Reading 2026-07 Test 35 — 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: The Impact of the Potato

The potato was first cultivated in South America between three and seven thousand years ago, though scientists believe they may have grown wild in the region as long as 13,000 years ago. The genetic patterns of potato distribution indicate that the potato probably originated in the mountainous west-central region of the continent.

Early Spanish chroniclers who misused the Indian word batata (sweet potato) as the name for the potato noted the importance of the tuber to the Incan Empire. The Incas had learned to preserve the potato for storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance called chuño, which could be stored in a room for up to 10 years, providing excellent insurance against possible crop failures. As well as using the food as a staple crop, the Incas thought potatoes made childbirth easier and used them to treat injuries.

The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they arrived in Peru in 1532 in search of gold, and noted Inca miners eating chuño. At the time the Spaniards failed to realize that the potato represented a far more important treasure than either silver or gold, but they did gradually begin to use potatoes as basic rations aboard their ships. After the arrival of the potato in Spain in 1570, a few Spanish farmers began to cultivate them on a small scale, mostly as food for livestock.

Throughout Europe, potatoes were regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear. Generally considered to be unfit for human consumption, they were used only as animal fodder and sustenance for the starving. In northern Europe, potatoes were primarily grown in botanical gardens as an exotic novelty. Even peasants refused to eat from a plant that produced ugly, misshapen tubers and that had come from a heathen civilization. Some felt that the potato plant’s resemblance to plants in the nightshade family hinted that it was the creation of witches or devils.

In meat-loving England, farmers and urban workers regarded potatoes with extreme distaste. In 1662, the Royal Society recommended the cultivation of the tuber to the English government and the nation, but this recommendation had little impact. Potatoes did not become a staple until, during the food shortages associated with the Revolutionary Wars, the English government began to officially encourage potato cultivation. In 1795, the Board of Agriculture issued a pamphlet entitled “Hints Respecting the Culture and Use of Potatoes”; this was followed shortly by pro-potato editorials and potato recipes in The Times. Gradually, the lower classes began to follow the lead of the upper classes.

A similar pattern emerged across the English Channel in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. While the potato slowly gained ground in eastern France (where it was often the only crop remaining after marauding soldiers plundered wheat fields and vineyards), it did not achieve widespread acceptance until the late 1700s. The peasants remained suspicious, in spite of a 1771 paper from the Faculté de Paris testifying that the potato was not harmful but beneficial. The people began to overcome their distaste when the plant received the royal seal of approval: Louis XVI began to sport a potato flower in his buttonhole, and Marie-Antoinette wore a purple potato blossom in her hair.

Frederick the Great of Prussia saw the potato’s potential to help feed his nation and lower the price of bread, but faced the challenge of overcoming the people’s prejudice against the plant. When he issued a 1774 order for his subjects to grow potatoes as protection against famine, the town of Kolberg replied: “The things have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us?” Trying a less direct approach to encourage his subjects to begin planting potatoes, Frederick used a bit of reverse psychology: he planted a royal field of potato plants and stationed a heavy guard to protect this field from thieves. Nearby peasants naturally assumed that anything worth guarding was worth stealing, and so sneaked into the field and snatched the plants for their home gardens. Of course, this was entirely in line with Frederick’s wishes.

Historians debate whether the potato was primarily a cause or an effect of the huge population boom in industrial-era England and Wales. Prior to 1800, the English diet had consisted primarily of meat, supplemented by bread, butter and cheese. Few vegetables were consumed, most vegetables being regarded as nutritionally worthless and potentially harmful. This view began to change gradually in the late 1700s. The Industrial Revolution was drawing an ever-increasing percentage of the populace into crowded cities, where only the richest could afford homes with ovens or coal storage rooms, and people were working 12–16-hour days which left them with little time or energy to prepare food. High-yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to England’s food problems.

Whereas most of their neighbours regarded the potato with suspicion and had to be persuaded to use it by the upper classes, the Irish peasantry embraced the tuber more passionately than anyone since the Incas. The potato was well suited to the Irish soil and climate, and its high yield suited the most important concern of most Irish farmers: to feed their families.

