READING PRACTICE

READING PRACTICE 7
IELTS Reading

Exercise 1:
The world’s friendliest city
A team of social psychologists from California has spent six years studying the reactions of people in cities
around the world to different situations. The results show that cities where people have less money generally
have friendlier populations. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which is often known for its crime, comes out top, and the
capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, comes third.
But what makes one city friendlier than another? The psychologists from California State University say it has
got more to do with environment than culture or nationality.
They carried out a study into the way locals treated strangers in 23 cities around the world. The team conducted
their research through a series of tests, where they dropped pens or pretended they were blind and needed help
crossing the street.
The study concludes that people are more helpful in cities with a more r elaxed way of life such as Rio. While
they were there, researchers received help in 93 percent of cases, a nd the percentage in Lilongwe was only a
little lower. However, richer cities such as Amsterdam and New York are considered the least friendly.
Inhabitants of Amsterdam helped the researchers in 53 percent of cases and in New York just 44 percent. The
psychologists found that, in these cities, people tend to be short of time, so they hu
rry and often ignore strangers.
Adapted from an article by Victoria Harrison, BBC News
Advice - Table completion:
Quickly look for words and phrases in the passage which means the same as words and phrases in the table
(for example: not many – few, well-known – famous) then read around those words carefully.
Copy the words from the passage into the table exactly as you see them.

Now complete the table. Choose ONE word from the passage for each answer.
City positive aspects negative aspects % of help received
Rio de Janeiro -friendly inhabitants -People don’t have so 93%
-more 1 ___relaxed__ much 2_money____.
lifestyle -Has reputation for
3 _____.
Amsterdam and New - richer People ... Amsterdam: 53%
York -have little 4 New York: 44%
friendliness____.
-don’t pay attention
to 5 _strangers____.

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Exercise 2:
The happiest country in the world
Children growing up in Costa Rica are surrounded by some of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes in the
world. Preserving tropical rainforests isn’t Costa Rica’s only success, because the government also makes sure
everyone has access to health-care and education. So when the New Economics Foundation released its second
Happy Planet Index, Costa Rica came out number one. The index is a ranking of countries based on their impact
on the environment and the health and happiness of their citizens.
According to Mariano Rojas, a Costa Rican economics professor, Costa Rica is a mid-income country where
citizens have plenty of time for themselves and for their relationships with others. ‘A mid-income level allows
most citizens to satisfy their basic needs. The government makes sure that all Costa Ricans have access to
education, health and nutrition services.’ Costa Ricans, he believes, are not interested in status or spending
money to show how successful they are.
Created in 2008, the Happy Planet Index examines happiness on a national level and ranks 14-3 countries
according to three measurements: their citizens’ happiness, how long they live (which reflects their health), and
how much of the planet’s resources each country consumes. According to researcher Saamah Abdallah, the
Index also measures the outcomes that are most important, and those are happy, healthy lives for everyone.
Adapted from Yes! Magazine
Advice - Note completion
- Read the title of the notes first and find the right places in the passage.
- Carefully read the parts of the passage which deal with the key ideas in the questions - the answers may not
come in passage order.

Now complete the notes. Choose ONE WORD OR NUMBER from the passage for each gap.
The Happy Planet Index
Year started: 1 _____
Number of countries it lists: 2 _____
Measures each country's happiness according to:
- its effect on the 3 _____ (i.e. the quantity of the Earth's 4 _____ that it uses);
- the 5 _____ of the population (i.e. how long people live);
- how happy its 6 _____ are.

Exercise 3:
Freya Stark, explorer and writer
Freya Stark travelled to many areas of the Middle East, often alone.
Freya Stark was an explorer who lived during a time when explorers were regarded as heroes. She travelled to
distant areas of the Middle East, where few Europeans - especially women - had travelled before. She also
travelled extensively in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Nepal and Afghanistan.
Stark was born in Paris in 1893. Although she had no formal education as a child, she moved about with her
artist parents and learned French, German and Italian. She entered London University in 1912, but at the start
of World War I, she joined the nurse corps and was sent to Italy. After the war, she returned to London and

