Reading 2026-07 Test 39 — 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 Material of the Future

Eben Bayer is the co-founder of Ecovative, a company in Albany, New York, that creates an unusual substance: mycelium. Mycelium is the thread-like part of a fungus that grows underground, but Bayer has found an innovative use for it—turning it into sustainable materials. Bayer originally began experimenting with mycelium after a project he did while attending business school to find a replacement for the adhesives used in the manufacture of his product. His business partner, Gavin McIntyre, applied for a patent to use mycelium as a substitute for their product. Now their best-selling mycelium product is used as packaging for fragile goods and buildings. In the last few years, they've also been developing mycelium materials with fashion potential.

One designer who appreciates the qualities of mycelium is Maurizio Montalti. While studying at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, he began to look for alternatives to materials such as plastic. This, he believed, would always be a waste of resources. Instead, he worked with a substance that would be truly sustainable. He thought that fungus was ideal, having a background in biology, he contacted Han Wösten, a professor at a university in the Netherlands. In the years since, they have developed a laboratory so that it can be used to make a range of products. The fungus they work with is the oyster mushroom (pleurotus ostreatus). The thread-like roots of the oyster mushrooms are safe both to eat and to make into organic materials, with straw products. Montalti and Wösten take the mass production of mycelium to take on a scale of everyday objects. The finished object is fired in an oven to stop further growth.

Presently, Montalti and Wösten have created a permanent exhibition at MicroPia in Amsterdam, the world's only museum dedicated to microbes. Called A Mycelium, the exhibition includes an array of everyday objects they've created, including chairs, tables, cups and bowls. They are lightweight and elegant vases which are capable of holding water for days. By allowing visitors to interact with each piece by picking them up, people will walk away with a better understanding of how fungus might be a material for the future. It's the fact that the items are so light, however, that visitors say they didn't expect.

Montalti and Wösten are keen to point out the advantages of products made of mycelium. While the tiny threads of mycelium become totally waterproof. It is this quality that makes the mycelium-based materials so great. Montalti believes, as they won't be limited to rigid forms in the development of alternatives to textiles, he says, "You could imagine making raincoats." Furthermore, mycelium products are not harmful and once they are disposed of, they will decompose naturally into the ecosystem.

One issue Montalti and Wösten are currently dealing with is the longevity of their products. Due to the natural qualities of fungus, the objects won't last forever, a problem that the pair are in the process of trying to resolve. As an example, Montalti points to some of his earliest creations from 2012, including a series of bowls. These initial objects have stayed in his studio, retained their firmness and remained solid. This is because they have been unaffected by humidity or temperature changes, but this still presents a challenge for the design of other kinds of product. Currently, the pair are trying to create a protective coating that would be applied to the surface of the objects near the end of production, in the hope that it could delay the process of decay. Another issue concerns the attitude of the general public. Montalti's potential consumers. In his opinion, people became overly concerned with hygiene and germs in the home in the 20th century, and now associate fungus with dirt and infection. Many people still have negative ideas about fungus, and that's the whole educational part of the project that we tackle, he says. Through education, he hopes to demonstrate the amazing potential of fungus, such as its strength, which can be just as tough as Polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags.

In addition to household products, Montalti and Wösten are also working on producing architectural materials, such as wall panels and insulation. They are aiming that, for all aspects of a construction project, mycelium could replace many of the traditional materials such as concrete and foam. One project involves going to remodel (youth centre), where they are replacing the walls with smaller pieces of fungus panels. This will allow visitors to experience fungus materials in their daily lives.

1
The most popular mycelium product Eben Bayer's company makes is a type of _________.
2
As a design student, Montalti wanted to find a natural material that was highly _________.
3
Oyster mushrooms grow particularly well in _________.
4
After the mycelium has been moulded into the desired shape, it is placed into a special _________.
5
Museum visitors can see many fungus-based products, like items of furniture, vases and _________.
6
Visitors are surprised by how _________ the products are.
7
When a product made of fungus is thrown away, it can supply the environment with some _________.
8
The bowls that Montalti created from fungus in 2012 have remained in good condition.
- A. TRUE
- B. FALSE
- C. NOT GIVEN
9
Montalti and Wösten believe that a protective coating might be beneficial to their fungus products.
10
Montalti says that most people realise fungus-based products are clean.
11
Montalti plans to supply supermarkets with bags made out of mycelium.
12
Montalti and Wösten have already received orders for architectural products made of mycelium.
13
Wösten predicts that fungus will entirely replace plastic and brick in construction work.

