Reading 2026-02 Test 27 — 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: Traditional Maori Medicines

The Maori are the indigenous people of the islands of New Zealand. Their traditional medicine, which is believed to date back as far as the 13th century, was a system of healing that was passed down through the generations orally. It comprised diverse practices and placed an emphasis on the spiritual dimension of health. Its practice included remedies made from herbs, and physical therapies such as massage to relieve discomfort in the muscles and bones.

Maori systems for treating illness were well developed before Europeans arrived in New Zealand in the late 1700s: they had quite detailed knowledge of anatomy and recognition of the healing properties of various plants. When Europeans first visited New Zealand, the average age of death for Maori adults was around 30. However, apart from this, the people were fit and healthy, and troubled by few diseases.

Illness was often seen as spiritually based. Maori saw themselves as guardians of the earth, and the focus of their existence was to remain at one with the natural and supernatural world. Rather than a medical problem, sickness was often viewed as a symptom of disharmony with nature. In Maori culture, illnesses were divided into diseases of the gods (mate atua) and physical diseases (mate tangata). Diseases sent by the gods were often attributed to attacks by evil spirits, because the person had broken a religious rule. For instance, for Maori, places where people had died, or places where their ancestors were buried were sacred, so if someone took food from a river where someone had died, or took a stick from a tree that had held their ancestor's bones and placed it on a cooking fire, it was believed that the gods could punish them for their disrespectful acts by making them sick.

More than 200 plants were used medicinally by Maori. The leaves of the flax plant were used to treat skin infections and food poisoning, and the hard part of the leaf was also used as a splint or brace for broken bones and injured backs. Flax fibers were used along with a sharpened stick to sew up bad cuts. The bark and leaves of the pepper tree were used to heal cuts, wounds and stomach pain. People who had toothache were instructed to chew the leaves of this same tree, and this was found to be of considerable benefit. The pepper tree was also used in vapor baths to treat people with painful joints.

Colonization by Europeans in the 1800s had a significant effect on traditional Maori healing. Europeans brought many new diseases with them which Maori healers had limited ability to combat. Though Western medicine was also relatively ineffectual at the time, this failure still strongly affected Maori confidence in their healers. Some western missionaries attributed the spread of disease to the fact the Maori did not believe in Christianity, and as Maori healers appeared powerless, many Maori accepted this explanation and turned to Christianity. Over time the schools of higher learning which had trained healers started to close and the tradition of the Maori healer declined.

From the late 20th century, there was renewed Maori interest in their traditional medicine. This was due to several factors. There was a resurgence of all aspects of Maori culture in New Zealand. Furthermore, people started to be less trusting of Western medicine—statistics from the 1970s came out revealing that Maori health continued to be poorer than that of other New Zealanders. There were also problems with access to health care for Maori. Additionally, there was and still is today a perceived lack of a spiritual dimension in Western health services.

Although Maori today largely accept Western concepts of health and illness, and use the mainstream health system, there is significant demand for traditional medicine. This is true for unusual illnesses, or those that fail to respond to standard medical treatment, but also for common ailments such as the cold and influenza.

Today's healers differ significantly from those of old times. Training is highly variable, usually informal, and often less tribally bound than the rigorous education of the traditional houses of higher learning. Many modern healers work in urban clinics, some alongside mainstream health professionals. They experiment, incorporating knowledge from Western and other medical systems. As a result, their modern day work has no standard system of diagnosis or widespread agreement about treatments. Despite this, many healers are recognized as having knowledge and ability that has been passed down from their ancestors. The Maori language is also seen as important by many of those receiving treatment.

1
Early Maori healers learned their skills through studying written texts.
2
The first Europeans in New Zealand were surprised by how long the Maori lived.
3
Diseases of the gods were believed to be more serious than physical diseases.
4
The leaves of the pepper tree were used to treat toothache.
5
Western religion was one reason why traditional Maori medicine became less popular.
6
Modern day Maori healers often reach the same conclusion about the type of treatment which is best.
7
Diseases sent from the gods were thought to be caused by disobeying a spiritual _______.
8
Sickness could be attributed to eating food from a sacred _______ or burning sacred wood.
9
The inability of Maori healers to cure new diseases meant the Maori people lost _______ in them.
10
Eventually the _______ for Maori healing began shutting down.
11
Published _______ showed that Maori were not as healthy as Europeans.
12
Maori healers can be seen working with Western doctors in _______ in cities.
13
Many patients appreciate the fact that the Maoris _______ is used by healers.

