Table of Contents
BEST General IELTS Reading Test 155
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 155 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 155
READING PASSAGE – 1
Read the text below and answer Questions 17-21.
KING’S LIBRARY
The King’s Library was a royal collection of books created by King George III and donated to the nation. A gallery, named after the collection, was built at the British Museum in 1827 to house them. It is the oldest room in the Museum and now home to the permanent exhibition Enlightenment: Discovering the world in the eighteenth century.
The original collection and gallery The King’s Library, a collection of over 60,000 books, was formed by King George III (1760-1820) and given to the nation in 1823 by his son King George IV .When the library was donated there was not enough space to house it in the original British Museum building. This led to the construction of today’s quadrangle building, designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke (1781-1867).
General IELTS Reading Test
The room for the King’s Library was the first wing of the new building to be constructed (1823-1827). It was on a grand scale: 91 m (300 feet) long, 12m (41 feet) high and 9m (30 feet) wide, with a central section 18m (58 feet) wide. Its great size called for the pioneering use of cast iron beams to support the ceiling.
Originally, it was not intended to be a public room. There were two entrances, one at either end of the room, and 12 reading desks to be used by the library assistants. The central section of the room was meant to consist of columns made from Aberdeen granite. The first four were bought, and are still in place, but the cost of polishing them was so expensive that no more were purchased.
In 1997 the books were transferred to their new home in the King’s Library Tower in the new British Library building at St Pancras, London. The books currently occupying the cases in the King’s Library are on long term loan from the House of Commons library.
General IELTS Reading Test
Questions 17-21
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
17. Name the person who donated the collection of books to Britain?
18. What material was first used in building the quadrangle building’s roof?
19. For whom were the reading desks made initially in the Kings’ library?
20. How many of Aberdeen granite was used in the infrastructure of the building?
21. Currently the books in Kings Library have been borrowed from which organization?
General IELTS Reading Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 22-26.
CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUE: ART IN EMBASSIES PROGRAM SERVES IMPORTANT MISSION
The U.S. State Department’s recent purchase of an $84,375 iron sculpture for its embassy in Mozambique has raised a few eyebrows. But some might argue that was some of the best money the state department has ever spent.
The sculpture is the work of famed American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who has branched out into a number of other artistic mediums in recent years. His sculpture was purchased as a part of the Art in Embassies program, which, according to the state department, “creates vital cross-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding through the visual arts and dynamic artist exchanges.”
General IELTS Reading Test
For starters, the cost of the program is infinitesimal compared to the other costs of constructing an embassy. For example, the final cost of constructing the U.S. government’s new embassy in Maputo, Mozambique, is expected to be over $250 million. Mr. Dylan’s sculpture costs less than 1 percent of that figure. If costs need to be cut, it seems likely that there are more meaningful places to start with than an embassy’s art.
But costs aside, the Art in Embassies program does provide meaningful cultural engagement, offering other countries and other people an opportunity to engage with U.S. artists and their work. It should be a point of pride that the United States is curating the work of great artists such as Mr. Dylan for people the world over. Good for the curators of Arts in Embassies for taking on such an important and undervalued mission.
General IELTS Reading Test
Questions 22-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this
22. The creation of the Statue is one of the best expenditure done in US history.
23. Bob Dylan was a lyricist and singer.
24. US government has found that culture can be an effective tool to increase International Cooperation.
25. The current spending on Mozambique Embassy is greater than the cost of developing embassies in other states.
26. The mission of spreading cultural awareness is considered petty.
General IELTS Reading Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
General IELTS Reading Test
ANSWERS
17. KING GEORGE TV
18. CAST IRON BEAMS
19. LIBRARY ASSITANTS
20. 4
21. HOUSE OF COMMONS
22. FALSE
23. TRUE
24. TRUE
25. NOT GIVEN
26. TRUE