Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test
Test No. 6
Reading Passage 1
Read the text below and answer Questions 1-8.
Recipe for a Delicious Apple and Honey Cake
Ingredients:
– 100g castor sugar
– 3 large eggs
– 70g honey
– 300g self-raising flour
– 80g butter
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 3-4 dessert apples: peeled, cored and diced into small cubes
Honey apple sauce
– 1 cup honey
– 1 cup apple juice or cider
Pour honey and apple juice or cider into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir sauce constantly until the mixture thickens to required consistency. Spoon warm sauce over the top and sides of honey and apple cake and serve immediately.
This moist honey and apple cake is a delicious dessert alternative for any dinner party or holiday gathering and it’s sure to become a well-loved family favourite.
Method:
– Heat oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas mark 4 and grease a 20 cm cake tin.
– Add sugar, honey and eggs to mixing bowl and whisk with electric mixer for around ten minutes, until mixture is pale and fluffy in texture.
– Cut softened butter into small squares and beat into mixture.
– Sieve flour and add to mixture into greased cake tin and place in hot oven for around 45 minutes. Check cake after 25 minutes. It top has browned sufficiently cover with foil to ensure it does not burn.
– Test cake with a skewer before removing from oven – there should be no uncooked mixture in the middle of the cake.
– Drizzle honey over top of cake and dust with sifted icing sugar.
– Serve with cream or thick honey and apple sauce or ice cream.
Questions 1-8
Complete the sentence below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
1. The dessert is great for family functions and any…………………………..parties.
2. Once you place the cake mixture in the oven, make sure in no less than………………………..the top has reached the required colour.
3. In order to make cake, you’ll need three……………………………. .
4. The apples should be diced………………………….before they are added to the mix.
5. One should pour the………………………………..into the tin and then insert it into the oven.
6. The dish should be served to guests with cream or thick………………………….sauce.
7. To create the honey apple sauce use one cup………………………..or cider.
8. Use a spoon to cover the dessert with the…………………………over the top and sides.
Read the text below and answer Questions 9-14.
The Law of Karma
Fifty years ago, if you knew whether someone was a liberal or a conservative politically, you didn’t necessarily know a lot about the person’s moral values; party affiliation told you even less about someone’s preferences in restaurants or movies. There was so much diversity within each party that stereotyping was harder and cross-party alliances were much easier.
Nowadays you can make predictions about people’s values and votes from just a few seemingly unrelated things, such as whether they find exotic cuisines appealing or how messy their desks are. A research institute has surveyed more than five hundred thousand about their personality traits and moral values. They found very consistent differences between political beliefs in a few values.
For example, how strongly do you agree or disagree with these two statements:
1) “Compassion is the most important virtue.”
2) “The world would be a better place if we let unsuccessful people fail and suffer the consequences.”
The liberals in the sample strongly identify with the compassion statement and strongly reject the failure statement. In contrast, those with conservative political beliefs endorse both statements mildly are equally.
What’s going on here? A useful way to think about these differences, especially when discussing viewpoint on economic policies, is that it’s a battle between the law of karma and the principle of compassion. Conservatives generally want to live in a world governed by karma, the ancient Hindu idea that people reap the fruits of their actions, both good and bad.
Karma was usually thought of as a law of the universe, like the law of gravity. Part of the reason conservatives have historically opposed the growth of the welfare state is the belief that it grants people a sort of karmic exemption, allowing those who are lazy or irresponsible to draw resources from those who are more hardworking. Conservatives agree that the world would be a better place if we “let unsuccessful people fail” whether it be an individual, company or even a country.
Liberals, by contrast would prefer to live in a world governed by compassion. They are more likely to give people second and third chances. For example, they are more likely to endorse this statement: “It is generally better to show mercy than to take revenge.” Karma and compassion are both necessary pillars of a well-functioning society. Conservatives are right that a world in which the law of Karma applies tends to work better than one in which it doesn’t. Results from studies in experimental behavior illustrate that cooperation rates skyrocket when cheaters expect to be punished.
However, the law of Karma is not real. In free-market societies, had work does pay off much better than laziness yet cancer, unemployment and other forms of bad luck can strike anyone. And cheaters, exploiters and law-breakers do often proposer. If we want to live in a truly just world, in which honest work is rewarded, cheaters are punished and people can bounce back from misfortune and mistakes, we’ll have to engineer it ourselves. Karma and compassion don’t balance themselves; that’s a job we must do.