The most dramatic example of the potato’s potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland, where the potato had become a staple by 1800. The Irish population doubled to eight million between 1780 and 1841, this without any significant expansion of industry or reform of agricultural techniques beyond the widespread cultivation of the potato. Though Irish landholding practices were primitive in comparison with those of England, the potato’s high yields allowed even the poorest farmers to produce more healthy food than they needed with scarcely any investment or hard labour. Even children could easily plant, harvest and cook potatoes, which of course required no threshing, curing or grinding. The abundance provided by potatoes greatly decreased infant mortality and encouraged early marriage.

1
Early Spanish chroniclers called the potato by the Incan name ‘chuño’.
2
The purpose of the Spanish coming to Peru was to find potatoes.
3
The Spanish believed that the potato had the same nutrients as other vegetables.
4
Peasants at that time did not like to eat potatoes because they were ugly.
5
The popularity of potatoes in the UK was due to food shortages during the war.
6
In France, people began to overcome their disgust towards potatoes because the King put a potato ________ in his buttonhole.
7
Frederick realised the potential of the potato, but he had to handle the ________ from ordinary people.
8
The King of Prussia adopted a form of ________ psychology to make people accept potatoes.
9
Before 1800, English people preferred eating ________ with bread, butter and cheese.
10
The obvious way to deal with England’s food problems was high-yielding potato ________.
11
The Irish ________ and climate suited potatoes well.
12
Between 1780 and 1841, thanks to the ________ of the potato, the Irish population doubled to eight million.
13
The potato’s high yields helped the poorest farmers to produce more healthy food almost without ________.

Reading Passage 2: Bird Migration

A Birds have many unique design features that enable them to perform such amazing feats of endurance. They are equipped with lightweight, hollow bones, intricately designed feathers providing both lift and thrust for rapid flight, navigation systems superior to any that man has developed, and an ingenious heat-conserving design that, among other things, concentrates all blood circulation beneath layers of warm, waterproof plumage, leaving them fit to face life in the harshest of climates. Their respiratory systems have to perform efficiently during sustained flights at altitude, so they have a system of extracting oxygen from their lungs that far exceeds that of any other animal. During the later stages of the summer breeding season, when food is plentiful, their bodies can accumulate considerable layers of fat, to provide sufficient energy for their long migratory flights.

B The fundamental reason that birds migrate is to find adequate food during the winter months when it is in short supply. This particularly applies to birds that breed in the temperate and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where food is abundant during the short growing season. Many species can tolerate cold temperatures if food is plentiful, but when food is not available, they must migrate. However, intriguing questions remain.

C One puzzling fact is that many birds journey much further than would be necessary just to find food and good weather. Nobody knows, for instance, why British swallows, which could presumably survive equally well if they spent the winter in equatorial Africa, instead of flying several thousand miles further to their preferred winter home in South Africa’s Cape Province. Another mystery involves the huge migrations performed by arctic terns and mudflat-feeding shorebirds that breed close to Polar Regions. In general, the further north a migrant species breeds, the further south it spends the winter. For arctic terns, this necessitates an annual round trip of 25,000 miles. Yet, en route to their final destination in far-flung southern latitudes, all these individuals overfly other areas of seemingly suitable habitat spanning two hemispheres. While we may not fully understand birds’ reasons for going to particular places, we can marvel at their feats.

D One of the greatest mysteries is how young birds know how to find the traditional wintering areas without parental guidance. Very few adults migrate with juveniles in tow, and youngsters may even have little or no inkling of their parents’ appearance. A familiar example is that of the cuckoo, which lays its eggs in another species’ nest and never re-encounters its young. It is mind-boggling to consider that, once raised by its host species, the young cuckoo makes its way to ancestral wintering grounds in the tropics before returning single-handedly to northern Europe the next season to seek out a mate among its kind. The obvious implication is that it inherits from its parents an inbuilt route map and direction-finding capability, as well as a mental image of what another cuckoo looks like. Yet nobody has the slightest idea as to how this is possible.

