Reading 2026-03 Test 12 — 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: Lever Brothers' Sunlight Soap: A Revolution in Hygiene and Industry

Sunlight Soap, produced by the Lever Brothers in the late 19th century, was a groundbreaking innovation in the world of consumer goods. At a time when hygiene and cleanliness were not universally prioritised, Sunlight Soap not only introduced a revolutionary product but also played a crucial role in transforming industrial production, marketing strategies and public health. The success of Sunlight Soap laid the foundation for what would later become Unilever, one of the world's largest multinational corporations.

The story of Sunlight Soap begins in 1884, when William Hesketh Lever and his brother James Darcy Lever established the Lever Brothers company in England. They sought to create a high-quality soap that was both affordable and effective in promoting hygiene. Traditional soaps at the time were often harsh on the skin and required extensive preparation. The Lever Brothers aimed to change this by producing a soap that was easy to use and gentle while maintaining strong cleansing properties.

The innovation behind Sunlight Soap lay in its production process. Unlike the traditional method of soap-making, which relied on animal fats and wood ash, Sunlight Soap was manufactured using a blend of vegetable oils and alkali, resulting in a more consistent and superior-quality product. This not only improved the soap's effectiveness but also made it a more ethical and sustainable option compared with its contemporaries.

Beyond the product itself, the Lever Brothers were pioneers in marketing and branding. They understood the power of advertising and created memorable, persuasive campaigns for Sunlight Soap. These advertisements emphasised the soap's purity, its ability to fight germs, and its role in maintaining a happy and healthy home. The company used a variety of media, from newspapers and magazines to colourful posters and collectable cards, to reach a wide audience. This aggressive and innovative marketing strategy helped create a strong brand identity and fostered customer loyalty.

The company also revolutionised industrial relations and worker welfare. In 1888, Lever Brothers built a purpose-built factory and village called Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula. This model village was designed to provide high-quality housing, amenities, and social benefits for its employees. It featured gardens, schools, a hospital, and recreational facilities, which were considered revolutionary for the time. This approach was part of William Lever's philosophy of "prosperity sharing," where he believed that a healthy and content workforce would lead to greater productivity and company success. Port Sunlight became a landmark in industrial planning and set a new standard for employee welfare.

The impact of Sunlight Soap on public health was significant. By promoting the importance of cleanliness with an effective and accessible product, it contributed to improved hygiene practices among the general public. This was particularly important in an era before the widespread understanding of germ theory. The widespread use of soap like Sunlight played a role in reducing the incidence of infectious diseases, thereby improving overall public health standards in Britain and beyond.

The phenomenal success of Sunlight Soap provided the capital and brand recognition for the Lever Brothers to expand their operations globally. They began acquiring other soap and food companies, steadily growing their portfolio. This expansion culminated in 1930 with a merger with the Dutch margarine company, Margarine Unie. This merger formed Unilever, a dual-headed company structure that remains unique to this day. The creation of Unilever marked the beginning of a new era, transforming a single soap product into a global consumer goods empire.

1
A description of the advertising methods used to promote the soap.
2
The reason why a particular location was constructed for workers.
3
The way the success of one product led to the creation of a major corporation.
4
A comparison between the new product and the types of soap that existed previously.
5
The various health benefits for society resulting from the use of the soap.
6
The original business goal of the Lever brothers.
7
Founders: William Hesketh Lever and ________.
8
Year company established: ________.
9
Key Product Innovation: Used ________ and alkali instead of animal fats and wood ash.
10
Resulted in a product that was more consistent, superior, and ________.
11
Marketing & Branding: Advertisements focused on purity and fighting ________.
12
Worker Welfare: Built a model village called ________.
13
Based on the philosophy of "________".

