Reading 2026-02 Test 15 — IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test with Answers

基于考生回忆投稿及材料收集整理 — 非官方 IELTS 资料。

Reading Passage 1: Children’s Literature Studies Today

Who studies children’s literature and what is it that they study? The answers to this question are complex and messy, because of the many confounding factors which exist in this field.

Firstly, unlike literature for adults, children’s literature is not generally written by its own readers. Adults write for children, and thus adult perceptions of what children are and of what they could and should be become woven into the literature.

Furthermore, some of those who study children’s literature (and those who write certain kinds of children’s books) are less interested in literary values than in the kinds of lessons it can teach—either in terms of creating better children or in terms of serving a particular curriculum. The issue of how a teacher can use a children’s book is often contentious, but even outside the classroom, much material for children is still didactic.

Thirdly, while almost all literature is currently promoted within a strong commercial matrix, children’s literature is often especially targeted for marketing initiatives. This fact means that readers are often recruited with a message that is negligibly literary and significantly oriented to ideas of consumption. Daniel Hade (2002) has raised useful questions about whether children’s experience of reading is altered when their books are part of a larger marketing framework involving the movie, the game, and the toy of a popular children’s book. How children perceive and respond to their stories in this new context is an important question.

It is also important to note that texts in an ever-increasing range of new media compete with print media for the attention of the child reader, and create definitional issues for scholars. Does the term ‘literature’ exclusively imply a verbal text? If not, where are the limits? Could a literary computer game ever be considered a work of literature? If not, what kind of attention should be paid to it, since children themselves undoubtedly perceive their print literature as part of a broader continuum? The internet provides one forum through which children now communicate with each other. (In 2003, the internet search engine Google listed 7,920,000 sites relating to the Harry Potter novels; even allowing for duplication and dead ends, that is a number with revolutionary implications.)

Finally, in the context of the higher education institutions where the formal study of children’s literature is often located, at least three disciplinary frameworks (English, education, and librarianship) fragment the focus of scholarly study of children’s literature.

How is the value of the imaginative encounter with the work of literature sustained and honored among such a welter of conflicting interests? One route through this maze is to ask the child readers for help. As David Lewis (2001) has perceptively noted, what children think of reading is not usually the same as what adults think, whether teachers or parents. As Lewis points out, children ‘sometimes see more and they often see differently’. If those who study reading can explore children’s perceptions as well as those of adults, their understanding of the nature of reading will be enhanced.

Lewis makes a further valid point when he adds that exploring children’s perceptions is usually justified for educational reasons: “It is true that a better understanding of how children read and how they learn to read, is a prerequisite to improved approaches to teaching. However, it can also be argued, as Lewis rightly does, that when children’s responses to literature are accessed and interpreted, they frequently lead to an understanding of how picture books appeal to children.

Young people’s accounts of what and how they read also enable a more sophisticated description of many of the complex processes involved in reading. All descriptions of reading run the risk of solipsism: i.e. this is how I read so this is what reading is for everyone. Asking other readers how they read, however, reduces that risk. For example, if I am a strong visualizer as I read, I may consider that visualization is a key component of successful reading and I may judge books by their capacity to evoke a vivid visual response. Other readers, however, may help me to realize that not everyone reads with mental pictures. Some readers respond to the patterns of the words, ‘hearing’ them inaudibly like a subliminal radio program. Others respond to the patterns of feelings in the story, responding with an emotional connection. Talking to competent readers, of all ages, provides a better understanding of reading experiences.

Children’s insights are even more important when it comes to understanding the significance of print literature as one aspect of literary culture. Too often adults assume that reading any book at all is a more worthwhile experience than playing a digital game of any kind. A humbler approach would include asking why the game appeals to the player. Many adults will probably never develop the automatic skills to process a game as readily as they can read a book. This does not indicate that a book is better, but that a particular set of skills is absent. Non-players must acknowledge that some fictional universes are thus closed to them, and a logical response would be to find someone who can guide them to the pleasures and challenges of the gaming world. Games need to be judged individually just as books do, and any evaluative framework needs to take this into account.

