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| IELTS Reading Practice Test-3 With Answers |
READING
PASSAGE 1
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which
are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
The Cacao: A Sweet
History
A Chapter
1
Most
people today think of chocolate as something sweet to eat or drink that can be
easily found in stores around the world. It might surprise you that chocolate
was once highly treasured. The tasty secret of the cacao (Kah Kow) tree was
discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. The
story of how chocolate grew from a local Mesoamerican beverage into a global
sweet encompasses many cultures and continents.
B Chapter
2
Historians
believe the Maya people of Central America first learned to farm cacao plants
around two thousand years ago. The Maya took cacao trees from the rainforests
and grew them in their gardens. They cooked cacao seeds, the crushed them into
a soft paste. They mixed the paste with water and flavorful spices to make an
unsweetened chocolate drink. The Maya poured the chocolate drink back and forth
between two containers so that the liquid would have a layer of bubbles or
foam.
Cacao
and chocolate were an important part of Maya culture. There are often images of
cacao plants on Maya buildings and art objects. Ruling families drank chocolate
at special ceremonies. And, even poorer members of society could enjoy the
drink once in a while. Historians believe that cacao seeds were also used in
marriage ceremonies as a sign of the union between a husband and a wife.
The
Aztec culture in current-day Mexico also prized chocolate. But, cacao plants
could not grow in the area where the Aztecs lived. So, they traded to get
cacao. They even used cacao seeds as a form of money to pay taxes. Chocolate
also played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events.
Priests presented cacao seeds and offerings to the gods and served chocolate
drinks during sacred ceremonies. Only the very wealthy in Aztec societies could
afford to drink chocolate because cacao was so valuable. The Aztec ruler
Montezuma was believed to drink fifty cups of chocolate every day. Some experts
believe the word for chocolate came from the Aztec word “xocolatl” which in the
Nahuatl language means “bitter water.” Others believe the word “chocolate” was
created by combining Mayan and Nahuatl words.
C Chapter
3
The
explorer Christopher Columbus brought cacao seeds to Spain after his trip to
Central America in 1502. But it was the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes who
understood that chocolate could be a valuable investment. In 1519, Cortes
arrived in current-day Mexico. He believed the chocolate drink would become
popular with Spaniards. After the Spanish soldiers defeated the Aztec empire,
they were able to seize the supplies of cacao and send them home. Spain later
began planting cacao in its colonies in the Americans in order to satisfy the
large demand for chocolate. The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a
sweetened version of chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread
throughout Europe. The English, Dutch and French began to plant cacao trees in
their own colonies. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could
afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the
Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to
produce.
D Chapter
4
Farmers
grow cacao trees in many countries in Africa, Central and South America. The
trees grow in the shady areas of the rainforests near the Earth’s equator. But
these trees can be difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water,
warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cacao trees start
producing large fruits called pods, which grow near the trunk of the tree. The
seeds inside the pods are harvested to make chocolate. There are several kinds
of cacao trees. Most of the world’s chocolate is made from the seed of the
forastero tree. But farmers can also grow criollo or trinitario cacao plants.
Cacao trees grown on farms are much more easily threatened by diseases and
insects than wild trees. Growing cacao is very hard work for farmers. They sell
their harvest on a futures market. This means that economic conditions beyond
their control can affect the amount of money they will earn. Today, chocolate
industry officials, activists, and scientists are working with farmers. They
are trying to make sure that cacao can be grown in a way that is fair to the
timers and safe for the environment.
E Chapter
5
To
become chocolate, cacao seeds go through a long production process in a
factory. Workers must sort, clean and cook the seeds. Then they break off the
covering of the seeds so that only the inside fruit, or nibs, remain. Workers
crush the nibs into a soft substance called chocolate liquor. This gets
separated into cocoa solids and fat called cocoa butter. Chocolate makers have
their own special recipes in which they combine chocolate liquor with exact
amounts of sugar, milk and cocoa fat. They finely crush this “crumb” mixture in
order to make it smooth. The mixture then goes through two more processes
before it is shaped into a mold form.
