Reading 2026-07 Test 13 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

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Reading Passage 1: The Innovation of Grocery Stores

A. At the beginning of the 20th century, grocery stores in the United States were full-service. A customer would ask a clerk behind the counter for specific items and the clerk would package the items, which were limited to dry goods. If they wanted to save some time, they had to ask a delivery boy or themselves to send the note of what they wanted to buy to the grocery store first and then go to pay for the goods later. These grocery stores usually carried only one brand of each good. There were early chain stores, such as the A&P Stores, but these were all entirely full-service and very time-consuming.

B. In 1885, a Virginia boy named Clarence Saunders began working part-time as a clerk in a grocery store when he was 14 years old, and quit school when the shopkeeper offered him full-time work with room and board. Later he worked in an Alabama coke plant and in a Tennessee sawmill before he returned to the grocery business. By 1900, when he was nineteen years old, he was earning $30 a month as a salesman for a wholesale grocer. During his years working in grocery stores, he found that it was very inconvenient and inefficient for people to buy things because more than a century ago, long before there were computers, shopping was done quite differently than it is today. Entering a store, the customer would approach the counter (or wait for a clerk to become available) and place an order, either verbally or, as was often the case for boys running errands, in the form of a note or list. While the customer waited, the clerk would move behind the counter and throughout the store, select the items on the list – some from shelves so high that a long-handled grasping device had to be used – and bring them back to the counter to be tallied and bagged or boxed. The process might be expedited by the customer calling or sending in the order beforehand, or by the order being handled by a delivery boy on a bike, but otherwise, it did not vary greatly. Saunders, a flamboyant and innovative man, noticed that this method resulted in wasted time and expense, so he came up with an unheard-of solution that would revolutionize the entire grocery industry: he developed a way for shoppers to serve themselves.

C. So in 1902, he moved to Memphis where he developed his concept to form a grocery wholesale cooperative and a full-service grocery store. For his new “cafeteria grocery”, Saunders divided his grocery into three distinct areas: 1) A front “lobby” forming an entrance and exit and checkouts at the front. 2) A sales department, which was specially designed to allow customers to roam the aisles and select their own groceries. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays, and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the merchandise and over the shelving and cabinets units of sales department were “galleries” where supervisors were allowed to keep an eye on the customers while not disturbing them. 3) And another section of his store is the room only allowed for the clerks which were called the “stockroom” or “storage room” where large refrigerators were situated to keep fresh products from being perishable. The new format allowed multiple customers to shop at the same time and led to the previously unknown phenomenon of impulse shopping. Though this format of grocery market was drastically different from its competitors, the style became the standard for the modern grocery store and later supermarket.

D. On September 6, 1916, Saunders launched the self-service revolution in the USA by opening the first self-service Piggly Wiggly store, at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, with its characteristic turnstile at the entrance. Customers paid cash and selected their own goods from the shelves. It was unlike any other grocery store of that time. Inside a Piggly Wiggly, shoppers were not at the mercy of shop clerks. They were free to roam the store, check out the merchandise and get what they needed with their own two hands and feet. Prices on items at Piggly Wiggly were clearly marked. No one pressured customers to buy milk or pickles. And the biggest benefit at the Piggly Wiggly was that shoppers saved money. Self-service was positive all around. “It’s good for both the consumer and retailer because it cuts costs,” noted George T. Haley, a professor at the University of New Haven and director of the Center for International Industry Competitiveness. “If you looked at the way grocery stores were run previous to Piggly Wiggly and Alpha Beta, what you find is that there was a tremendous amount of labor involved, and labor is a major expense.” Piggly Wiggly cut the fat.

E. Piggly Wiggly and the self-service concept took off. Saunders opened nine stores in the Memphis area within the first year of business. Consumers embraced the efficiency, the simplicity and most of all the lower food prices. Saunders soon patented his self-service concept and began franchising Piggly Wiggly stores. Thanks to the benefits of self-service and franchising, Piggly Wiggly ballooned to nearly 1,300 stores by 1923. Piggly Wiggle sold $100 million – worth $1.3 billion today – in groceries, making it the third-biggest grocery retailer in the nation. The company’s stock was even listed on the New York Stock Exchange, doubling from late 1922 to March 1923. Saunders had his hands all over Piggly Wiggly. He was instrumental in the design and layout of his stores. He even invented the turnstile.

F. However, Saunders was forced into bankruptcy in 1923 after a dramatic spat with the New York Stock Exchange and he went on to create the “Clarence Saunders sole-owner-of-my-name” chain, which went into bankruptcy.

G. Until the time of his death in October 1953, Saunders was developing plans for another automatic store system called the Foodelectric. But the store, which was to be located two blocks from the first Piggly Wiggly store, never opened. But his name was well-remembered along with the name Piggly Wiggly.

