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: World Ecotourism in Developing Countries
A According to the Ecotourism Society, ecotourism can be defined as traveling through nature in a manner that promotes environmental conservation and enhances the livelihoods of the citizens. Ecotourism is regarded as a favorable way of improving and enriching tourism standards, as this style of tourism honours the locals and their natural heritage. Ecotourism also conforms to the population thresholds each heritage and natural site can handle.
B It is palpable that Cuba is an ecotourism destination. It has breathtaking ecological water bodies, reserves, beaches, and landscapes in rural areas. In addition to this, the enhanced road infrastructure and communication networks promote ecotourism. Among the Caribbean Nations, Cuba comes second as a popular destination for tourists. Ecotourism enhances the ability of the local and foreign tourists to learn in awareness concerning the environment. Even better ecotourism inspires the willingness of people to act on environmental conservation. Furthermore, ecotourism is closely associated with the advancement of peace, which is achieved by increasing cultural exchange and educational opportunities. The health and safety of tourists are assured. Former Cuban President and Fidel Castro's brother, Raul Castro, introduced an initiative aimed at salvaging an important Cuban practice. He reinvigorated the use of herbal medicines in the healthcare system. An ecotourism community school in Las Terrazas imparts herbal healthcare knowledge to the students by teaching them the application and the cultivation of herbal medicine which is used in creams, tinctures, teas, and ointments. Ecotourism has become a useful tool in the elimination of poverty in Cuba. It injects economic wealth and creates jobs for the locals. The efforts by Raul Castro have increased job opportunities for the residents in the ecotourism communities as well as Cuban ecotourism in general.
C South America is most probably the region that demonstrates the negative aspects of ecotourism. Histoplasma Capsulatum happens to be a type of dimorphic fungus associated with the most prevalent endemic fungal infection in the United States. The dimorphic fungus is linked with exposure to bird or bat dung. In recent times, epidemics have become a common health occurrence for travellers returning from South and Central America. Travellers who engage in adventure tourism, spelunking, ecotourism, and other recreational activities are most vulnerable. It is a common phenomenon for them to ignore proper sanitation during travel. After participating in risky activities, it is advisable to hose off boots and place clothes in airtight bags pending laundry after wearing them. Travellers with cardiovascular diseases should keep off risky environments and behaviours like cave voyaging. With the biodiversity, adventures into the far-flung areas that have wildlife wealth provide for ecotourism opportunities as opposed to nature exploration. Sustainable tours promote ecotourism and they allow communities and nature to grow together simultaneously in a privileged environment. Travellers usually find pleasure in all the stages that advance their experience in the journey towards sustainability. Some of the most potent threats to tropical forests in South America are deforestation emanating from the desire to expand cultivation land, unlawful coca farming, mining, oil spills and extraction, logging, colonisation activities, cattle ranching, etc. Due to deforestation, indigenous people lost their territory and saw their population diminish significantly. More people are embracing ecotourism and also trying to perpetuate efficient use of all resources for sustainable tourism development.
D To enhance ecotourism and boost economic benefits, East Africa should be more focused on alleviating unlawful hunting. This will rejuvenate the wildlife population, hence allowing an opportunity for trophy hunting. Peter Lindsey, who authors the ‘New Study’, said that illegal wildlife hunting has robbed wildlife resources more so because the activity diminishes wildlife value. This value can be realised through alternatives like ecotourism and trophy hunting. Many East Africa residents believe that ecotourism has the potential to offer solutions. They favor community empowerment. Peter Lindsey praised the conservation efforts happening locally, saying that it promotes ecotourism and cultivates environmental awareness.
E In the year 1995, ecotourism was starting to become a fundamental concept in Indonesia. To enhance domestic tourism, the government has to target the appropriate markets, which will facilitate ecotourism. Market segments for ecotourism in Indonesia include the following: a) 55—64 age bracket or ‘Silent generation’. These are people with enough wealth, a good education and no children depending on them. They can travel for a month. b) 35—54 age bracket or ‘Baby Boom generation’. These are the well-off junior managers who will most probably travel in the company of their children and family. They can travel for two to three weeks. To them, traveling helps alleviate stress. c) 18—29 age bracket or ‘X generation’. This generation loves to tour the world backpacking. Often their travel can be anywhere between three to twelve months. They can spend anywhere between USD300 to USD500 per month. Different ecotourism packages in Indonesia should be designed to target different cohorts. The country attracts diverse tourist categories.