Chocolate
making is big business. The market value of the yearly cacao crop around the
world is more than five billion dollars. Chocolate is especially popular in
Europe and the United States. For example, in 2005, the United States bought
1.4 billion dollars worth of cocoa products. Each year, Americans eat an
average of more than five kilograms of chocolate per person. Speciality shops
that sell costly chocolates are also very popular. Many offer chocolate lovers
the chance to taste chocolates grown in different areas of the world.
Questions
1-5
Reading
passage 1 has 5 chapters. Which chapter contains the following information?
Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet
1 the part of
cacao trees used to produce chocolate
2 average
chocolate consumption by people in the US per person per year
3 risks faced
by fanners in the cacao business
4 where the
first sweetened chocolate drink appeared
5 how ancient
American civilizations obtained cacao
Questions
6-10
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement is true
FALSE
if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
6 use cacao and
chocolate in ceremonies were restricted Maya royal families
7 The Spanish
explorer Hernando Cortes invested in chocolate and chocolate drinks.
8 The forastero
tree produces the best chocolate.
9 some parts in
cacao seed are get rid of during the chocolate process
10 Chocolate is
welcomed more in some countries or continents than other parts around the
world.
Questions
11-14
The
flow chart below shows the steps in chocolate making.
Complete
the flow chart using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each blank
Write
your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.
Cacao
seeds
↓
sorting, cleaning and cooking ridding seeds of their 11…………………..
Nibs
↓
crushing
12…………………
↓
Add sugar, milk and 13……………….
Crumb
mixture
↓
Crush finely then come into a shape in a 14……………….
chocolate
READING
PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27 which
are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Cosmetics in Ancient Past
A
Since
cosmetics and perfumes are still in wide use today, it is interesting to
compare the attitudes, customs and beliefs related to them in ancient times to
those of our own day and age. Cosmetics and perfumes have been popular since
the dawn of civilization; it is shown by the discovery of a great deal of
pertinent archaeological material, dating from the third millennium BC.
Mosaics, glass perfume flasks, stone vessels, ovens, cooking-pots, clay jars,
etc., some inscribed by the hand of the artisan. Evidence also appears in the
Bible and other classical writings, where it is written that spices and
perfumes were prestigious products known throughout the ancient world and
coveted by kings and princes. The written and pictorial descriptions, as well
as archaeological findings, all show how important body care and aesthetic
appearance were in the lives of the ancient people. The chain of evidence spans
many centuries, detailing the usage of cosmetics in various cultures from the
earliest period of recorded history.
B
In
antiquity, however, at least in the onset, cosmetics served in religious
ceremonies and for healing purposes. Cosmetics were also connected with cultic
worship and witchcraft: to appease the various gods, fragrant ointments were
applied to the statuary images and even to their attendants. From this, in the
course of time, developed the custom of personal use, to enhance the beauty of
the face and the body, and to conceal defects.
C
Perfumes
and fragrant spices were precious commodities in antiquity, very much in
demand, and at times even exceeded silver and gold in value. Therefore, they
were luxury products, used mainly in the temples and in the homes of the noble
and wealthy. The Judean kings kept them in treasure houses (2 Kings 20:13). And
the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon “camels laden with spices, gold in great
quantity and precious stones.” (1 Kings 10:2, 10). However, within time, the
use of cosmetics became the custom of that period. The use of cosmetics became
widespread among the lower classes as well as among the wealthy; in the same
way, they washed the body, so they used to care for the body with substances
that softened the skin and anoint it with fragrant oils and ointments.
D
Facial
treatment was highly developed and women devoted many hours to it. They used to
spread various scented creams on the face and to apply makeup in vivid and
contrasting colors. An Egyptian papyrus from the 16th century BC contains
detailed recipes to remove blemishes, wrinkles, and other signs of age. Greek
and Roman women would cover their faces in the evening with a “beauty mask” to
remove blemishes, which consisted mainly of flour mixed with fragrant spices,
leaving it on their face all night. The next morning, they would wash it off
with asses’ milk. The very common creams used by women in the ancient Far East,
particularly important in the hot climate and prevalent in that area of the
globe, were made up of oils and aromatic scents. Sometimes the oil in these
creams was extracted from olives, almonds, gourds, sesame, or from trees and
plants; but, for those of limited means, scented animal and fish fats were
commonly used.