1
Which paragraph contains the following information? 1. How Clarence Saunders’ new idea had been carried out.
2
Which paragraph contains the following information? 2. Introducing the modes and patterns of groceries before his age.
3
Which paragraph contains the following information? 3. Clarence Saunders declared bankruptcy a few years later.
4
Which paragraph contains the following information? 4. Descriptions of Clarence Saunders’ new conception.
5
Which paragraph contains the following information? 5. The booming development of his business.
6
When Clarence Saunders was an adolescent, he took a job as a _________ in a grocery store.
7
In the new innovation of the grocery store, most of the clerks’ work before was done by _________
8
In Saunders’ new grocery store, the section where customers finish the payment was called _________
9
Another area in his store behind the public area was called the _________ where only internal staff could access.
10
At _________ where customers were under surveillance.
11
Why did Clarence Saunders want to propel the innovation of grocery stores at his age?
- A. Because he was an enthusiastic and creative man.
- B. Because his boss wanted to reform the grocery industry.
- C. Because he wanted to develop its efficiency and make a great profit as well.
- D. Because he worried about the future competition from the industry.
12
What happened to Clarence Saunders’ first store of Piggly Wiggly?
- A. Customers complained about its impracticality and inconvenience.
- B. It enjoyed a great business and was updated in the first twelve months.
- C. It expanded to more than a thousand franchised stores during the first year.
- D. Saunders was required to have his new idea patented and open stores.
13
What was left to Clarence Saunders after his death in 1953?
- A. A fully automatic store system opened soon near his first store.
- B. The name of his store, the Piggly Wiggly, was very popular at that time.
- C. His name was usually connected with his famous shop the Piggly Wiggly in the following several years.
- D. His name was painted together with the name of his famous store.

Reading Passage 2: The Purpose of Facial Expressions

The use of facial expressions for measuring people’s emotions has dominated psychology since the late 1960s. This was when Paul Ekman of the University of California pioneered the idea that, by carefully measuring facial expression, he could evaluate people’s true emotions. Ekman carried out experiments in which people were asked to label photos of basic facial expressions - such as a smile, frown or scowl - with words for emotions. He found, for example, that a smile represented joy and a scowl represented anger. In fact, since the 1970s Ekman has dominated the field of emotion research with his theory that when an emotion occurs, a large number of electrical impulses also occur, creating specific facial expressions and other physiological changes, such as increased or decreased heart rate or heightened blood pressure.

Many took Ekman’s work to imply that facial expressions precisely indicated people’s feelings. However, this theory has been attacked by a number of psychologists, such as Alan Fridlund of the University of California, who claim that there is no one-to-one correspondence between facial expressions and emotions. Expressions evolved to set off certain behaviors in other people, says Fridlund. So a smile may prompt people to approach, a scowl may warn them to stay away, and a look of sadness may elicit words of sympathy and reassurance. In other words, in Fridlund’s view, facial expressions are inherently social - they involve not one, but two or more people. Even when people are alone they are holding a dialog with another person internally, or imagining themselves in a social situation.

Thus Fridlund thinks of facial expressions as tools for influencing social interactions, a view which, he claims, enables us to begin predicting when certain facial expressions will occur. This in turn will allow more precise theories about social interactions. His studies find that expressions occur most often during pivotal points, the turning points in social interactions - during greetings, social crises, or times of appeasement, for example. At these pivotal points there is an approach, or closeness, or more intimacy, and facial expressions, as well as gestures, open up the possibilities of various social interactions.

Although much work on the emotions relies on a link between facial expression and emotions, psychologist James Russell, of the University of British Columbia, says there is very little evidence supporting such a connection. ‘There’s some sense in which faces express emotion, but only in the sense that everything expresses emotion,’ says Russell, a long-time critic of the expression-emotion link. ‘Music does, posture does, words do, tone of voice does, your behavior does. The real question is, “Is there anything special about faces?” And there we really do not know much. What is more likely, argues Russell, is that facial expressions tell others something about a person’s overall mood and context, rather than provide details about specific emotions.’

Others, including Ekman, argue that the face can display information about emotions, but they admit that it is not reliable one hundred percent of the time. And those who only examine faces when trying to study emotion will jump to false conclusions. But according to Ekman, to say, as Fridlund does, that there is no connection at all between facial expressions and emotions is simply wrong. ‘There is a link between facial expression and emotion,’ agrees developmental psychologist Linda Camras of DePaul University, ‘but it’s not a one-to-one kind of relationship as many once thought.’ She believes there are many situations where emotion is experienced, yet no basic facial expression is displayed. And there are times when a facial expression appears with no corresponding emotion.