Reading Passage 2: Nature's positive effects on well-being

Contact with nature, whether in untouched wilderness or a backyard tree, alleviates stress and improves health.

A. Throughout history, people have associated nature with health and well-being. Around 2,500 years ago, Cyrus the Great built gardens for relaxation in the busy capital of Persia. Paracelsus, the 16th-century German-Swiss physician, wrote, 'The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician.' In 1865, the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted argued for protecting Yosemite from development. He had already designed Central Park in New York City and believed that beautiful green spaces should be available for everyone to enjoy. Along with other writers and conservationists, Olmsted helped make the case for creating the world's first national parks by claiming that nature had healing powers. There was little scientific evidence for these powers then, but advances in epidemiological, psychological and brain-based research have since provided growing support.

B. David Strayer is a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah who specialises in the human capacity to maintain attention. One area of his research in the US has shown that using a cell phone while driving impairs most drivers as much as drinking alcohol does. Human brains are prone to mistakes, especially when multitasking. Strayer is in a unique position to understand what modern life does to us and has researched how camping trips in nature can be used as an antidote. He has demonstrated what he calls the 'three-day effect': participants in one study performed 50 percent better on creative problem-solving tasks after three days of wilderness backpacking. He explains that our brains are easily fatigued. When we slow down, stop the busywork and take in beautiful natural surroundings, not only do we feel physically refreshed, but our mental performance improves too. Strayer has found support for his hypothesis that being in nature allows the prefrontal cortex, the brain's command centre, to dial down and rest, like an over-used muscle.

C. In England, researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School recently analysed mental health data from 10,000 city dwellers over a period of 18 years and used high-resolution mapping to track where the subjects had lived. They found that people living near more green space reported less mental distress, even after adjusting for income, education, and employment (all of which are also correlated with health). In 2009 a team of Dutch researchers found a lower incidence of 15 diseases — including depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and migraines — in people who lived within about a half-mile of green space.

Lower mortality and fewer stress hormones circulating in the blood have also been connected to living close to green space. Richard Mitchell, an epidemiologist at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, carried out a large study and found less disease in people who lived near parks or other green space — even if they didn't use these green spaces. This was particularly true amongst people with lower incomes.

D. Mitchell and other researchers theorise that nature works primarily by lowering stress. Compared with people without window views, those who can see trees and grass have been shown to recover faster in hospitals, perform better in school, and even display less violent behaviour. Such results are consistent with experimental studies of the central nervous system and brain-wave patterns. Measurements of stress hormones, respiration, heart rate, and sweating suggest that short doses of nature — or even pictures of the natural world — can calm people down and sharpen their performance. For example, in Sweden, physician Matilda van den Bosch found that after a stressful maths test, subjects' heart rate variability — which decreases with stress — returned to normal more quickly when they sat through 15 minutes of nature scenes and birdsong in a 3-D virtual-reality room than when they sat in a plain room.

E. A 15-minute stroll in the woods has been shown to cause measurable changes in physiology. Japanese researchers led by Yoshifumi Miyazaki at Chiba University sent 84 subjects to stroll in seven different forests, while the same number of volunteers walked around city centres. Overall the forest walkers showed a 16 percent decrease in the stress-hormone cortisol, a 2 percent drop in blood pressure, and a 4 percent drop in heart rate. These results were not mirrored in the other group. Miyazaki believes our bodies and brains relax in pleasant, natural surroundings because our senses have evolved to interpret information about plants and streams, not traffic and high-rise buildings.

F. In some countries, governments are promoting nature experiences as a public-health policy. Professor Liisa Tyrväinen and her team at the Natural Resources Institute Finland recommend a minimum nature dose of five hours a month — several short visits a week — to help ward off low mood. 'A 40- to 50-minute walk seems to be enough for physiological changes and mood changes and probably for attention,' says Kalevi Korpela, a professor of psychology at the University of Tampere, Finland.