1
Which of the following best summarises the writer's argument in the second paragraph?
- A. Children are portrayed as adults see them.
- B. Children are unable to write their own stories.
- C. Adults fail to stimulate children's imaginations.
- D. Adult literature is too difficult for children.
2
In the third paragraph, what does the writer say is the main interest of some people who study children's literature?
- A. the quality of the writing
- B. the imaginative content of stories
- C. the instructive nature of children's books
- D. the way children are written about in stories
3
The main point of the writer's argument in the fifth paragraph is to
- A. demonstrate that academics consider computer games to be a logical extension of children's literature.
- B. explore the impact of computers on the boundaries of children's literature.
- C. illustrate that literature and computer games have from different origins.
- D. prove that children are using computers more than they are reading literature.
4
Children tend to make a clear distinction between print literature and electronic media.
5
The study of children's literature at higher education institutions is restricted to one subject area.
6
Exploring children's perceptions of reading will assist parents to choose suitable books for children.
7
Adults may appreciate the appeal of illustrated stories better, if they have more information on how children read.
8
Children should be asked what features they would like digital games to include.
9
Young people's accounts of how they read lead to ...
- A. accepting that literature exists in a variety of forms today
- B. verbalising the words in their heads
- C. discovering the reading techniques used by others
- D. the style of written stories changing over time
- E. the lack of some specific abilities
- F. a deeper knowledge of the intricacies of reading
- G. children teaching adults to play computer games
- H. creating a variety of images in their minds
10
The risk of solipsism is reduced by ...
11
Strong visualisers judge books on the basis that they are ...
12
Children's insights are important in ...
13
When adults read a book more easily than they play a digital game it simply suggests ...
14
What was the writer's main purpose in writing this article?
- A. to evaluate how the process of reading fits into children's literature studies
- B. to discuss the impact of the increasing commercial influence on children's literature studies
- C. to review the challenges in the field of children's literature studies and suggest how to proceed
- D. to provide arguments in favor of including computerized forms of children's literature studies

Reading Passage 2: Animal Minds: Parrot Alex

In 1977 Irene Pepperberg, a recent graduate of Harvard University, did something very bold. At a time when animals still were considered automatons, she set out to find what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. She brought a one-year-old African gray parrot she named Alex into her lab to teach him to reproduce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”

When Pepperberg began her dialogue with Alex, who died last September at the age of 31, many scientists believed animals were incapable of any thought. They were simply machines, robots programmed to react to stimuli but lacking the ability to think or feel. Any pet owner would disagree. We see the love in our dogs’ eyes and know that, of course, they have thoughts and emotions. But such claims remain highly controversial. Gut instinct is not science, and it is all too easy to project human thoughts and feelings onto another creature. How, then, does a scientist prove that an animal is capable of thinking – that it is able to acquire information about the world and act on it? “That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Pepperberg said. They were seated – she at her desk, he on top of his cage – in her lab, a windowless room about the size of a boxcar, at Brandeis University. Newspapers lined the floor; baskets of bright toys were stacked on the shelves. They were clearly a team – and because of their work, the notion that animals can think is no longer so fanciful.

Certain skills are considered key signs of higher mental abilities: good memory, a grasp of grammar and symbols, self-awareness, understanding others’ motives, imitating others, and being creative. Bit by bit, in ingenious experiments, researchers have documented these talents in other species, gradually chipping away at what we thought made human beings distinctive while offering a glimpse of where our own abilities came from. Scrub jays know that other jays are thieves and that stashed food can spoil; sheep can recognize faces; chimpanzees use a variety of tools to probe termite mounds and even use weapons to hunt small mammals; dolphins can imitate human postures; the archerfish, which stuns insects with a sudden blast of water, can learn how to aim its squirt simply by watching an experienced fish perform the task. And Alex the parrot turned out to be a surprisingly good talker.

Thirty years after the Alex studies began, Pepperberg and a changing collection of assistants were still giving him English lessons. The humans, along with two younger parrots, also served as Alex’s flock, providing the social input all parrots crave. Like any flock, this one – as small as it was – had its share of drama. Alex dominated his fellow parrots, acted huffy at times around Pepperberg, tolerated the other female humans, and fell to pieces over a male assistant who dropped by for a visit. Pepperberg bought Alex in a Chicago pet store where she let the store’s assistant pick him out because she didn’t want other scientists saying later that she’d particularly chosen an especially smart bird for her work. Given that Alex’s brain was the size of a shelled walnut, most researchers thought Pepperberg’s interspecies communication study would be futile.