E
Women
in the ancient past commonly put colors around their eyes. Besides
beautification, its purpose was also medicinal as covering the sensitive skin
of the lids with colored ointments that prevented dryness and eye diseases: the
eye-paint repelled the little flies that transmitted eye inflammations.
Egyptian women colored the upper eyelid black and the lower one green and
painted the space between the upper lid and the eyebrow gray and blue. The
women of Mesopotamia favored yellows and reds. The use of kohl for painting the
eyes is mentioned three times in the Bible, always with disapproval by the
sages (2 Kings, 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). In contrast, Job named one
of his daughters “Keren Happukh”- “horn of eye paint” (Job 42:14)
F
Great
importance was attached to the care for hair in ancient times. Long hair was
always considered a symbol of beauty, and kings, nobles and dignitaries grew
their hair long and kept it well-groomed and cared for. Women devoted much time
to the style of the hair; while no cutting, they would apply much care to it by
arranging it skillfully in plaits and “building it up” sometimes with the help
of wigs. Egyptian women generally wore their hair flowing down to their
shoulders or even longer. In Mesopotamia, women cherished long hair as a part
of their beauty, and hair flowing down their backs in a thick plait and tied
with a ribbon is seen in art. Assyrian women wore their hair shorter, braiding
and binding it in a bun at the back. In Ancient Israel, brides would wear their
hair long on the wedding day as a sign of their virginity. Ordinary people and
slaves, however, usually wore their hair short, mainly for hygienic reasons,
since they could not afford to invest in the kind of treatment that long hair
required.
G
From
the Bible and Egyptian and Assyrian sources, as well as the words of classical
authors, it appears that the centers of the trade-in aromatic resins and
incense were located in the kingdoms of southern Arabia, and even as far as
India, where some of these precious aromatic plants were grown. “Dealers from
Sheba and Rammah dealt with you, offering the choicest spices…” (Ezekiel
27:22). The Nabateans functioned as the important middlemen in this trade;
Palestine also served as a very important component, as the trade routes
crisscrossed the country. It is known that the Egyptian Queen Hatsheput (15th
century BC) sent a royal expedition to the Land of Punt (Somalia) in order to
bring back myrrh seedlings to plant in her temple. In Assyrian records of
tribute and spoils of war, perfumes and resins are mentioned; the text from the
time of Tukulti-Ninurta II (890-884 BC) refers to balls of myrrh as a part of
the tribute brought to the Assyrian king by the Aramaean kings. The trade-in
spices and perfumes are also mentioned in the Bible as written in Genesis
(37:25-26), “Camels carrying gum tragacanth and balm and myrrh”.
Questions
15-21
Reading
Passage 2 has 7 paragraphs A-G
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer
sheet.
15 recipes to
conceal facial defects caused by aging
16 perfumes were
presented to conquerors in war
17 long hair of
girls had special meanings in marriage
18 evidence
exists in abundance showing cosmetics use in ancient times
19 protecting
eyes from fly-transmitted diseases
20 from
witchcraft to beautification
21 more expensive than gold
Question
22-27
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement is true
FALSE
if the statement is false
NOT
GIVEN
if the information is not given in the passage
22 The written
record for cosmetics and perfumes dates back to the third millennium BC.
23 Since
perfumes and spices were luxury products, their use was exclusive to the noble
and the wealthy.
24 In the
ancient Far East, fish fats were used as a cream by a woman from poor
households.
25 The teachings
in the Bible were repeatedly against the use of kohl for painting the eyes.
26 Long hair as
a symbol of beauty was worn solely by women of ancient cultures
27 The Egyptian
Queen Hatsheput sent a royal expedition to Punt to establish a trade route for
myrrh
READING
PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are
based on Reading Passage 3 below.
The Secrets of
Persuasion
A
Our
mother may have told you the secret to getting what you ask for was to say
please. The reality is rather more surprising. Adam Dudding talks to a
psychologist who has made a life’s work from the science of persuasion. Some
scientists peer at things through high-powered microscopes. Others goad rats
through mazes or mix bubbling fluids in glass beakers. Robert Cialdini, for his
part, does curious things with towels and believes that by doing so he is
discovering important insights into how society works.