Questions 9-14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
9. Surprisingly, you can predict someone’s political viewpoints by
A. Interviewing a person at length about their voting history.
B. Looking at how his or her parents voted along party lines.
C. Drawing conclusions based on their moral attitudes.
D. Determining whether they are immigrants in their country.
10. The number of people who participated in the research study was
A. More than 500.
B. Almost half a million.
C. Give or take 5,000.
D. In excess of 500,000.
11. The study shows that those with conservative political beliefs think
A. People should receive success based on their efforts
B. People should be less forgiving towards
C. That karma is insignificant in their attitude towards life.
D. That giving to the poor is a great idea.
12. Those with liberal political viewpoints have
A. Placed a premium on the role of karma.
B. Valued empathy and forgiveness in shaping their thinking.
C. The belief that those who experience failure deserve it.
D. Little use for kindness and karma in their political world view.
13. According to the text, the law of karma
A. Fails to look at the power of larger economic or social forces.
B. Gives too much credit to political parties in deciding elections.
C. Determine if a country succeeds or fails financially.
D. Plays a larger role in who becomes the leader of a country.
14. Choose the most suitable title for the text from the list below.
A. Karma’s influence on Political Elections
B. What Determines a Winner and a Loser
C. Why your Values Are Important
D. The Economics of Karma
Reading Passage 2
A. Far East Business Holidays Ltd
Winter Getaway Special
Samui Delight – The Dream Island 3 days 2 nights. Cost” 7,500 Baht
Puket – Pearl of Andaman 3 days 2 nights. Cost: 6,500 Baht
Koh Chang – 4 days 3 nights. Cost: 8,500
Web Address: www.fareastbiz.com
Email Address: reservations@fareastbiz.com
B. KCTC Tour Company
We are operating tour packages all over South Africa, offering tourists direct access to Houseboat Cruises Back Waters, Ayurvedic Spas, Adventure Tours and Beautiful Beaches.
We have developed a special service for business travelers looking to entertain clients and/or to host conferences.
Email Address: mail@kctc.co.uk
C. Domestic & International Travel Services
Tour organizations, air ticketing, railway tickets, passport and visa consulting and hotel reservations. Contact us also for coordinating package tours and business conventions. Our Facebook friends have access to a special discount for their first purchase. Unfortunately, we don’t offer services for business clientele.
D. Travel Shop
Introducing Exotic and Vibrant Destination of Rajasthan and the neighbor states of India. We are an affiliated tour company of South Asia Airways and India Airways.
We offer exciting packages that give you an unforgettable travel experience!
Address: 2719, Bangalore Street, New Delhi, India.
Website: http://www.tourrajasthan.com
Email Address: reservations@tourrajasthan.com
E. Africa Travels
Africa Travels is a wildlife safari travel company providing adventure travels to four African countries – South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Journey across open savannah, watch the Great Migration and experience the thrill of seeing the big game animals up close. Meet the locals and experience the warmth and hospitality of Africa’s people.
Address: 9 Anson Street, 13-11 International Plaza.
Email Address: info@africatravels.com
Questions 15-21
Look at the five advertisements, A-E.
Which advertisement mentions the following?
Write the correct letter, A-E, in spaces 15-21. You may use any letter more than once.
15. helps customers with company conventions to manage in South Africa
16. has a seasonal offer for customers
17. features special partnerships with large airlines
18. presents the opportunity to see large animals like lions
19. allows customers to take advantage of a price discount through social media
20. provides the opportunity to meet native people on their tours
21. offers prices in a foreign currency
15. ……………………………….
16. ……………………………….
17. ……………………………….
18. ……………………………….
19. ……………………………….
20. ……………………………….
21. ……………………………….
Read the text below and answer Questions 22-28.
IT Tips
Below is a basic outline of what services the IT department offers at the company. Don’t hesitate to contact us to see if we can help you with other technology related matters.
We are available by e-mail at it@internal.co.uk or ext 99.
Log-In and Email
User accounts for clients and staff to access IT facilitates. Register an account or change your password including challenge questions. Request a resource account to reset passwords. Get insight on reducing the amount of spam you receive. Managers are responsible for requesting network access and e-mail accounts for all new employees.
Computers and Software
Get help with the computer that sits on your desk or travels with you, including file storage, setting it up, buying a new computer and disposal. You can also report a faulty computer and borrow a laptop while yours is broken. Download software, view programmes on managed desktops and software available for Macs.
