Reading 2026-07 Test 21 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

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Reading Passage 1: Buried cities of the Amazon rainforest

In a letter to his wife sent on 29 May 1925, Percy Fawcett, an English adventurer, reported that he was about to depart without the assistance of guides on an expedition into previously unexplored areas of the Amazon rainforest in central Brazil. His goal was to find a hidden city that he referred to as 'Z'. It was Fawcett's last contact with the outside world - he disappeared without a trace - and how he died is still unknown.

Now, more than 80 years later, anthropologist Michael Heckenberger of the University of Florida in the US and his team, in collaboration with local indigenous people called the Kuikuro, Brazilian scholars, and a group of archaeologists, have discovered the remains of 28 settlements in the Upper Xingu region of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Mato Grosso state, the same area where Fawcett disappeared. Fawcett may not have been right about the existence of a city, but the recent discovery of these settlements is helping to overturn the long-held theory that the Amazon rainforest is unsuited to human habitation.

The Amazon rainforest is home to the world's richest plant and animal communities. But paradoxically, the soils here are highly acidic and contain few nutrients. About 10 per cent of the rainforest's nutrients can be found in the soil; the rest are bound up in plants and animals. Only plants that are perfectly adapted to draw their nutrients from decaying plants and animals can survive in the reddish or yellowish earth that dominates this area.

But researchers have discovered that some parts of the rainforest contain plots of a man-made miracle soil, known as terra preta (literally "black earth" in Portuguese), which contains elevated levels of nutrients and organic matter perfect for agriculture in areas otherwise unsuitable for it. This soil - a result of refuse piles usually including charcoal, fish bones, pottery fragments, animal bones, shells and excrement - may have provided food for tens of thousands of inhabitants and allowed for the development of large towns and villages.

This fertile soil is as deep as two metres in fields sometimes as large as 200,000 square metres. Researchers estimate that as much as one per cent of the Amazon rainforest is covered with it. The fertile pockets are concentrated near riverbanks, and the present-day inhabitants of the rainforest are still making use of them. In addition, they are much more productive than other soils. One of the many miracles of terra preta is that it does not become depleted, but retains its fertility for many years.

Most of the plots are between 500 and 2,500 years old, and some researchers suspect that inhabitants of the area created and spread the rich soil intentionally. They theorise that, by exploiting terra preta's extreme fertility, natives were able to put their previous existence as nomads behind them. Instead, they settled in villages, surrounding themselves with orchards providing fruit and fields providing cereals sufficient to feed a large population.

Eduardo Neves, an archaeologist at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, has been studying these vanished cultures for 17 years, and from his discoveries in the Amazon rainforest, he is convinced that the rainforest was relatively densely populated between 500 and 1,000 years ago. He suggests that at least five to six million people may have lived in the rainforest during that period.

Settlements comprised over 1000 people, Neves believes, yet the inhabitants left no mark on the archaeological record in the form of buildings. In a region where stone was not available, they could only have constructed their homes and temples from wood, and as a result, the buildings would have long since rotted in the humid tropical climate. But in more than 100 locations in the region where the Rio Negro flows into the Amazon, Neves has found smaller relics of long-lost cultures. Among the finds are ceramic objects, pots and large vessels able to hold more than 185 litres. According to Neves, people who lived as nomads in the rainforest would have neither made nor attempted to travel with such large containers. So it is likely these containers were for water in the places where the people settled permanently.

The first European to explore the Rio Xingu region was the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana, who, in 1542, reported seeing large settlements on the riverbanks. Expeditions entering the Amazon rainforest in the 1800s found no evidence of the settlements that Orellana had reported and his reports were dismissed as being untruthful. However, research now indicates that Orellana was probably telling the truth. Heckenberger and his team have combed the rainforest around the upper reaches of Rio Xingu since 1993 and, aided by satellite imagery, have found evidence of 28 settlements. These lie in an area of 20,000 square kilometres, and were once linked by roads. The settlements were all laid out in the same pattern around a plaza, showing evidence of sophisticated planning.

