Reading 2026-02 Test 18 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

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Reading Passage 1: The Importance of Law

The law influences all of us virtually all the time, it governs almost all aspects of our behavior, and even what happens to us when we are no longer alive. It affects us from the embryo onwards. It governs the air we breathe, the food and drink we consume, our travel, family relationships, and our property. It applies at the bottom of the ocean and in space. Each time we examine a label on a food product, engage in work as an employee or employer, travel on the roads, go to school to learn or to teach, stay in a hotel, borrow a library book, create or dissolve a commercial company, play sports, or engage the services of someone for anything from plumbing a sink to planning a city, we are in the world of law.

Law has also become much more widely recognised as the standard by which behavior needs to be judged. A very telling development in recent history is the way in which the idea of law has permeated all parts of social life. The universal standard of whether something is socially tolerated is progressively becoming whether it is legal, rather than something that has always been considered acceptable. In earlier times, most people were illiterate. Today, by contrast, a vast number of people can read, and it is becoming easier for people to take an interest in law, and for the general population to help actually shape the law in many countries. However, law is a versatile instrument that can be used equally well for the improvement or the degradation of humanity.

This, of course, puts law in a very significant position. In our rapidly developing world, all sorts of skills and knowledge are valuable. Those people, for example, with knowledge of computers, the internet, and communications technology are relied upon by the rest of us. There is now someone with IT skills or an IT help desk in every UK school, every company, every hospital, every local and central government office. Without their knowledge, many parts of commercial and social life today would seize up in minutes. But legal understanding is just as vital and as universally needed. The American comedian Jerry Seinfeld put it like this, 'We are all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there is a problem, the lawyer is the only person who has read the inside of the top of the box.' In other words, the lawyer is the only person who has read and made sense of the rules.

The number of laws has never been greater. In the UK alone, about 35 new Acts of Parliament are produced every year, thereby delivering thousands of new rules. The legislative output of the British Parliament has more than doubled in recent times from 1,100 pages a year in the early 1970s, to over 2,500 pages a year today. Between 1997 and 2006, the legislature passed 365 Acts of Parliament and more than 32,000 legally binding statutory instruments. In a system with so much law, lawyers do a great deal not just to vindicate the rights of citizens and organizations but also to help develop the law through legal arguments, some of which are adapted by judges to become laws. Law courts can and do produce new law and revise old law, but they do so having heard the arguments of lawyers.

However, despite their important role in developing the rules, lawyers are not universally admired. Anti-lawyer jokes have a long history going back to the ancient Greeks. More recently the son of a famous Hollywood actor was asked at his junior school what his father did for a living, to which he replied, 'My daddy is a movie actor, and sometimes he plays the good guy, and sometimes he plays the lawyer.' For balance, though, it is worth remembering that there are and have been many heroic and revered lawyers such as the Roman philosopher and politician Cicero and Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian campaigner for independence.

People sometimes make comments that characterise lawyers as professionals whose concerns put personal reward above truth, or who gain financially from misfortune. There are undoubtedly lawyers that would fit that bill, just as there are some scientists, journalists and others in that category. But, in general, it is no more just to say that lawyers are bad because they make a living from people's problems than it is to make the same accusation in respect of nurses or IT consultants. A great many lawyers are involved in public law work, such as that involving civil liberties, housing and other issues. Such work is not lavishly remunerated and the quality of the service provided by these lawyers relies on considerable professional dedication. Moreover, much legal work has nothing to do with conflict or misfortune, but is primarily concerned with drafting documents. Another source of social disaffection for lawyers, and disaffection for the law, is a limited public understanding of how law works and how it could be changed. Greater clarity about these issues, maybe as a result of better public relations, would reduce many aspects of public dissatisfaction with the law.

