General Training Reading 2025-01 Test 4 — IELTS General Training Reading Practice Test with Answers

Rebuilt from test-taker recalls — not official IELTS material. Audio and passages are recreations for practice.

Life Skills Seminars

Questions 1-7 Which description mentions the following information? Write the correct letter, A-F

A. Money Matters: This seminar helps people with the important skills of managing money and making good household spending-decisions. Learn to manage a budget, predict expenses, and save for retirement. The course is open to adults at all income levels and any career stage. Anyone can learn how to improve their money habits!

B. Nutritious and Delicious Home Cooking: This course is not for people of just any ability level. It is tailored for beginner cooks in particular. If you eat out far too often, eat too much instant food, or struggle to prepare good meals for your children, this is the course for you. Join your instructor and classmates to learn easy recipes for good healthy dishes you can enjoy at home.

C. Repairing Your Own Vehicle: This course is meant to help motorists become more self-sufficient. Routine car maintenance and repair needn't be done by a professional; anyone can learn how to change their oil, replace a tire, flush coolant, and so on. You will learn to make certain basic car repairs on your own, slashing household car repair costs!

D. Parents Talk About: Kids in this workshop, parents share their challenges and their victories in child-rearing. You will receive advice from other parents who can tell you what works with their kids, and you can discuss your own successful approaches to parenting. Additional guidance is provided by the group facilitator, who is a licensed child psychologist.

E. Computer Skills for Home and Office: Whether you need a refresher on common computer programs or you want to boost the computer skills you already have, this course can help. Review the basic functions of word processing, slideshows, spreadsheets, email, and more. Then learn some even more sophisticated tips and tricks to really get the most out of the computer programs you use.

F. High School Homework Helpers: It is recommended that parents and their high school aged children attend this class together. This course teaches high school students how to take on common types of homework assignments, managing their time and getting the right kinds of homework help from parents and other adults. Parents themselves can use this course to review the basics of high school homework content, and get a better idea of the best way to support their teens.

1
This course helps people save money on repair costs.
2
The students can be parents or kids.
3
People of any level can learn both beginner and advanced technological skills at home.
4
The course is only for less experienced students.
5
Learning skills in this class will help you become more independent.
6
Parents can learn a lot from each other.
7
It's very important to learn how to plan for the future.

School Departure Procedures

Questions 8-14 Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

8
This document provides guidelines for school employees.
9
If a teacher is absent, a different teacher will take care of the children's departure.
10
Children not enrolled in after-school activities cannot play on school grounds after school.
11
If you are late to pick up your child, you will find them at the main office.
12
There is a parking lot for parents driving their kids to or from school.
13
Parents should talk to the school's administration to inform how their kids will go home.
14
If you are picking up your niece or nephew, you will need to show an ID.

Granite

Granite is a coarse grained igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the Earth's continental crust, where it is found in various kinds of igneous intrusions. These range in size and are found in from watercourses only a few inches across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometres. Granite is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions.

These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few known as leucogranites contain almost no dark minerals.

Granite is nearly always massive, tough with beautiful facde. These properties have made granite a widespread construction stone throughout human history. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse grained structure of such a completely crystalline rock. Granitic rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals, which form an interlocking, somewhat equigranular matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter color minerals.

Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts) are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is known as a granite porphyry. Granitoid is a general, descriptive field term for lighter-colored, coarse grained igneous rocks. Petrographic examination is required for identification of specific types of items can be predominantly white, pink, or grey in colour, depending on their granitoids. The alkali feldspar in granites is typically orthoclase or microcline and is often perthitic. The plagioclase is typically sodium-rich oligoclase. Phenocrysts are usually alkali feldspar. Granitic rocks are classified according to the QAPF diagram for coarse grained plutonic rocks and are named according to the percentage of quartz, alkali feldspar (orthoclase, sanidine, or microcline) and plagioclase feldspar on the A-Q-P half of the diagram.