Reading Passage 2: The history of the Celtic language

A In November 1897, in a field near the village of Coligny in eastern France, a local inhabitant unearthed two strange objects. One was an imposing statue of Mars, the Roman god of war. The other was an ancient bronze tablet, 1.5 metres wide and 1 metre high. It bore numerals in Roman but the words were in Gaulish, a version of the Celtic language spoken by the inhabitants of France before the Roman conquest in the first century BC. The tablet turned out to be one of the most important sources of words from this extinct language.

B Two researchers, geneticist Dr Peter Forster and linguist Dr Alfred Toth, have now used the calendar and other Celtic inscriptions to reconstruct the history of Celtic and its position in the Indo-European family of languages. They say that Celtic became a language in its own right and entered the British Isles much earlier than supposed. Then in the first century BC, the Romans defeated the Celts, both in France and in Britain, so decisively that their language, Latin, and its successor languages displaced Celtic over much of its former territory. In the British Isles, Celtic speakers survived in two main groups: the Goidelic branch of Celtic, which includes Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Brythonic branch, formed mainly of Welsh and Breton, a Celtic tongue carried to Brittany in France by emigrants from Cornwall.

C Because languages change so fast, historical linguists have little faith in language trees that go back more than a few thousand years. Dr Forster has developed a new method for relating a group of languages, basing it on the tree-drawing techniques used to trace the evolutionary relationships among genes. The method will work on just a handful of words, a fortunate circumstance since only some 30 Gaulish words have known counterparts in all the other languages under study. Dr Forster and Dr Toth have used the method to draw up a tree relating the different branches of Celtic to one another and to other Indo-European languages like English, French, Spanish, Latin and Greek. In a published article, they say that soon after the ancestral Indo-European language arrived in Europe over 5,000 years ago, it split into different branches leading to Celtic, Latin, Greek and English. Within Celtic, their tree shows that Gaulish – the mainland European version of the language – separated from its Goidelic and Brythonic cousins, much as might be expected from the facts of geography.

D The researchers’ method even dates the points at which their language tree divides, although the dates have a wide range of possibility. They calculate that the Indo-European language initially fragmented in Europe around 8100 BC, plus or minus 1,900 years, and the divergence between the mainland European and British versions of Gaelic took place in 3200 BC, plus or minus 1,500 years. These dates are much earlier than previously estimated. The traditional date of the Indo-European fragmentation has been 4000 BC for some time, said linguist Dr Merritt Ruhlen. He said the new method ‘seems pretty reasonable’ and should be useful in tracing back the earlier history of the Indo-European language.

E Specialists have long debated which country was the homeland of the Indo-Europeans, and whether their language was spread by conquest or because its speakers were the first agriculturists whose methods and tongue were adopted by other populations. The second theory, that it was spread by agriculture, has been advocated by archaeologist Dr Colin Renfrew. Dr Forster, who works with Dr Renfrew, said in an interview that the suggested date 8100 BC for the arrival of Indo-European in Europe ‘does seem to vindicate Renfrew’s archaeological idea that the Indo-European languages were spread by farmers.’ Agriculture started to arrive in Europe from the Near East around 6000 BC, much earlier than the traditional date proposed by linguists for the spread of Indo-European. This timing would fit with the lower end of Dr Forster’s range of dates.

F Dr Forster said that his estimated date of 3200 BC for the arrival of Celtic speakers in the British Isles was also much earlier than the usual date, 600 BC, posited on the basis of archaeological evidence. Dr Forster and Dr Toth said their method of evaluating groups of languages against each other was unfamiliar to historical linguists, many of whom restrict their research to how words in only one single language have changed over time. Asked what linguists thought of his approach he said: ‘To be honest, they don’t understand it, most of them. They don’t even know what I’m talking about.’ The method used by Dr Forster and Dr Toth has two parts. One is to draw a tree on the basis of carefully chosen words; the second is to date the splits in the tree by calibrating them with known historical events. This is similar to the way geneticists date their evolutionary trees by tying one or more branch points to known dates from the fossil record.