F There are as many services offered by ecotourism as there are in traditional tourism. Belize is a country cushioned between the Caribbean Sea, Mexico, and Guatemala. It is a favourite destination for Hamanasi honeymoons. Tourists receive champagne after arriving, private services on their first night, three daily meals, and an adventure of their choice. Hamanasi also has 6 & 7 nights' honeymoon options on offer. Lovers will receive several custom tours that include trips to Brimstone Hill Fortress and a neighbouring island. Some of the guided tours may also include plantation, volcano, and rainforest tours. Gregory Pereira is an outgoing and very knowledgeable tour guide and hiker. He says that ecotourism adventures incorporate transport from specially designed Land Rovers, wholesome tropical juices, island pastry picnics, knowledgeable island guides, and comprehensive insurance coverage for the participants.
G Kodai is an ultimate splendor spot for those who love being close to mother nature. The tourists who want a tonic for their mind and body will find Kodai magnificent. It is said that every bird has to sing its throat. The same is true for the tourists because they should map out their path through the motley and raw nature of steep mountains and deep valleys. The Kodai cheese factory which is situated inside the forest is known to export droves of cheese globally. The cheese is a delicacy for tourists and the distinct eating experience is a famous form of ecotourism.
- 1
It is a favourite destination for newlyweds.
- A. Cuba
- B. South America
- C. East Africa
- D. Indonesia
- E. Belize
- 2
It has not yet addressed many of the health concerns that threaten travellers.
- 3
It aims at attracting different demographics.
- 4
It offers courses designed to promote traditional medicine.
- 5
a suggestion that ecotourism may reduce the loss of wild species
- 6
an example of a product as a tour highlight for eco-tourists
- 7
mention of several safety precautions for particular activities
- 8
an example of a series of considerate services for typical guests
- 9
a reference to the conservation of a cultural heritage
- 10
Ecotourism is an approach to tourism that allows tourists to empower local communities and support 10______.
- 11
A Cuban institution, for instance, introduces the value of 11______ to learners from different angles.
- 12
some African nations are using ecotourism to 12______ animal populations.
- 13
Ecotourism has become a 13______ and its further development motivates some governments to target all segments of tourists.
Reading Passage 2: Coastal Archaeology of Britain
A The recognition of the wealth and diversity of England’s coastal archaeology has been one of the most important developments of recent years. Some elements of this enormous resource have long been known. The so-called ‘submerged forests’ off the coasts of England, sometimes with clear evidence of the human activity, had attracted the interest of antiquarians since at least the eighteenth century, but serious and systematic attention has been given to the archaeological potential of the coast only since the early 1980s.
B It is possible to trace a variety of causes for this concentration of effort and interest. In the 1980s and 1990s scientific research into climate change and its environmental impact spilled over into a much broader public debate as awareness of these issues grew; the prospect of rising sea levels over the next century, and their impact on current coastal environments, has been a particular focus for concern. At the same time, archaeologists were beginning to recognize that the destruction caused by natural processes of coastal erosion and by human activity was having an increasing impact on the archaeological resource of the coast.
C The dominant process affecting the physical form of England in the post-glacial period has been rising in the altitude of sea level relative to the land, as the glaciers melted and the landmass readjusted. The encroachment of the sea, the loss of huge areas of land now under the North Sea and the English Channel, and especially the loss of the land bridge between England and France, which finally made Britain an island, must have been immensely significant factors in the lives of our prehistoric ancestors. Yet the way in which prehistoric communities adjusted to these environmental changes has seldom been a major theme in discussions of the period. One factor contributing to this has been that, although the rise in relative sea level is comparatively well documented, we know little about the constant reconfiguration of the coastline. This was affected by many processes, mostly quiet, which have not yet been adequately researched. The detailed reconstruction of coastline histories and the changing environments available for human use will be an important theme for future research.
D So great has been the rise in sea level and the consequent regression of the coast that much of the archaeological evidence now exposed in the coastal zone. Whether being eroded or exposed as a buried land surface, is derived from what was originally terrestrial occupation. Its current location in the coastal zone is the product of later unrelated processes, and it can tell us little about past adaptations to the sea. Estimates of its significance will need to be made in the context of other related evidence from dry land sites. Nevertheless, its physical environment means that preservation is often excellent, for example in the case of the Neolithic structure excavated at the Stumble in Essex.
E In some cases these buried land surfaces do contain evidence for human exploitation of what was a coastal environment, and elsewhere along the modern coast, there is similar evidence. Where the evidence does relate to past human exploitation of the resources and the opportunities offered by the sea and the coast, it is both diverse and as yet little understood. We are not yet in a position to make even preliminary estimates of answers to such fundamental questions as the extent to which the sea and the coast affected human life in the past, what percentage of the population at any time lived within reach of the sea, or whether human settlements in coastal environments showed a distinct character from those inland.