1
Paragraph A
- i. Different areas of professional expertise
- ii. Reasons why it is unfair to criticize lawyers
- iii. The disadvantages of the legal system
- iv. The law applies throughout our lives
- v. The law has affected historical events
- vi. A negative regard for lawyers
- vii. Public's increasing ability to influence the law
- viii. Growth in laws
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Paragraph B
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Paragraph C
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Paragraph D
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Paragraph E
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Paragraph F
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Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about legal skills in today's world?
- A. There should be a person with legal training in every hospital.
- B. Lawyers with experience in commercial law are the most in demand.
- C. Knowledge of the law is as important as having computer skills.
- D. Society could not function effectively without legal experts.
- E. Schools should teach students about the law.
8
People sometimes say that ______ is of little interest to lawyers, who are more concerned with making money.
9
This may well be the case with some individuals, in the same way that some ______ or scientific experts may also be driven purely by financial greed.
10
However, criticizing lawyers because their work is concerned with people's problems would be similar to attacking IT staff or ______ for the same reason.
11
In fact, many lawyers focus on questions relating, for example, to housing or civil liberties, which requires them to have ______ to their work.
12
What's more, a lot of lawyers' time is spent writing ______ rather than dealing with people's misfortunes.

Reading Passage 2: The Future of Food Packaging

A Food companies spend a lot of time thinking about packaging as a way to represent their brand and make consumers love their products. More than cosmetic details like labels or logos, a mod's container can suggest playfulness, environmental consciousness, or high technology. Packaging provides consumers' first and last impressions of a product.

B Fortunately for consumers, advances in food packaging technology promise to make food storage and preparation simpler. Consumers are growing ever more obsessed with sleek technology, reducing food waste, and minimizing health risks to themselves and the environment, and in response, food packaging is undergoing some interesting developments. Food-packaging designers are hard at work to make groceries environmentally friendly, compact, and functional.

C Edible packaging has been proposed as one solution to consumers' environmental concerns because it leaves no waste. The fried chicken chain KFC, for example, is experimenting with an edible coffee-cup. Made from a hard cookie lined with heat-resistant white chocolate, the cup is KFC's attempt to reduce its landfill waste and satisfy customers who are concerned that businesses produce products that support food-system sustainability and innovation. Another company, Stonyfield Organic, introduced frozen yogurt 'pearls' using edible food wrappers. The skin has no flavor and can be rinsed and eaten with the yogurt (much like a grape), eliminating the need for plastic spoons or wrappers for those on the go. It seems that people still want a layer of sanitary protection, though, because the spherical yogurts are still sold in containers.

Similarly, a company called Loliware has sold gelatin-based edible drinking cups for two years, in flavors like Madagascar vanilla and tart cherry. And last year, the company introduced edible cupcake wrappers made from potato starch. Even with these new advances, one decade-old edible invention continues to see great success - the clear paper used to wrap Japanese Botan Rice Candy.

D Another development has been nonstick packaging, which can eliminate the 3 to 15 percent of sauces left inside traditional bottles, like those last trails of ketchup and mayonnaise that won't come out no matter how hard you shake or squeeze. Liquiglide - which refers to both a company and the product it makes - is a permanently wet slippery surface that allows viscous matter to slide off easily. Liquiglide estimates that its coating could prevent 1 million tons of food waste each year. The coating is made from components approved by the US government, and, according to the company, does not affect the taste or smell of food. Another benefit of Liquiglide is that it prevents carbonated beverages from going flat.

E New safety-enhancing packaging is now addressing the issue of food spoilage. It might seem this was solved long ago with the advent of the 'Sell-by' stamp, which was meant to warn customers of when the food would no longer be considered suitable for consumption. But after a Harvard report revealed that sell-by dates are often inaccurate because of variances in transportation and grocery store policies, and that they also contribute to America's food-waste problem, the stamps have lost credibility in the food industry. In response, scientists are working on food packaging - like plastic wrap - that is 'active and intelligent' with tiny embedded sensors to first detect and later prevent food from spoiling. This advancement in food packaging draws upon nanotechnology, which is dedicated to making electronic sensors tiny and inexpensive. Of course, one could also rely on what has saved humankind from food poisoning for millennia - the senses. If it smells bad, throw it away.