B
Cialdini’s
towel experiments (more of them later), are part of his research into how we
persuade others to say yes. He wants to know why some people have a knack for
bending the will of others, be it a telephone cold-caller talking to you about
timeshares, or a parent whose children are compliant even without threats of
extreme violence. While he’s anxious not to be seen as the man who’s written
the bible for snake-oil salesmen, for decades the Arizona State University
social psychology professor has been creating systems for the principles and
methods of persuasion and writing bestsellers about them. Some people seem to
be born with the skills; Cialdini’s claim is that by applying a little science,
even those of us who aren’t should be able to get our own way more often. “All
my life I’ve been an easy mark for the blandishment of salespeople and
fundraisers and I’d always wondered why they could get me to buy things I
didn’t want and give to causes I hadn’t heard of,” says Cialdini on the phone
from London, where his is plugging his latest book.
C
He
found that laboratory experiments on the psychology of persuasion were telling
only part of the story, so he began to research influence in the real world,
enrolling in sales-training programmes: “I learnt how to sell automobiles from
a lot, how to sell insurance from an office, how to sell encyclopedias door to
door.” He concluded there were six general “principles of influence” and has
since put them to the test under slightly more scientific conditions. Most recently,
that has meant messing about with towels. Many hotels leave a little card in
each bathroom asking guests to reuse towels and thus conserve water and
electricity and reduce pollution. Cialdini and his colleagues wanted to test
the relative effectiveness of different words on those cards. Would guests be
motivated to co-operate simply because it would help save the planet, or were
other factors more compelling? To test this, the researchers changed the card’s
message from an environmental one to the simple (and truthful) statement that
the majority of guests at the hotel had reused their towel at least once.
Guests given this message were 26% more likely to reuse their towels than those
given the old message. In Cialdini’s book “Yes! 50 Secrets from the
Science of Persuasion”, co-written with another social
scientist and a business consultant, he explains that guests were responding to
the persuasive force of “social proof”, the idea that our decisions are
strongly influenced by what we believe other people like us are doing.
D
So
much for towels. Cialdini has also learnt a lot from confectionery. Yes! Cites
the work of New Jersey behavioural scientist David Strohmetz, who wanted to see
how restaurant patrons would respond to ridiculously small favour from their
food server, in the form of after-dinner chocolate for each diner. The secret,
it seems, is in how you give the chocolate. When the chocolates arrived in a
heap with the bill, tips went up a miserly 3% compared to when no chocolate was
given. But when the chocolates were dropped individually in front of each
diner, tips went up 14%. The scientific breakthrough, though, came when the
waitress gave each diner one chocolate, headed away from the table then doubled
back to give them one more each as if such generosity had only just occurred to
her. Tips went up 23%. This is “reciprocity” in action: we want to return
favours done to us, often without bothering to calculate the relative value of
what is being received and given.
E
Geeling
Ng, operations manager at Auckland’s Soul Bar, says she’s never heard of Kiwi
waiting staff using such a cynical trick, not least because New Zealand tipping
culture is so different from that of the US: “If you did that in New Zealand,
as diners were leaving, they’d say ‘can we have some more?” ‘But she certainly
understands the general principle of reciprocity. The way to a diner’s heart is
“to give them something they’re not expecting in the way of service. It might
be something as small as leaving a mint on their plate, or it might be
remembering that last time they were in they wanted their water with no ice and
no lemon. “In America, it would translate into an instant tip. In New Zealand,
it translates into a huge smile and thanks to you.” And no doubt, return visits.
THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION
F
Reciprocity: People want to give
back to those who have given to them. The trick here is to get in first. That’s
why charities put a crummy pen inside a mailout, and why smiling women in
supermarkets hand out dollops of free food. Scarcity: People want more of
things they can have less of. Advertisers ruthlessly exploit scarcity (“limit
four per customer”, “sale must end soon”), and Cialdini suggests parents do
too: “Kids want things that are less available, so say ‘this is an unusual
opportunity; you can only have this for a certain time’.”