Fawcett set off on his last voyage in pursuit of a lost city, and Neves's and Heckenberger's work may now confirm his suspicions. It seems likely that people of the Amazon rainforest attained a much higher level of development than was once thought to be the case. As research proceeds, our assumptions about the fearsome Amazon are likely to be disproved.

1
The English adventurer Percy Fawcett ignored advice from local guides.
2
There is now evidence that people lived in settlements in the region where Fawcett went missing.
3
In the Amazonian rainforest the reddish or yellowish soil contains a considerable proportion of nutrients.
4
Terra preta is a type of soil that occurs naturally in the Amazonian rainforest.
5
Terra preta is mostly found close to flowing water.
6
In recent years, the current inhabitants of the Amazonian rainforest have stopped farming the terra preta soil.
7
terra preta: its ________ lasts a long time.
8
inhabitants would have grown ________ and grain to eat.
9
population of each settlement may have been more than ________.
10
large vessels found were probably used to keep a supply of ________ available for inhabitants.
11
earliest European claim of finding villages in Amazonian rainforest made in the year ________.
12
satellite imagery shows that ________ connected settlements.
13
each settlement was arranged with a ________ in its centre.

Reading Passage 2: The 19th-century American Circus

A The American circus was born in Philadelphia in 1793, during the term of the first U.S. president, George Washington. Founded by Englishman John Bill Ricketts, this early circus established the common features of most American circuses over the next century and beyond: tricks with animals, especially horses, acrobats performing startling feats, and clowns. Ricketts was himself a highly skilled trick rider whose most famous stunt was riding at full speed while holding a child over his head. President Washington even celebrated his birthday at the circus, and Ricketts had his portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart, famous for his presidential portraits.

B And yet early American circus promoters had trouble earning a profit. They discovered that outside a few large U.S. cities, only a few towns were populous enough or with large enough exhibition buildings to stage a circus. In 1825, Joshuah Purdy Brown's became the first U.S. circus to tour with its own specially constructed, portable, canvas tent, allowing it to perform in both large and small towns. Soon the traveling circus became the typical U.S. circus, moving throughout the country during the circus season of spring through autumn.

C As the 19th century progressed, and as new European immigrants moved westward and enlarged the size of the U.S., the traveling circus became a major American institution. New settlers typically were struggling small farmers who were living lives of hard, physical work from sunup until sundown, with few opportunities for entertainment. That is until, for a day, a traveling circus came to town and provided a glimpse of an exotic, alternative existence – colourful performers who pushed beyond the limits of everyday life and showed, in the words of one observer, how great we could be, how beautiful we could be.

D Indeed, a challenge for circuses were the frequent campaigns against them by local officials who complained that they encouraged laziness by showing off a glamorous life too far removed from work and family duty. Some towns banned circuses. The response from the 19th century's most successful circus promoter, P.T. Barnum, was to add a traveling zoo of exotic animals, which he called a menagerie. Barnum then claimed he was offering his patrons an education. The strategy succeeded in quieting the critics, and menageries became a feature of many circuses.

E Barnum, already well-known for his New York museum of human curiosities, began his circus career in 1870. At that time, William Coup and Dan Costello, two successful circus managers, asked him to invest in their circus and give it his name. Barnum agreed, and the trio launched the biggest traveling circus yet – 245 horses pulling 125 wagons. Barnum was chief marketer, plastering advertising posters on walls for many miles around performance locales, and publishing a promotional newspaper. Coup persuaded the railroads to sell low priced passenger tickets for travel to circus towns, with circus admission included. As a result, the shows drew crowds from up to 100 km away, with some people making the trip on foot. Spectators at some performances exceeded the total population of the host town, and the Barnum circus consistently earned record profits. By 1876, Coup and Costello had withdrawn, leaving Barnum as sole owner.

F Meanwhile, another famous circus man, James Bailey, appeared on the scene. Bailey, who was actually born with the last name McGinnis, ran away from home at the age of twelve. He was being raised by his sister who was mistreating him. After pretending to have drowned in a swimming accident, he found work as a bellboy at a hotel. Later, he persuaded a circus publicist staying there to hire him as an apprentice. Years of marketing circuses under an experienced publicist taught him the key to circus promotion; he also decided to take the publicist's last name. By age 25, as James Bailey, he was co-manager of his own circus. After a tour of the American West ended in late summer, Bailey had the idea to sail with his circus to Australia and other locales in the southern hemisphere. The summer season was just beginning and his circus could continue touring. After returning to the U.S., he very successfully made his circus the first to recently begin to use electric lighting for night performances. Later, he and Barnum joined forces, making the Barnum and Bailey Circus the leading American circus of the day.

