Reading 2026-08 Test 14 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

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Reading Passage 1: The Pyramid of Cestius

A 2,000-year-old pyramid in the city of Rome has been restored by archaeologists. Though Rome draws tourists from around the world to its many impressive sites, one notable monument there has never attracted nearly as much interest: the Pyramid of Cestius. But why would there be a pyramid in Italy? After the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 B.C., Egyptian architectural style became the fashion in Rome.

Though obelisks and other monuments inspired by Egypt’s great pyramids sprang up around the city, only two actual pyramids are known to have been built. The only one left standing, the Pyramid of Cestius, was designed as the burial pyramid for a Roman politician named Caius Cestius, who ordered that the building work be completed within a period of 330 days. Construction took place at some point between 18 B.C. and 12 B.C. Cestius’ pyramid had a layer of white Carrara marble on the outside, and was constructed from brick held together by a basic kind of cement on the inside. One of the things that strikes you when you look at the pyramid is how steep it is, so that the shape of Cestius’ pyramid is quite unlike that of typical Egyptian ones. This is a difference that could have been the result of inaccurate information sent back to Rome by soldiers who saw the pyramids in person in Egypt. Alternatively, Roman builders could have drawn inspiration from the pyramids in Nubia, a region located in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt.

At the time of its construction, since there was a strict Roman law prohibiting the placement of tombs within the city itself, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in the countryside. Rome grew enormously during the next two centuries, and, by the 3rd century A.D., the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. We also know that in the 3rd century A.D., the Pyramid of Cestius was hidden behind a high wall on the orders of Emperor Aurelian; this probably helped it survive throughout the centuries to come, even as other ancient monuments disappeared. By the Middle Ages, the pyramid was covered in vegetation and thick dirt, and popular myth had developed that it might be a tomb for one of the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who were regarded as the men who had established the city of Rome. Cestius’ actual tomb within the pyramid and the inscription identifying the pyramid as his weren’t rediscovered until the 1660s, when the pyramid underwent restoration. During excavations, when trees and plants were cleared away, two marble bases were found in front of the pyramid, as well as fragments of bronze statues that had once stood on them, on either side of the pyramid. The people employed to excavate the pyramid did not find the urn that would have contained Cestius’ remains, but they did come across a tunnel. It was quite possible, therefore, that robbers had at some earlier time removed the contents of the tomb. But while some of the features of Cestius’ tomb no longer exist, at least the pyramid itself has survived.

Today, the foundations of Cestius’ pyramid rest below street level near an intersection with heavy traffic, so that passing tourists and residents could easily fail to notice its full height of 119 feet. Across the intersection is the Piramide station, located on Line B of the Rome Metro. In 2011, the Japanese clothing-company entrepreneur Yuzo Yagi, president of Yagi Tsusho Ltd, announced his intention to help the Italian government pay for an ambitious renovation of the Pyramid of Cestius. ‘It’s an act of gratitude,’ he later told journalists. ‘Our company has grown thanks to Italy.’ Work began at the site shortly after Yagi signed an official agreement with the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome, and was completed ahead of schedule thanks to his 2-million-euro contribution.

As archaeologist Leonardo Guarnieri explained to journalists, officials are now conducting tours of the newly renovated pyramid twice a month by reservation. Visitors who take advantage of the tour can make their way through a narrow corridor in order to enter the burial chamber itself. It is within these walls that they can admire the frescoes: watercolour paintings typical of the time. In the chamber, it is possible to make out four frescoes of the winged Roman goddess of war, Victoria, a figure from Roman legend, as well as a series of vases, the type that would have been used for special rituals and purification purposes. We know from the writings of earlier visitors that there used to be more here, but the majority have disappeared over time. Only one problem remains now that the restoration is complete. The white exterior of the Pyramid of Cestius will have to be cleaned every few months to remove the layer of urban pollution. A team of free-climbers will be employed to do the job, in order to avoid placing builders’ scaffolding around the newly welcoming monument.

