Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 563
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 563 – PASSAGE – 1
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 563
READING PASSAGE – 1
Some of London’s less well-known museums
A. Open seven days a week, the London Transport Museum demonstrates how buses and trains have transformed the daily lives of both residents and visitors since the early nineteenth century. It includes a traditional red double-decker bus and the world’s first steam train that ran underground – as long ago as 1863. It also traces developments in mapping the Underground and the evolution of the London Transport logo.
B. The nineteenth-century engineers Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed and constructed the Thames Tunnel, the first ever tunnel under a river. The Brunel Museum is located in the engine house, where pumps (no longer there) were installed to keep the tunnel dry. The exhibition tells the story of the construction and history of the pedestrian tunnel, which now forms part of the London railway network. The museum is open every day of the week.
IELTS General Reading Test
C. The 3,500 fans in the Fan Museum represent a period of a thousand years and come from around the world; the museum places them in their historical, sociological and economic contexts. They have served as cooling devices, ceremonial tools, fashion accessories, status symbols, commemorative presents and advertising giveaways. The museum will also take orders for fans to be created in its workshops to match your requirements.
D. Dennis Severs’ House has been restored to what it was in the early eighteenth century. It is lit by candles and fires, there is a smell of food being cooked, and sounds from the eighteenth-century street are audible. It seems the occupants will return at any moment. The museum is open on Sunday afternoons and Monday lunchtimes. For a truly magical experience, special ‘Silent Night’ visits are arranged one or two evenings a week, which must be booked in advance.
IELTS General Reading Test
E. The main exhibit in the Kirkaldy Testing Museum is the ‘All Purpose Testing Machine’, designed by the nineteenth-century Scottish engineer David Kirkaldy and still in the laboratory that Kirkaldy built for it. It was designed to test the strength of materials such as bricks, concrete, iron and steel, and made a major contribution to the development of modern material science and mechanical engineering.
Questions 1-8
The text has five sections, A-E.
For which museum are the following statements true?
Write the correct letters, A-E.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. This museum is open on a limited number of days each week.
2. This museum is in a building that originally contained machinery for removing water.
3. The exhibits in this museum include vehicles that were used by the public.
4. This museum provides information about a structure that is now part of a different transport system.
5. This museum contains equipment in its original location.
6. You can arrange to have something made for you at this museum.
7. Some exhibits in this museum show changes in the way a railway system is represented.
8. This museum is designed to appeal to several senses.
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 9-14.
Part-time leisure courses at Whitterham College
Whitterham College has an excellent reputation for its full-time Higher Education courses – designed for people just starting out on their career path or wanting to go to university – and for its part-time courses:
The numerous part-time evening and weekend leisure courses range from sculpture to sailing, foreign languages to forestry. Courses vary in length: some are intensive, two-day sessions, while at the opposite extreme, others last for an hour a week throughout the college year. Each intensive course is offered two or three times during the college year. Please note that for some courses, the fee includes the use of particular equipment or materials.
IELTS General Reading Test
Our aim is to run courses as advertised, but if insufficient people enrol for a particular course, we will have to cancel it. If this happens, we will give you the choice of an appropriate alternative or your money back in full. A course may also be cancelled if it starts and the number of people attending falls below a certain level. In this case, a partial refund will be made.
Leisure courses are a great way to meet people with a similar interest and to develop a hobby – maybe even to gain the knowledge you need to turn it into a career. Several of our tutors are well-known in their fields, and you will be able to benefit from their experience.
IELTS General Reading Test
The minimum age for enrolment on an adult leisure course is sixteen – we also offer classes to children under the age of sixteen.
College facilities, including the café and learning centre, are open to participants in leisure courses during the evening and weekend. Unfortunately, to prevent overcrowding, they are restricted to full-time students until 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Questions 9-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – If there is no information on this
IELTS General Reading Test
9. Intensive courses are repeated more than once.
10. A minimum number of participants are required for a course to run.
11. If the college cancels a course after it has started, participants will be given their money back in full.
12. Some past students have become tutors on the courses.
13. Some courses are especially for children with their parents.
14. Participants in leisure courses can use the learning centre whenever it is open.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
1. D
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. E
6. C
7. A
8. D
9. TRUE
10. TRUE
11. FALSE
12. NOT GIVEN
13. NOT GIVEN
14. FALSE
IELTS General Reading Test