Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Practice Test 169
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 169 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 169
READING PASSAGE – 2
SAVANTS
Super heroes like Superman have powers that are the envy of many children and even adults. Yet, we don’t have to read comic books to find people with super powers. These
1. Leslie Lemke
Born blind, he was 15 when he eventually learnt how to walk. When he was 16 he played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. after hearing this piece of music on the television the previous night. He is now able to play any piece of music simply by listening to it once.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
2. Orlando Serrell
He was not born a savant. He was ten years old when he was hit on the head with a baseball. Since then he has been able to perform complicated calendar calculations and remember the weather every day from the day of the accident.
3. Kim Peek
Kim was the inspiration for the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the Rain Man. His nickname is “Kimputer” because he has read over 12,000 books and remembers everything about them. He reads two pages at once – his left eye reads the left page and his right eye reads the right page – in 3 seconds!
4. Stephen Wiltshire
When he was nine he learnt to talk but before this he had already developed a love for drawing. After a helicopter ride in Tokyo he drew an accurate and detailed view of the city on a piece of paper 10 metres long!
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
5. Ellen Boudreaux
Like Leslie Lemke, Ellen Boudreaux is a blind autistic savant with exceptional musical abilities. She can play music perfectly after hearing it just once. She can also walk around without bumping into things. She does this by making little chirping sounds that seem to act like a human sonar.
6. Daniel Tammet
Daniel is exceptionally gifted mathematically and linguistically. He can speak 11 languages fluently and learnt one of them, Icelandic, in 7 days. He appears normal but Daniel contends that he actually had to will himself to learn how to talk to and behave around people.
Questions 15-21
Look at the following statements and the list of savants below. Match each statement with the correct savant, A-F.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
Savants
A. Leslie Lemke
B. Orlando Serrell
C. Kim Peek
D. Stephen Wiltshire
E. Ellen Boudreaux
F. Daniel Tammet
15. This savant reminds people of a computer as everything he reads he remembers.
16. This savant learnt one language very quickly and speaks many more.
17. This savant developed extraordinary powers after an accident.
18. This savant plays the piano.
19. This savant inspired a movie.
20. This savant avoids falling over with sonar like ability.
21. This savant loves to draw buildings with incredible accuracy.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 22-27.
Job Sharing
Job sharing is the perfect solution for people who want to carry on with their career but also raise a family. Before you do it you need to learn a few things as it can be more difficult than it might seem.
Job Sharing Is Like Marriage
When looking for a job share partner you need to look for someone that is the perfect teammate. You don’t need to find someone who is a carbon copy of you but certainly they need to have a similar professional style, work ethic, and standards as you.
Job Sharing Relies on Communication
For a job share to work smoothly and efficiently you must work like one person. The transition from one person to another, from one day to the next must be seamless. Sharing information successfully can be done by setting up a shared email account, and using the same filing system to organise computer and paper files.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
Be Flexible
No matter how well organized your schedule is things happen. Your child needs to visit the dentist. A friend flies in to visit you. A hundred and one reasons why you can’t be at work tomorrow. If you have a good job sharing relationship then your partner will cover for you.
Job Sharing Means Less Income
This might be obvious but when you job share you not only share the work but you also share the income. That’s right you will only get half the income maybe even less if you decide to do less than half the work.
You Share Accomplishments
Just as in a marriage many things you do, probably all the things you do, will be achieved because of you and your job share partner. In other words, you must share any praise for accomplishments.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
Your Circumstances May Change
No matter how much you like your job, things change and so your commitment to it might also change. Things that you can’t predict now might make you think about getting a fulltime job again; your spouse might move to another city, you decide to go back to university who knows what the future might bring?
Questions 22-27
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
You don’t have to find an exact copy of you when looking for a job share partner but they must have similar (22)……… A successful job share means being able to share information with the same filing system so that each day flows into another in a (23)……… manner. One thing is certain and that is no matter how well prepared you are (24)………… will happen. An important thing to remember is that when you job share you won’t get the (25)………… of a fulltime job. In a job share you can no longer accept all the (26)……… . You might not always have the same (27)………. because your life might be moving in another direction.
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
ANSWERS
15. C
16. F
17. B
18. A
19. C
20. E
21. D
IELTS General Reading Practice Test
22. STANDARDS
23. SEAMLESS
24. THINGS
25. INCOME
26. PRAISE
27. COMMITMENT
IELTS General Reading Practice Test