G. Perhaps no nation has embraced the medicalization of nature with more enthusiasm than South Korea. Many people suffer from work stress and intense academic pressures. More than 70 percent say their jobs, which require notoriously long hours, make them depressed, according to a survey by electronics giant Samsung. Forest minister Shin Won Sop is a social scientist who has studied the effects of forest therapy. South Korea has established official healing forests, and many more were planned so that people in nearly all major towns would be close to one. Programmes include meditation, walking activities and woodcrafts. Shin has data suggesting that forest healing reduces medical costs and benefits the local economy. Time will tell whether other countries will follow suit.

14
a comparison between people walking in urban areas and those walking in natural environments
15
historical ideas about the health benefits of nature
16
research in which subjects viewed representations of nature while listening to natural sounds
17
a description of how a particular part of the brain responds to nature
18
Living close to green space is associated with better health, even if people do not use it.
- A. Paracelsus
- B. David Strayer
- C. Richard Mitchell
- D. Matilda van den Bosch
- E. Yoshifumi Miyazaki
- F. Shin Won Sop
19
Spending time in nature can make people feel physically refreshed and improve mental performance.
20
Humans have evolved to respond to information from natural environments.
21
Multitasking makes people more likely to make mistakes.
22
As part of their __________ for public health, some governments encourage greater contact with nature.
23
In Finland, for example, people are advised to spend at least five hours in nature each __________.
24
South Korea has shown particular __________ in promoting the health benefits of nature.
25
The government is promoting healing forests, with plans for one near most __________.
26
There is evidence that these forests reduce medical costs and contribute to the local __________.

Reading Passage 3: Understanding Symbols

A About 20 years ago I had one of those wonderful moments when research takes an unexpected but fruitful turn. I had been studying toddler memory and was beginning a new experiment with two-and-a-half- and three-year-olds. For the project, I had built a model of a room that was in my laboratory. The real space contained basic furniture such as a couch and table. The miniature version was as similar as possible to its larger counterpart: the furniture was the same shape and material and was arranged in the same position. For the study, a child watched as we hid a miniature toy – a plastic dog we called Little Snoopy – in the model. We then encouraged the child to find 'Big Snoopy', a large version of the toy 'hiding in the same place in his big room.'

B The three-year-olds were very successful. After they observed the small toy being placed behind the miniature couch, they ran into the room and found the large toy behind the real couch. But the two-and-a-half-year-olds failed abysmally. They cheerfully ran into the room to retrieve the large toy, but most had no idea where to look, even though they remembered where the tiny toy was hidden in the miniature room and could readily find it there.

C Their failure to use what they knew about the model to draw an inference about the real room indicated that they did not appreciate the relation between the model and the room. I realised my memory study was instead a study of symbolic understanding and that the children's failure might be telling us something about how and when children acquire the ability to understand that one object stands for another.

D The first type of symbolic object that infants and young children master is the picture. No symbols seem simpler to adults, but infants initially find pictures perplexing. The problem stems from the duality inherent in all symbolic objects: they are real in themselves and also representations of something else. A few years ago I became intrigued by anecdotes suggesting that infants do not appreciate this duality—stories of a baby trying to pick up a depicted toy or fit a foot into a photograph of a shoe. We assumed such behaviour would be rare and therefore difficult to study.

E Fortunately we were wrong. We began testing infants' understanding of pictures by putting a book of highly realistic colour photographs of individual objects in front of nine-month-olds. To our surprise, every child in the study reached out to feel or scratch the pictures. The confusion seems to be conceptual not perceptual. Infants can perfectly well perceive the difference between objects and pictures and given the choice they will choose the real thing. But they do not yet fully understand what pictures are and how they differ from real objects. However, when depicted objects bear little resemblance to the real thing – as in a black and white drawing – infants rarely explore them. By 18 months, babies have come to appreciate that a picture merely represents an object; instead of manipulating the paper, they point to pictures and name objects. Nevertheless, it takes several years for the nature of pictures to be completely understood.

F Studies have shown that, until the age of four, many children think that turning a picture of a bowl of popcorn upside down will result in the depicted popcorn falling out of the bowl.