Reading Passage 2: The Evolutionary Mystery: Crocodile Survives

A Even though crocodiles have existed for 200 million years, they’re anything but primitive. As crocodiles’ ancestors, crocodilia came to adapt to an aquatic lifestyle. When most of the other contemporary reptiles went extinct, crocodiles were able to make it because their bodies changed and they adapted better to the climate. They witnessed the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, which once ruled the planet, and even the 65 million years of alleged mammalian dominance didn’t wipe them off. Nowadays, the crocodiles and alligators are not that different from their prehistoric ancestors, which proves that they were (and still are) incredibly adaptive.

B The first crocodile-like ancestors came into existence approximately 230 million years ago, and they had many of the features which make crocodiles natural and perfect stealth hunters: streamlined body, long tail, protective armour and long jaws. They are born with four short, webbed legs, but this does not mean that their capacity to move on the ground should ever be underestimated. When they move, they are so fast that you won’t even have any chance to try making the same mistake again by getting too close, especially when they’re hunting.

C Like other reptiles, crocodiles are poikilothermal animals (commonly known as coldblooded, whose body temperature changes with that of the surroundings) and consequently, require exposure to sunlight regularly to raise body temperature. When it is too hot, they would rather stay in water or shade. Compared with mammals and birds, crocodiles have a slower metabolism, which makes them less vulnerable to food shortage. In the most extreme case, a crocodile can slow its metabolism down even further, to the point that it would survive without food for a whole year, enabling them to outlive mammals in relatively volatile environments.

D Crocodiles have a highly efficient way to catch prey. The prey rarely realises there might be a crocodile under the water because the crocodile makes a move without any noise or great vibration when spotting its prey. It only keeps its eyes above the water level. As soon as it feels close enough to the victim, it jerks out of the water with its wide open jaws. Crocodiles are successful because they are capable of switching feeding methods. It chases after fish and snatches birds at the water surface, hides in the waterside bushes in anticipation of a gazelle, and when the chance to ambush presents itself, the crocodile dashes forward, knocks the animal out with its powerful tail and then drags the prey into the water to drown.

E In many crocodilian habitats, the hot season brings drought that dries up their hunting grounds, leaving it harder for them to regulate body temperatures. This actually allowed reptiles to rule. For instance, many crocodiles can protect themselves by digging holes and covering themselves in mud, waiting for months without consuming any food or water until the rains finally return. They transform into a quiescent state called aestivation.

F The majority of crocodilia are thought to go into aestivation during the dry season. In a six-year study by Kennett and Christian, the King Crocodiles, a species of Australian freshwater crocodiles, spent nearly four months a year underground without access to water resources. Doubly labelled water was applied to detect field metabolic rates and water flux, and during some years, plasma fluid samples were taken once a month to keep track of the effects of aestivation regarding the accumulation of nitrogenous wastes and electrolyte concentrations.

G The study discovered that the crocodiles’ metabolic engines function slowly, creating waste and exhausting water and fat reserves. Waste is stored in the urine, becoming more and more concentrated. Nevertheless, the concentration of waste products in blood doesn’t fluctuate much, allowing the crocodiles to carry on their normal functions. Besides, even though the crocodiles lost water reserves and body weight when underground, the losses were proportional; upon emerging, the aestivating animals had no dehydration and displayed no other harmful effects such as a slowed-down growth rate. The two researchers reckon that this capacity of crocodiles to get themselves through the harsh times and the long starvation periods is sure to be the answer to the crocodilian line’s survival throughout history.

14
Paragraph A
- i. The positive impact of drought
- ii. Research findings into crocodile survival
- iii. The slow metabolism which makes the crocodile a unique animal
- iv. The perfectly designed body for a great land roamer
- v. Shifting eating habits and food intake
- vi. A project on a special mechanism
- vii. Regulating body temperature by the surrounding environment
- viii. Body structure offers underwater aid to a successful predator
- ix. A history of the supreme survivors
- x. What makes the crocodile the fastest running animal on land
- xi. Competition between crocodiles and other animals
15
Paragraph B
16
Paragraph C
17
Paragraph D
18
Paragraph E
19
Paragraph F
20
Paragraph G
21
Aestivation: In many places inhabited by crocodilians, most types of crocodiles have evolved a successful scheme to survive in the drought brought by a _____.
22
According to Kennett and Christian’s six-year study of Australian freshwater crocodiles’ aestivation, they found aestivating crocodiles spent around _____ of the year underground and had no access to _____.
23
The amount of water in the body declined proportionately with _____; thus there is no sign of _____ and other health-damaging impact on the crocodiles even after an aestivation period.
24
This super capacity helps crocodiles endure the tough drought without slowing their speed of _____.