Printing, Network and Wi-Fi
Buy print credit. Request a service from the printing team including access to network printers or advice on which printer to select. Get a network port activated and learn where Wi-Fi hotspots exist. IT troubleshooters any wireless or printing issues for the company. Please contact the department in advance for any mass print jobs to prevent any machine malfunctions.
IT Training and Web Publishing
Browse the course catalogue to select a business seminar, check avalablity and book one. The catalogue provides a brief biography of each presenter. You can also request one-on-one training at your desk before work, during your lunch or after work. Also, request a new SiteBuilder website to creates and/or for company use.
Audio Visual
View shared rooms and their accompanying AV equipment or report malfunctioning item. Staff and research postgraduate students can get help with filming, multimedia applications and recording TV or radio programmes. You may also compare options for telephone, video and desktop conferencing. IT also has a range of contacts for use for more sophisticated AV needs, in terms of including professional recording, broadcasting and digital video facilitates.
Questions 22 and 23
Complete the sentence below. Chose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in spaces 22 and 23.
22. The IT department can help you with computers that lie………………………………or with portable ones.
23. You should know where…………………..are located in the office building to be able to connect to the Internet.
Questions 24-28
Look at the following descriptions (Questions 24-28) and the list of terms in the box below.
Match description with the correct term, A-E.
Write the appropriate letter, A-E, in spaces 24-28.
Description
24. An employee needs to book a room with camera equipment for a presentation.
25. A junior manager needs help with creating a site for a client on the internet.
26. A worker needs assistance in finding applications for his laptop.
27. A supervisor is unsure of where he can connect wirelessly to the firm’s servers.
28. The accounting department has a new employee who needs access to send messages to colleagues.
A. Log-in and Email
B. Audio Visual
C. Computers and Software
D. Printing, Networking and Wi-Fi
E. IT Training and Web Training
TERM
24…………………….
25…………………….
26…………………….
27…………………….
28…………………….
Reading Passage 3
Read the text below and answer the questions 29-40
NASA Studies an Unusual Arctic Warming Event
Winter temperatures are soaring in the Arctic for the fourth winter in a row. The heat, accompanied by moist air, is entering the Arctic not only through the sector of the North Atlantic Ocean that lies between Greenland and Europe, as it has done in previous years, but is also coming from the North Pacific through the Bering Strait.
We have seen winter warming events before, but they’re becoming more frequent and more instence’, said Alek Petty, a sea ice researched at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Scientists are waiting to see how much this heat wave will impact the wintertime sea ice extent, which has been shrinking in the past decades and has hit record lows each of the past 3 years. The sea ice levels are already at record lows or near-record lows in several areas of the Arctic. Another exceptional event this winter is the opening up of the sea ice more vulnerable to further melting.
‘This is a region where we have the thickest multi-year sea ice and expect it to not be mobile, to be resilient’, Petty said. ‘But now this ice is moving pretty quickly, pushed by strong southerly winds and probably affected by the warm temperature, too.
Questions 29-33
Choose the right answer from the alternatives given below.
A. North Atlantic Ocean
B. North Pacific
C. sea ice
D. Southerly winds
29. Temperatures are rising in the winter in the Arctic
A. every winter
B. 4 winter in a row
C. on the fourth winter
30. Winter warming events are becoming
A. lesser and more severe
B. occasional and very severe
C. more often and more severe
31. Impact of heat wave on winter time sea ice has hit record low
A. every 3 years
B. for the last 3 years
C. lasting for 3 years
32. Sea ice melting further because
A. it is already at a record low
B. of heat from the ocean
C. of opening of the sea ice cover
33. In the Arctic, sea ice is mobile and not resilient because
A. of strong winds and warm temperature
B. of the thicker multi-year sea ice
C. heat and moist air is entering the Arctic
Questions 34-40
Complete the flow-chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 34-40 on your answer sheet.
ANSWER KEY:-
1. dinner
2. 25 minutes
3. large eggs
4. into small cubes
5. cake mixture
6. honey and apple
7. of apple juice
8. warm sauce
9. C
10. D
11. A
12. B
13. A
14. C
15. B
16. A
17. D
18. E
19. C
20. E
21. A
22. on your desk
23. Wi-Fi hotspots
24. B
25. E
26. C
27. D
28. A
29. B
30. C
31. B
32. C
33. A
34. warming
35. moist
36. the Bering Strait
37. extent
38. Greenland
39. vulnerable
40. atmosphere
