IELTS Reading Practice Test 3: Enhance Your Skills with Authentic Exercises

IELTS Reading Practice Test 3 - The IELTS Reading section holds immense importance in assessing candidates' English proficiency and evaluating their ability to comprehend and analyze written information. This article addresses the significance of IELTS Reading practice tests, emphasizing the need for effective preparation in understanding complex passages. With a focus on the IELTS exam structure, it highlights the diverse challenges posed by the Reading section and the necessity of strategic time management. In this article, we discuss in depth the IELTS Reading Practice Test 3 along with the IELTS Reading Practice Test 3 answers. This article contains answers to the IELTS academic reading practice test 3 that includes reading questions from topics such as Eco-Resort Management Practices, TV Addiction, and Music: Language We All Speak all of those which are a part of previous year’s IELTS practice tests released by the examination conducting authorities.

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1. Passage - 1
2. Passage - 2
3. Passage - 3

Candidates are required to read three passages with varying levels of difficulty during the reading portion of the IELTS exam. There are going to be forty questions in all. The sections must be attentively read by the candidates, and they must respond to the questions. IELTS reading practice tests can be rigorously attempted to develop this skill.

To aid candidates in their preparation, this article offers one set of IELTS Reading practice tests, that follow the actual exam's structure and difficulty levels. Whether one seeks IELTS general reading practice tests or specific exam-oriented guidance, these resources provide valuable insights for all needs. The detailed answers and explanations help the candidates to assess and improve their performance, making this article a very useful tool for success in the IELTS Reading section and the broader IELTS exam reading practice.

Passage - 1

Eco-Resort Management Practices

A. Ecotourism is often regarded as a form of nature-based tourism and has become an important alternative source of tourists. In addition to providing the traditional resort-leisure product, it has been argued that ecotourism resort management should have a particular focus on best-practice environmental management, educational and interpretive components, and direct and indirect contributions to the conservation of the natural and cultural environment (Ayala, 1996).

B. Couran Cove Island Resort is a large integrated ecotourism-based resort located south of Brisbane on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. As the world’s population becomes increasingly urbanised, the demand for tourist attractions which are environmentally friendly, and serene and offer amenities of a unique nature, has grown rapidly. Couran Cove Resort, which is one such tourist attraction, is located on South Stradbroke Island, occupying approximately 150 hectares of the island. South Stradbroke Island is separated from the mainland by the Broadwater, a stretch of sea 3 kilometres wide. More than a century ago, there was only one Stradbroke Island, and there were at least four aboriginal tribes living and hunting on the island. Regrettably, most of the original island dwellers were eventually killed by diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, and influenza by the end of the 19th century. The second shipwreck on the island in 1894, and the subsequent destruction of the ship (the Cambus Wallace) because it contained dynamite, caused a large crater in the sandhills on Stradbroke Island. Eventually, the ocean broke through the weakened landform and Stradbroke became two islands. Couran Cove Island Resort is built on one of the world’s few naturally occurring lands, which is home to a wide range of plant communities and one of the largest remaining remnants of the rare Livistona Rainforest left on the Gold Coast. Many mangrove and rainforest areas and Melaleuca Wetlands on South Stradbroke Island (and in Queensland) have been cleared, drained or filled for residential, industrial, agricultural or urban development in the first half of the 20th century. Farmers and graziers finally abandoned South Stradbroke Island in 1939 because the vegetation and the soil conditions there were not suitable for agricultural activities.

Sustainable practices of Courant Cove Resort

C. Being located on an offshore island, the resort is only accessible by means of water transportation. The resort provides hourly ferry service from the marina on the mainland to and from the island. Within the resort, transport modes include walking trails, bicycle tracks, and the beach train.

The reception area is the counter of the shop which has not changed in 8 years at least. The accommodation is an octagonal “Bure”. These are large rooms that are clean but! The equipment is tired and in some cases just working. Our ceiling fan only worked at high speed for example. The beds are hard but clean, there are television, radio, an old air conditioner and a small fridge. These “Bures” are right on top of each other and night noises do carry so be careful what you say and do. The only thing is the mosquitos but if you forget to bring mosquito repellent they sell some on the island.

