Reading 2026-03 Test 33 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

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Reading Passage 1: Pearls

Long known as the “Queen of Gems”, pearls possess a history and allure far beyond what today’s wearer may recognize. Throughout much of recorded history, a natural pearl necklace comprised of matched spheres was a treasure of almost incomparable value, in fact, the most expensive jewelry in the world. Before the creation of cultured pearls in the early 1900s, natural pearls were so rare and expensive that they were reserved almost exclusively for the noble and very rich. The ancient Egyptians were particularly fond of their pearls. Many Egyptian leaders treasured pearls so much that they were often buried along with their cherished pearl collection. In the Orient and Persian Empire, pearls were ground into costly powders to cure anything from heart disease to epilepsy, with possible aphrodisiac uses as well. China’s long recorded history also provides ample evidence of the importance of pearls.

Pearls usually fall into three categories—natural pearls, cultured pearls and simulated pearls. A natural pearl forms when an irritant, such as a piece of sand, works its way into a particular species of oyster, mussel, or clam. As a defense mechanism, the mollusk secretes a fluid to coat the irritant. Layer upon layer of this coating is deposited on the irritant until a lustrous pearl is formed. A cultured pearl undergoes the same process. The only difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl. Often, these shells are ground oyster shells that are worth significant amounts of money in their own right as irritant-catalysts for quality pearls. The resulting core is much larger than in a natural pearl. Imitation pearls are a different story altogether. In most cases, a glass bead is dipped into a solution made from fish scales. This coating is thin and may eventually wear off. One can usually tell an imitation by biting on it. The island of Mallorca in Spain is known for its imitation pearl industry.

Regardless of the method used to acquire a pearl, the process usually takes several years. Mussels must reach a mature age, which can take up to 3 years, and then be implanted or naturally receive an irritant. Once the irritant is in place, it can take up to another 3 years for the pearl to reach its full size. Often, the irritant may be rejected, the pearl will be terrifically misshapen, or the oyster may simply die from disease or countless other complications. By the end of a 5 to 10 year cycle, only 50% of the oysters will have survived. And of the pearls produced, only approximately 5% are of a quality substantial enough for top jewelry makers.

How can untrained eyes determine a pearl’s worth? Luster and size are generally considered the two main factors to look for. Luster, for instance, depends on the fineness and evenness of the layers. The deeper the glow, the more perfect the shape and surface, the more valuable they are. Size, on the other hand, has to do with the age of the oyster that created the pearl (the more mature oysters produce larger pearls) and the location in which the pearl was cultured. The South Sea waters of Australia tend to produce the larger pearls; probably because the water along the coastline is supplied with rich nutrients from the ocean floor. Also, the type of mussel being common to the area seems to possess a predilection for producing comparatively large pearls.

In general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, whereas imitation pearls have almost no value. One way that jewelers can determine whether a pearl is cultured or natural is to have a gem lab perform an X-ray of the pearl. If the X-ray reveals a nucleus, the pearl is likely a bead nucleated saltwater pearl. If no nucleus is present, but irregular and small dark inner spots indicating a cavity are visible, combined with concentric rings of organic substance, the pearl is likely a cultured freshwater pearl. Among cultured pearls, Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous. Although imitation pearls look the part, they do not have the same weight or smoothness as real pearls, and their luster will also dim greatly.

Historically, the world’s best pearls came from the Persian Gulf, especially around what is now Bahrain. The pearls of the Persian Gulf were naturally created and collected by breath-hold divers. Unfortunately, the natural pearl industry of the Persian Gulf ended abruptly in the early 1930s with the discovery of large deposits of oil. The water pollution resulting from spilled oil and indiscriminate overfishing of oysters essentially ruined the pristine waters of the Gulf that once produced pearls. Still, Bahrain remains one of the foremost trading centers for high quality pearls. In fact, cultured pearls are banned from the Bahrain pearl market, in an effort to preserve the location’s heritage. Nowadays, the largest stock of natural pearls probably resides in India. Ironically, much of India’s stock of natural pearls came originally from Bahrain. Unlike Bahrain, which has essentially lost its pearl resource, traditional pearl fishing is still practiced on a small scale in India.

