Reading 2026-06 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: Ancient Chinese Chariots

A The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium. Archaeological work at the Ruins of Yin (near modern-day Anyang), which has been identified as the last Shang capital, uncovered eleven major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices.

B The Tomb of Fu Hao is an archaeological site at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang Dynasty capital Yin, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976, it was identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao. The artifacts unearthed within the grave included jade objects, bone objects, bronze objects etc. These grave goods are confirmed by the oracle texts, which constitute almost all of the first hand written record we possess of the Shang Dynasty. Below the corpse was a small pit holding the remains of six sacrificial dogs and along the edge lay the skeletons of human slaves, evidence of human sacrifice.

C The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xian in Shaanxi. The terracotta soldiers were accidentally discovered when a group of local farmers was digging a well during a drought around 1.6 km (1 mile) east of the Qin Emperor's tomb around at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. Experts currently place the entire number of soldiers at 8,000 - with 130 chariots (130 cm long), 530 horses and 150 cavalry horses helping to ward off any dangers in the afterlife. In contrast, the burial of Tutankhamun yielded six complete but dismantled chariots of unparalleled richness and sophistication. Each was designed for two people (90 cm long) and had its axle sawn through to enable it to be brought along the narrow corridor into the tomb.

D Excavation of ancient Chinese chariots has confirmed the descriptions of them in the earliest texts. Wheels were constructed from a variety of woods: elm provided the hub, rose-wood the spokes and oak the felloes. The hub was drilled through to form an empty space into which the tampering axle was fitted, the whole being covered with leather to retain lubricating oil. Though the number of spokes varied, a wheel by the fourth century BC usually had eighteen to thirty-two of them. Records show how elaborate was the testing of each completed wheel: flotation and weighing were regarded as the best measures of balance, but even the empty spaces in the assembly were checked with millet grains. One outstanding constructional asset of the ancient Chinese wheel was dishing. Dishing refers to the dish-like shape of an advanced wooden wheel, which looks rather like a flat cone. On occasion they chose to strengthen a dished wheel with a pair of struts running from rim to rim on each of the hub. As these extra supports were inserted separately into the felloes, they would have added even greater strength to the wheel. Leather wrapped up the edge of the wheel aimed to retain bronze.

E Within a millennium, however, Chinese chariot-makers had developed a vehicle with shafts, the precursor of the true carriage or cart. This design did not make its appearance in Europe until the end of the Roman Empire. Because the shafts curved upwards, and the harness pressed against a horse’s shoulders, not his neck, the shaft chariot was incredibly efficient. The halberd was also part of chariot standard weaponry. This halberd usually measured well over 3 metres in length, which meant that a chariot warrior wielding it sideways could strike down the charioteer in a passing chariot. The speed of chariot which was tested on the sand was quite fast. At speed these passes were very dangerous for the crews of both chariots.

F The advantages offered by the new chariots were not entirely missed. They could see how there were literally the warring states, whose conflicts lasted down the Qin unification of China. Qin Shi Huang was buried in the most opulent tomb complex ever constructed in China, a sprawling, city-size collection of underground caverns containing everything the emperor would need for the afterlife. Even a collection of terracotta armies called Terra-Cotta Warriors was buried in it. The ancient Chinese, along with many cultures including ancient Egyptians, believed that items and even people buried with a person could be taken with him to the afterlife.

1
When discovered, the written records of the grave goods proved to be accurate.
2
Human skeletons in Anyang tomb were identified as soldiers who were killed in the war.
3
The Terracotta Army was discovered by people who lived nearby, by chance.
4
The size of the King Tutankhamen’s tomb is bigger than that of in Qin Emperors’ tomb.
5
The hub is made of wood from the tree of ________.
6
The room through the hub was to put tempering axle in which is wrapped up by leather aiming to retain ________.
7
The number of spokes varied from 18 to ________.
8
The shape of wheel resembles a ________.
9
Two ________ was used to strengthen the wheel.
10
Leather wrapped up the edge of the wheel aimed to remain ________.
11
What body part of horse was released the pressure from to the shoulder?
12
What kind road surface did the researchers measure the speed of the chariot?
13
What part of his afterlife palace was the Emperor Qin Shi Huang buried in?

Reading Passage 2: Why don’t we sleep?

Insomnia, the inability to fall and stay asleep, is at epidemic levels. If sleep is so important to us, why is it sometimes so hard to achieve?