Reading Passage 3: The Geography of Taste Buds

Scientists have long known that the surface of the tongue is covered with taste buds: onion-shaped bundles of cells that stand guard for the digestive system. Long before our modern world of supermarkets and restaurants, taste buds served as a crucial tool to maintain the daily existence of our ancestors. The bitter flavour of a wild almond told a prehistoric human foraging in African forests that the nut was poisonous, and they should spit it out. A sweet fruit, though, was safe to consume, and full of energy from carbohydrates. The presence of lions and other man-eating predators also added urgency to meal choices. 'If the thing didn't taste good, you might decide it's not worth it to be out in the open and at risk,' says Steve Miller, a taste researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Much of what we 'taste' in everyday life is actually the work of our nose. The tongue can distinguish only five basic flavour sensations – sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami, the 'savoury' taste of meat and cheese which indicates protein. Sour taste comes from acidic compounds, and, like bitter taste, it can be a sign to leave decomposing meat or vegetables. Unpleasant tartness in unripe fruits comes from too much citric acid. This is how a tree or shrub keeps hungry diners at bay until its seeds are mature enough to travel – via the diner's digestive system – to a new home.

Unlike animals, humans have acquired a taste for tartness. In the case of the Japanese pickle called ‘umeboshi’, the plums are harvested when still green and sour, before the tree fills them with sugar and turns them into a tantalising snack for birds and animals. Sour cream, yoghurt, lemonade, gorgonzola cheese, the German fermented cabbage ‘sauerkraut’ and other tart treats are eaten every day by millions of people.

Only a decade ago, popular myth held that separate areas of the tongue were responsible for each taste. Referred to as the ‘mouth map’, the concept probably originated with a German text mistranslated into English at the beginning of the 20th century. As recently as 1996, ‘mouth map’ diagrams still appeared in university neuroscience textbooks.

By the late 1990s, however, scientists had learned enough about molecular biology to turn their attention seriously to taste. They had discovered that thousands of taste buds cover the tongue, each containing 50 to 100 taste cells. Each cell has two poles: one end covered with taste receptors projecting from the tongue's surface, and one end inside the tongue that connects to the brain via nerves. When a person bites into a lemon, acidic molecules from the food bump into acid-sensitive taste receptors, activating a taste cell, which sends a ‘sour’ message to the brain.

The details of this process were long a matter of debate. In line with the ‘mouth map’ concept, some scientists believed that the taste buds in different areas of the tongue were filled with cells of only one type: the tip with sweet-sensing cells, the back with bitter-sensing cells, and so on. Others were not convinced and further suggested the location of cells was not an issue because each cell could sense all five tastes. However, no one had identified any of the taste receptors, so which cells responded to which tastes was unknown.

Charles Zanker, professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, and others set out to solve this problem with a variety of biological techniques, including engineering mutant mice that lacked certain receptors and could not taste certain tastes. They eventually isolated the first taste receptors – those for bitter and sweet. Each taste cell, they found, is covered with receptors for only one taste. A sweet cell, for example, is only turned on by sweet molecules because it only has sweet receptors. This dispelled the notion that all cells could sense all tastes.

The scientists also assembled more evidence against the 'mouth map' myth when they found that each taste bud contains a full complement of taste cells. 'There are areas of emphasis,' Miller says, 'but there are not these absolutely divided areas.' Over time, the researchers identified the receptors for sweet, bitter and umami. But until recently, salt and sour receptors remained elusive. After eight years of this new wave of research into taste, a team led by Hideki Matsunami from Duke University in North Carolina, and Zanker's separate group of Californian scientists, simultaneously published that they had finally found the tongue's tart sensors. This breakthrough has answered some long-standing questions about the tongue's geography.

One surprising finding was that the sour-taste receptors on the tongue are also found in the spinal cord, where they probably monitor the acidity of cerebrospinal fluid. Similarly, sweet and bitter taste receptors have been found in the intestinal tract. Taken as a whole, the identification of various key taste receptors illuminates a link between the mouth and the brain. It also provides new targets for research. In the past, artificial flavourings were often chance discoveries, made when chemists accidentally tasted a substance, but now experts hope that knowing the identities of taste receptors will allow a more methodical approach to be taken towards developing these additives. New molecules might even be developed to cling to sour taste receptors and block the unpalatable taste of medicines. The finding may also explain how tongues, like fingerprints, are unique, making some people sensitive and others numb to certain tastes.