G Another important circus man, Adam Forepaugh, had already made a large fortune as an animal dealer, selling horses to New York City and the U.S. government. When a circus owner couldn't pay Forepaugh for a number of horses he'd bought, Forepaugh took a share of the circus as payment, and discovered a talent for circus management. Throughout the 1880s, often considered the Golden Age of the American circus, the Forepaugh and the Barnum and Bailey circuses competed fiercely. Forepaugh's circuses began parading through the streets of a city before performances, drawing large, excited crowds, and leading them straight to the circus grounds. Soon Barnum and Bailey's circus did the same. After Barnum and Bailey had great success with a giant African elephant named Jumbo, Forepaugh quickly imported his own great elephant, Bolivar. By the end of the 1800s, the largest American circuses had become something hard to imagine in the tent shows' early days. They were major corporations, with company bureaucracies and profits that rivaled the great oil and steel enterprises of the period.

14
an explanation for the origin of the travelling circus
15
an example of using ground transport to promote circuses
16
a reason why circuses appealed to labourers
17
a description of how rival circuses copied each other
18
a mention of the use of a new technology
19
a reference to a national leader who attended the circus
20
He got into the circus business to collect on a bad debt.
- A. John Bill Ricketts
- B. Joshuah Purdy Brown
- C. P.T. Barnum
- D. William Coup
- E. James Bailey
- F. Adam Forepaugh
21
He performed on a circus horse.
22
He helped make the circus socially acceptable.
23
He made travelling circuses possible.
24
James McGinnis left home to avoid difficulties with his sister. He then made people believe he had had a fatal ________.
25
Later, James was employed to be an ________ to a man providing advertising for circuses.
26
He also decided to use his employer's ________ as his own.

Reading Passage 3: Who looks after the children in today's Britain?

When Simon Baron-Cohen recently published a book, The Essential Difference, in which he claimed that the female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy, the male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems, he caught the mood of the moment. His team's experiments on day-old babies, and the finding that the male babies looked for longer at a hanging toy and the female babies longer at a face, has been repeatedly cited in the press since his book's publication. However, Elizabeth Spelke is one expert who is sceptical about whether this experiment deserves such attention. This is one isolated experiment, she says. 'Its findings fly in the face of dozens of studies on similar aspects of cognition carried out on young babies over decades. It is astonishing how much this one study has been cited, when the many studies that show no difference between the sexes, or a difference in the other direction, are ignored.'

One of Baron-Cohen's other main studies was conducted by collecting and examining responses to questionnaires completed by adults on their own behaviour: the sort of quiz well known to readers of magazines. The answers recorded in such cases will reflect differences formed by cultural assumptions and socialisation: it is hard to see what they tell us about innate differences. Nevertheless, they have become a fashionable reference point, and recently Princess Anne, patron of Women into Science and Engineering, gave a speech in which she quoted Baron-Cohen's research as proof that six out of ten men have a systemising brain. This kind of science has passed into everyday culture, often outrunning the intentions of those who did the original work.

Social expectations play heavily with young men and women, and expectations are in some ways more conventional in Britain today than they were ten or 20 years ago. It is particularly when they have children that women find out how society reinforces traditional expectations of their behaviour. They discover that many pressures - including the work schedule of their male partner and the expectations of his employer that it should be maintained - make it hard to combine work and home without giving their paid work a lower priority than their male colleagues do. In such a context, the claims about males' greater power to systemise and compete only serve to put further pressure on women.

The pressures are equally powerful on men to continue in a traditional lifestyle. Some educationalists argue that among young men the concern that they might appear 'feminine' is higher than ever and may even hold back educational achievement, since studying is often seen as girlish. In later life, the drive to competitiveness in the workplace is mythologised as being tied to high levels of masculinity. Men are also told that high achievers attract more women, even though evidence shows that as women slowly become more equal at work, they begin to care less about the economic status of potential partners.

