Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 494
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 494 – PASSAGE – 1
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 494
READING PASSAGE – 1
COOKING CLASSES
Cooking lessons have existed on paper for ages in the form of recipes in cookbooks. You probably remember the massive tome that your grandmother rarely touched. Nowadays, many chefs whose restaurants have appeared in the Michelin are offering cooking classes to amateur chefs.
There are two main ways to get cooking lessons nowadays:
Small groups: You can learn to make starters, hot and cold dishes, desserts and pastries. The cost of these lessons will vary according to the chef’s reputation, how many students there are, etc.
IELTS General Reading Test
Online cooking classes: In the digital age, there are plenty of interesting cooking classes available over the internet. These lessons can still be interactive as participants can send their questions to the chef who responds to them directly.
Following types of cooking tutorials are available:
1. Cooking lessons with a professional chef: These lessons will help you learn everyday recipes, healthy cooking and traditional recipes. Of course, when you attend a famous chef’s cooking class, you can’t always guarantee that the famous chef will actually be in attendance.
IELTS General Reading Test
2. Cooking lessons at a workshop: There are a number of centers where you can get lessons for both adults and kids.
3. Vegetarian cooking classes: Thanks to changing tastes and an increasing number of people becoming vegetarian and vegan, you can now find cookery lessons on cooking for vegetarians. There are also cooking lessons for gluten-free diets for those with gluten intolerances or coeliacs disease.
4. Baking lessons: You can learn how to make birthday cakes, pastries or even a cheesecake.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 1-8
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the above text for each answer.
1. The cookbooks formed massive ………………. that your grandmother rarely touched.
2. In ………………. Classes, one can learn how to make birthday cakes, pastries or even a cheesecake.
3. Vegetarian cooking lessons for gluten-free diets for those with gluten ……………….
4. ………………. Cooking classes are interactive and digital in nature.
5. In a ………………. cooking lessons can be taken at centers for a day or two.
6. The cost of lessons varies according to the chef’s reputation and the strength of the ……………….
7. With the changing tastes, an increasing number of people are becoming ……………….
8. Amateur chefs are being offered cooking classes by chefs whose restaurants have appeared in the ……………….
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 9-14.
SOME COMMON HABITS OF BIRDS THAT LIVE AROUND
We see birds every day in the garden, in the street, in the park and in the countryside. Keen ornithologists travel to well-known areas like estuaries, reservoirs and wetlands to see unusual birds. Most of us live in towns and trees, gardens and parks are not far away. Many types of birds are common in cities and it is worth considering just why they have become urbanized. The three commonest city birds are the starling, sparrow and pigeon. They are three very adaptable species, always ready to exploit a potential food source or a suitable nest site.
Starlings are sociable birds. They congregate in their thousands and fly to suitable roosts. When large numbers are roosting in woods the trees can become so saturated with the birds’ droppings that they may die. In the winter the town or city offers roosts which may be one or two degrees warmer than the country roosts and when that extra warmth may mean the difference between survival or death, it is obvious why so many thousands of roosting birds choose the city to spend the cold hours of the night. This causes problems to man as the accumulated droppings of thousands of roosting birds over a number of weeks can constitute a serious health hazard.
IELTS General Reading Test
The House sparrow, found in all towns and cities, was first attracted to our streets when the only form of transport was horse-drawn. The sparrows fed on the spilt grain in the streets and lived around the stables, common all over the city. Now that the internal combustion engine has taken over our transport system, the numbers of urban house sparrows has declined.
The common town pigeons we see around us every day have descended from the wild Rock dove found around the coasts but the city birds descended from domestic pigeons which escaped from medieval dovecotes. The Rock doves are a cliff-nesting species as are the town pigeons but they have exploited the ledges and parapets of city buildings, using them in the same way as they would the cliff ledges. The abundance of food, the artificial light and the comparative warmth of the towns also means their breeding season is extended.
IELTS General Reading Test
The starling, house sparrow and town pigeon are all sociable birds which have successfully exploited man’s food and buildings. In fact, they would probably not be able to survive in such large numbers without man. Several other species of birds also live within our urban areas making use of our gardens, parks and waste ground.
The original habitat of these birds was woodland or hedgerow, but because these countryside habitats have been decreasing over the years, many birds have found refuge in our towns and cities. These ‘song birds’, such as blackbirds, thrushes and robins are territorial, which means that each pair of birds needs a patch of land which will provide enough food for them and their babies. Our gardens can provide the rich habitat that these birds need.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 9-14
Classify the following statements as referring to the type of bird as listed below.
Write the appropriate letter A, B or C as answers in the boxes 9-14 on your answer sheet.
NB You can use one letter more than once
A. The starling
B. The house sparrow
C. The town pigeon
IELTS General Reading Test
9. Cliff nesting species which also live on the ledges and parapets of city buildings.
10. Horse drawn transport attracted these species to cities.
11. This species descended from the wild Rock dove found around the coasts.
12. The accumulated droppings of thousands of these birds can constitute a serious health hazard.
13. These birds like to spend the colder nights in cities due to warmth.
14. The modern transport systems have led to a decrease in their numbers in cities.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
1. TOME(S)
2. BAKING
3. INTOLERANCE(S)
4. ONLINE
5. WORKSHOP
6. STUDENTS
7. VEGETARIAN
8. MICHELIN
9. C
10. B
11. C
12. A
13. A
14. B
IELTS General Reading Test