, go to school to learn or to teach, stay in a hotel, borrow a library book, create or dissolve a commercial company, play sports, or engage the services of someone for anything from plumbing a sink to planning a city, we are in the world of law.

Law has also become much more widely recognised as the standard by which behavior needs to be judged. A very telling development in recent history is the way in which the idea of law has permeated all parts of social life. The universal standard of whether something is socially tolerated is progressively becoming whether it is legal, rather than something that has always been considered acceptable. In earlier times, most people were illiterate. Today, by contrast, a vast number of people can read, and it is becoming easier for people to take an interest in law, and for the general population to help actually shape the law in many countries. However, law is a versatile instrument that can be used equally well for the improvement or the degradation of humanity.

This, of course, puts law in a very significant position. In our rapidly developing world, all sorts of skills and knowledge are valuable. Those people, for example, with knowledge of computers, the internet, and communications technology are relied upon by the rest of us. There is now someone with IT skills or an IT help desk in every UK school, every company, every hospital, every local and central government office. Without their knowledge, many parts of commercial and social life today would seize up in minutes. But legal understanding is just as vital and as universally needed. The American comedian Jerry Seinfeld put it like this, 'We are all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there is a problem, the lawyer is the only person who has read the inside of the top of the box.' In other words, the lawyer is the only person who has read and made sense of the rules.

The number of laws has never been greater. In the UK alone, about 35 new Acts of Parliament are produced every year, thereby delivering thousands of new rules. The legislative output of the British Parliament has more than doubled in recent times from 1,100 pages a year in the early 1970s, to over 2,500 pages a year today. Between 1997 and 2006, the legislature passed 365 Acts of Parliament and more than 32,000 legally binding statutory instruments. In a system with so much law, lawyers do a great deal not just to vindicate the rights of citizens and organizations but also to help develop the law through legal arguments, some of which are adapted by judges to become laws. Law courts can and do produce new law and revise old law, but they do so having heard the arguments of lawyers.

However, despite their important role in developing the rules, lawyers are not universally admired. Anti-lawyer jokes have a long history going back to the ancient Greeks. More recently the son of a famous Hollywood actor was asked at his junior school what his father did for a living, to which he replied, 'My daddy is a movie actor, and sometimes he plays the good guy, and sometimes he plays the lawyer.' For balance, though, it is worth remembering that there are and have been many heroic and revered lawyers such as the Roman philosopher and politician Cicero and Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian campaigner for independence.

People sometimes make comments that characterise lawyers as professionals whose concerns put personal reward above truth, or who gain financially from misfortune. There are undoubtedly lawyers that would fit that bill, just as there are some scientists, journalists and others in that category. But, in general, it is no more just to say that lawyers are bad because they make a living from people's problems than it is to make the same accusation in respect of nurses or IT consultants. A great many lawyers are involved in public law work, such as that involving civil liberties, housing and other issues. Such work is not lavishly remunerated and the quality of the service provided by these lawyers relies on considerable professional dedication. Moreover, much legal work has nothing to do with conflict or misfortune, but is primarily concerned with drafting documents. Another source of social disaffection for lawyers, and disaffection for the law, is a limited public understanding of how law works and how it could be changed. Greater clarity about these issues, maybe as a result of better public relations, would reduce many aspects of public dissatisfaction with the law.

15
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph A.
- i. Different areas of professional expertise
- ii. Reasons why it is unfair to criticize lawyers
- iii. The disadvantages of the legal system
- iv. The law applies throughout our lives
- v. The law has affected historical events
- vi. A negative regard for lawyers
- vii. public's increasing ability to influence the law
- viii. growth in laws
16
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph B.
17
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph C.
18
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph D.
19
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph E.
20
Choose the correct heading for Paragraph F.
21
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about legal skills in today's world?
- A. There should be a person with legal training in every hospital.
- B. Lawyers with experience in commercial law are the most in demand.
- C. Knowledge of the law is as important as having computer skills.
- D. Society could not function effectively without legal experts.
- E. Schools should teach students about the law.
22
Complete the summary: People sometimes say that ______ is of little interest to lawyers, who are more concerned with making money. This may well be the case with some individuals, in the same way that some ______ or scientific experts may also be driven purely by financial greed. However, criticizing lawyers because their work is concerned with people's problems would be similar to attacking IT staff or ______ for the same reason. In fact, many lawyers focus on questions relating, for example, to housing or civil liberties, which requires them to have ______ to their work. What's more, a lot of lawyers' time is spent writing ______ rather than dealing with people's misfortunes.

Reading Passage 3: Understanding the Origins of Workplace Behaviour

Charles Darwin, the brilliant anthropologist and creator of the theory of evolution, is not normally associated with the modern business world. Nevertheless, Darwinian evolutionary theory is the foundation of a new wave of ideas about human behaviour in general and particularly the way people behave in the workplace; these ideas have been given the title of ‘evolutionary psychology’. Evolutionary psychology revolves around the notion that our brains, like our bodies, have an inherited evolutionary design that has scarcely changed for 10,000 years. As respected evolutionary psychology experts Leda Cosmides and John Tooby comment, ‘our modern skulls house a Stone Age mind.’ The US biologist Edward O Wilson sees evolutionary psychology as being a discipline which is based on both socio-biology, which is the study of the biological basis of social behaviour, and psychology, which is the systematic study of human behaviour.