G Dr April McMahon, a linguist at the University of Sheffield in England, said that Dr Forster’s method ‘seems to me to be a good start’, and that it was reasonable to base a language family tree on just a handful of well-chosen words. She had less confidence in the dating method, she said, because language changes in an irregular way based on social factors like the size of the speaker’s group and its degree of contact with others.

14
a difference of opinion about where a group of languages originated
15
a reference to a mythological figure
16
an expression of one person’s doubt about a particular method of analysing scientific data
17
an explanation of how one particular Celtic language spread due to the movement of people
18
a reason why some language experts distrust language trees
19
An approach commonly used in language research has too narrow a focus.
- A. Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth
- B. Dr Merritt Ruhlen
- C. Dr Colin Renfrew
- D. Dr April McMahon
20
The number of people who use a language has an effect on the modifications the language undergoes.
21
The Celtic language has been a distinct language for longer than experts previously thought.
22
The use of one family of languages may have become more extensive due to farming practices.
23
The script on the bronze tablet discovered in Coligny in France was written in a form of Celtic called ________.
24
After the success of the Roman Empire in conquering many parts of Europe, ________ became one of the predominant languages.
25
________ is known to have occurred among the various versions of the Gaelic language around 3200 BC.
26
For social reasons, developments in languages are ________.

Reading Passage 3: The Origin of Language

The archaeologist Stephen Mithen talks about the ideas behind his new book on the origin of language.

Theories on the origin and evolution of language have been a major area of my research for many years. By 1859, when British scientist Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, there was already a great deal of interest in this subject. However, the debate became plagued by strange theories, so much so that in 1866 the influential Société de Linguistique de Paris banned all discussions about the origin of language. The ban lasted for more than a century, before a surge of research began during the 1990s. Linguists, psychologists, anthropologists and archaeologists now frequently debate the origin of language and have published many articles and books on this topic. And yet, despite almost frenzied activity, limited progress has been made.

I believe there are four reasons for this. The first is an insufficient concern with the archaeological and fossil proof of the brains and behaviour of our human ancestors. Many theories to date rely on an assumed association between brain size and language abilities, without acknowledging the problem this creates: fossil evidence indicates that the Neanderthals had larger brains than modern humans, Homo sapiens, but archaeological evidence indicates that the Neanderthals lacked a capacity for language. So something is seriously amiss with those theories.

That 'something' might relate to the second reason for limited progress: insufficient concern with the other major aural and vocal communication system of modern humans: music. Even though the Société de Linguistique de Paris had nothing to say about studying the origin of music, academics appear to have had a self-imposed ban, with limited discussion of this issue during the 19th and 20th centuries. However, there are notable exceptions that should be acknowledged. One is the aforementioned Charles Darwin who, in his 1871 book on human evolution, The Descent of Man, devoted several pages to the development of music. Another is the renowned ethnomusicologist John Blacking, whose 1973 book, How Musical is Man?, broached the idea that music is an inherent and universal human quality. The origin of music deserves as much attention as that of language, as we cannot treat one without the other. Those writers who had evidently annoyed the Société de Linguistique de Paris were quite aware of this. For them, music and language were intimately linked; the French writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's On the Origin of Language (1781) was a reflection on both music and language. In contrast, Morten Christiansen and Simon Kirby's book, Language Evolution (2000), which they conceived as 'a definitive book on the subject', failed to mention music in any of its 17 chapters. Those authors have an important lesson to learn from Rousseau and other writers of his time who addressed the origin of language.

Music is a universal feature of human society and plays a significant role in the lives of all individuals. Indeed, music is perhaps in even greater need of study than language: the latter has a self-evident function—the transmission of information—and can be readily accepted as a product of evolution, even if its specific evolutionary history remains unclear. But what is the point of music?

That question leads directly to a third reason for our lack of progress in understanding how language evolved, and indeed the human mind in general: an insufficient concern with emotion. If music is about anything, it is about expressing emotion. But while archaeologists have put significant effort into examining the intellectual capacities of our ancestors, their emotional lives have been sorely neglected. This has contributed to the neglect of music, which, in turn, has constrained our understanding of language.