“Some people actually called me crazy for trying this,” she said. “Scientists thought that chimpanzees were better subjects, although, of course, chimps can’t speak.” Chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas have been taught to use sign language and symbols to communicate with us, often with impressive results. The bonobo Kanzi, for instance, carries his symbol-communication board with him so he can “talk” to his human researchers, and he has invented combinations of symbols to express his thoughts. Nevertheless, this is not the same thing as having an animal look up at you, open his mouth, and speak. Under Pepperberg’s patient tutelage, Alex learned how to use his vocal tract to imitate almost one hundred English words, including the sounds for various foods, although he calls an apple a “beanery.” “Apples taste a little bit like bananas to him, and they look a little bit like cherries, Alex made up that word for them,” Pepperberg said.

It sounded a bit mad, the idea of a bird having lessons to practice, and willingly doing it. But after listening to and observing Alex, it was difficult to argue with Pepperberg’s explanation for his behaviors. She wasn’t handing him treats for the repetitious work or rapping him on the claws to make him say the sounds. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly imitate them,” Pepperberg said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a good dozen times in a row. “I’m not trying to see if Alex can learn a human language,” she added. “That’s never been the point. My plan always was to use his imitative skills to get a better understanding of avian cognition.”

In other words, because Alex was able to produce a close approximation of the sounds of some English words, Pepperberg could ask him questions about a bird’s basic understanding of the world. She couldn’t ask him what he was thinking about, but she could ask him about his knowledge of numbers, shapes, and colors. To demonstrate, Pepperberg carried Alex on her arm to a tall wooden perch in the middle of the room. She then retrieved a green key and a small green cup from a basket on a shelf. She held up the two items to Alex’s eye. “What’s same?” she asked. Without hesitation, Alex’s beak opened: “Color.” “What’s different?” Pepperberg asked. “Shape,” Alex said. His voice had the digitized sound of a cartoon character. Since parrots lack lips (another reason it was difficult for Alex to pronounce some sounds, such as ba), the words seemed to come from the air around him, as if a ventriloquist were speaking. But the words – and what can only be called the thoughts – were entirely his.

For the next 20 minutes, Alex ran through his tests, distinguishing colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (wool versus wood versus metal). He did some simple arithmetic, such as counting the yellow toy blocks among a pile of mixed hues. And, then, as if to offer final proof of the mind inside his bird’s brain, Alex spoke up. “Talk clearly!” he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching talked with wrong pronunciation. “Talk clearly!” “Don’t be a smart aleck,” Pepperberg said, shaking her head at him. “He knows all this, and he gets bored, so he interrupts the others, or he gives the wrong answer just to be obstinate. At this stage, he’s like a teenager; he’s moody, and I’m never sure what he’ll do.”

15
Firstly, Alex has grasped quite a lot of vocabulary.
16
At the beginning of study, Alex felt frightened in the presence of humans.
17
Previously, many scientists realized that animals possess the ability of thinking.
18
It has taken a long time before people get to know cognition existing in animals.
19
As Alex could approximately imitate the sounds of English words, he was capable of roughly answering Irene's questions regarding the world.
20
By breaking in other parrots as well as producing the incorrect answers, he tried to be focused.
21
After the training of Irene, Parrot Alex can use his vocal tract to pronounce more than ________.
22
Other scientists believe that animals have no this advanced ability of thinking, they would rather teach ________.
23
Pepperberg clarified that she wanted to conduct a study concerning ________ but not to teach him to talk.
24
The store's assistant picked out a bird at random for her for the sake of avoiding other scientists saying that the bird is ________ afterwards.
25
What did Alex reply regarding the similarity of the subjects showed to him?
26
What is the problem of the young parrots except Alex?
27
To some extent, through the way he behaved what we can call him?

Reading Passage 3: Child’s Play in Medieval England

A ‘Play up! Play up! And play the game!’ The ringing chorus of Sir Henry Newbolt’s celebrated cricket poem ‘Vitai Lampada’ (1908) sums up views about play in 19th- and early 20th-century Britain. Children’s play was important, and adults should regulate and direct it. Games promoted endurance, self-discipline and team spirit – qualities needed for the health of society and government. Newbolt was one in a long line of people who thought in this way. The notion that children’s play should be used for educational and social purposes goes back at least to the ancient Greeks and the toys and games of medieval England tell us much about how adults then saw childhood. But they also reveal a good deal about children themselves, and cast light on what has recently become a controversial issue.