G Pictures are not the only source of confusion for very young children. In a third experiment, we brought a group of toddlers (18-to 30-month-old children) into a room containing a child's slide, a chair, and a toddler-sized car. The children played with these for a while. Then we secretly replaced each object with an identical miniature version. Most children attempted to perform the same actions with the miniature items that they had with the larger ones. Some tried to sit on the chair, others attempted to climb into the car. Interestingly, most of the children showed little or no reaction to their failed attempts. We think this probably reflects the fact that toddlers' daily lives are full of unsuccessful attempts to do one thing or another. This confusion has implications for educational practice. Teachers everywhere use blocks or other objects to represent numerical quantity. However, if young children do not understand the relation between an object and what it represents, this could be counterproductive. To demonstrate this, we taught six-and seven-year-olds a difficult subtraction problem using blocks.

H We taught an identical comparison group the same concept, but using pencil and paper. Both groups learned to solve the problems equally well, but the group using blocks took three times as long to do so.

I Dual representation also comes into play in many children's books. Modern children's books are often 3D, with features that encourage children to interact directly with the book itself, for example flaps that can be lifted to reveal pictures. Graduate student Cynthia Chong and I reasoned that these features might distract children from the information. Accordingly, we used different types of book to teach letters to 30-month-old children. One was a simple old-fashioned alphabet book with each letter accompanied by an appropriate picture. The other was a 3-D version. The children using the traditional book subsequently recognised more letters than those using the 3-D book.

J Presumably, the children could concentrate more easily with the plain 2-D book, whereas with the other one they were distracted by the 3-D activities. Less may be more when it comes to educational books for young children.

27
In the first paragraph, what did the children in the experiment have to do?
- A. spot the differences between a real room and a smaller version
- B. make a copy of a life-sized room using small furniture
- C. hide a large toy in a tiny room
- D. locate a toy in a life-sized room
28
What was the result of the first experiment?
- A. Both two-and-a-half-and three-year-olds completed the task successfully.
- B. Three-year-olds could mentally relate the two rooms they had been shown.
- C. Two-and-a-half-year-olds could relate more closely to the toys as symbols.
- D. Two-and-a-half-year-olds had poorer memory than three-year-olds.
29
In the fourth paragraph, what does the writer say about children and pictures?
- A. Infants are unable to understand that pictures serve a double purpose.
- B. Young children may understand pictures more readily than adults.
- C. Infants can understand that a picture of food cannot be eaten.
- D. Adults should encourage children to look at pictures from an early age.
30
In the third experiment, what did the writer notice about the reactions of the toddlers?
- A. They often behaved in an unpredictable way.
- B. They were only comfortable performing very familiar tasks.
- C. They became frustrated when they could not achieve a task.
- D. They behaved the same whether they were successful or not.
31
What did the experiment involving a mathematical problem suggest about children's learning?
- A. Children are able to understand complex concepts at an early age.
- B. Children younger than seven cannot learn using pencil and paper alone.
- C. Using blocks can make it harder for children to learn new concepts.
- D. Teachers should try using blocks to teach mathematics to lower level students.
32
What does Deloache conclude about the results of her and Chong's experiment?
- A. Children's books should be more interactive.
- B. 2-D books should contain realistic images.
- C. Simpler books may be better learning tools.
- D. 3-D books help weaker students to progress.
33
The test involving 9-month-old babies attempted to find out ..........
- A. that a three-year-old may still expect an image to perform a real task.
- B. how quickly children can learn the alphabet.
- C. the best age for children to begin school.
- D. the effectiveness of symbolic objects as teaching tools.
- E. whether young children are puzzled by pictures.
- F. that young children expect tiny objects to function in the same way as life-sized ones.
34
The third experiment revealed ..........
35
The maths experiment was designed to assess ..........
36
The results of the first experiment revealed unexpected information.
37
Infants react the same way to both drawings and photographs.
38
Toddlers are used to failing in many of the tasks they try to perform.
39
The confusion of symbols and real objects has little significance for educational practice.
40
Children enjoy reading 3D books more than 2D books.