1
The Pyramid of Cestius has always been one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions.
2
The construction of the Pyramid was completed before Cestius’ death.
3
In the Middle Ages, people thought an original founder of Rome was buried in the Pyramid of Cestius.
4
Today, the height of the Pyramid is something that tourists and residents immediately notice.
5
Japanese businessman Yuzo Yagi was an admirer of both Italian and Egyptian architecture.
6
The restoration of the Pyramid of Cestius, which was funded by Yuzo Yagi, finished earlier than expected.
7
Most of the original frescoes inside Cestius’ tomb have survived to this day.
8
it was made from ______, cement and marble
9
its ______ is different to the pyramids found in Egypt
10
it was originally built in the ______ as building tombs in the city was forbidden
11
In the 1660s, some broken ______ were found next to it
12
the ______ inside the tomb suggests that robbers had been there
13
climbers are helping to get rid of signs of ______

Reading Passage 2: Bird Migration

A Birds are highly mobile and among the swiftest of living creatures. Flight gives them the power to move in any direction for as long as they have the energy to keep going. They are equipped with lightweight, hollow bones, a finely-tuned navigation system and an ingenious heat-conserving design that allows them to face life in the harshest of climates. Their respiratory systems have to perform efficiently during sustained flights at altitude, so they have evolved a system of extracting air from their lungs that far exceeds that of any other animal. These features enable birds to come and go with the seasons. On the way, they face constant danger and a daily requirement to find food, water and a safe place to rest. So why do millions of birds migrate rather than stay in one place?

B Most of the explanation revolves around food. In temperate and arctic regions of the northern hemisphere, food is abundant during a short growing season. Migration evolved as a way for birds to exploit resources that are seasonally abundant and, equally important, to go elsewhere when the resources become scarce or harsh weather arrives. Many species can tolerate cold temperatures if food is plentiful but when food is not available they must migrate.

C While this simple explanation for why birds migrate is essentially true, intriguing questions remain. One puzzling fact is that many birds journey much further than would be necessary to find food and good weather. Another apparent conundrum involves the huge migrations performed by arctic birds and mudflat-probing shore birds that breed close to polar regions. In general, the further north a migrant species breeds, the further south it spends the winter. Yet, en route to a final destination in southern latitudes, all these individuals overfly areas of seemingly suitable habitat spanning two hemispheres. Such compulsive journeys probably evolved over time and in response to fluctuations in weather but we do not really know.

D But just how do birds reach their destination and, more to the point, how do young birds migrate over vast distances without parental assistance? Very few adults migrate accompanied by their offspring and youngsters may have little or no inkling of their parents' appearance. Cuckoos are famous for depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds that unwittingly serve as foster-parents. Astonishing as this piece of evolutionary behaviour is, it is even more remarkable to consider that, once grown, the young cuckoo makes its own way to ancestral wintering grounds in the tropics before returning single-handedly to northern Europe to seek out a mate among its own kind.

E As we continue to study bird migration, its mystery is better understood but also compounded. Mounting evidence has confirmed that birds use the sun and stars to obtain compass directions but true navigation requires an awareness of position and time, especially when lost. Experiments have shown that, after being taken thousands of miles over an unfamiliar landmass, birds are still capable of returning rapidly to nest sites. Such phenomenal powers are the product of computing a number of sophisticated cues including an innate map of the night sky and the pull of the Earth's magnetic field. How the birds use their 'instruments' remains unknown, but one thing is clear – they see the world with a sensory perception superior to ours. Most small birds migrate at night and take their direction from the position of the setting sun. However, as well as seeing the sun go down, they also seem to see the plane of polarised light it causes. This calibrates their compass. Travelling at night provides other benefits: the danger of meeting predators as well as the risk of dehydration due to flying for long periods in warm sunlit skies is reduced. Furthermore, at night the air structure is cool and smooth and conducive to sustained, stable flight.

