Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 501
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 501 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 501
READING PASSAGE – 3
On Being Idle
A. Now, this is a subject on which I flatter myself. The gentleman who, when I was young, bathed me at wisdom’s font for 9 guineas a term – no extras – used to say he never knew a boy who could do less work in more time. I also remember my poor grandmother once observing that it was highly improbable that I should ever do much that I ought not to do, but that she felt convinced beyond a doubt that I should leave undone pretty well everything that I ought to do.
B. I am afraid I have somewhat belied half the dear old lady’s prophecy. I have done a good many things that I ought not to have done, in spite of my laziness. But I have fully confirmed the accuracy of her judgment so far as neglecting much that I ought not to have neglected is concerned. Idling always has been my strong point.
I take no credit to myself in the matter because I consider it to be a gift which a very few seem to possess. There are plenty of lazy people and plenty of slow-coaches, but a genuine idler is a rarity. He is not a man who slouches about with his hands in his pockets. On the contrary, his most startling characteristic is that he is always intensely busy.
IELTS General Reading Test
C. It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen.
D. Many years ago, when I was a young man, I was taken very ill. I could not figure out what was the matter with me, except that I had a beastly cold. But I suppose it was something very serious, for the doctor said that I ought to have come to him a month before, and that if it (whatever it was) had gone on for another week, he would not have answered for the consequences. Our medical guide, philosopher, and friend is always like the hero in a melodrama – he always comes upon the scene just, and only just, in the nick of time. It must be Providence, that is what it is.
IELTS General Reading Test
E. Well, as I was saying, I was very ill and was ordered to Buxton for a month, with strict injunctions to do nothing whatever all the while that I was there. ‘Rest is what you require, said the doctor. ‘Perfect rest’
F. ‘This man evidently understands my complaint, said I, and pictured to myself a glorious time – 4 weeks of pleasant inactivity, with a dash of illness in it. Not too much illness, but just illness enough – just sufficient to give it the flavour of suffering and make it poetical. I should get up late, sip chocolate, and have my breakfast.
I should lie out in the garden in a hammock and read sentimental novels with a melancholy ending, until the books should fall from my listless hand, and I should recline there, dreamily gazing into the deep blue of the firmament, watching the fleecy clouds floating like white-sailed ships across its depths, and listening to the joyous song of the birds and the low rustling of the trees. And twice a day I should go down in a bath chair to the Colonnade to drink the waters. Oh, those waters! I knew nothing about them then and was rather taken with the idea.
IELTS General Reading Test
G. But, ugh! After the first 3 or 4 mornings, I cannot even give you a faint idea of their hideous nauseousness. If anything could make a sick man get well quickly, it would be the knowledge that he must drink a glassful of them every day until he was recovered. I drank them neat for 6 consecutive days, and they nearly killed me. But after that I adopted the plan of taking a stiff glass of brandy-and-water immediately on the top of them and found much relief thereby. I am glad I was lucky enough to hit upon the right medicine quickly!
H. But ‘drinking the waters’ was only a small portion of the torture I experienced during that memorable month – a month which was, without exception, the most miserable I have ever spent. During the best part of it, I religiously followed the doctor’s mandate and did nothing whatever, except moon about the house and garden and go out for 2 hours a day in a bath chair. That did break the monotony to a certain extent. There is more excitement about bath-chairing – especially if you are not used to the exhilarating exercise – than might appear to the casual observer.
IELTS General Reading Test
A sense of danger, such as a mere outsider might not understand, is ever present to the mind of the occupant. He feels convinced every minute that the whole concern is going over – conviction which becomes especially lively whenever a ditch or a stretch of newly macadamized road comes in sight. He expects that every vehicle that passes is going to run into him, and he never finds himself ascending or descending a hill without immediately beginning to speculate upon his chances, supposing – as seems extremely probable – that the weak-kneed controller of his destiny should let go. I certainly did not enjoy that month’s idling.
I. I like idling when I ought not to be idling; not when it is the only thing I have to do.
Questions 28-33
Which paragraphs contain information on the following? Write the relevant paragraph number (A-1) in boxes 28-33 of the sample reading answer sheet.
28. A physician’s penchant for theatricals
29. Problems associated with a liquid with supposedly restorative powers
30. The author’s dreams about inactivity over a month
31. An opinion expressed by a teacher about the author
32. How the author acquired a taste for laziness
33. Other problems faced by the author during the month
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 34-37
Do the following statements match the author’s claims in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 34-37 on your answer sheet, write
Yes – if the statement matches the claim(s) of the author
No – If the statement contradicts what the author claims
Not Given – if it has not been mentioned in the given text.
IELTS General Reading Test
34. Did the author’s grandmother think that he would not waste much of his time on pointless activities?
35. Does the author believe that one deserves pleasure out of idleness only if it is unforced?
36. When he consulted the doctor, did the author believe he was seriously ill?
37. Did the doctor advise the author to take perfect rest in Buxton and drink therapeutic water twice a day?
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 38-40
Fill in each blank with one word.
38. The author felt that a ………………. of ………………. will make his month of idling even more glorious.
39. Besides the warbling of birds, the author dreamed of listening to ………………. of the ……………….
40. He felt the journey by ………………. was precarious.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
28. D
29. G
30. F
31. A
32. B
33. H
34. YES
35. YES
36. NO
37. NOT GIVEN
38. DASH, ILLNESS
39. RUSTLING, TREE
40. BATH CHAIR
IELTS General Reading Test