True granite (according to modern petrologic convention) contains between 20% and 60% quartz by volume, with 35% to 90% of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar. Granitic rocks poorer in quartz are classified as syenites or monzonites, while granitic rocks dominated by plagioclase are classified as granodiorites or tonalites. Granitic rocks with over 90% alkali feldspar are classified as alkali feldspar granites. Granitic rock with more than 60% quartz, which is uncommon, is classified simply as quartz-rich granitoid or, if composed almost entirely of quartz, as quartzolite. True granites are further classified by the percentage of their total feldspar that is alkali feldspar. Granites whose feldspar is 65% to 90% alkali feldspar are syenogranite, while the feldspar in monzogranite is 35% to 65% alkali feldspar. A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a binary or two-mica granite. Two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase and are usually S-type granites or A-type granites, as described below.

Questions 15–21: Granite — Short Answer

Questions 15-21 Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

15
Granite is made from magma with extraordinary volume of some materials that coagulates _______
16
Granitic rocks profuse in ____ and _______ signifies authentic granite
17
Rare granitic rocks embrace virtually zero _______
18
Throughout human past, granite has been used because of its robustness, gigantic size and _______ facade.
19
The granite rock gets its term from a Latin word, granum, which is another expression for _______
20
Granitic rocks containing huge quantities of plagioclase are categorized as _______
21
Accurate granites are additionally characterized by the proportion of their Overall _______

Maize

The maize is also known as corn in North American and Australian English. It is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The leafy stalk of the plant produces pollen inflorescences and separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels (seeds), which are fruits. Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice. In addition to being consumed directly by humans (often in the form of masa), maize is also used for corn ethanol, animal feed and other maize products, such as corn starch and corn syrup. The six major types of maize are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are usually grown for human consumption as kernels, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, various corn-based human food uses (including grinding into cornmeal or masa, pressing into corn oil, and fermentation and distillation into alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey), and as chemical feedstocks.

Maize is also used in making ethanol and other biofuels. Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2014, total world production was 1.04 billion tonnes. Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States alone in 2014. Genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. Subsidies in the United States help to account for its high level of cultivation of maize and its position as the largest producer in the world. The maize plant is often 3 m in height, though some natural strains can grow 13 m. The stem is commonly composed of 20 internodes of 18 cm length. The leaves arise from the nodes, alternately on opposite sides on the stalk. A leaf, which grows from each node, is generally 9 cm in width and 120 cm in length.

Ears develop above a few of the leaves in the midsection of the plant, between the stem and leaf sheath, elongating by around 3 mm per day, to a length of 18 cm with 60 cm being the maximum alleged in the subspecies. They are female inflorescences, tightly enveloped by several layers of ear leaves commonly called husks. Certain varieties of maize in the past were bred to produce many additional developed ears. These are the source of the "baby corn" used as a vegetable in Asian cuisine. The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. When the tassel is mature and conditions are suitably warm and dry, anthers on the tassel dehisce and release pollen. Maize pollen is anemophilous (dispersed by wind), and because of its large settling velocity, most pollen falls within a few metres of the tassel.

Elongated stigmas, called silks, emerge from the whorl of husk leaves at the end of the ear. They are often pale yellow and 18 cm in length, like tufts of hair in appearance. At the end of each is a carpel, which may develop into a "kernel" if fertilised by a pollen grain. The pericarp of the fruit is fused with the seed coat referred to as "caryopsis", typical of the grasses, and the entire kernel is often referred to as the "seed". The cob is close to a multiple fruit in structure, except that the individual fruits never fuse into a single mass.

The grains are about the size of peas, and adhere in regular rows around a white, pithy substance, which forms the ear. The maximum size of kernels is reputedly 2.5 cm. An ear commonly holds 600 kernels. They are of various colours: blackish, bluish-grey, purple, green, red, white, and yellow. When ground into flour, maize yields more flour with much less bran than wheat does. It lacks the protein gluten of wheat and, therefore, makes baked goods with poor rising capability. A genetic variant that accumulates more sugar and less starch in the ear is consumed as a vegetable and is called sweet corn. Young ears can be consumed raw, with the cob and silk, 50t as the plant matures, the cob toughens and the silk dries to inedibility. By the end of the growing season, the kernels dry out and become difficult to chew without cooking them tender first in boiling water.