F Nevertheless, all journeys involve considerable risk and part of the skill in arriving safely is setting off at the right time. This means accurate weather forecasting and utilising favourable winds. Birds are adept at both and, in tests, some can detect the minute difference in barometric pressure between the floor and ceiling of a room. Often birds react to weather changes before there is any visible sign of them. Certain species that feed on grassland flee at the onset of a cold snap because when the ground surface freezes the birds could starve. Yet they return ahead of a thaw, their arrival linked to a pressure change presaging an improvement in the weather.

G Unfortunately, some never complete their journey. Not so long ago the assumption was that a bird in the air on a dark windy night with no visible reference points to judge position was, like a pilot without radar, hopelessly lost. We now know this is not the case. Losses do occur, but mainly because birds get swept off course by strong air masses against which battle is futile, and this results in a watery grave. Indeed, it is not unusual for ocean fish to be caught with bird remains in their stomachs. But sometimes there's a silver lining. Each autumn a small number of North American birds are blown across the Atlantic by fast-moving westerly tail winds. Not only do they arrive safely in Europe but, based on tracking evidence, some make it back to North America in the following spring – probably after spending the winter with European migrants in sunny African climes.

14
Paragraph A
- i. Choosing the best moment to migrate
- ii. The physical characteristics of birds that allow them to migrate
- iii. Environmental pollution and migration patterns
- iv. The main reason why birds migrate
- v. Research findings on how birds find their way
- vi. Successful migration despite a lack of teaching
- vii. Why some birds don't migrate
- viii. How larger birds make use of the wind
- ix. Success despite problems with wind during migration
- x. The unexplained rejection of closer feeding grounds
15
Paragraph B
16
Paragraph C
17
Paragraph D
18
Paragraph E
19
Paragraph F
20
Paragraph G
21
According to the passage, which TWO of the following statements are true of migrating birds?
- A. Many birds migrate longer distances than they need to.
- B. Family groups migrate most successfully.
- C. Birds need less water if they migrate at night.
- D. Only shore birds are unaffected by wind.
- E. Birds are unable to survive if separated from other members of their own species.
22
The cuckoo is able to migrate despite a lack of .................. guidance.
23
Night travel benefits birds because they can avoid contact with .................. .
24
Some birds can anticipate weather changes without .................. clues.
25
In the past, birds were thought to be .................. when flying in the dark.

Reading Passage 3: What makes us human?

Human beings do not like to think of themselves as animals. It is thus with decidedly mixed feelings that we regard the frequent reports that activities once thought to be uniquely human are also performed by other species: chimpanzees who make and use tools, parrots who arguably use language, ants who teach each other. Is there anything left?

You might think that human beings at least enjoy the advantage of being more generally intelligent than other animals. To assess this idea, my colleagues and I recently administered a set of nonverbal assessments — the equivalent of nonverbal IQ tests — to groups of adult chimpanzees and orang-utans (two of the great ape relatives of humans) and also to groups of two-year-old human children. As it turned out, the children did not do better on these tests overall. They performed about the same as the apes on the tests that measured how well they understood the physical world of space, quantities and causality. The children performed better only on other tests that measured social skills: social learning, communicating, and understanding and interpreting the intentions of others.

But such social gifts can, in fact, be all important. Imagine a child born alone on a desert island and somehow magically kept alive. What would this child's cognitive skills look like as an adult — with no-one to teach the child, no-one to imitate, no pre-existing tools, no spoken or written language? The child would certainly possess basic skills for dealing with the physical world, but these would not be particularly impressive. The child would not invent by himself or herself English, or Arabic numerals, or metal knives, or money. These are the products of collective cognition — that is, they were created by human beings, in effect, collaborating and sharing ideas.