There is one further reason why progress has been limited: those who have been most influential regarding the evolution of language have simply got it wrong, and misled everyone else. Linguist Derek Bickerton has made an important contribution towards our understanding of the origin of language by bringing his profound knowledge of linguistics to the discussions that have occurred. But Bickerton's idea that the precursor of modern language consisted of words strung together with limited, if any, grammar is, I believe, fundamentally mistaken. Bickerton refers to this precursor as 'proto-language' and suggests that it was similar to the type of language spoken by young children today, and mastered by apes through the use of computer keyboards. This idea has dominated the field of language origins for the last two decades, and is one that I once found persuasive. But I now understand that it is not only flawed but has severely limited the progress that should have been made.

My book therefore provides an alternative view, one that draws on the ideas of a linguist who has, I believe, identified the true nature of proto-language. Her name is Alison Wray. She argues that proto-language was 'holistic' rather than compositional in character. By this she means that the precursor to language was a communication system composed of 'messages' rather than words; each message was uniquely associated with an arbitrary meaning, as are the utterances of language today. But in Wray's proto-language, they were not composed out of smaller units of meaning (i.e. words) which could be combined together using a rule system (i.e. grammar) to make more complex messages with emergent meanings. For Wray, proto-language was semantically complex and agrammatical. I believe this insight enables us to understand the origin of music as well as language, and to relate both to the emotional lives of our human ancestors.

27
In the first paragraph, what does the writer suggest about the origin of language?
- A. Too many branches of science have been involved in its study.
- B. The Société de Linguistique de Paris instigated research in this area.
- C. The lack of progress is surprising given the amount of work being done.
- D. Most progress in the study of language was made between 1859 and 1866.
28
What is the ‘problem’ referred to in the second paragraph?
- A. Some current theories are based on conflicting evidence.
- B. There is insufficient fossil evidence to reach a conclusion.
- C. Fossil evidence suggests that Homo sapiens had larger brains than Neanderthals.
- D. Archaeological evidence shows that Neanderthals were able to talk.
29
What does the writer suggest about Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s work in 1781?
- A. Modern theorists should pay more attention to his approach.
- B. His ideas supported those of the Société de Linguistique de Paris.
- C. His ideas were mirrored in a later book called Language Evolution.
- D. His ideas are too outdated to be of any relevance today.
30
What is the writer’s current view of Derek Bickerton’s ideas?
- A. They have had little impact on the study of language.
- B. They have helped the study of linguistics to progress.
- C. They are not accepted by the majority of linguists.
- D. The assumption behind them is wrong.
31
In the final paragraph, the writer concludes that Alison Wray’s ideas will help establish a link between
- A. grammar and meaning.
- B. messages and proto-language.
- C. language, music and emotions.
- D. proto-language and modern semantics.
32
The Société de Linguistique de Paris
- A. suggested music was an essential part of every individual.
- B. made no link between music and language in a comprehensive study.
- C. believes that early language was very musical.
- D. felt that the origin of language should not be debated.
- E. states that early language was made up of basic words used in an unsystematic way.
- F. devoted 17 chapters of a book to music.
- G. believes that proto-language had no individual words.
- H. referred to music in part of a book about the development of human beings.
33
Charles Darwin
34
John Blacking
35
Christiansen and Kirby
36
Derek Bickerton
37
Alison Wray
38
According to the writer, which THREE of the following areas have not been studied enough in order to understand the origin of language?
- A. evidence from prehistoric times
- B. intelligence
- C. individual sounds
- D. music
- E. emotions
- F. human intellect
- G. children’s language