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attended the School of Oriental Studies. Her studies there led to extensive travel in the Middle East, enabling
her to eventually become fluent in Persian, Russian and Turkish.
Stark became well known as a traveller and explorer in the Middle East. She travelled to the Lebanon in 1927
at the age of 33 when she had saved enough money, and while there, she studied Arabic. In 1928, she travelled
by donkey to the Jebel Druze, a mountainous area in Syria. During another trip, she went to a distant region of
the Elburz, a mountain range in Iran, where she made a map. She was searching for information about an ancient
Muslim sect known as the Assassins, which she wrote about in Valley of the Assassins (1934), a cl assic for
which she was awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Geographic Society. For the next 12 years, she continued
her career as a traveller and writer, establishing a tsyle which combined an account of her journeys with personal
commentary on the people, places, customs, history and politics of the Middle East.
Adapted from Science and its times
Read the passage again and complete the flow chart. Choose NO MORE THAN TWOWORDS AND/OR
A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Exam advice Flow-chart completion
- Decide what information you need in each gap.
- Spell your answers correctly.
Freya Stark

Born in Paris in 1893

Ð
First formal education at 1. London
University
Ð
Worked as a 2.nurse cop in Italy
Ð
Studied at School of Oriental Studies
Ð
Travelled to the Lebanon, where she learned 3.
Arabic
Ð
Made a journey to the Syrian mountains on a 4donkey
Ð
In 1934, won a 5.Gold Medal for a book
Ð
Spent a further 6. travel in the Middle East

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Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Exam advice Short-answer questions
• Underline the key ideas in each question.
• Read the passage quickly to find where each key idea is dealt with, then read carefully.
• Copy the words and/or numbers you need from the passage exactly.
1 What word did people use to describe explorers when Stark was alive?
2 What historical event interrupted Stark’s university education?
3 What did Stark produce while travelling in Iran, in addition to a book?
4 What group of people did Stark research in Iran?

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EXTRA PRACTICE 4
For questions 1-15, read the text below and decide which answer A,B,C or D best fits each space.
Take care, it’s a jungle out there
The sight of young children playing happily in the garden is a joy to behold and, since an Englishman’s home
is his castle, it is widely regarded that they can come to no (1) _____ there. However, if asked about possible
dangers, parents will admit that children could be stung by a (2) _____ of bees or (3) _____ themselves on the
rosebushes, but these are not (4) _____ occurrences. In most people’s (5) _____, being (6) _____ home means
staying safe.
Unfortunately, the (7) _____ points to quite a different story. About four thousand British toddlers, some of (8)
_____ have to spend time in hospital because their (9) _____ is considered serious, are poisoned by plants each
year. In order to combat this danger, there should be a (10) _____ awareness of which plants are seriously
poisonous. Very often the flowers that are the most attractive are the most lethal, but it’s no (11) _____ trying
to get this (12) _____ to a small child because tasting flowers is quite natural. After all, the child is simply
exploring.
It is clear that safety in the garden depends on parents paying close (13) _____ to what their children are doing.
When they are quiet, it often means they are (14) _____ up to something and require supervision. Although
medical science in this day and (15) _____ is likely to prevent a fatality, leaving children unattended in the
garden is too big a risk to take.

1 a. injury b. harm c. damage d. hurt

2 a. swarm b. pack c. flock d. shoal
3 a. sprain b. scratch c. scar d. bruise
4 a. common b. conventional c. often d. usual
5 a. approval b. attitude c. opinion d. statement
6 a. to b. in, c. at d. inside
7 a. fact b. proof c. testimony d. evidence
8 a. whom b. them c. whose d. which
9 a. position b. condition c. situation d. location
10 a. general b. straightforward c. typical d. usual
11 a. worth b. point c. use d. problem
12 a. back b. over c. into d. across
13 a. notice b. attention c. attendance d. care
14 a. going b. getting c. staying d. breaking
15 a. time b. term c. age d. period

For questions 16-30, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one
word in each space.
A man with a vision
Stamford Raffles was born aboard a ship off the coast of Jamaica in 1781. Instead (16) _____ attending
university, he worked for the East India Company (17) _____ a clerk and studied hard in his spare (I8) _____.
At the age of thirty, he became lieutenant governor of java, (19) _____ he employed zoologists and botanists
(20) _____ discover all they could about the animals and plants on the islands. Raffles himself acquired a large