When you look at apes and children in situations requiring them to confer like this, a subtle but significant difference emerges. My colleagues and I found that children, but not chimpanzees, expect and even demand that others who have committed themselves to a joint activity should stay involved and not avoid their obligations. When children want to opt out of an activity, they recognize that they are members of a group — they know that they must, in their own way, 'take leave' and ask permission to withdraw. Humans structure their collaborative actions with joint goals and shared commitments to which they feel honour-bound.

Another subtle but crucial difference can be seen in communication. The great apes — chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans — communicate almost exclusively for instrumental reasons, that is, for the express purpose of making others do what they want. Human infants, in addition to similar reasons of obtaining their wishes, gesture and talk in order to convey information to others — they want to be supportive. They also simply want to share their emotions and attitudes freely — as when an infant points out a passing bird to its mother and squeals with pleasure. This unprompted sharing of information and attitudes can be seen as a forerunner of adult gossip, which itself ensures that members of a group can pool their knowledge and know who is or is not behaving cooperatively.

The free sharing of knowledge also creates the possibility of teaching and learning, where adults impart information by telling and showing, and children trust and use this with confidence. Our nearest primate relatives do not teach and learn in this manner.

Finally, human infants, but not apes, often pretend things. This seemingly useless play activity is in fact a first baby step toward the creation of distinctively human social institutions. In social institutions, participants typically endow someone or something with special powers and obligations; they create positions like president or teacher which are not, of course, natural positions, but rather human constructs. Presidents and teachers operate with special powers and obligations because, and only because, we all believe that they have these powers, and we typically defer to them accordingly.

Human beings have developed to coordinate complex activities, to gossip and to playact together. It is because they are adapted for such cultural activities — and not because of their cleverness as individuals — that they have been able to do so many exceptionally complex and impressive things.

Of course, human beings are not cooperating angels; they also consult each other to do all kinds of awful deeds. But such deeds are not usually done to those inside their own group. Recent scientific models have demonstrated what politicians have long known: the best way to get people to collaborate and to think like a group is to identify an enemy and claim that 'they' threaten 'us'. The remarkable human capacity for cooperation thus seems to have developed mainly for interactions within a particular group. Such group-mindedness is a major cause of strife and suffering in the world today. The solution — more easily said than done — is perhaps to find new ways to define and expand what we consider to be 'our' group.

26
27. The evidence that animals can exhibit human-like behaviour makes many people uneasy.
27
28. Using very small groups of participants is the most successful format for testing intelligence.
28
29. Cognitive assessments suggest that human beings are the most intelligent of all the animals.
29
30. It is difficult to measure the intelligence of very young humans scientifically.
30
31. Chimpanzees and orang-utans were found to be less able to comprehend the physical world than human infants.
31
32. According to the writer, what would most seriously affect the intellectual development of a child growing up on a desert island?
- A. the lack of artificial creations like money
- B. the absence of others to interact with
- C. the shortage of man-made tools
- D. the lack of adult protection
32
33. Scientific observation indicates that children are different from apes in that
- A. they feel a duty towards their group.
- B. they require others to join their group.
- C. they look to other group members for guidance.
- D. they refuse to recognise the right to leave their group.
33
34. According to the writer, what do apes mainly use communication for?
- A. to signal their real intentions
- B. to establish stronger social bonds
- C. to get others to act in a certain way
- D. to warn other animals of immediate danger
34
35. Why does the writer give the example of an infant pointing to a bird?
- A. to show the happy nature of human childhood
- B. to demonstrate the instinctive mother-child bond
- C. to indicate the development of compassion in humans
- D. to illustrate the early signs of a human social phenomenon
35
36. How does the writer regard gossip?
- A. as the basis of harmful rumours
- B. as the cause of adult disagreements
- C. as a device for proving one's own abilities
- D. as an aid to the creation of group cohesion
36
37. The ability of children to pretend when they play _______________
- A. is the establishment of larger, more inclusive groups.
- B. causes disagreements among adults.
- C. relies on the collective acceptance of authority.
- D. is likely after investigation of childhood behaviour.
- E. leads ultimately to the establishment of social roles.
- F. results in an increase in a group's internal strength.
- G. originates in early interactive patterns.
37
38. Society's creation of positions such as president or teacher _______________
38
39. The designation of a common enemy _______________
39
40. One way to potentially reduce world conflict _______________