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1. insulation
The answer is 'insulation' because it says the most popular product Eben Bayer's company makes is a type of insulation, meaning material used to keep buildings warm or cool.
2. sustainable
The answer is 'sustainable' because as a design student, Montalti wanted to find a natural material that was highly sustainable, meaning good for the environment and lasting a long time.
3. straw
The answer is 'straw' because oyster mushrooms grow particularly well in straw, which is a common farming material.
4. oven
The answer is 'oven' because after the mycelium is shaped, it is placed into a special oven to finish the process.
5. bowls
The answer is 'bowls' because museum visitors can see fungus-based products like furniture, vases, and bowls.
6. light
The answer is 'light' because visitors are surprised by how light the products are, meaning they do not weigh much.
7. nutrients
The answer is 'nutrients' because when a fungus product is thrown away, it can supply the environment with nutrients, which help plants grow.
8. TRUE
The answer is TRUE because the bowls Montalti made from fungus in 2012 have stayed in good condition, showing they last well.
9. TRUE
The answer is TRUE because both Montalti and Wösten think a protective coating might help their fungus products last longer.
10. FALSE
The answer is FALSE because Montalti says most people do not realise fungus-based products are clean, so the statement is not correct.
11. NOT GIVEN
The answer is NOT GIVEN because there is no information about Montalti planning to supply supermarkets with mycelium bags.
12. NOT GIVEN
The answer is NOT GIVEN because there is no information about Montalti and Wösten receiving orders for architectural mycelium products.
13. FALSE
The answer is FALSE because Wösten does not predict fungus will completely replace plastic and brick in construction, only that it could be used more.
14. E
The answer is E because it describes a comparison between people walking in cities and those walking in nature.
15. A
The answer is A because it talks about historical ideas, like those from Paracelsus, about nature's health benefits.
16. D
The answer is D because it mentions research where people looked at pictures of nature while listening to natural sounds.
17. B
The answer is B because it describes how a part of the brain reacts when people see nature.
18. C
The answer is C (Richard Mitchell) because he found that living near green space is linked to better health, even if people do not use it.
19. B
The answer is B (David Strayer) because he says spending time in nature makes people feel refreshed and improves mental performance.
20. E
The answer is E (Yoshifumi Miyazaki) because he believes humans have evolved to respond to information from nature.
21. B
The answer is B (David Strayer) because he says multitasking makes people more likely to make mistakes.
22. policy
The answer is 'policy' because some governments encourage contact with nature as part of their public health policy.
23. month
The answer is 'month' because in Finland, people are advised to spend at least five hours in nature each month.
24. enthusiasm
The answer is 'enthusiasm' because South Korea has shown special enthusiasm in promoting nature's health benefits.
25. towns
The answer is 'towns' because the government plans to have a healing forest near most towns.
26. economy
The answer is 'economy' because these forests help reduce medical costs and support the local economy.
27. D
The answer is D because the children had to locate a toy in a life-sized room.
28. B
The answer is B because three-year-olds could mentally relate the two rooms, but younger children could not.
29. C
The answer is C because infants can understand that a picture of food cannot be eaten.
30. D
The answer is D because toddlers behaved the same whether they succeeded or not in the third experiment.
31. C
The answer is C because using blocks made it harder for children to learn new mathematical concepts.
32. C
The answer is C because Deloache concludes that simpler books may be better for learning.
33. E
The answer is E because the test with 9-month-old babies tried to find out if young children are puzzled by pictures.
34. F
The answer is F because the third experiment showed young children expect tiny objects to work like real ones.
35. D
The answer is D because the maths experiment was designed to test how well symbolic objects help children learn.
36. YES
The answer is YES because the results of the first experiment showed something unexpected about children's abilities.
37. NO
The answer is NO because infants do not react the same way to drawings and photographs.
38. YES
The answer is YES because toddlers are used to failing many tasks they try to do.
39. NO
The answer is NO because the confusion between symbols and real objects is important for education.
40. NOT GIVEN
The answer is NOT GIVEN because there is no information about whether children enjoy 3D books more than 2D books.

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Reading Passage 1: The Material of the Future

Reading Passage 2: Nature's positive effects on well-being

Reading Passage 3: Understanding Symbols

Answer sheet

Answer key