As an ecotourism-based resort, most of the planning and development of the attraction has been concentrated on the need to co-exist with the fragile natural environment of South Stradbroke Island to achieve sustainable development.

Water and energy management

D. South Stradbroke Island has groundwater at the centre of the island, which has a maximum height of 3 metres above sea level. The water supply is recharged by rainfall and is commonly known as an unconfined freshwater aquifer ( StK/1-). Couran Cove Island Resort obtains its water supply by tapping into this aquifer and extracting it via a bore system. Some of the problems which have threatened the island’s freshwater supply include pollution, contamination, and over-consumption. In order to minimise some of these problems, all laundry activities are carried out on the mainland. The resort considers washing machines as onerous to the island’s freshwater supply, and that the detergents contain a high level of phosphates which are a major source of water pollution. The resort uses LPG-power generation rather than a diesel-powered plant for its energy supply, supplemented by a wind turbine, which has reduced greenhouse emissions by 70% of diesel-equivalent generation methods. Excess heat recovered from the generator is used to heat the swimming pool. Hot water in the eco-cabins and for some of the resort’s vehicles are solar-powered. Water-efficient fittings are also installed in showers and toilets. However, not all the appliances used by the resort are energy efficient, such as refrigerators. Visitors who stay at the resort are encouraged to monitor their water and energy usage via the in-house television systems and are rewarded with prizes (such as a free return trip to the resort) if their usage level is low.

Concluding remarks

E. We examined a case study of good management practice and a pro-active sustainable tourism stance of an eco-resort. In three years of operation, Couran Cove Island Resort has won 23 international and national awards, including the 2001 Australian Tourism Award in the 4-Star Accommodation category. The resort has embraced and has effectively implemented contemporary environmental management practices. It has been argued that the successful implementation of the principles of sustainability should promote long-term social, economic and environmental benefits while ensuring and enhancing the prospects of continued viability for the tourism enterprise. Couran Cove Island Resort does not conform to the characteristics of the Resort Development Spectrum, as proposed by Prideaux (2000). According to Prideaux, the resort should be at least at Phase 3 of the model (the National tourism phase), which describes an integrated resort providing 3-4 star hotel-type accommodation. The primary tourist market in Phase 3 of the model consists mainly of interstate visitors. However, the number of interstate and international tourists visiting the resort is small, with the principal locals and residents from nearby towns and the Gold Coast region. The carrying capacity of Couran Cove does not seem to be of any concern to the Resort management. Given that it is a private commercial ecotourism enterprise, regulating the number of visitors to the resort to minimise the damage done to the natural environment on South Stradbroke Island is not a binding constraint. However, the Resort’s growth will eventually be constrained by its carrying capacity, and quantity control should be incorporated into the management strategy of the resort.

Extracted from - IELTS Reading Practice Sets. Copyright © 2016 by IDP education, British Council and Cambridge Assessment English

QUESTIONS

Questions 1 – 5.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 1 -5 on your answer sheet.