Fifty-six million prescriptions for sleeping medication were handed out by doctors in America last year. Yet remarkably little is being done to understand insomnia’s root causes. Socially and economically, the undertreatment of sleeplessness is hugely expensive. The Institute of Medicine, an independent scientific advisory group, estimates nearly 20 percent of all major accidents on the road are associated with driver sleepiness. The loss in terms of productivity within the workplace is even higher, costing billions. Then there are the softer costs which remain unmeasured but still exist; for example, the damaged relationships with others. If other medical problems were causing such widespread harm, governments would act, but US authorities contribute only about $230 million a year for the funding of sleep research, comparable to the amount that the manufacturers of popular sleeping pills spent in three months on advertising. Currently most medical school students get no more than four hours of training on sleep disorders; some get none.

If we don’t know why we can’t sleep, it’s in part because we don’t really know why we need to sleep in the first place. We know that we divide it between periods of deep-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when the brain is as active as when we’re awake, but our voluntary muscles are paralyzed. We know that all mammals sleep, and that there are some insects and reptiles that only half sleep, in order to remain aware of their environment and predators.

The predominant theory of sleep is that the brain demands it. Recently, researchers at Harvard, led by Robert Stickgold, tested undergraduates on various aptitude tests, allowed them to nap, then tested them again. They found that those who had engaged in REM sleep subsequently performed better in pattern recognition tasks, such as grammar, while those who slept deeply were better at memorization.

Such studies suggest that memory consolidation may be one function of sleep. Giulio Tononi, a sleep researcher at the University of Wisconsin, published an interesting twist on this theory a few years ago. His study showed that the sleeping brain seems to delete redundant or unnecessary synapses or connections. So the purpose of sleep may be to help us remember what’s important, by letting us forget what’s not.

Sleep is likely to have physiological purposes too. Some researchers have found that sleep deprivation impedes wound healing in rats, and others have suggested that sleep helps boost the immune system and control infection. But these studies are not conclusive. At Stanford University, William Dement, co-founder of the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center, explains what he knows after 50 years of research, about the reason we sleep. ‘As far as I know,’ he said, ‘the only reason we need to sleep that is really, really solid is because we get sleepy.’

The Stanford clinic does more than 3,000 overnight sleep studies a year. Their main diagnostic tool is the polysomnogram, the main element of which is the electroencephalograph (EEG), which captures the electrical output from a patient’s brain. As the EEG records a person’s sleep patterns, the polysomnogram technicians also measure body temperature, muscle activity, eye movement, and breathing. Then they look over the data for signs of abnormal sleep. When a person has narcolepsy, for instance, they plunge from wakefulness into REM sleep without any intermediate steps. However, Clete Kushida, the clinic director, told me he can spot most people’s sleep problems right at the intake interview. ‘There are those who cannot keep their eyes open, and those who just speak of their exhaustion but don’t actually fall asleep. The former often have sleep apnea where they stop breathing. The latter have true insomnia.’

In sleep apnea, muscle relaxation allows the soft tissue of the throat to close, shutting off the sleeper’s air passage. When the brain realizes it is not getting oxygen, it sends a signal to the body to wake up. The sleeper awakes, inhales, and sleep returns. Apnea is a serious problem but only indirectly a sleep disease. True insomniacs are people who either can’t get to, or can’t stay asleep for any evident reason.

While apnea can be treated with a device that forces air down the sleeper’s throat to keep the airways open, the treatment of classic insomnia is not so clear cut. Acupuncture may help. It has long had this role in Asian medicine and is being studied at the University of Pittsburgh sleep center now. Typically in the US, insomnia is treated in two ways. First come the sleeping pills. Though safer than they once were, they can still lead to psychological addiction. ‘Many users complain that their sleeping-pill sleep seems different, and they feel unfocused on waking. Sleeping pills are not a natural way to sleep,’ points out Charles Czeisler, director of the Harvard Health and Safety Group.

The second step in treating insomniacs is usually cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In CBT, a psychologist teaches insomniacs to think about sleep problems as manageable, and to practice good ‘sleep hygiene’: sleep in a dark room, go to bed only when you are sleepy, don’t exercise beforehand. Studies have shown that CBT is more effective than sleeping pills at treating long-term insomnia, but many sufferers aren’t convinced. ‘Some people continue in my experience to struggle,’ says John Winkelman, another sleep center director. ‘They’re not super-satisfied with their sleep.’