Ekman’s theory states that if the emotion comes on slowly or is rather weak, the feeling might not be strong enough to trigger the expression. This would explain why there can sometimes be emotion without expression, he argues. In addition, cultural rules - which determine when and whether people of certain cultures display emotional expressions - can prevent this otherwise automatic process from being completed. Facial expressions evolved in humans as signals to others about how they feel, says Ekman. At times, though, it may be uncomfortable or inconvenient for us to let others know our emotions. But in the long run, over the course of evolution, it was useful to us as signalers: an angry look on someone’s face may be a warning that they are preparing to behave in an angry fashion.

Although Fridlund disagrees with Ekman on certain matters, the two basically share the opinion that facial expressions indicate people’s future actions. The area of dispute between Fridlund and Ekman draws attention away from their major areas of agreement, says Joseph Campos of the University of California. Indeed, he says, ‘there is profound agreement that the face, along with the voice, body posture and hand gestures, forecasts to outside observers what people will do next.’ He goes on to say, ‘The face is a component [of emotion], but to make it the center of study of the human being experiencing an emotion is like saying the only thing you need to study in a car is the transmission. Not that the transmission is unimportant, but it’s only part of an entire system.’

14
a recognition that facial expressions do not always provide a true guide to feelings
15
examples of ways that a person’s facial expression can affect someone else’s actions
16
a reference to reasons for hiding emotions
17
examples of times when facial expressions are used especially frequently
18
examples of changes inside the body when an emotion is felt
19
Focusing on the face in researching emotions is similar to researching a large structure by looking at just one small unit of it.
- A. Paul Ekman
- B. Alan Fridlund
- C. James Russell
- D. Linda Camras
- E. Joseph Campos
20
Facial expressions developed in order to encourage other people to react in particular ways.
21
Although certain researchers have different opinions about various points, they share some important ideas.
22
Both emotion and expression can exist independently of each other in certain circumstances.
23
It cannot be proved that there is a connection between facial expression and real emotion.
24
In Fridlund’s view _______ on someone’s face may be intended as an invitation to come nearer.
25
According to Fridlund, when we are by ourselves we still use facial expressions because we are having a _______ with someone in our minds.
26
Fridlund considers facial expressions to be _______ that can affect our contact with other people.

Reading Passage 3: Lawrence Johnston and Hidcote Garden

Today, the National Trust in the UK administers hundreds of public gardens, while sixty-odd years ago there was only one, Hidcote Manor near the English village of Chipping Campden. In 1949 Hidcote attracted a mere 600 visitors and took all of £30 during its first public season. Nowadays, Hidcote is famous worldwide as a masterpiece of design and planting, attracting 150,000 visitors and raising nearly £1 million from entrance tickets annually. Hidcote Garden was the creation of an American in Britain, the shy Major Lawrence Johnston, who came to live on the site in 1907 with his widowed mother, Gertrude Winthrop. In some respects Winthrop feared her son's talents for expensive landscape gardening and never allowed him full access to the family's funds. Nonetheless, with her inspiration and guidance Johnston started his design in 1908 and brought it to a peak in the early 1930s when he was in his 60s. He may rightly be ranked at this time beside Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West, creators of Sissinghurst, his garden's only surviving equal.

Graham Thomas was tasked with reviving Hidcote, and he had to manage without these crucial documents. Thomas knew that for the gardens to be a commercial success he needed to extend those areas that were of most interest to the general public, so he introduced new plants and a Mediterranean Bank where Johnston had had nothing of the sort, while retaining the existing superb structure of avenues and evergreen rooms. As a result, since 1949, the visiting public has innocently been admiring Thomas's flower plantings, not Johnston's own. When the important designer Russell Page had visited Hidcote in 1934 he had hailed the half-hardy plants in the summer house as one of the highlights. But Thomas later got rid of them and pulled the house down, fearing such relatively colourless exhibits would not capture the public's imagination.

Then, in 2002, Johnston's old diaries and notebooks resurfaced. The present head gardener had started to give lectures about Hidcote's lost early designs, during which he appealed for memories from his audience. A few months later, a woman approached him with a box of papers she had found in her attic. They were the missing records, including Johnston’s original planting lists and detailed sketches. This discovery prompted a major reassessment of the garden's history. Curators could now distinguish between Johnston’s original vision and the later modifications. A debate began on whether to restore parts of the garden to its 1930s heyday, a complex project that would involve removing some of Thomas's popular additions. The diaries also revealed Johnston’s meticulous notes on plant sourcing from his expeditions to China and South Africa, highlighting his dedication and global influence. This find has allowed historians to fully appreciate the depth of Johnston’s genius, which had been partially obscured for over half a century.