G
Authority: We trust people who know what they’re
talking about. So, inform people honestly of your credentials before you set
out to influence them. “You’d be surprised how many people fail to do that,”
says Cialdini. “They feel it’s impolite to talk about their expertise.” In one
study, therapists whose patients wouldn’t do their exercises were advised to
display their qualification certificates prominently. They did and experienced
an immediate leap in patient compliance.
H
Commitment/consistency: We want to act in a
way that is consistent with the commitments we have already made. Exploit this
to get a higher sign-up rate when soliciting charitable donations. First, ask
workmates if they think they will sponsor you on your egg-and-spoon marathon.
Later, return with the sponsorship form to those who said yes and remind them
of their earlier commitment.
I
Linking: We say yes more often to people we
like. Obvious enough, but reasons for “linking” can be weird. In one study,
people were sent survey forms and asked to return them to a named researcher.
When the researcher gave a fake name resembling that of the subject (eg,
Cynthia Johnson is sent a survey by “Cindy Johansen”), surveys were twice as
likely to be completed. We favour people who resemble us, even if the resemblance
is as minor as the sound of their name.
J
Social proof: We decide what to
do by looking around to see what others just like us are doing. Useful for
parents, says Cialdini. “Find groups of children who are behaving in a way that
you would like your child to, because the child looks to the side, rather than
at you.” More perniciously, social proof is the force underpinning the
competitive materialism of “keeping up with the Joneses”
Questions
28-31
Choose
the correct letter A, B, C or D.
28 The main
purpose of Cialdini’s research of writing is to
A
explain the reason way researcher should investigate in person
B
explore the secret that why some people become the famous salesperson
C help
people to sale products
D prove
maybe there is a science in the psychology of persuasion
29 Which of the
statement is CORRECT according to Cialdini’s research methodology
A he
checked data in a lot of latest books
B he
conducted this experiment in the laboratory
C he
interviewed and contract with many salespeople
D he
made lot phone calls collecting what he wants to know
30 Which of the
following is CORRECT according to towel experiment in the passage?
A
Different hotel guests act in a different response
B Most
guests act by the idea of environment preservation
C more
customers tend to cooperate as the message requires than simply act
environmentally
D people
tend to follow the hotel’s original message more
31 Which of the following is CORRECT according to the candy shop experiment in the passage?
A
Presenting way affects diner’s tips
B
Regular customer gives tips more than irregulars
C People give tips only when offered chocolate
D
Chocolate with bill got higher tips
Questions
32-35
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement is true
FALSE
if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN
if the information is not given in the passage
32 Robert
Cialdini experienced “principles of influence” himself in realistic life.
33 Principle of
persuasion has different types in different countries.
34 In New
Zealand, people tend to give tips to attendants after being served chocolate.
35 Elder
generation of New Zealand is easily attracted by extra service of restaurants
by the principle of reciprocity.
Questions
36-40
Use
the information in the passage to match the category (listed A-E) with correct
description below.
Write
the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 36-40 on
answer sheet.
NB You may
use any letter more than once.
A Reciprocity of
scarcity
B Authority
C previous comment
D Linking
36 Some expert
may reveal qualification in front of clients.
37 Parents tend
to say something that other kids are doing the same.
38 Advertisers
ruthlessly exploit the limitation of chances.
39 Use a
familiar name in a survey.
40 Ask
colleagues to offer a helping hand
ANSWERS
1. D
2. E
3. D
4. C
5. B
6. FALSE
7. NOT GIVEN
8. NOT GIVEN
9. TRUE
10. TRUE
11. Covering
12. Chocolate liquor
13. Cocoa fat
14. Mold (form)
15. D
16. G
17. F
18. A
19. E
20. B
21. C
22. NOT GIVEN
23. FALSE
24. TRUE
25. TRUE
26. FALSE
27. NOT GIVEN
28. D
29. C
30. C
31. A
32. YES
33. NOT GIVEN
34. NO
35. NOT GIVEN
36. B
37. E
38. A
39. D
40. C
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