Nigel Nicholson, an organisational psychologist from the London Business School, is a strong supporter of evolutionary psychology and on this subject has published Managing the Human Animal. His book takes the reader on a journey from the Stone Age plains of the savannah to the modern office, and includes a discussion of Darwinism and behavioural psychology together with a dissection of dysfunctional organisational behaviour. It is an effective approach explaining why people behave as they do, particularly at work. Evolutionary psychology is increasingly being cited in management circles, where managers are trying to understand puzzling aspects of human behaviour and by doing so improve the workplace. Nicholson believes that evolutionary psychology can help managers understand what goes wrong in organisational life and what they can do about it.

Nicholson maintains that evolutionary psychology dismisses the long-held assumption that our minds are like blank pages just waiting for culture and experience to write on them and shape our nature. He points out that sophisticated research shows the brain actually houses a store of knowledge when we are born, and now genetic research is establishing there are certain genes that account for abilities, tastes and tendencies. The stored knowledge in the human brain has not changed much since the Stone Age. As Tooby and Cosmides stress, there have not been enough generations for a brain that is well adapted to our post-industrial life to evolve through natural selection.

The evolutionary psychology version of human nature revolves around some key elements which we have inherited from our hunter-gatherer minds. One key element is emotion. Emotion was originally essential to keep early man alive and safe from predators. Emotion was, and continues to be our radar, guiding us throughout today’s techno-defined business world. Despite this, the business world emphasises rational not emotional behaviour, and does not admit the importance of emotion. We still use the emotional part of our minds to make sense of other people’s behaviour and to create an impression, so we can often be taken in by appearances. This mental predisposition actually works best in small communities (the tribe), not in much larger environments filled with people we barely know (the modern workplace). Our minds naturally try to re-create our ancestral communities with a network of no more than 150 people, where there are clear hierarchies and leaders. As a consequence, it takes very little to trigger people’s innate distrust of others because our safety in antiquity depended on supporting our near family and friends whom we valued more than other people.

So what advice does Nicholson have for the corporate world? He thinks that by knowing the reasons for people’s behaviour it is possible to mould corporate environments into places that have more chance of working efficiently and being pleasant places to work in. Nicholson admits that not everybody in the business world agrees with his belief in the effectiveness of evolutionary psychology in the workplace. One group that resists the theory of evolutionary psychology is young MBA graduates who are just beginning their careers and feel that evolutionary psychology will make their lives at work more difficult. Older and wiser executives are more receptive to the theory of evolutionary psychology, although Nicholson points out that they still tend to cling to the idea of a magic formula to bring people into line with corporate strategy. But that is back-to-front thinking according to Nicholson, who contends that we should be reinventing our business structures, not our fundamental human nature.

At the end of his book, Nicholson gives his forecast of what will and will not change in the business world. He believes that most people will still prefer more traditional forms of work and throughout their lives will continue to aim at lifelong status advancement. He also maintains that the line between work and home will be less defined, but that people will still prefer traditional working patterns as working from home leaves them isolated from their work community. He doubts that the high-tech ideas of virtual companies will ever be very successful because people will still want to meet each other face-to-face. Nicholson describes his ideal organisation in the future: it would be decentralized, with small sub-units; the staff would be from diverse backgrounds and be allowed a high degree of self-determination. New endeavours and creativity would replace systems and rationality. Nicholson acknowledges that there is a long way to go in terms of the translation of his ideas of evolutionary psychology into practical propositions, but he is confident more and more people will come round to his way of thinking.