Pearls also come in many colours. The most popular colours are white, cream, and pink. Silver, black, and gold are also gaining interest. In fact, a deep lustrous black pearl is one of the rarest finds in the pearling industry, usually only being found in the South Sea near Australia. Thus, they can be one of the more costly items. Nowadays, pearls predominantly come from Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, India, the Philippines, and Tahiti. Japan, however, controls roughly 80% of the world pearl market, with Australia and China coming in second and third, respectively.

1
difficulties in the cultivation process
2
causes affecting the size of natural pearls
3
ancient customs around pearls
4
distinctions between cultured pearls and natural ones
5
Throughout history, people in _____ used pearls for medicine and philtres.
- A. America
- B. Philippines
- C. Australia
- D. Bahrain
- E. China
- F. Japan
- G. India
- H. Egypt
- I. Myanmar
- J. Persia
- K. Mallorca
6
There are essentially three types of pearls: natural, cultured and imitation. Natural and cultured pearls share a similar growing process, while imitation pearls are different. And _____ owns the reputation for its imitation pearl industry.
7
The country _____ usually produces the larger pearls due to the favourable environment along the coastline.
8
The nation of _____ manufactures some of the most glistening cultured pearls.
9
In the past, the country _____ in the Persian Gulf produced the world’s best pearls.
10
At present, the major remaining suppliers of natural pearls are in _____.
11
A cultured pearl’s centre is often significantly larger than that in a natural pearl.
- TRUE. TRUE
- FALSE. FALSE
- NOT GIVEN. NOT GIVEN
12
Imitation pearls are usually the same price as natural ones.
13
Akoya pearls from Japan glow more deeply than South Sea pearls from Australia.

Reading Passage 2: The origin and development of applause

Whether you clap, cheer or whistle a great public performance, you are following a long tradition.

A Scholars aren’t quite sure about the origins of applause, but the form that is still most common, clapping the hands together, was formalized in Western culture during and after performances. During the time of the Roman Republic (509 BC – 27 BC) the common way to end a play was for the chief actor to yell ‘Valete et plaudite!’ (‘Goodbye and applause!’) thus signaling to the audience that it was time for them to give praise by striking hands and making explosive noise. It’s no surprise, then, that this became a means of crowd manipulation. Rome saw the rise of a professional class of applauders, or ‘people who clapped for their dinner’, hired to infiltrate crowds and manipulate their reaction to performances. Actors would hire a dozen or so people to spread out among their audiences and prolong the applause, or, if they were feeling especially bold, to start ‘spontaneous’ chants and shouts of praise.

B The Roman Republic came to an end and was replaced by the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD) where applause became a way for leaders to interact directly with their citizens. One of the chief methods they used to estimate their standing with the people was gauging the greetings they got when they entered the arena. Leaders became astute at reading the volume, the rhythm, and the length of the crowd’s claps for clues about how well they were doing as officials and lawmakers. ‘We should think of it as an ancient type of opinion poll,’ says Greg Aldrete, a professor of history. ‘This is how you gauge the people.’ Roman leaders were gathering data about people by listening to applause.

C Clever leaders of the ancient world researched their rivals, too. Cicero, the Roman lawyer, would send friends to stand around outside the arena, taking notes to see what kind of greeting each official got when he entered, the better to see who was beloved by the people, and who was not. They had a lot of information to assess. ‘Ancient crowds were more interactive than they are today,’ Aldrete points out. ‘There was a lot of back and forth between speakers and crowds. And particularly in the Greco-Roman world, crowds, especially in cities, were really good at communicating messages through rhythmic clapping, sometimes coupled with shouts.’ The coding was, he says, invaluable when assessing an orator’s fortunes.