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1. C
Answer C is correct because the passage describes how the soap was promoted using 'eye-catching posters and memorable slogans,' which are advertising methods.
2. D
Answer D is correct because the passage explains that a special village was built for workers to 'improve their living conditions,' showing the reason for constructing that location.
3. F
Answer F is correct because the passage states that the success of the soap 'led to the formation of a major corporation,' directly linking the product's success to the company's creation.
4. B
Answer B is correct because the passage compares the new soap, made from vegetable oils and alkali, to older soaps made from 'animal fats and wood ash,' highlighting the differences.
5. E
Answer E is correct because the passage mentions that the soap 'helped reduce disease and improve public health,' showing the health benefits for society.
6. B
Answer B is correct because the passage says the Lever brothers' original goal was to 'produce a high-quality, affordable soap,' which matches option B.
7. James Darcy Lever
The answer is James Darcy Lever, as the passage lists the founders as 'William Hesketh Lever and James Darcy Lever.'
8. 1884
The answer is 1884, because the passage states the company was 'established in 1884.'
9. vegetable oils
The answer is vegetable oils, as the passage says the key innovation was using 'vegetable oils and alkali instead of animal fats and wood ash.'
10. ethical
The answer is ethical, because the passage says the product was 'more consistent, superior, and ethical.'
11. germs
The answer is germs, as the passage mentions advertisements focused on 'purity and fighting germs.'
12. Port Sunlight
The answer is Port Sunlight, because the passage says they built a model village called 'Port Sunlight.'
13. prosperity sharing
The answer is prosperity sharing, as the passage says the village was based on the philosophy of 'prosperity sharing.'
14. E
Answer E is correct because the passage describes a 'difference of opinion' about where a group of languages originated.
15. A
Answer A is correct because the passage refers to a mythological figure in the context of language origins.
16. G
Answer G is correct because the passage shows someone expressing doubt about a method of analyzing scientific data.
17. B
Answer B is correct because the passage explains how one Celtic language spread due to people moving.
18. C
Answer C is correct because the passage gives a reason why some experts distrust language trees.
19. A
Answer A is correct because Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth are mentioned as saying that a common approach in language research is too narrow.
20. D
Answer D is correct because Dr April McMahon is noted for saying that the number of people using a language affects how it changes.
21. A
Answer A is correct because Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth are said to show that the Celtic language has been distinct for longer than previously thought.
22. C
Answer C is correct because Dr Colin Renfrew is linked to the idea that farming practices helped one language family spread.
23. Gaulish
The answer is Gaulish, as the passage says the script on the bronze tablet from Coligny was written in 'Gaulish.'
24. Latin
The answer is Latin, because the passage states that after the Roman Empire's success, 'Latin became one of the predominant languages.'
25. divergence
The answer is divergence, as the passage says 'divergence' happened among Gaelic languages around 3200 BC.
26. irregular
The answer is irregular, because the passage says that for social reasons, language developments are 'irregular.'
27. C
Answer C is correct because the passage suggests that it is surprising there has not been more progress in understanding the origin of language, given all the research.
28. A
Answer A is correct because the 'problem' in the second paragraph is that some current theories are based on conflicting evidence.
29. A
Answer A is correct because the passage suggests that modern theorists should pay more attention to Rousseau’s approach.
30. D
Answer D is correct because the writer now believes the assumption behind Derek Bickerton’s ideas is wrong.
31. C
Answer C is correct because the writer concludes that Alison Wray’s ideas will help link language, music, and emotions.
32. D
Answer D is correct because the passage says the Société de Linguistique de Paris felt the origin of language should not be debated.
33. H
Answer H is correct because Charles Darwin referred to music in part of a book about human development.
34. A
Answer A is correct because John Blacking suggested music was an essential part of every individual.
35. B
Answer B is correct because Christiansen and Kirby made no link between music and language in a comprehensive study.
36. E
Answer E is correct because Derek Bickerton states that early language was made up of basic words used in an unsystematic way.
37. G
Answer G is correct because Alison Wray believes that proto-language had no individual words.
38. A / D / E
The correct answers are A, D, and E because the passage says that evidence from prehistoric times, music, and emotions have not been studied enough to understand the origin of language.

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