F The most striking evidence for use of the sea is in the form of boats, yet we still have much to learn about their production and use. Most of the known wrecks around our coast are not unexpectedly of post-medieval date, and offer an unparalleled opportunity for research which has yet been little used. The prehistoric sewn-plank boats such as those from the Humber estuary and Dover all seem to belong to the second millennium BC; after this, there is a gap in the record of a millennium, which cannot yet be explained before boats reappear, but it built using a very different technology. Boatbuilding must have been an extremely important activity around much of our coast, yet we know almost nothing about it. Boats were some of the most complex artefacts produced by pre-modern societies, and further research on their production and use make an important contribution to our understanding of past attitudes to technology and technological change.
G Boats need landing places, yet here again, our knowledge is very patchy. In many cases the natural shores and beaches would have sufficed, leaving little or no archaeological trace, but especially in later periods, many ports and harbors, as well as smaller facilities such as quays, wharves, and jetties, were built. Despite a growth of interest in the waterfront archaeology of some of our more important Roman and medieval towns, very little attention has been paid to the multitude of smaller landing places. Redevelopment of harbor sites and other development and natural pressures along the coast are subject these important locations to unprecedented threats, yet few surveys of such sites have been undertaken.
H One of the most important revelations of recent research has been the extent of industrial activity along the coast. Fishing and salt production are among the better documented activities, but even here our knowledge is patchy. Many forms of fishing will leave a little archaeological trace, and one of the surprises of the recent survey has been the extent of past investment in facilities for procuring fish and shellfish. Elaborate wooden fish weirs, often of considerable extent and responsive to aerial photography in shallow water, have been identified in areas such as Essex and the Severn estuary. The production of salt, especially in the late Iron Age and early Roman periods, has been recognized for some time, especially in the Thames estuary and around the Solent and Poole Harbor, but the reasons for the decline of that industry and the nature of later coastal salt working are much less well understood. Other industries were also located along the coast, either because the raw materials outcropped there or for ease of working and transport: mineral resources such as sand, gravel, stone, coal, ironstone, and alum were all exploited. These industries are poorly documented, but their remains are sometimes extensive and striking.
I Some appreciation of the variety and importance of the archaeological remains preserved in the coastal zone, albeit only in preliminary form, can thus be gained from recent work, but the complexity of the problem of managing that resource is also being realized. The problem arises not only from the scale and variety of the archaeological remains, but also from two other sources: the very varied natural and human threats to the resource, and the complex web of organizations with authority over, or interests in, the coastal zone. Human threats include the redevelopment of historic towns and old dockland areas, and the increased importance of the coast for the leisure and tourism industries, resulting in pressure for the increased provision of facilities such as marinas. The larger size of ferries has also caused an increase in the damage caused by their wash to fragile deposits in the intertidal zone. The most significant natural threat is the predicted rise in sea level over the next century especially in the south and east of England. Its impact on archaeology is not easy to predict, and though it is likely to be highly localized, it will be at a scale much larger than that of most archaeological sites. Thus protecting one site may simply result in transposing the threat to a point further along the coast. The management of the archaeological remains will have to be considered in a much longer time scale and a much wider geographical scale than is common in the case of dry land sites, and this will pose a serious challenge for archaeologists.
- 14
What has caused public interest in coastal archaeology in recent years?
- A. The rapid development of England's coastal archaeology
- B. The rising awareness of climate change
- C. The discovery of an underwater forest
- D. The systematic research conducted on coastal archaeological findings
- 15
What does the passage say about the evidence of boats?
- A. There's enough knowledge of the boatbuilding technology of the prehistoric people.
- B. Many of the boats discovered were found in harbours.
- C. The use of boats had not been recorded for a thousand years.
- D. Boats were first used for fishing.
- 16
What can be discovered from the air?
- A. Salt mines
- B. Roman towns
- C. Harbours
- D. Fisheries
- 17
England lost much of its land after the ice age due to the rising sea level.
- 18
The coastline of England has changed periodically.
- 19
Coastal archaeological evidence may be well protected by sea water.
- 20
The design of boats used by pre-modern people was very simple.
- 21
Similar boats were also discovered in many other European countries.
- 22
There are few documents relating to mineral exploitation.
- 23
Large passenger boats are causing increasing damage to the seashore.
- 24
Which THREE of the following statements are mentioned in the passage?
- A. How coastal archaeology was originally discovered
- B. It is difficult to understand how many people lived close to the sea.
- C. How much the prehistoric communities understand the climate change
- D. Our knowledge of boat evidence is limited.
- E. Some fishing ground was converted to ports.
- F. Human development threatens the archaeological remains.
- G. Coastal archaeology will become more important in the future.
- 25
Which THREE of the following statements are mentioned in the passage?
- 26
Which THREE of the following statements are mentioned in the passage?