D Around the first century AD, those systems of applause became more and more elaborate. Applause no longer meant, simply, ‘claps’. While Greco-Roman audiences certainly smacked their palms together the same way we do today, their overall strategies of applause were much more varied than clapping alone. Crowds expressed degrees of approval of the person or persons before them, ranging from claps, to snaps (of the finger and thumb), to waves (of the edge of the toga). The emperor Aurelian decided to replace this gesture by waving a special handkerchief instead, a prop which he then distributed to all Roman citizens, so they would never be without a way to praise him.

E Although style of applause may have changed over the centuries, the need to manipulate remained. 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat is credited with bringing back the Roman practice of hiring professional applauders. In France, this group became known as a ‘claque’. Daurat handed out tickets to his own performances to people who promised to applaud at the end. By the early 1820s, claques had become institutionalized, with an agency in Paris specializing in the distribution of the claqueurs’ services. The historian William B. Cohen describes the intricate price lists agencies of this kind would hand out to potential patrons: polite clapping would cost this many francs, enthusiastic applause would cost this many. The claque also underwent a kind of classification: the rieurs (laughers) would laugh loudly at the jokes; the pleureurs (criers) would feign tears in reaction to performances; the commissaires (officers) would learn a play or a piece of music by heart and then call attention to its best parts. This practice spread to Milan, to Vienna, and to London before falling out of fashion. The claque lost its power once people became aware of its tricks.

F And clapping itself evolved. In the 18th century, symphonies and concerts became more serious, aligning themselves with the reverence and spirituality associated with religious ceremonies. Knowing when to maintain silence, as well as when to clap, became a mark of sophistication, a kind of code for audiences to learn. Applause became a matter of ‘do’ or ‘don’t’, so losing many old shades of meaning. Those changes changed performers, too. Applause became much less of a true dialogue with an audience, especially so with opera, where the singers saw it as part of a basic transaction with the crowd. So by the time the 19th century arrived, applause had become standardized and institutionalized, and had become an expectation rather than the reward it used to be.

G In the 21st century we’re reinventing applause, to make it what it used to be: a coded form of communication. More and more the digital world allows us to link and like and share through our devices. By connecting with others in this way, we become part of the performance by participating in it, demonstrating our appreciation by amplifying and extending the show through commenting and praising. Our kind of applause matters more now, in many ways, because it is no longer momentary and short-lived, but is far more permanent instead.

14
Paragraph A
- i. The impact of musical performance on the etiquette of applause
- ii. The negative effects of applause on a kind of public performer
- iii. The initial emergence of applause as a behaviour in the theatre
- iv. A form of applause that is more far-reaching than ever before
- v. The use of applause by political figures to evaluate their own popularity
- vi. How music can influence an audience’s level of applause
- vii. The different methods of applause employed in ancient times, besides clapping
- viii. The re-emergence and disappearance of fake appreciation
- ix. How the theatrical world copied the world of politics in giving applause
- x. The use of applause in working out how popular an opponent was
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 the ‘claque’ in France?
- A. As a practice in France, it first appeared in the 16th century.
- B. It did not become a widespread practice within France.
- C. The cost of hire depended on the fame of the client.
- D. Claqueurs were divided into different categories.
- E. The practice did not exist beyond France in other countries.
22
In the 18th century, people could show their superiority by understanding when either ________ or applause was appropriate.
23
Performers in the 18th century, in particular those singing in the ________, no longer had a meaningful dialogue with their audiences.
24
In the 19th century, applause was no longer offered as a ________ to performers.
25
Nowadays our expressions of approval are seen as ________ in comparison to the applause of the past.

Reading Passage 3: Understanding Symbols

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

26
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
27
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.
28
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.
29
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.
30
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.
31
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.
32
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.
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34. The third experiment revealed ..........
34
35. The maths experiment was designed to assess ..........
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36. The results of the first experiment revealed unexpected information.
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37. Infants react the same way to both drawings and photographs.
37
38. Toddlers are used to failing in many of the tasks they try to perform.
38
39. The confusion of symbols and real objects has little significance for educational practice.
39
40. Children enjoy reading 3D books more than 2D books.