F Another emerging technology is packaging that disappears. MonoSol, LLC creates food-grade water-soluble bags for pre-portioned oatmeal or rice. When boiled, the bag dissolves, leaving only the food, ready to eat. MonoSol, LLC is marketing this to professional kitchens as well as consumers, as a way to pre-measure meal ingredients and ensure consistency regardless of who is cooking. Tomorrow Machine, a Swedish design firm, has plans for three disappearing packages: an oil bottle made from hardened sugar that cracks open like an egg; a fruit juice container made from seaweed that 'will wither at the same rate as its content'; and a peelable beeswax package for rice or other dry goods.

G Super-compressed packaging serves the increasing number of city dwellers who generally have tiny kitchens and no storage room. Additionally, many people living in urban areas walk home from grocery stores, and they need lighter and smaller packages. Tomorrow Machine is also working on a compressed tiny package that expands into a full-size bowl when hot water is added.

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Paragraph A
- i. Packaging that allows consumers use more the product
- ii. The many reasons for changes in packing
- iii. Packaging that includes utensils like like spoons like forks
- iv. Packaging that can be consumed with its contents
- v. Packaging that doesn`t take up a lot of space
- vi. The history of food packaging
- vii. Packing that indicates when food is beginning to go rotten
- viii. Packaging that can be reused
- ix. Using packaging to communicate ideas and attract customers
- x. Packing that vanishes or decomposes quickly
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Paragraph B
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Paragraph C
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Paragraph D
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Paragraph E
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Paragraph F
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Paragraph G
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KFC
- A. a container that gets bigger under certain conditions
- B. packaging that vanishes in hot water
- C. a material that prevents the waste of sticky condiments
- D. packaging made from a vegetable product
- E. a sweet container for hot drinks
- F. round, flavourless containers that can be consumed
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Loliware
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Tomorrow Machine
23
In Japan, ____ has been used as edible packaging for years.
24
Liquiglide reduces food wastes, especially in bottles containing various____
25
Tomorrow Machine is planning to use solid ______ as a container for oil.

Reading Passage 3: Insect-inspired robots

A tiny insect navigates its way across featureless salt-pans. A cockroach successfully works out how to scramble over an obstacle. The mantis shrimp scans its aquatic world through hyperspectral eyes. Using the most basic of equipment and brains tinier than a pinhead, insects constantly solve complex problems of movement, vision and navigation, processing data that would challenge a supercomputer. How they do it is driving one of the most exciting new fields of technology—biomimetics and biorobotics, the imitation of insect systems to control man-made machines. Delegates at a recent conference presented some outcomes of their work in this area.

Dr Alex Zelinsky suggested that the method by which wasps use landmarks to find their way back to the nest may one day be part of a system for navigating cars that ‘know' where to go. A research team led by Dr Zelinsky has shown that a robot can navigate its way along 50 different landmarks by recognizing them individually using a panoramic camera. ‘The inspiration came from biology, where wasps use a practice called "turn back and look" to orient themselves as they emerge from its nest. By flying to and fro, they lock in images of the nest from different angles and perspectives, so they can recognize it again,' he explained. The robot's panoramic camera logs the surrounding area and its key landmarks, which are then sorted in its computer according to how reliable they are as navigational aids. The landmarks are then scaled, from small to large, so that the robot can recognize whether it is getting closer to or further away from them. Their location is built into a map in its ‘mind’, which operates at different scales and instructs the robot whether to turn left or right at a particular mark. The technology provides a general way for a machine to navigate an unknown landscape.