Reading Passage 3: Spider Silk 2
Scientists have succeeded in copying the silk-producing genes of the Golden Orb Weaver spider and are using them to create a synthetic material which they believe is the model for a new generation of advanced bio-materials. The new material, biosilk, which has been spun for the first time by researchers at DuPont, has an enormous range of potential uses in construction and manufacturing.
The attraction of the silk spun by the spider is a combination of great strength and enormous elasticity, which man-made fibres have been unable to replicate. On an equal-weight basis, spider silk is far stronger than steel and it is estimated that if a single strand could be made about 10m in diameter, it would be strong enough to stop a jumbo jet in flight. A third important factor is that it is extremely light. Army scientists are already looking at the possibilities of using it for lightweight, bulletproof vests and parachutes.
For some time, biochemists have been trying to synthesise the drag-line silk of the Golden Orb Weaver. The drag-line silk, which forms the radial arms of the web, is stronger than the other parts of the web and some biochemists believe a synthetic version could prove to be as important a material as nylon, which has been around for 50 years, since the discoveries of Wallace Carothers and his team ushered in the age of polymers.
To recreate the material, scientists, including Randolph Lewis at the University of Wyoming, first examined the silk-producing gland of the spider. ‘We took out the glands that produce the silk and looked at the coding for the protein material they make, which is spun into a web. We then went looking for clones with the right DNA,’ he says.
At DuPont, researchers have used both yeast and bacteria as hosts to grow the raw material, which they have spun into fibres. Robert Dorsch, DuPont’s director of biochemical development, says the globules of protein, comparable with marbles in an egg, are harvested and processed. ‘We break open the bacteria, separate out the globules of protein and use them as the raw starting material. With yeast, the gene system can be designed so that the material excretes the protein outside the yeast for better access,’ he says.
‘The bacteria and the yeast produce the same protein, equivalent to that which the spider uses in the draglines of the web. The spider mixes the protein into a water-based solution and then spins it into a solid fibre in one go. Since we are not as clever as the spider and we are not using such sophisticated organisms, we substituted man-made approaches and dissolved the protein in chemical solvents, which are then spun to push the material through small holes to form the solid fibre.’
Researchers at DuPont say they envisage many possible uses for a new biosilk material. They say that earthquake-resistant suspension bridges hung from cables of synthetic spider silk fibres may become a reality. Stronger ropes, safer seat belts, shoe soles that do not wear out so quickly and tough new clothing are among the other applications. Biochemists such as Lewis see the potential range of uses of biosilk as almost limitless. ‘It is very strong and retains elasticity: there are no man-made materials that can mimic both these properties. It is also a biological material with all the advantages that have over petrochemicals,’ he says.
At DuPont’s laboratories, Dorsch is excited by the prospect of new super-strong materials but he warns they are many years away. ‘We are at an early stage but theoretical predictions are that we will wind up with a very strong, tough material, with an ability to absorb shock, which is stronger and tougher than the man-made materials that are conventionally available to us,’ he says.
The spider is not the only creature that has aroused the interest of material scientists. They have also become envious of the natural adhesive secreted by the sea mussel. It produces a protein adhesive to attach itself to rocks. It is tedious and expensive to extract the protein from the mussel, so researchers have already produced a synthetic gene for use in surrogate bacteria.
- 27
A comparison of the ways two materials are used to replace silk-producing glands.
- 28
Predictions regarding the availability of the synthetic silk
- 29
Ongoing research into other synthetic materials
- 30
The research into the part of the spider that manufactures silk
- 31
The possible application of the silk in civil engineering
- 32
Synthetic gene grown in 33___ or 34___
- 33
Synthetic gene grown in 33___ or 34___
- 34
globules of 35___
- 35
dissolved in 36___ solvents
- 36
passed through 37___
- 37
Biosilk has already replaced nylon in parachute manufacture.
- 38
The spider produces silk of varying strengths.
- 39
Lewis and Dorsch co-operated in the synthetic production of silk.
Answer sheet
Fill in as you go — checking is instant and local, and every miss lands in your mistake log with the lesson that fixes it.
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
- 37.
- 38.
- 39.
Saved on this device — no account needed. Sign in on your progress page if you want it synced elsewhere.
Show answer key
Answer key
1. E
2. B
3. D
4. A
5. D
6. G
7. C
8. F
9. B
10. environmental conservation
11. herbal healthcare
12. rejuvenate
13. fundamental concept
14. B
15. C
16. D
17. TRUE
18. FALSE
19. TRUE
20. FALSE
21. NOT GIVEN
22. TRUE
23. TRUE
24. B
25. D
26. F
27. E
28. H
29. I
30. D
31. G
32. bacteria / yeast
33. yeast / bacteria
34. protein
35. chemical
36. holes
37. FALSE
38. TRUE
39. NOT GIVEN