Forty years ago, the French historian Philippe Aries argued, in Centuries of Childhood, that childhood in the Middle Ages did not exist in its modern sense. Children were regarded by adults with relatively little affection and followed a way of life not very different from that of their elders. More recent historians have disputed this, pointing to plentiful signs of parental affection and arguing that childhood, by its very nature, must always have been much the same.

In this debate play is crucial. Did adults encourage it? If so, did they see it as recreational (by providing toys, for example) or as educational (making children play in particular ways)? Did children play as their elders told them, or did they invent their own games, away from adults and even against their wishes? These questions can be answered from a rich body of evidence including actual toys of the period, pictures of children’s activities in contemporary manuscripts and literary sources such as religious works and dictionaries. We know not only how medieval English children played but what their elders thought on the subject.

We know, for example, that adults gave children toys from infancy onwards. In 1398 the writer John Trevisa describes babies playing with ‘a child’s brooch’, an object similar in function to the bright plastic toys given to babies today to bite and handle. William Horman, 16th-century author of a Latin textbook, talks of buying a rattle to stop a baby crying. Indeed, by 1300 it appears there was a toy industry in England. Boys’ toys often took military forms, such as the two metal soldiers of that date, found in London, and made from a mould. Girls had dolls, known before the 17th century as ‘poppets’ or puppets, commercially manufactured, imported and, in 1582, taxed at a halfpenny each. Not that children were by any means dependent on things that were bought for them. Gerald of Wales recalls how he and his brothers built towns, palaces, churches and monasteries from sand at Manorbier Castle in about 1150 (perhaps on the nearby beach).

Active games were universal. In his English-to-Latin dictionary of 1440, a mysterious recluse known as Geoffrey mentions children playing ‘tennis’ and swinging on what he calls a ‘totter’ or ‘merrytotter’. Children chased each other, swam and played ball games. Boys in the later Middle Ages shot arrows with bows, and archery is an example of a sport encouraged by adults, who wanted boys to grow up to play their part in what was, for most men, a warrior society.

However, by no means all children’s military activity was directed by adults. In 1400, six months after King Richard II had been overthrown by Henry IV, the children of London gathered together and chose themselves kings. Adam of Usk tells us they congregated ‘in thousands … and made war upon each other … whereby many died’. The new king had to order their parents and masters to stop them.

This willingness of children to take the initiative in play, not just to wait for adults to direct them, is evident in the way they observed the calendar. Medieval life was regulated by light, weather, crops and the Church’s cycle of fasts and festivals. Children shared in the adult round of religious festivals, but had their own observances as well, semi-detached from their elders. In the 1200s, the priest Thomas Docking remarked that in spring a child ‘follows the ploughman; in autumn he accompanies the grape-gatherers’. In 1518, the poet Alexander Barclay records children playing with tops in March, looking for fruit in summer and making footballs by filling pigs’ bladders with dried peas in autumn.

It is clear from this evidence that the relationship between adults and children in medieval society was, in major respects, a modern one. Parents took an indulgent interest in their children, providing them with toys and giving them time to play. Children played in a wide variety of ways – imaginatively, skilfully, athletically and violently – developing their minds, bodies and social skills. Adults tried at times to direct play – partly to keep children in order, partly to give them skills for adult life – but children gravitated to one another and formed a culture of their own. We can answer Aries’s thesis, then, with a resounding ‘No!’. Childhood has always been much the same.

28
economic evidence for play in medieval England
- A. Paragraph A
- B. Paragraph B
- C. Paragraph C
- D. Paragraph D
- E. Paragraph E
- F. Paragraph F
- G. Paragraph G
- H. Paragraph H
29
an example of how children created their own toys
30
an example of warlike play approved by grown-ups
31
a political event mirrored in children's play
32
the origin of an academic debate about medieval life
33
1400
- A. invention of cricket
- B. children picking grapes
- C. poem about value of games
- D. early toy manufacturing in England
- E. puppets first imported into England
- F. dolls taxed in England
- G. death of Adam of Usk
- H. children playing tennis
- I. children's gang warfare
- J. a description of seasonal activities
34
1518
35
1582
36
1908
37
Little is known about adult attitudes to children's play in the Middle Ages.
38
Most toys were imported into England before 1300.
39
Medieval children celebrated the seasons in their own ways.
40
Medieval children made presents for their parents on special occasions.
41
Parents and children in the Middle Ages behaved much as they do today.

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21. 100 English words
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