23
27. The writer’s purpose in the first paragraph is to
- A. oppose the views of Charles Darwin.
- B. compare experts’ opinions of Darwin’s theory.
- C. explain the theory of evolutionary psychology.
- D. name experts in the field of evolutionary psychology.
24
28. In the third paragraph, which view about evolutionary psychology matches Nicholson’s opinion?
- A. Our characters determine our career choices.
- B. We begin life without any preset characteristics.
- C. Our interests and skills depend on our environment.
- D. We inherit ideas and characteristics from our ancestors.
25
29. The writer discusses the key element of emotion in order to
- A. criticise primitive survival strategies.
- B. explain attitudes and actions at work.
- C. demonstrate the slowness of evolution.
- D. suggest companies today are poorly structured.
26
30. Which of the following does Nicholson predict will happen in the business world?
- A. Companies will remain in city centres.
- B. Promotion will no longer motivate people.
- C. Employees will be less independent than now.
- D. Social interaction will remain important to workers.
27
31. Which of the following is the most suitable title for Passage 3?
- A. How successful companies manage change
- B. Understanding the origins of workplace behaviour
- C. Darwin’s theories rejected by modern management
- D. Why post-industrial organisations need to evolve more quickly
28
32. Nicholson makes a persuasive argument in his book.
29
33. Tooby and Cosmides believe natural selection through the generations has prepared our minds well for the modern workplace.
30
34. Our reliance on technology causes emotional problems in the workplace.
31
35. People today are more trusting than they used to be.
32
36. Nicholson believes that if we know why people act the way they do, we can change ............ so employees will work more efficiently.
- A. business leaders
- B. MBA graduates
- C. promotion structures
- D. reward strategy
- E. magic formula
- F. strategic planning
- G. back-to-front thinking
- H. business environments
- I. human nature
33
37. Nicholson’s ideas are unwelcome to ............ but some executives are more open to what evolutionary psychology says.
34
38. However, these executives still believe that there is a ............ that will make employees act according to the company’s practices.
35
39. According to Nicholson, these senior executives are engaging in ............ and we should not try to change ............ but instead we should change our business structures.
36
40. According to Nicholson, we should not try to change ............ but instead we should change our business structures.

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1. TRUE
It is TRUE because the passage says Brantingham and Beekman were the first to study the link between health problems and flat floors.
2. FALSE
It is FALSE because the passage states that Fisher’s control group did not experience a decline in physical condition.
3. TRUE
It is TRUE as the passage mentions that manufacturers are increasing production of cobblestone mats.
4. TRUE
It is TRUE because Fisher got his ideas from what he observed during a trip abroad.
5. NOT GIVEN
It is NOT GIVEN; the passage does not say if Masai Barefoot Technology shoes are made for all ages.
6. A
A is correct because the passage says big companies ignored Brantingham and Beekman’s findings. The tempting wrong option B is incorrect because there is no mention of other researchers doubting them.
7. C
C is correct because the designers claim the mats could be an alternative to medical treatment. Option B is tempting but the passage does not say the mats are equally good for younger people.
8. D
D is correct because the writer says the natural environment is disappearing quickly in the final paragraph.
9. anatomy
The answer is 'anatomy' because the passage says Brantingham and Beekman studied the complex physical anatomy of the foot.
10. resistance
The answer is 'resistance' because the mat’s different levels of resistance encouraged more muscle action.
11. stress
The answer is 'stress' because using the mat lessened the effect of stress on the cardiovascular system.
12. hypertension
The answer is 'hypertension' because Fisher and his team marketed the mats to help elderly people with hypertension.
13. organs
The answer is 'organs' because reflexologists say manipulating the feet can improve the performance of certain organs.
14. soles
The answer is 'soles' because Benno Nigg believes specially shaped soles can give health benefits.
15. iv
iv is correct because Paragraph A explains how the law affects people throughout their lives.
16. vii
vii is correct because Paragraph B discusses how the public can now influence the law more.
17. i
i is correct because Paragraph C talks about different areas of professional expertise.
18. viii
viii is correct because Paragraph D describes the growth in the number of laws.
19. vi
vi is correct because Paragraph E discusses the negative view people have of lawyers.
20. ii
ii is correct because Paragraph F gives reasons why it is unfair to criticize lawyers.
21. C / D
C is correct because the passage says knowing the law is as important as computer skills. D is also correct because it says society could not work well without legal experts.
22. truth / journalists / nurses / dedication / documents
The answers are 'truth', 'journalists', 'nurses', 'dedication', and 'documents' because the passage says some people think lawyers care little for truth, just as some journalists or nurses may be greedy, but many lawyers are dedicated and spend time writing documents.
23. C
C is correct because the first paragraph explains the theory of evolutionary psychology.
24. D
D is correct because Nicholson believes we inherit ideas and characteristics from our ancestors.
25. B
B is correct because the writer uses emotion to explain people’s attitudes and actions at work.
26. D
D is correct because Nicholson predicts that social interaction will always be important for workers.
27. B
B is correct because the passage is about understanding where workplace behavior comes from.
28. YES
YES is correct because the passage says Nicholson makes a strong argument in his book.
29. NO
NO is correct because Tooby and Cosmides do not believe natural selection has prepared us well for modern workplaces.
30. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage does not say technology causes emotional problems at work.
31. NO
NO is correct because the passage says people are not more trusting than before.
32. H
H is correct because Nicholson says if we understand why people act as they do, we can change business environments to help them work better.
33. B
B is correct because Nicholson’s ideas are not welcome to MBA graduates, but some executives are more open.
34. E
E is correct because the executives believe there is a magic formula to make employees behave as the company wants.
35. G
G is correct because Nicholson says these executives are using back-to-front thinking and we should not try to change human nature.
36. I
I is correct because Nicholson says we should not try to change human nature, but instead change business structures.

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Reading Passage 1: Learning to Walk

Reading Passage 2: The Importance of Law

Reading Passage 3: Understanding the Origins of Workplace Behaviour

Answer sheet

Answer key