E Mounting evidence has confirmed that birds use the positions of the sun and stars to obtain compass directions. They also seem to be able to detect the earth’s magnetic field, probably due to having minute crystals of magnetite in the region of their brains. However, accurate navigation also requires an awareness of position and time, especially when lost. Experiments have shown that after being taken thousands of miles over an unfamiliar landmass, birds are still capable of returning rapidly to nest sites. Such phenomenal powers are the product of computing several sophisticated cues, including an inborn map of the night sky and the pull of the earth’s magnetic field. How the birds use their ‘instruments’ remains unknown, but one thing is clear: they see the world with a superior sensory perception to ours. Most small birds migrate at night and take their direction from the position of the setting sun. However, as well as seeing the sun go down, they also seem to see the plane of polarized light caused by it, which calibrates their compass. Travelling at night provides other benefits. Daytime predators are avoided and the danger of dehydration due to flying for long periods in warm, sunlit skies is reduced. Furthermore, at night the air is generally cool and less turbulent and so conducive to sustained, stable flight.

F Nevertheless, all journeys involve considerable risk, and part of the skill in arriving safely is setting off at the right time. This means accurate weather forecasting and utilizing favourable winds. Birds are adept at both, and, in laboratory tests, some have been shown to detect the minute difference in barometric pressure between the floor and ceiling of a room. Often birds react to weather changes before there is any visible sign of them. Lapwings, which feed on grassland, flee west from the Netherlands to the British Isles, France, and Spain at the onset of a cold snap. When the ground surface freezes, the birds could starve. Yet they return to Holland ahead of a thaw, their arrival linked to a pressure change presaging an improvement in the weather.

G In one instance a Welsh Manx shearwater carried to America and released was back in its burrow on Skokholm Island, off the Pembrokeshire coast, one day before a letter announcing its release! Conversely, each autumn a small number of North American birds are blown across the Atlantic by fast-moving westerly tailwinds. Not only do they arrive safely in Europe, but, based on ringing evidence, some make it back to North America the following spring, after probably spending the winter with European migrants in sunny African climes.

14
Paragraph A
- i. The best moment to migrate
- ii. The unexplained rejection of closer feeding grounds
- iii. The influence of weather on the migration route
- iv. Physical characteristics that allow birds to migrate
- v. The main reason why birds migrate
- vi. The best wintering grounds for birds
- vii. Research findings on how birds migrate
- viii. Successful migration despite the trouble of wind
- ix. The contrast between long-distance migration and short-distance migration
- x. Mysterious migration despite lack of teaching
15
Paragraph B
16
Paragraph C
17
Paragraph D
18
Paragraph E
19
Paragraph F
20
Paragraph G
21
Which TWO of the following statements are true of bird migration?
- A. Birds often fly further than they need to.
- B. Birds travelling in family groups are safe.
- C. Birds flying at night need less water.
- D. Birds have much sharper eyesight than humans.
- E. Only shorebirds are resistant to strong winds.
22
It is a great mystery that young birds like cuckoos can find their wintering grounds without __________.
23
Evidence shows birds can tell directions like a __________ by observing the sun and the stars.
24
One advantage for birds flying at night is that they can avoid contact with __________.
25
Laboratory tests show that birds can detect weather without __________ signs.

Reading Passage 3: Nature Works Polylactic Acid

A dozen years ago, scientists at Cargill got the idea of converting lactic acid made from corn into plastic while examining possible new uses for materials produced from corn wet milling processes. In the past, several efforts had been made to develop plastics from lactic acid, but with limited success. Achieving this technological breakthrough didn’t come easily, but in time the efforts did succeed. A fermentation and distillation process using corn was designed to create a polymer suitable for a broad variety of applications.

As an agricultural based firm, Cargill had taken this product as far as it could by 1997. The company needed a partner with access to plastics markets and polymerization capabilities, and began discussions with The Dow Chemical Company. The next step was the formation of the joint venture that created Cargill Dow LLC. Cargill Dow’s product is the world’s first commercially available plastic made from annually renewable resources such as corn:

Nature Works™ PLA is a family of packaging polymers (carbon-based molecules) made from non-petroleum based resources.

Ingeo is a family of polymers for fibers made in a similar manner.

By applying their unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars, Cargill Dow has created a more environmentally friendly material that reaches the consumer in clothes, cups, packaging and other products. While Cargill Dow is a stand-alone business, it continues to leverage the agricultural processing, manufacturing and polymer expertise of the two parent companies in order to bring the best possible products to market.