14
Last year the high number of ________ doctors gave their patients highlights the fact that insomnia is a serious issue in the USA.
15
It is evidently responsible for a number of serious traffic ________, and has a considerable effect on company ________.
16
Unfortunately, there is insufficient official funding given to research into sleep problems, and the ________ given at medical school is also insufficient to deal with insomnia.
17
a mention of different cultural approaches to dealing with insomnia
18
indications that sleep has a positive effect on health
19
the effects of different kinds of sleep on mental performance
20
reasons why various species of animal sleep in different ways
21
the suggestion that sleep allows us to get rid of insignificant information
22
a description of how the brain responds when a person stops breathing
23
Research tells us that we sleep as a reaction to our body’s signals.
- A. Giulio Tononi
- B. William Dement
- C. Clete Kushida
- D. Charles Czeisler
- E. John Winkelman
24
People suffering from insomnia are easily recognisable.
25
Therapy does not always enable people to achieve good quality sleep.

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.

26
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.
27
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.
28
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.
29
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.
30
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
31
32. Nicholson makes a persuasive argument in his book.
32
33. Tooby and Cosmides believe natural selection through the generations has prepared our minds well for the modern workplace.
33
34. Our reliance on technology causes emotional problems in the workplace.
34
35. People today are more trusting than they used to be.
35
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
36
37. Nicholson’s ideas are unwelcome to ............ but some executives are more open to what evolutionary psychology says.
37
38. However, these executives still believe that there is a ............ that will make employees act according to the company’s practices.
38
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.
39
40. According to Nicholson, these senior executives are engaging in back-to-front thinking and we should not try to change human nature but instead we should change our business structures.

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1. TRUE
The records of the grave goods matched what was actually found, showing they were accurate.
2. FALSE
The skeletons were not identified as soldiers killed in war; the passage says they were probably servants or prisoners.
3. TRUE
Local people found the Terracotta Army by accident while digging, so it was discovered by chance.
4. NOT GIVEN
There is no information in the passage comparing the size of King Tutankhamen’s tomb and Qin Emperor’s tomb.
5. elm
The hub is made of wood from the elm tree, as stated directly in the passage.
6. oil
The room through the hub was for the tempering axle, which was wrapped in leather to keep oil inside.
7. thirty-two / 32
The number of spokes in the wheel varied from 18 to thirty-two, as mentioned in the passage.
8. dish
The wheel’s shape is described as resembling a dish.
9. struts
Two struts were used to make the wheel stronger.
10. bronze
Leather wrapped around the edge of the wheel was to keep the bronze in place.
11. neck
The pressure was taken off the horse’s neck and put on the shoulder.
12. sand
Researchers measured the chariot’s speed on sand, as stated in the passage.
13. tomb complex / opulent tomb complex
Emperor Qin Shi Huang was buried in his tomb complex, also called an opulent tomb complex.
14. prescriptions
The high number of prescriptions given by doctors shows insomnia is a serious issue.
15. accidents / productivity
Insomnia causes many traffic accidents and also affects company productivity.
16. training
There is not enough training about sleep problems given at medical school.
17. H
Section H mentions different cultural ways of dealing with insomnia.
18. E
Section E gives evidence that sleep has a good effect on health.
19. C
Section C discusses how different types of sleep affect mental performance.
20. B
Section B explains why animals sleep in different ways.
21. D
Section D suggests sleep helps us remove unimportant information.
22. G
Section G describes how the brain reacts when someone stops breathing.
23. B
William Dement says research shows we sleep because our bodies signal us to.
24. C
Clete Kushida says people with insomnia are easy to recognize, but tempting option E (John Winkelman) does not mention this.
25. E
John Winkelman says therapy does not always help people get good sleep, while other options do not mention this.
26. C
The first paragraph explains the theory of evolutionary psychology, not just naming experts or opposing Darwin.
27. D
Nicholson believes we inherit ideas and characteristics from our ancestors, matching option D.
28. B
The writer discusses emotion to explain why people act and feel certain ways at work.
29. D
Nicholson predicts that social interaction will always be important for workers.
30. B
The best title is 'Understanding the origins of workplace behaviour' because the passage explains why people behave as they do at work.
31. YES
The passage says Nicholson makes a strong, convincing argument in his book.
32. NO
Tooby and Cosmides do not think natural selection has prepared us well for modern workplaces.
33. NOT GIVEN
There is no information about technology causing emotional problems at work.
34. NO
The passage says people today are not more trusting than before.
35. H
Nicholson says if we understand why people act as they do, we can change business environments to help them work better.
36. B
Nicholson’s ideas are not popular with MBA graduates, but some executives are more open to evolutionary psychology.
37. E
Some executives still believe there is a magic formula to make employees follow company practices.
38. G
Nicholson says these executives are using back-to-front thinking.
39. I
Nicholson says we should not try to change human nature, but instead change our business structures.

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Reading Passage 1: Ancient Chinese Chariots

Reading Passage 2: Why don’t we sleep?

Reading Passage 3: Understanding the Origins of Workplace Behaviour

Answer sheet

Answer key