Below you will find a number of IELTS Academic Reading practice tests. All of the practice tests have answer keys with explanations and a short vocabulary for each section. Complete a test to see your IELTS Reading band score. If you want to save a test in PDF or print it, check the print-friendly IELTS Reading tests PDFs.
Note that these test are for reference only. Using the most up-to-date IELTS textbooks is always a good idea. IELTS British Council website is a good place to start looking for practice materials.
IELTS Reading Practice Test 1
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 Bakelite In 1907, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian scientist working in New York, discovered and patented a revolutionary new synthetic material. His invention, which he named 'Bakelite', was of enormous technological importance, and effectively launched the modern plastics industry. The term 'plastic' comes from ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 2
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 The Impact of Wilderness Tourism A The market for tourism in remote areas is booming as never before. Countries all across the world are actively promoting their 'wilderness' regions - such as mountains, Arctic lands, deserts, small islands and wetlands - to high-spending tourists ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 3
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the alarming rate of loss of tropical rainforests. For example, one graphic illustration to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 4
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 Adam's Wine A
Water is the giver and, at the same time, the taker of life. It covers most of the surface of the planet we live on and features large in the development of the human race. On present predictions, it is an ...
Water is the giver and, at the same time, the taker of life. It covers most of the surface of the planet we live on and features large in the development of the human race. On present predictions, it is an ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 5
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 A
They play hard, they play often, and they play to win. Australian sports teams win more than their fair share of titles, demolishing rivals with seeming ease. How do they do it? A big part of the secret is an extensive and ...
They play hard, they play often, and they play to win. Australian sports teams win more than their fair share of titles, demolishing rivals with seeming ease. How do they do it? A big part of the secret is an extensive and ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 6
The old, print-friendly test Section 1 Networking as a concept has acquired what is in all truth an unjustified air of modernity. It is considered in the corporate world as an essential tool for the modern businessperson, as they trot round the globe drumming up business for themselves or a ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 7
The old, print-friendly test Reading Passage 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1. The Value of a College Degree Escalating cost of higher education is causing many to question the value of continuing education beyond high school. Many wonder whether the ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 8
The old, print-friendly test Reading Passage 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-15, which are based on Passage 1 below. Questions 1-5 Reading Passage 1 has five paragraphs, A-E. Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (I-VIII) ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 9
The old, print-friendly test Reading Passage 1 Questions 1-13 The History of Bicycle The bicycle was not invented by one individual or in one country. It took nearly 100 years and many individuals for the modern bicycle to be born. By the end of those 100 years, bicycles had revolutionised ...
IELTS Reading Practice Test 10
The old, print-friendly test Reading Passage 1 Finding the Lost Freedom 1. The private car is assumed to have widened our horizons and increased our mobility. When we consider our children’s mobility, they can be driven to more places (and more distant places) than they could visit without access to ...