27
Hidcote Manor Garden is now operated by the National Trust. While it had very few visitors in its first year, it is now a ________, generating close to a million pounds per year.
28
The garden was designed by Lawrence Johnston, who moved there with his ________.
29
Johnston’s mother was supportive but also ________ of his costly gardening projects.
30
Despite this, he managed to complete the garden’s design with her ________ and inspiration.
31
By the 1930s, his work was considered equal to that of the creators of the garden at ________.
32
Graham Thomas had access to Johnston's original plans when he began his work.
- A. TRUE
- B. FALSE
- C. NOT GIVEN
33
Thomas kept the underlying layout of avenues and rooms unchanged.
34
Russell Page believed the summer house was one of the least interesting parts of Hidcote.
35
Thomas removed the summer house because he thought it was unsafe.
36
The public after 1949 primarily saw flower arrangements designed by Thomas.
37
What did the head gardener ask for from his audience during his lectures?
38
Where were Johnston's missing papers discovered?
39
What did the rediscovered papers include, besides planting lists?
40
Which two continents did Johnston travel to for collecting plants?

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1. D
Paragraph D explains how Saunders' new idea was put into practice, describing the actual steps and layout of his store.
2. A
Paragraph A introduces how groceries operated before Saunders' time, mentioning the old modes and patterns.
3. F
Paragraph F states that Saunders declared bankruptcy a few years later, showing the end of his business success.
4. C
Paragraph C gives details about Saunders’ new concept, describing what was different and new about his idea.
5. E
Paragraph E talks about the rapid growth and success of Saunders' business, showing its booming development.
6. clerk
The passage says Saunders worked as a 'clerk' in a grocery store when he was young.
7. customers / shoppers
The passage explains that in the new store, customers or shoppers did most of the work that clerks used to do.
8. lobby
The area where customers paid was called the 'lobby' in Saunders’ new store.
9. stockroom
The passage says the area behind the public space, only for staff, was called the 'stockroom.'
10. galleries
Customers were under surveillance in the 'galleries,' as mentioned in the passage.
11. C
Option C is correct because Saunders wanted to improve efficiency and make a profit; the passage says he aimed for both. Option A is tempting but does not mention profit or efficiency.
12. B
Option B is correct because the passage says the first store was successful and updated in the first year. Option C is wrong because it did not expand to over a thousand stores in the first year.
13. C
Option C is correct because after Saunders' death, his name was still linked with Piggly Wiggly for years. Option B is tempting but focuses on the store name, not Saunders himself.
14. E
Paragraph E mentions that facial expressions do not always show true feelings, recognizing this fact.
15. B
Paragraph B gives examples of how one person's facial expression can affect another's actions.
16. F
Paragraph F refers to reasons why people might hide their emotions.
17. C
Paragraph C gives examples of times when facial expressions are used often, like during greetings or arguments.
18. A
Paragraph A describes changes inside the body, such as heartbeat and breathing, when emotions are felt.
19. E
Joseph Campos (E) says focusing only on the face is like studying a building by looking at one brick, showing the limitation.
20. B
Alan Fridlund (B) believes facial expressions developed to make others react in certain ways.
21. E
Joseph Campos (E) notes that even though researchers disagree on some points, they share important ideas.
22. D
Linda Camras (D) says emotion and expression can exist separately in some situations.
23. C
James Russell (C) argues there is no proof of a direct link between facial expression and real emotion.
24. smile
Fridlund says a 'smile' on someone's face can be an invitation to come closer.
25. dialog
Fridlund explains that when alone, we still use facial expressions because we are having a 'dialog' in our minds.
26. tools
Fridlund considers facial expressions as 'tools' that help us interact with others.
27. masterpiece
The passage says Hidcote Manor Garden is now a 'masterpiece,' making a lot of money each year.
28. widowed mother
Lawrence Johnston moved to the garden with his 'widowed mother,' as stated in the passage.
29. fearful
Johnston’s mother was 'fearful' of his expensive gardening projects, even though she supported him.
30. guidance
He finished the garden’s design with his mother’s 'guidance' and inspiration.
31. Sissinghurst
By the 1930s, Johnston’s work was compared to the creators of the garden at 'Sissinghurst.'
32. FALSE
FALSE is correct because the passage says Graham Thomas did not have access to Johnston's original plans.
33. TRUE
TRUE is correct because Thomas kept the main layout of avenues and rooms the same.
34. FALSE
FALSE is correct because Russell Page did not think the summer house was one of the least interesting parts.
35. FALSE
FALSE is correct because Thomas did not remove the summer house for safety reasons.
36. TRUE
TRUE is correct because after 1949, the public mainly saw flower arrangements made by Thomas.
37. memories
The head gardener asked the audience for their 'memories' during his lectures.
38. attic
Johnston's missing papers were found in the 'attic,' as mentioned in the passage.
39. sketches
The rediscovered papers included 'sketches' as well as planting lists.
40. China and South Africa
Johnston traveled to 'China and South Africa' to collect plants, according to the passage.

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Reading Passage 1: The Innovation of Grocery Stores

Reading Passage 2: The Purpose of Facial Expressions

Reading Passage 3: Lawrence Johnston and Hidcote Garden

Answer sheet

Answer key