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collection of animals, including a Malayan sun bear that was brought (21) _____ with his children. The bear
often joined Raffles for dinner, (22) _____ fruit and drinking champagne.
On a trip to Europe in 1817, Raffles visited a scientific institution for the study of plants and animals. It was
this visit (23) _____ gave him the idea for the forming of a collection of living animals. (24) _____ founding
the colony of Singapore in 1819, Raffles (25) _____ together with several influential scientists and aristocrats
(26) _____ listened carefully to the ideas he so strongly believed (27) _____. Raffles (28) _____ in convincing
these people that his ideas were sound and they voted him president of the Zoological Society of London.
Raffles died suddenly from a stroke in 1826. Sadly, the man (29) _____ idea it was to start London Zoo did not
see its opening two years (30) _____, in 1828.

For questions 31-40, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence,
using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including
the word given. There is an example at the beginning.
31 I’m still waiting for her decision.
decided
She _________________________ to do yet.
32 You are not allowed to take these documents out of the library.
remain
These documents _________________________ the library.
33 There weren’t many apples on the tree.
few
There _________________________ on the tree.
34 I’ve only got a little luggage so I don’t need a trolley.
much
I _________________________ luggage, so I don’t need a trolley.
35 They are going to demolish the old shoe factory next month.
pulled
The old shoe factory is _________________________ next month.
36 I am sure he has told her my secret.
must
He _________________________ my secret
37 There were only a few people at the party.
many
There _________________________ at the party.
38 Some of the paintings are still for sale.
been
Some of the paintings _________________________ yet.
39 He bought me a computer because I wanted to work at home.
so
He bought me a computer _________________________ work at home.
40 The goods cannot leave the factory unless there is a signature on these papers.
signed
These papers _________________________ the goods can leave the factory.
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For questions 41-55, read the text below and look carefully at each time. Some of the lines are correct
and some have a word which should not be there. If a line is correct, put a tick in the margin on the
right. If a line has a word which should not be there, underline the word and write it in the margin on
the right. There are two examples at the beginning (0 and 00).
Teenagers' spending habits
0 It is a well-known fact that teenagers today have
00 greater spending power than they got used to have, got
41 It is also known that they have more things to _____
42 spend their money on so they get out through it _____
43 faster. Parents normally give to their children pocket _____
44 money at the weekend so most of them go for _____
45 shopping on Saturday. Among the things that they do _____
46 usually buy are CDs, computer games and clothes. If _____
47 they have any of money left, they go to the cinema or _____
48 a cafeteria. By the time they go back to school or college on _____
49 Monday, very few of them have anything left. This _____
50 obviously means that the teenagers who they save _____
51 money are in the minority. It seems the more the money they _____
52 get, the faster they spend it. Nowadays another one common _____
53 trend is teenagers with credit cards. It is not being unusual _____
54 to see them to spend large sums of money on clothes _____
55 which they are then paid for by their parents. _____

You are going to read a newspaper article about an adventure centre. Choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which you think fits best according to the text.
A family adventure centre
I’m focused. Completely terrified, but focused. I’ve got a tiny area to stand on and beneath me is a 10-metre
drop. To make things worse, the totem pole that I’m trying to climb onto is shaking. With one knee bent on the
top of the pole and the other foot next to it, I slowly stand up with my arms outstretched for balance. Once
upright, my legs are still wobbling but an enormous smile has spread across my face. I shuffle my toes over the
edge. And then I jump. Back on the ground, my knees won’t stop quaking. But for the boys at Head 4 Heights,
an aerial adventure centre in Cirencester, it’s all in a day’s work.
Head 4 Heights, one of the tallest climbing centres in Britain, opened two years ago. It’s the only UK climbing
centre open to the public year-round (the only days it closes are when winds exceed 70 mph, almost enough to
blow you off a totem pole and into one of the lakes). The course was set up by Rod Baber, adventurer
extraordinaire and holder of the world record for scaling the highest peak of every country in Europe in the
shortest time. Rod’s latest plan is to snag the record for North and South America as well, but in between he
starts every day with a clamber round the Cirencester course. His favourite is the ‘Trapeze’ challenge: ‘It still
gets me every time. Eyes dilate, mouth goes dry and adrenalin goes everywhere.’
Although the course is only roughly the size of a tennis court, it packs a lot into a small space. There are four
totem poles (of varying degrees of difficulty according to the holds attached to them), a stairway to heaven (a
giant ladder with an increasing distance between the rungs), two freefall platforms and a trapeze jump. Plans