The basic raw materials for PLA are carbon dioxide and water. Growing plants, like corn, take these building blocks from the atmosphere and the soil. They are combined in the plant to make carbohydrates (sucrose and starch) through a process driven by photosynthesis. The process for making Nature Works PLA begins when a renewable resource such as corn is milled, separating starch from the raw material. Unrefined dextrose, in turn, is processed from the starch.

Cargill Dow turns the unrefined dextrose into lactic acid using a fermentation process similar to that used by beer and wine producers. This is the same lactic acid that is used as a food additive and is found in muscle tissue in the human body. Through a special condensation process, a lactide is formed. This lactide is purified through vacuum distillation and becomes a polymer (the base for Natureworks PLA) that is ready for use through a solvent-free melt process. Development of this new technology allows the company to “harvest” the carbon that living plants remove from the air through photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in plant starches, which can be broken down into natural plant sugars. The carbon and other elements in these natural sugars are then used to make Natureworks PLA.

Nature Works PLA fits all disposal systems and is fully compostable in commercial composting facilities. With the proper infrastructure, products made from this polymer can be recycled back to a monomer and re-used as a polymer. Thus, at the end of its life cycle, a product made from Nature Works PLA can be broken down into its simplest parts so that no sign of it remains.

PLA is now actively competing with traditional materials in packaging and fiber applications throughout the world; based on the technology’s success and promise, Cargill Dow is quickly becoming a premier player in the polymers market. This new polymer now competes head-on with petroleum-based materials like polyester. A wide range of products that vary in molecular weight and crystallinity can be produced, and the blend of physical properties of PLA makes it suited for a broad range of fiber and packaging applications. Fiber and non-woven applications include clothing, fiberfill, blankets and wipes. Packaging applications include packaging films and food and beverage containers.

As Nature Works PLA polymers are more oil- and grease-resistant and provide a better flavor and aroma barrier than existing petroleum-based polymers, grocery retailers are increasingly using this packaging for their fresh foods. As companies begin to explore this family of polymers, more potential applications are being identified. For example, PLA possesses two properties that are particularly useful for drape fabrics and window furnishings. Their resistance to ultraviolet light is particularly appealing as this reduces the amount of fading in such fabrics, and their refractive index is low, which means fabrics constructed from these polymers can be made with deep colors without requiring large amounts of dye. In addition, sportswear makers have been drawn to the product as it has an inherent ability to take moisture away from the skin and when blended with cotton and wool, the result is garments that are lighter and better at absorbing moisture.

PLA combines inexpensive large-scale fermentation with chemical processing to produce a value-added polymer product that improves the environment as well. The source material for PLA is a natural sugar found in plants such as corn and using such renewable feedstock presents several environmental benefits. As an alternative to traditional petroleum-based polymers, the production of PLA uses 20%-50% less fossil fuel and releases a lower amount of greenhouse gases than comparable petroleum based plastic; carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is removed when the feedstock is grown and is returned to the earth when the polymer is degraded. Because the company is using raw materials that can be regenerated year after year, it is both cost-competitive and environmentally responsible.

26
27. scientists manage to
- A. make things like clothes
- B. produce plastic from plant
- C. selling plastic in market
- D. fermentation process
- E. drape fabrics
- F. wrapping products
27
28. Cargill needs to have contacts with
28
29. Nature work is used for
29
30. Ingeo is used to
30
31. The process for making Nature Works PLA begins when a renewable resource such as corn is milled, separating ______ from the raw material.
31
32. Cargill Dow turns the unrefined dextrose into lactic acid using a ______ process similar to that used by beer and wine producers.
32
33. Through a special ______ process, a lactide is formed.
33
34. This lactide is purified through vacuum distillation and becomes a ______ that is ready for use through a solvent-free melt process.
34
35. Why did choose the PLA as material for food packaging?
- A. It smells good
- B. It can save food freshness
- C. It can be used on other materials
- D. Some other things need to be revised about it.
35
36. What is PLA packaging is used for?
- A. absorbing moisture
- B. composting facilities
- C. Packaging fresh food.
- D. manufacturing
36
Which two features of PLA are correct?
- A. It takes in moisture of skin
- B. It is waterproof
- C. comfortable sportswear
- D. It’s fading under the sun
- E. It is only made in deep color
37
Which two features of PLA are correct?
- A. It is made of renewable raw materials
- B. It involves the removal of carbon dioxide
- C. It is no use of fossil fuel product
- D. It uses renewable raw resources
- E. It is sustenance which can absorb the CO2 in the atmosphere