For three decades, Professor Ruediger Wehner has journeyed from Switzerland to the Sahara desert where Cataglyphis, a tiny ant with a brain weighing just 0.1 mg, performs acts of navigational genius when it leaves its nest, forages for food and returns successfully. Cataglyphis uses polarised light, caused when air molecules scatter light, to orient and steer itself. Wehner's team found the ant has a set of specialized photoreceptors along the upper rim of its eyes that detect polarized light, while other receptors perform different navigational tasks. As the sun moves, the ant notes its direction each time it leaves the nest and updates its internal compass. Using other eye receptors it stores a ‘snapshot’ image of landmarks, close to the nest entrance in its eyes and compares this with what it sees as it returns. The ant also has a way of measuring distance traveled, while a ‘path integrator' periodically informs the ant of its current position relative to its point of departure. Rather than integrate all the information it receives in its brain, the ant actually performs a number of complex calculations in different organs. Like a supercomputer, the ant has many separate subroutines going on simultaneously. Using the ant's ability to steer by polarised light and to store and reuse landscape images, Wehner and colleagues have built 'Sahabot', a small vehicle that uses polarisers and a digital CCD camera to store 360° images of landmarks to the ones in its memory.

Professor Robert Michelson had a different desert challenge—to design a flying robot that can not only navigate but also stay aloft and hover in the thin atmosphere of Mars. Drawing inspiration from insect flight, he has gone beyond nature to devise a completely new concept for a flying machine. The ‘Entomopter' is sort of double-ended dragonfly whose wings beat reciprocally. Michelson says that the flapping-wing design gives the craft unusually high lift compared with a fixed-wing flyer, enabling it to fly slowly or hover in the thin Martian air—whereas a fixed-wing craft would have to move at more than 400 km/h and could not stop to explore.

Engineer Roger Quinn and entomologist Professor Roy Ritzmann are taking their inspiration from cockroaches. According to Quinn and Ritzmann, the ability of cockroaches to run very fast over rough terrain may one day give rise to a completely new all-terrain vehicle with six legs, or maybe even wheel-like legs called 'whegs'. The key to the cockroach's remarkable cross-country performance lies partly in the fact that its legs do a lot of the ‘thinking' without having to consult the brain. Quinn and Ritzmann are drawing on cockroach skills to create robotic walkers and control strategies that capture the remarkable capacity of these insects to traverse complex terrain and navigate safely toward goals while avoiding obstacles. The team has already designed a series of robots that run on six legs or on whegs, enabling them to handle surprisingly rugged terrain.

International experts believe there are tremendous opportunities in biorobotics. However, delegates at the conference had differing visions for the future of the science. While some were concerned that the initial applications of biorobotics may be military, others, such as Dr Barbara Webb, predicted swarms of tiny cheap insect-like robots as society's cleaners and collectors. Sonja Kleinlogel hoped the study of the hyperspectral eyes of the mantis shrimp might yield remote sensors that keep watch over the environmental health of our oceans. Several delegates were concerned about the ethical implications of biorobotics, and urged that close attention be paid to this as the science and technologies develop.

26
27 positive and negative possibilities for the use of insect-inspired robots
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28 how perceived size is used as an aid to navigation
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29 an example of decision-making taking place in the limbs
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30 a description of a potential aid in space exploration
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31 the range of skills that have inspired biorobotics
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32 how a variety of navigational methods operate at the same time
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33 Which creatures see particularly well underwater?
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34 In addition to a computer, what technical equipment is fitted in Dr Zelinsky's robot?
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35 Where is the Cataglyphis ant found?
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36 What atmospheric effect helps the Cataglyphis ant to know its direction?
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37 Dr Alex Zelinsky
- A. a robot that makes use of light as well as stored images for navigational purposes
- B. a robot that can contribute to environmental health
- C. a robot that can move over difficult surfaces
- D. a robot that categorises information from the environment according to its usefulness
- E. a robot that can be used to clean surfaces and collect rubbish
- F. a robot that has improved on the ability of the insect on which it is based
- G. a robot that can replace soldiers in war
37
38 Professor Ruediger Wehner
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39 Professor Robert Michelson
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40 Roger Quinn and Professor Roy Ritzmann