25
For many years it has been understood that the human tongue is covered with taste buds. These first evolved as an aid to ............ .
- A. cooking
- B. sense
- C. pests
- D. consumption
- E. predators
- F. digestion
- G. enemie
- H. planting
- I. decay
- J. sight
- K. smell
- L. survival
26
They acted as a warning that a food was dangerous, or a confirmation that it was good for ............ .
27
For early humans, the gathering of food was made difficult by ............ .
28
Because our tongues can only taste five different flavours, a lot of what we think we 'taste' is in fact conveyed by ............ .
29
Sour and bitter tastes signal that food is in the process of ............ .
30
However, over the centuries, people have come to like sour taste, and in this ............ we are different from animals.
31
It is likely that the 'mouth map' myth began from an error of interpretation.
32
Scientists were in agreement on the location of bitter-sensing cells.
33
The experiment with mice proved that bitter-sensing cells have more receptors than sweet-sensing cells do.
34
After a lengthy period of study, two different research teams reported the same finding about taste senses at the same time.
35
Scientists failed to find taste receptors in other parts of the body.
36
What does the writer suggest about the 'mouth map' myth?
- A. It followed the discovery of taste buds.
- B. It located taste in one part of the tongue.
- C. It used to be taught and believed in academic circles.
- D. It was an idea that originated in England.
37
The writer refers to Zanker's experiment in order to
- A. compare several different methodologies.
- B. highlight the connection between taste and the brain.
- C. suggest that the use of animals in research can be misleading.
- D. show how a popular idea was proved wrong.
38
What is the main purpose of the writer of Reading Passage 3?
- A. to describe a scientific experiment
- B. to inform readers of a recent scientific discovery
- C. to narrate how taste affected the lives of ancient humans
- D. to predict how taste research will develop in the future

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1. FALSE
This is FALSE because early Maori healers learned their skills through oral tradition, not by studying written texts.
2. NOT GIVEN
This is NOT GIVEN because there is no information about the first Europeans being surprised by Maori lifespan.
3. NOT GIVEN
This is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not compare the seriousness of diseases of the gods to physical diseases.
4. TRUE
This is TRUE because the passage says the leaves of the pepper tree were used to treat toothache.
5. TRUE
This is TRUE because the passage mentions that Western religion was one reason traditional Maori medicine became less popular.
6. FALSE
This is FALSE because modern Maori healers often have different opinions about the best treatment.
7. rule
The answer is 'rule' because the passage says diseases sent from the gods were thought to be caused by disobeying a spiritual rule.
8. river
The answer is 'river' because sickness could be caused by eating food from a sacred river or burning sacred wood.
9. confidence
The answer is 'confidence' because the inability to cure new diseases meant Maori people lost confidence in their healers.
10. schools
The answer is 'schools' because eventually the schools for Maori healing began shutting down.
11. statistics
The answer is 'statistics' because published statistics showed Maori were not as healthy as Europeans.
12. clinics
The answer is 'clinics' because Maori healers can be seen working with Western doctors in clinics in cities.
13. language
The answer is 'language' because many patients appreciate that the Maori language is used by healers.
14. ix
The answer is ix because Paragraph A talks about the history of crocodiles as supreme survivors. Option iv is tempting but focuses on body design, not history.
15. iv
The answer is iv because Paragraph B describes the crocodile's body as perfectly designed for moving on land.
16. iii
The answer is iii because Paragraph C discusses the crocodile's slow metabolism, which makes it unique.
17. v
The answer is v because Paragraph D talks about changing eating habits and food intake.
18. i
The answer is i because Paragraph E describes the positive impact of drought on crocodile survival.
19. vi
The answer is vi because Paragraph F discusses a project on a special mechanism.
20. ii
The answer is ii because Paragraph G presents research findings into crocodile survival.
21. hot season / dry season
The answer is 'hot season / dry season' because crocodiles survive droughts brought by a hot or dry season.
22. four months / water resources
The answer is 'four months / water resources' because the study found crocodiles spent about four months underground without access to water resources.
23. body weight / dehydration
The answer is 'body weight / dehydration' because water in the body declined with body weight, so there was no sign of dehydration.
24. growth
The answer is 'growth' because this ability helps crocodiles endure drought without slowing their speed of growth.
25. L
The answer is L (survival) because taste buds first evolved to help with survival.
26. D
The answer is D (consumption) because taste buds confirmed if food was good for consumption.
27. E
The answer is E (predators) because early humans had difficulty gathering food due to predators.
28. K
The answer is K (smell) because much of what we taste is actually conveyed by smell.
29. I
The answer is I (decay) because sour and bitter tastes signal that food is decaying.
30. B
The answer is B (sense) because people now like sour taste, and in this sense, we are different from animals.
31. YES
The answer is YES because the passage says the 'mouth map' myth likely started from a mistake in interpretation.
32. NO
The answer is NO because scientists did not agree on where bitter-sensing cells are located.
33. NOT GIVEN
The answer is NOT GIVEN because there is no information about bitter-sensing cells having more receptors than sweet-sensing cells in the mouse experiment.
34. YES
The answer is YES because two research teams reported the same finding about taste senses at the same time after long study.
35. NO
The answer is NO because scientists did find taste receptors in other parts of the body.
36. C
The answer is C because the passage says the 'mouth map' myth used to be taught and believed in academic circles.
37. D
The answer is D because the writer refers to Zanker's experiment to show how a popular idea was proved wrong.
38. B
The answer is B because the main purpose is to inform readers of a recent scientific discovery about taste.

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