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1. FALSE
This is FALSE because the passage says early Spanish chroniclers called the potato 'papas', not 'chuño', which was a different Incan word.
2. FALSE
This is FALSE because the passage says the Spanish came to Peru searching for gold and silver, not potatoes.
3. NOT GIVEN
This is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not mention what the Spanish believed about the nutrients in potatoes compared to other vegetables.
4. TRUE
This is TRUE because the passage says peasants did not like potatoes because they were ugly and looked like diseased roots.
5. TRUE
This is TRUE because the passage says potatoes became popular in the UK due to food shortages during the war.
6. flower
The answer is 'flower' because the passage says people in France began to accept potatoes after the King put a potato flower in his buttonhole.
7. prejudice
The answer is 'prejudice' because Frederick had to overcome the prejudice of ordinary people to promote potatoes.
8. reverse
The answer is 'reverse' because the King of Prussia used reverse psychology to make people accept potatoes.
9. meat
The answer is 'meat' because before 1800, English people preferred eating meat with bread, butter, and cheese.
10. crops
The answer is 'crops' because the passage says the obvious way to solve England's food problems was to grow high-yielding potato crops.
11. soil
The answer is 'soil' because the passage says the Irish soil and climate were well suited to potatoes.
12. cultivation
The answer is 'cultivation' because the passage says the Irish population doubled due to the cultivation of the potato.
13. investment
The answer is 'investment' because the passage says poor farmers could produce more healthy food almost without investment thanks to the potato's high yields.
14. iv
Option iv is correct because Paragraph A talks about the physical characteristics that allow birds to migrate, such as their wings and muscles.
15. v
Option v is correct because Paragraph B explains the main reason why birds migrate—to find food and survive.
16. ii
Option ii is correct because Paragraph C discusses the unexplained rejection of closer feeding grounds by birds.
17. x
Option x is correct because Paragraph D describes how young birds migrate successfully even though they have no teaching from parents.
18. vii
Option vii is correct because Paragraph E presents research findings on how birds migrate, such as using the sun and stars.
19. i
Option i is correct because Paragraph F discusses the best moment for birds to migrate.
20. viii
Option viii is correct because Paragraph G talks about how birds succeed in migration despite the trouble of wind.
21. A / C
A is correct because the passage says birds often fly further than necessary, and C is correct because birds flying at night need less water. B is wrong because family groups are not always safe; D is wrong because the passage does not compare eyesight; E is wrong because not only shorebirds are resistant to wind.
22. parental guidance
The answer is 'parental guidance' because the passage says young birds like cuckoos can find their wintering grounds without parental guidance.
23. compass
The answer is 'compass' because the passage says birds can tell directions like a compass by observing the sun and stars.
24. predators
The answer is 'predators' because the passage says one advantage of flying at night is avoiding contact with predators.
25. visible
The answer is 'visible' because laboratory tests show birds can detect weather without visible signs.
26. B
B is correct because scientists manage to produce plastic from plants, as stated in the passage.
27. C
C is correct because Cargill needs contacts with companies selling plastic in the market.
28. F
F is correct because Nature Work is used for wrapping products.
29. A
A is correct because Ingeo is used to make things like clothes.
30. starch
The answer is 'starch' because the process starts by separating starch from the raw material.
31. fermentation
The answer is 'fermentation' because Cargill Dow turns dextrose into lactic acid using a fermentation process.
32. condensation
The answer is 'condensation' because a special condensation process forms lactide.
33. polymer
The answer is 'polymer' because the lactide is purified and becomes a polymer ready for use.
34. B
B is correct because PLA was chosen for food packaging as it can save food freshness. Other options are not mentioned as reasons for choosing PLA.
35. C
C is correct because PLA packaging is used for packaging fresh food.
36. A / D
A and D are correct because PLA takes in moisture from the skin and fades under the sun. B is wrong because PLA is not waterproof.
37. A / C
A and C are correct because PLA is made from renewable raw materials and does not use fossil fuel products.

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Reading Passage 1: The Impact of the Potato

Reading Passage 2: Bird Migration

Reading Passage 3: Nature Works Polylactic Acid

Answer sheet

Answer key