IELTS reading

Reading Test 30

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Section 1

Reading Passage 1

Australia's Platypus

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Of all the creatures on the earth, the Australian platypus, Omithorbynchusparadoxus, is perhaps one of the most mysterious and reclusive. Derived from the Latin platys meaning ‘flat and broad’ and pous meaning ‘foot’, the platypus has long been an iconic symbol of Australia. Upon being discovered in Australia in the 1700s, sketches of this unusual creature were made and sent back to England whereupon they were considered by experts to be a hoax. Indeed, the incredible collection of its body parts – broad, flat tail, rubbery snout, webbed feet and short dense fur – make it one of the world’s most unusual animals. Officially classified as a mammal, the egg-laying platypus is mostly active during the night, a nocturnal animal. As if this combination of characteristics and behaviours were not unusual enough, the platypus is the only Australian mammal known to be venomous. The male platypus has a sharply pointed, moveable spur on its hind foot which delivers a poison capable of killing smaller animals and causing severe pain to humans. The spur – about 2 centimetres in length – is quite similar to the fang of a snake and, if provoked, is used as a means of defence. Those who have been stung by a platypus’ spur report an immediate swelling around the wound followed by increased swelling throughout the affected limb. Excruciating, almost paralysing pain in the affected area accompanies the sting which, in some victims has been known to last for a period of months. One report from a victim who was stung in the palm of the hand states that “…the spur could not be pulled out of the…

Questions 1–5

Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer? In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer, NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer, NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1.The appearance of the platypus caused experts to doubt it was real.

2.The amount of venom in a male platypus changes during the year.

Section 2

Reading Passage 2

Creature Sleeps

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Almost every living creature sleeps. For humans, it is typically something we dislike doing when we are younger and, as we age, something we increasingly look forward to at the end of each day. On the one hand, it is something that we absolutely need to sustain our life and on the other, we tend to feel guilty if we spend more time in bed than we should. Sleep researcher Professor Stanley Limpton believes that 7 hours – the average amount of sleep most people get per night – is not enough. Limpton points out that the average person is now getting 2 hours less sleep than those who lived 100 years ago and contends that this lack of sleep is one of the main reasons so many people are often clumsy, unhappy, irritable and agitated. Other scientists share Limpton’s thinking. Many other researchers feel that we are not getting enough sleep and the negative impacts are being regularly felt around the world in the workplace and in the home. The first experiments in recorded scientific history on the effects of people not getting enough sleep took place in the late 1800s. According to records, three volunteers were deprived of sleep for a total of 90 hours. Later on, in 1920 more experiments in sleep deprivation were conducted by scientists where several people were deprived of sleep for a period of 60 hours. The results of many sleep deprivation experiments have been recorded and conducted by American ‘sleep scientist’ Nathaniel Kleitman. Often referred to as ‘the father of modern sleep research’, Kleitman’s work has formed the foundation for many areas of current sleep research.…

Questions 14–18

Reading Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs, A-F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i-ix in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14.Paragraph B

Section 3

Reading Passage 3

The Search for Fresh Water

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The assertion that water has always been the essence of life is nothing new. Water comes in many forms: spring water, sea and river water, rainwater, and fog and dew water. Yet water is becoming scarce and this scarcity is becoming a very real worry for governments all around the world. The reality is that one of the main obstacles to the economic development of a particular country is its lack of an adequate supply of fresh water. Current figures show that an inhabitant of a wealthy, modern town consumes 100-400 litres of water daily. In some developing countries the amount of water consumed does not exceed 20-30 litres per day. Rich or poor, annual water consumption has continued to grow, increasing fourfold over the last 50 years. The world’s fresh water supplies are drawn from a number of sources. The largest cache of the estimated 35 million km3 fresh water reserve is located in glaciers and snow. The amount contained in these ‘storehouses’ has been estimated to be around 24 million km3. Ground water is also a big contributor to the world’s fresh water supplies amounting to an estimated 10.5 million km3. Considering that the total volume of water, salt and fresh, is estimated to be around 400 million km3 it can be clearly seen that the amount of fresh water available in the world is only the proverbial ‘drop in the bucket՝. Artesian wells, rivers and lakes only account for about 0.1 and 0.5 million km3 respectively, all of which include atmospheric precipitation such as rain and snow. Since water is such an important commodity, various attempts to acquire stores of…

Questions 27–29

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.

27.As a method of obtaining fresh water, fog

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Answers & explanations

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40 answers3 explanations open
  1. 1

    NO

    Looking at the sentence 'sketches of this unusual creature were made and sent back to England whereupon they were considered by experts to be a hoax', hoax means a humorous or malicious deception, so that this sentence means that experts believed that platypus did not exist. Thus the answer is NO.

  2. 2

    YES

    Looking at the sentence 'during the breeding season, the amount of venom in the male platypus increases', this sentence mentioned that the amount of venom in the male platypus increases, so that there are changes in the amount of venom. The breeding season is a period of year. Therefore, the answer is YES.

  3. 3

    NOT GIVEN

    The question is that 'most platypus live in Eastern Australia'; however, the passage only mentions that Platypus surveys have been happened in Eastern Australia, no information that most platypus live here. Thus, the answer is NOT GIVEN.

  4. 4

    NOT GIVEN

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  5. 5

    YES

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  6. 6

    movable spur

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  7. 7

    two buds

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  8. 8

    underground nest

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  9. 9

    rich milk

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  10. 10

    common but vulnerable

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  11. 11

    urban and agricultural

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  12. 12

    food

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  13. 13

    permit

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  14. 14

    v

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  15. 15

    x

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  16. 16

    ix

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  17. 17

    vii

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  18. 18

    i

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  19. 19

    B

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  20. 20

    C

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  21. 21

    A

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  22. 22

    D

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  23. 23

    A

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  24. 24

    D

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  25. 25

    E

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  26. 26

    B

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  27. 27

    D

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  28. 28

    C

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  29. 29

    C

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  30. 30

    B

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  31. 31

    C

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  32. 32

    E

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  33. 33

    A

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  34. 34

    F

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  35. 35

    FALSE

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  36. 36

    FALSE

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  37. 37

    FALSE

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  38. 38

    NOT GIVEN

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  39. 39

    TRUE

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  40. 40

    NOT GIVEN

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