Men are often held back from making the choice to move deeper into domestic life, and in particular childcare, feeling that it lacks status. While the gains in making a social revolution were clear for women - they could gain status and income by moving beyond the home - the gains in the parallel social revolution are harder for men to see, since it will involve them in losing status and income. The idea that men are naturally less empathetic also produces feelings of fatalism about their role. Yet there is much evidence to show that even being empathetic and good at parenting is a learned behaviour.

It is true that, as the linguist Steven Pinker noted, in our culture women respond more readily to their children's cries, but there is nothing to say that this is down to anything other than practice and socialisation. In a culture where most men return to work straight after the birth of their children, it would be extraordinary if they did manage to remain as alert to their needs as women who remain at home. In one test carried out with teenagers, although girls said that they liked children more than boys said they did, when left alone with a crying infant, their responses were no different. Women can testify to the fact that parenting is a tricky, complicated process, not always a natural, easy role.

However, while the definite trend of a decade ago is no longer evident, the movement towards equality has not completely stalled. A more equal sharing of childcare and even domestic labour is still desired by many men as well as women. Nearly three-quarters of young British men say that if it were financially possible they would like to stay at home to look after their families. And three-quarters of young men tell pollsters that the amount of time fathers are allowed to take off work after a birth - paternity leave - is too short in Britain. The government is therefore proposing more equal policies on maternity/paternity leave, knowing that the pressure is still forwards rather than backwards. And remember that in Britain, young men in full-time work spend about an hour a day looking after their children. That may sound paltry, but not compared to the 15 minutes they spent 30 years ago: if the time went on increasing fourfold every 30 years, equal partnership would become a reality for their grandchildren.

27
a possible argument for poor academic performance in young boys
28
a comparison between fathers’ and mothers’ reactions to babies’ demands
29
a reference to a change in women’s interest in men’s earning power
30
a reference to a study on infant behaviour
31
a prediction that there will be more involvement of men in childcare
32
a reference to analysis using a popular self-assessment method
33
results of an experiment on adolescents’ reactions to young babies
34
What is Elizabeth Spelke’s reaction to Baron-Cohen’s experiment?
- A. She is surprised that other studies do not agree with its findings.
- B. She is confident that other research will be done in this area.
- C. She is doubtful whether it merits the notice it has been given.
- D. She is disappointed that it focused on such young infants.
35
According to the writer, why do mothers often put childcare above career demands?
- A. Few allowances are made for fathers to reduce their working hours.
- B. Their bosses are not keen to employ them for full-time work.
- C. They find that the competitive workplace loses its attraction.
- D. The social benefit system encourages them to stay at home.
36
What does the writer suggest about women as parents in paragraph F?
- A. They are naturally well suited to looking after children.
- B. They have to work at mastering the skills of motherhood.
- C. Their hearing is naturally attuned so they can respond to babies.
- D. Their natural desire is to stay at home to care for children.
37
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Men and childcare. One reason why some men may be unwilling to leave their jobs to look after their children is because the gains that could come with such a change are not obvious. Staying at home would in fact mean accepting a considerable drop in pay and in _______. The conventional notion that men are not as 38 _______ as women may also lead men to experience a certain sense of resignation about their traditional place in society. However, it is interesting to note that the majority of young men in the UK say that the statutory time permitted for 39 _______ is inadequate. Influence is thus being exerted on the 40 _______ to review the existing provision.