Phiếu trả lời

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Hiện đáp án

1. FALSE
The passage says the Pyramid of Cestius was ignored for centuries and only recently became popular, so it has not always been a top tourist attraction.
2. NOT GIVEN
There is no information in the passage about whether the construction finished before or after Cestius died.
3. TRUE
The passage states that in the Middle Ages, people believed Remus, a founder of Rome, was buried there.
4. FALSE
The passage explains that the pyramid is not very tall and is often overlooked, so its height is not something people immediately notice.
5. NOT GIVEN
The passage does not mention whether Yuzo Yagi admired both Italian and Egyptian architecture.
6. TRUE
The passage says the restoration finished ahead of schedule, meaning it was completed earlier than expected.
7. FALSE
The passage states that only a few of the original frescoes remain, so most have not survived.
8. brick
The passage says the pyramid was made from brick, cement, and marble.
9. shape
The passage mentions that the shape of the pyramid is different from those in Egypt.
10. countryside
The passage says it was built in the countryside because building tombs in the city was forbidden.
11. statues
The passage states that broken statues were found next to the pyramid in the 1660s.
12. tunnel
The passage says a tunnel inside the tomb suggests robbers had been there.
13. pollution
The passage mentions climbers are helping to remove signs of pollution from the pyramid.
14. ii
Paragraph A discusses the physical features of birds that help them migrate, matching option ii.
15. iv
Paragraph B explains the main reason birds migrate is to find food, matching option iv.
16. x
Paragraph C talks about birds ignoring closer feeding grounds, matching option x.
17. vi
Paragraph D describes how birds can migrate successfully without being taught, matching option vi.
18. v
Paragraph E presents research on how birds find their way, matching option v.
19. i
Paragraph F is about how birds choose the best time to migrate, matching option i.
20. ix
Paragraph G discusses birds succeeding despite wind problems, matching option ix.
21. A / C
A is correct because the passage says some birds migrate farther than necessary; C is correct because birds lose less water at night. B is wrong because the passage does not say family groups are most successful.
22. parental
The passage says the cuckoo migrates without parental guidance.
23. predators
The passage explains that night travel helps birds avoid predators.
24. visible
The passage says some birds can sense weather changes without visible clues.
25. lost
The passage states that people used to think birds were lost when flying in the dark.
26. YES
The passage says people feel uneasy when animals show human-like behaviour.
27. NOT GIVEN
The passage does not mention if small groups are the best for intelligence testing.
28. NO
The passage says cognitive tests show humans are not always the most intelligent compared to animals.
29. NOT GIVEN
The passage does not discuss the difficulty of measuring intelligence in very young humans.
30. NO
The passage says chimpanzees and orang-utans did as well as human infants in understanding the physical world, so they were not less able.
31. B
B is correct because the passage says a child on a desert island would lack social interaction, which is most important for intellectual development.
32. A
A is correct because the passage says children feel a sense of duty to their group, which is different from apes.
33. C
C is correct because the passage says apes mainly use communication to get others to act in a certain way.
34. D
D is correct because the example shows an early sign of a social phenomenon—sharing attention with others.
35. D
D is correct because the passage says gossip helps create group cohesion.
36. E
E is correct because the passage says pretending in play leads to the creation of social roles.
37. C
C is correct because the passage says society's positions rely on everyone accepting authority.
38. F
F is correct because the passage says having a common enemy increases a group's internal strength.
39. A
A is correct because the passage says making larger, more inclusive groups could reduce world conflict.

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Reading Passage 1: The Pyramid of Cestius

Reading Passage 2: Bird Migration

Reading Passage 3: What makes us human?

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