Questions 22–27: Maize — Short Answer

Questions 22-27 Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

22
The grassy tail of the maize plant delivers pollens that produce _______
23
The total production of maize outstripping wheat and rice has made it a _______ in many countries.
24
_______ are offered in United States that encourages the farming of maize.
25
Some variations of maize have been _______ to yield vegetables like baby corn.
26
If inseminated by a pollen grain may evolve in a _______
27
The cob of the sweetcorn _______ as the plant mellows.

How babies learn language

During the first year of a child's life, parents and carers are concerned with its physical development; during the second year, they watch the baby's language development very carefully. It is interesting just how easily children learn a language. Children who are just three or four years old, who cannot yet tie their shoelaces, are able to speak in full sentences without any specific language training.

The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct – something as natural as eating or sleeping. According to experts in this area, this language instinct is innate – something each of us is born with. But this prevailing view has not always enjoyed widespread acceptance.

In the middle of last century, experts of the time, including a renowned professor at Harvard University in the United States, regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere repetition. Language "habits" developed as young children were rewarded for repeating language correctly and ignored or punished when they used incorrect forms of language. Over time, a child, according to this theory, would learn a language much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training.

Yet even though the modern view holds that language is instinctive, experts like Assistant Professor Lise Eliot are convinced that the interaction a child has with its parents and caregivers is crucial to its developments. The language of the parents and caregivers act as models for the developing child. In fact, a baby's day-to-day experience is so important that the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to the model speakers it hears. Given that the models' parents provide are so important, it is interesting to consider the role of "baby talk" in the child's language development. Baby talk is the language produced by an adult speaker who is trying to exaggerate certain aspects of the language to capture the attention of a young baby.

Dr Roberta Golinkoff believes that babies benefit from baby talk. Experiments show that immediately after birth babies respond more to infant-directed talk than they do to adult-directed talk. When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions, which helps the baby to begin to understand what is being communicated. She also notes that the exaggerated nature and repetition of baby talk helps infants to learn the difference between sounds. Since babies have a great deal of information to process, baby talk helps. Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older, that is, when the child is better able to communicate with the parents.

Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies' ability to recognise sounds and says they recognise the sound of their own names as early as four and a half months. Babies know the meaning of Mummy and Daddy by about six months, which is earlier than was previously believed. By about nine months, babies begin recognizing frequent patterns in language. A baby will listen longer to the sounds that occur frequently, so it is good to frequently call the infant by its name.

An experiment at Johns Hopkins University in the USA, in which researchers went to the homes of 16 nine-month-olds, confirms this view. The researchers arranged their visits for ten days out of a two week period. During each visit, the researcher played an audio tape that included the same three stories. The stories included odd words such as "python" or "hornbill", words that were unlikely to be encountered in the babies' everyday experience. After a couple of weeks during which nothing was done, the babies were brought to the research lab, where they listened to two recorded lists of words. The first list included words heard in the story. The second included similar words, but not the exact ones that were used in the stories.

Jusczyk found the babies listened longer to the words that had appeared in the stories, which indicated that the babies had extracted individual words from the story. When a control group of 16 nine-month-olds, who had not heard the stories, listened to the two groups of words, they showed no preference for either list. This does not mean that the babies actually understand the meanings of the words, just the sound patterns. It supports the idea that people are born to speak, and have the capacity to learn language from the day they are born. This ability is enhanced if they are involved in a conversation. And, significantly, Dr Eliot reminds parents that babies and toddlers need to feel they are communicating. Clearly, sitting in front of the television is not enough; the baby must be having an interaction with another speaker.

Questions 28–34: How babies learn language — Summary Completion

Questions 28-34 Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS for each answer.

The study of 28 _______ in very young children has changed considerably in the last 50 years. It has been established that children can speak independently at age 29 _______, and that this ability is innate. The child will, in fact, follow the speech 30 _______ and linguistic behaviour of its carers and parents who act as 31 _______ Babies actually benefit from "baby talk", in which adults 32 _______ both sounds and facial expressions. Babies' ability to 33 _______ sound patterns rather than words comes earlier than was previously thought. It is very important that babies are included in 34 _______.