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Hiện đáp án

1. NOT GIVEN
NOT GIVEN is correct because the passage does not say if Percy Fawcett ignored or followed the advice of local guides.
2. TRUE
TRUE is correct because the passage says there is now evidence that people lived in settlements in the region where Fawcett disappeared.
3. FALSE
FALSE is correct because the passage says the reddish or yellowish soil in the Amazon is poor in nutrients, not rich.
4. FALSE
FALSE is correct because the passage explains that terra preta is not natural but was created by people.
5. TRUE
TRUE is correct because the passage says terra preta is mostly found near rivers or streams, which are flowing water.
6. FALSE
FALSE is correct because the passage says current inhabitants still farm the terra preta soil.
7. fertility
The answer is 'fertility' because the passage says terra preta's fertility lasts a long time.
8. fruit
The answer is 'fruit' because the passage says inhabitants would have grown fruit and grain to eat.
9. 1000
The answer is '1000' because the passage says the population of each settlement may have been more than 1000.
10. water
The answer is 'water' because the passage says large vessels were probably used to keep a supply of water for the inhabitants.
11. 1542
The answer is '1542' because the passage says the earliest European claim of finding villages in the Amazon was made in 1542.
12. roads
The answer is 'roads' because the passage says satellite imagery shows that roads connected settlements.
13. plaza
The answer is 'plaza' because the passage says each settlement was arranged with a plaza in its centre.
14. B
B is correct because this section explains how the travelling circus began. The other options do not discuss the origin.
15. E
E is correct because this section gives an example of using ground transport to promote circuses. Other options do not mention transport.
16. C
C is correct because this section gives a reason why circuses appealed to labourers. Other options do not focus on labourers.
17. G
G is correct because this section describes how rival circuses copied each other. Other options do not mention rivalry.
18. F
F is correct because this section mentions the use of a new technology. Other options do not discuss technology.
19. A
A is correct because this section refers to a national leader who attended the circus. Other options do not mention a leader.
20. F
F (Adam Forepaugh) is correct because the passage says he got into the circus business to collect on a bad debt. The tempting wrong option C (P.T. Barnum) is famous, but he did not enter the business for this reason.
21. A
A (John Bill Ricketts) is correct because the passage says he performed on a circus horse. The tempting wrong option B (Joshuah Purdy Brown) is mentioned, but not as a performer.
22. C
C (P.T. Barnum) is correct because the passage says he helped make the circus socially acceptable. The tempting wrong option E (James Bailey) was important, but not for this reason.
23. B
B (Joshuah Purdy Brown) is correct because the passage says he made travelling circuses possible. The tempting wrong option D (William Coup) is linked to circus trains, but Brown started travelling circuses.
24. accident
The answer is 'accident' because the passage says James made people believe he had had a fatal accident.
25. apprentice
The answer is 'apprentice' because the passage says James was employed as an apprentice to a man providing advertising for circuses.
26. name
The answer is 'name' because the passage says he decided to use his employer's name as his own.
27. D
D is correct because this section gives a possible argument for poor academic performance in young boys. Other options do not discuss academic performance.
28. F
F is correct because this section compares fathers’ and mothers’ reactions to babies’ demands. Other options do not compare parents.
29. D
D is correct because this section refers to a change in women’s interest in men’s earning power. Other options do not mention this change.
30. A
A is correct because this section refers to a study on infant behaviour. Other options do not mention a study.
31. G
G is correct because this section predicts there will be more involvement of men in childcare. Other options do not make a prediction.
32. B
B is correct because this section refers to analysis using a popular self-assessment method. Other options do not mention self-assessment.
33. F
F is correct because this section gives results of an experiment on adolescents’ reactions to young babies. Other options do not mention adolescents.
34. C
C is correct because Elizabeth Spelke is doubtful whether Baron-Cohen’s experiment deserves the attention it has received. The tempting wrong option B suggests she expects more research, but she actually questions the experiment's importance.
35. A
A is correct because the writer says few allowances are made for fathers to reduce their working hours, so mothers often put childcare above career demands. The tempting wrong option C suggests mothers lose interest in work, but the passage focuses on workplace policies.
36. B
B is correct because the writer suggests women have to work at mastering the skills of motherhood. The tempting wrong option A says women are naturally suited, but the passage says they learn these skills.
37. status / empathetic / paternity leave / government
The answers are 'status', 'empathetic', 'paternity leave', and 'government' because the passage says staying at home means a drop in pay and status, men are seen as less empathetic, most young men say paternity leave is inadequate, and influence is being exerted on the government to review the provision.

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Reading Passage 1: Buried cities of the Amazon rainforest

Reading Passage 2: The 19th-century American Circus

Reading Passage 3: Who looks after the children in today's Britain?

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