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for a new 30-metre pole are presently under way. All can be made easier or harder, according to ability, and
incorporated into different challenges, which is why the course has proved a success with families, corporate
days out and the armed forces. More than half who visit return for more and the centre now averages about
1,500 visitors a month.
All ages over five are welcome, but children are the most enthusiastic and ‘far easier to teach than the bankers,’
says Rod. Parents are usually more reluctant to join in. ‘We hear all sorts of excuses,’ says Rod. ‘Everything
from bad knees to “I haven’t trimmed my toenails”.’ The oldest customer was a 78-year-old who arrived with
his son and grandson. When the younger two decided to give it a miss, the grandfather set off to show them
how it was done.
For the most part, though, people start off nervous and only gain confidence as they progress. ‘Everything is
kept very positive. We always tell people to look up not down and to take their time,’ says Rod. ‘We want to
push people outside their comfort zone and into the adventure zone, but we don’t want people to be pushed into
the panic zone, which can be mentally damaging.’
Also reassuring is the 100 per cent safety record. The course was designed and built by Nick Moriarty, an
expert in his field who has constructed 450 courses in 16 countries and trained 2,700 instructors. Key to the
design is the safety-rope system, which ensures that if you do lose your balance or grip, your full-body harness
will guarantee that you float, not fall, back to earth.
What isn’t guaranteed, though, is family harmony. ‘The Leap of Love’ is usually left as the final challenge and
involves two (similarly sized) people squeezing themselves onto a ‘bird table’ at the top of a totem pole, before
jumping in tandem to grab a trapeze. Not everything always goes according to plan. Aside from not arguing,
both people need to be careful not to unbalance each other and must jump at exactly the same time. ‘We do
have some people who have refused to speak to each other afterwards,’ says Rod, ‘but if you can both make it
together, it’s such a buzz.’

56 One problem the writer describes in the first paragraph is that

A. she keeps falling off the totem pole.
B. she is trying to stand on top of a moving object.
C. she cannot get her arms into the right position.
D. she is too nervous to complete the climb.
57 What do we learn about Head 4 Heights in the second paragraph?
A. It remains open even in quite windy conditions.
B. Rod Baber got the idea for it while climbing mountains.
C. It did not initially stay open throughout the year.
D. It is aimed at people who don’t have the chance to climb mountains.
58 What does Rod Baber say about the ‘Trapeze’ challenge?
A. He does it more often than anything else on the course.
B. He always fails to complete it.
C. He continues to find it difficult.
D. He takes a long time to recover after doing it.
59 The writer says that the main reason for the course’s popularity is that
A. the challenges it offers cannot be found anywhere else.
B. new challenges are constantly being added.
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C. it can be completed in a fairly short time.

D. it can be adapted for different people.
60 The people who ‘decided to give it a miss’ are examples of people who
A. find it difficult to do the course.
B. are unwilling to do the course.
C. are easily taught how to do the course.
D. give up while they are doing course.
61 Rod says that the intention of the course is that people taking part
A. learn how to deal with extreme fear.
B. progress as quickly as possible.
C. take risks they might not initially want to take.
D. increase in confidence after repeated visits.
62 The writer uses the phrase ‘Also reassuring’ to emphasize
A. that people benefit from doing the course.
B. how carefully the course has been constructed.
C. that people should not be afraid to do the course.
D. how enthusiastic Rod is about the course.
63 What is said about ‘The Leap of Love’?
A. Most people fail to do it successfully.
B. It can cause people to fall out with each other.
C. It is the hardest challenge on the course.
D. Some people don’t try hard enough to do it.

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