Questions 35–40: How babies learn language — TFNG

Questions 35-40 Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

35
Children can learn their first language without being taught.
36
From the time of their birth, humans seem to have an ability to learn languages.
37
According to experts in the 1950s and '60s, language learning is very similar to the training of animals.
38
Repetition in language learning is important, according to Dr Eliot.
39
Dr Golinkoff is concerned that "baby talk" is spoken too much by some parents.
40
The first word a child learns to recognise is usually "Mummy" or "Daddy"

Answer sheet

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1. C
2. F
3. E
4. B
5. C
6. D
7. A
8. TRUE
9. NOT GIVEN
10. FALSE
11. TRUE
12. TRUE
13. FALSE
14. TRUE
15. underground
The passage says granite "forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground," so the answer is 'underground.'
16. quartz / alkali feldspar
It states that 'true granite' is rich in 'quartz and alkali feldspar,' which are the two materials that signify authentic granite.
17. dark minerals
The passage mentions that 'a few known as leucogranites contain almost no dark minerals,' so the answer is 'dark minerals.'
18. beautiful
Granite is described as 'nearly always massive, tough with beautiful facde,' so 'beautiful' is the missing word.
19. a grain
It says, 'The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain,' so the answer is 'a grain.'
20. granodiorites
The passage explains that 'granitic rocks dominated by plagioclase are classified as granodiorites,' so the answer is 'granodiorites.'
21. feldspar
It says, 'True granites are further classified by the percentage of their total feldspar that is alkali feldspar,' so the answer is 'feldspar.'
22. kernels / seeds
The passage says, 'The leafy stalk of the plant produces pollen inflorescences and separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels (seeds),' so the answer is 'kernels / seeds.'
23. staple food
It states, 'Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice,' so the answer is 'staple food.'
24. subsidies
The passage says, 'Subsidies in the United States help to account for its high level of cultivation of maize,' so the answer is 'subsidies.'
25. bred
It mentions, 'Certain varieties of maize in the past were bred to produce many additional developed ears. These are the source of the "baby corn" used as a vegetable,' so the answer is 'bred.'
26. kernel
It says, 'At the end of each [silk] is a carpel, which may develop into a "kernel" if fertilised by a pollen grain,' so the answer is 'kernel.'
27. toughens
The passage states, 'as the plant matures, the cob toughens and the silk dries to inedibility,' so the answer is 'toughens.'
28. language development
It says, 'The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct,' and discusses how the study of language development has changed, so the answer is 'language development.'
29. 3-4 years
The passage says, 'Children who are just three or four years old... are able to speak in full sentences,' so the answer is '3-4 years.'
30. patterns
It states, 'the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to the model speakers it hears,' so the answer is 'patterns.'
31. model (speakers)
It says, 'the language of the parents and caregivers act as models for the developing child,' so the answer is 'model (speakers).'
32. exaggerate
The passage says, 'When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions,' so the answer is 'exaggerate.'
33. recognize
It states, 'Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies' ability to recognise sounds,' and that babies recognize sound patterns before words, so the answer is 'recognize.'
34. conversation
It says, 'This ability is enhanced if they are involved in a conversation,' so the answer is 'conversation.'
35. TRUE
The passage says, 'Children... are able to speak in full sentences without any specific language training,' so the answer is TRUE.
36. TRUE
It states, 'this language instinct is innate – something each of us is born with,' so the answer is TRUE.
37. TRUE
It says, 'experts... regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere repetition... much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training,' so the answer is TRUE.
38. NOT GIVEN
The passage does not mention Dr Eliot's opinion about repetition in language learning, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
39. FALSE
It says, 'Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older,' so she is not concerned about overuse; the answer is FALSE.
40. FALSE
It says, 'Professor Jusczyk... says they recognise the sound of their own names as early as four and a half months. Babies know the meaning of Mummy and Daddy by about six months,' so the first word is their own name, not 'Mummy' or 'Daddy.' The answer is FALSE.

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