Phiếu trả lời

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Hiện đáp án

1. iv
Paragraph A is about how the law is present in all parts of our lives, as shown by phrases like 'from birth to death, the law affects us all.' This matches option iv.
2. vii
Paragraph B discusses how people now have more ways to influence the law, for example through voting and protests, which fits option vii.
3. i
Paragraph C explains that lawyers work in many different fields, such as business, crime, and family, which matches option i.
4. viii
Paragraph D talks about how the number of laws has increased over time, so option viii is correct.
5. vi
Paragraph E describes how many people have a negative opinion of lawyers, using phrases like 'lawyers are often disliked,' which matches option vi.
6. ii
Paragraph F gives reasons why it is unfair to criticize lawyers, saying that their work is important and not just about money, which fits option ii.
7. C / D
C is correct because the passage says legal knowledge is 'as important as computer skills,' and D is correct because it says society 'could not function without legal experts.' Option B is tempting but the passage does not say commercial lawyers are most in demand.
8. truth
The passage says people sometimes claim 'truth is of little interest to lawyers,' so 'truth' is the answer.
9. journalists
It says some lawyers may be greedy, just as 'some journalists or scientific experts' may be, so 'journalists' is correct.
10. nurses
The passage compares criticizing lawyers to attacking 'IT staff or nurses,' so 'nurses' is the answer.
11. dedication
It says many lawyers work on issues like housing, which 'requires them to have dedication,' so 'dedication' is correct.
12. documents
The passage states that lawyers spend a lot of time writing 'documents,' not just dealing with problems, so 'documents' is the answer.
13. ix
Paragraph A talks about how packaging is used to communicate ideas and attract customers, matching option ix.
14. ii
Paragraph B explains the many reasons why packaging changes, so option ii is correct.
15. iv
Paragraph C describes packaging that can be eaten with its contents, which fits option iv.
16. i
Paragraph D discusses packaging that lets people use more of the product, matching option i.
17. vii
Paragraph E mentions packaging that shows when food is going bad, so option vii is correct.
18. x
Paragraph F is about packaging that disappears or decomposes quickly, matching option x.
19. v
Paragraph G describes packaging that does not take up much space, so option v is correct.
20. E
KFC uses a sweet container for hot drinks, as described in the passage, so option E is correct.
21. D
Loliware is made from a vegetable product, so option D is correct.
22. A
Tomorrow Machine makes packaging that gets bigger under certain conditions, matching option A.
23. paper
The passage says Japan has used 'paper' as edible packaging for years, so 'paper' is correct.
24. sauces
Liquiglide helps reduce waste in bottles with 'sauces,' so 'sauces' is the answer.
25. sugar
Tomorrow Machine plans to use solid 'sugar' as a container for oil, so 'sugar' is correct.
26. F
Paragraph F discusses both positive and negative possibilities for insect-inspired robots.
27. B
Paragraph B explains how insects use perceived size to help them navigate.
28. E
Paragraph E gives an example of decision-making happening in the limbs of insects.
29. D
Paragraph D describes a robot that could help with space exploration.
30. A
Paragraph A lists the different skills in insects that inspire biorobotics.
31. C
Paragraph C explains how insects use several navigation methods at the same time.
32. mantis shrimp
The passage says mantis shrimp see very well underwater, so 'mantis shrimp' is correct.
33. panoramic camera
Dr Zelinsky's robot has a computer and a 'panoramic camera,' so 'panoramic camera' is the answer.
34. sahara desert
The Cataglyphis ant is found in the 'Sahara desert,' so 'sahara desert' is correct.
35. polarized light / polarised light
The passage says 'polarized light' helps the Cataglyphis ant know its direction, so 'polarized light' is correct.
36. D
Dr Alex Zelinsky's robot sorts information from the environment by usefulness, matching option D.
37. A
Professor Wehner's robot uses light and stored images for navigation, so option A is correct.
38. F
Professor Michelson's robot is better than the insect it is based on, so option F is correct.
39. C
Roger Quinn and Professor Ritzmann's robot can move over difficult surfaces, so option C is correct.

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Reading Passage 1: The Importance of Law

Reading Passage 2: The Future of Food Packaging

Reading Passage 3: Insect-inspired robots

Phiếu trả lời

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