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1. C
Answer C is correct because the passage discusses the challenges and problems faced during the process of cultivating pearls.
2. D
Answer D is correct because the passage explains that environmental factors and the type of mollusk affect the size of natural pearls.
3. A
Answer A is correct because the passage describes ancient traditions and customs related to pearls.
4. B
Answer B is correct because the passage compares cultured pearls and natural pearls, highlighting their differences.
5. J
Answer J is correct because the passage states that people in Persia used pearls for medicine and philtres.
6. K
Answer K is correct because the passage says Mallorca is famous for its imitation pearl industry.
7. C
Answer C is correct because the passage mentions that Australia produces larger pearls due to its good coastal environment.
8. F
Answer F is correct because the passage says Japan is known for making some of the most glistening cultured pearls.
9. D
Answer D is correct because the passage states that Bahrain in the Persian Gulf used to produce the world's best pearls.
10. G
Answer G is correct because the passage says India is now a major supplier of natural pearls.
11. TRUE
Answer TRUE is correct because the passage says a cultured pearl’s centre is often much larger than that of a natural pearl.
12. FALSE
Answer FALSE is correct because the passage says imitation pearls are much cheaper than natural ones.
13. NOT GIVEN
Answer NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage does not compare the glow of Akoya pearls from Japan and South Sea pearls from Australia.
14. iii
Answer iii is correct because paragraph A talks about the first appearance of applause in theatre.
15. v
Answer v is correct because paragraph B discusses how political figures used applause to measure their popularity.
16. x
Answer x is correct because paragraph C explains how applause was used to judge the popularity of opponents.
17. vii
Answer vii is correct because paragraph D describes different ways of applauding in ancient times, not just clapping.
18. viii
Answer viii is correct because paragraph E talks about the return and end of fake appreciation (like paid applause).
19. i
Answer i is correct because paragraph F discusses how music affects how much people clap.
20. iv
Answer iv is correct because paragraph G says modern applause can reach more people than ever before.
21. A / D
Answer A and D are correct because the passage says the claque started in 16th-century France and that claqueurs had different roles (categories). Option C is tempting but fails because the passage does not mention cost depending on fame.
22. silence
Answer 'silence' is correct because the passage says people showed their superiority by knowing when silence or applause was right.
23. opera
Answer 'opera' is correct because the passage says opera singers in the 18th century lost meaningful dialogue with their audience.
24. reward
Answer 'reward' is correct because the passage says applause was no longer given as a reward in the 19th century.
25. permanent
Answer 'permanent' is correct because the passage says our approval today is more permanent compared to the past.
26. D
Answer D is correct because the passage says the children had to find a toy in a life-sized room.
27. B
Answer B is correct because the passage says three-year-olds could relate the two rooms, but younger children could not.
28. C
Answer C is correct because the passage says infants know a picture of food cannot be eaten.
29. D
Answer D is correct because the passage says toddlers acted the same whether they succeeded or failed.
30. C
Answer C is correct because the passage says using blocks made it harder for children to learn the math concept.
31. C
Answer C is correct because the passage says simpler books may help children learn better.
32. E
Answer E is correct because the test with 9-month-olds tried to see if young children are confused by pictures.
33. F
Answer F is correct because the third experiment showed young children think tiny objects work like big ones.
34. D
Answer D is correct because the math experiment was to see if symbolic objects help children learn.
35. YES
Answer YES is correct because the passage says the first experiment gave surprising results.
36. NO
Answer NO is correct because the passage says infants react differently to drawings and photos.
37. YES
Answer YES is correct because the passage says toddlers are used to failing many tasks.
38. NO
Answer NO is correct because the passage says confusion between symbols and real objects is important for education.
39. NOT GIVEN
Answer NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage does not say if children enjoy 3D books more than 2D books.

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Reading Passage 1: Pearls

Reading Passage 2: The origin and development of applause

Reading Passage 3: Understanding Symbols

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