1. The Stradbroke became two islands

A. by the intended destruction of the ship of the Cambus Wallace

B. by an explosion of dynamite on a ship and following natural erosion

C. by the movement of sandhills on Stradbroke Island

D. by the volcanic eruption on the island

2. Why are laundry activities for the resort carried out on the mainland?

A. In order to obtain its water supply via a bore system

B. In order to preserve the water and anti-pollution

C. In order to save the cost of installing onerous washing machines

D. In order to reduce the level of phosphates in the water around

3. What is the major water supplier in South Stradbroke Island is by

A. desalinating the seawater

B. collecting the rainfall

C. transporting from the mainland

D. boring groundwater

4. What is applied for heating water on Couran Cove Island Resort?

A. the LPG-power

B. a diesel-powered plant

C. the wind power

D. the solar-power

5. What does, as the managers of resorts believe, the prospective future focus on?

A. more awards for the resort’s accommodation

B. sustainable administration and development in the long run

C. Economic and environmental benefits for the tourism enterprise

D. successful implementation of the Resort Development Spectrum

Questions 6-10

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

Being located away from the mainland, tourists can attain the resort only by 6…………………………………………………………. in regular service. Within the resort, transports include trails for walking or tracks for 7…………………………………….. and the beach train. The on-island equipment is old-fashioned and is barely working such as the 8……………………………………………. overhead. There is a television, radio, an old 9……………………………………….. and a small fridge. And you can buy the repellant for 10……………………………………………… if you forget to bring some.

Questions 11-13

Choose three correct letters among A-E

Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

What is true as to the contemporary situation of the Couran Cove Island Resort in the last paragraph?

A. Couran Cove Island Resort goes for more eco-friendly practices

B. The accommodation standard only conforms to the Resort Development Spectrum of Phase 3

C. Couran Cove Island Resort should raise the accommodation to build more standards and build more facilities

D. The principal group visiting the resort is international tourists

E. Its carrying capacity will restrict the future business’ expansion

SOLUTIONS

1. Answer: Option (B)

Process to attempt the solution: Refer to the passage and identify the section discussing the explosion of dynamite on a ship (the Cambus Wallace) and subsequent erosion leading to the separation of Stradbroke Island into two. The relevant information can be found in Paragraph B.

2. Answer: Option (B)

Process to attempt the solution: Locate the part of the passage that discusses why laundry activities for the resort are carried out on the mainland. Look for information about preserving water and preventing pollution, as mentioned in the passage. The relevant details can be found in Paragraph D.

3. Answer: Option (D)

Process to attempt the solution: Find information in the passage about the major water supplier for South Stradbroke Island. Focus on the section that discusses tapping into an aquifer and extracting water via a bore system. The relevant details are in Paragraph D.

4. Answer: Option (D)

Process to attempt the solution: Look for information in the passage about the heating of water on Couran Cove Island Resort. Find details about solar-powered hot water in eco-cabins and for some vehicles, as mentioned in the passage. The relevant details are in Paragraph D.

5. Answer: Option (B)

Process to attempt the solution: Examine the concluding remarks in the passage and identify the focus mentioned for the prospective future. Look for information about sustainable administration and development in the long run. The relevant details can be found in Paragraph E

6. Answer: ferry

Process to attempt the solution: Look for information about how tourists can reach the resort, specifically mentioning regular service. The relevant details can be found in Paragraph C.

7. Answer: bicycle

Process to attempt the solution: Find information in the passage about different modes of transport within the resort, including trails for walking and tracks for a specific activity. The relevant details are in Paragraph C.

8. Answer: ceiling fan

Process to attempt the solution: Identify the on-island equipment that is mentioned as old-fashioned and barely working, specifically referring to the overhead item. Look for details in the passage, such as the description of the accommodation. The relevant details are in Paragraph C.

9. Answer: air conditioner

Process to attempt the solution: Locate information in the passage about the various items available in the accommodation, specifically mentioning an old item along with a television, radio, and a small fridge. The relevant details are in the accommodation description in Paragraph C.

10. Answer: mosquitoes

Process to attempt the solution: Find information in the passage about what you can buy on the island if you forget to bring it, specifically mentioning a repellant. The relevant details can be found in Paragraph C.

11. A, Couran Cove Island Resort goes for more eco-friendly practices

Process to attempt the solution: Identify information in the last paragraph indicating the resort's commitment to contemporary environmental management practices, aligning with eco-friendly practices.

12. C, Couran Cove Island Resort should raise the accommodation to build more standard and build more facilities

Process to attempt the solution: Look for details in the last paragraph suggesting that Couran Cove Island Resort should raise the accommodation to build more standards and facilities.

13. E, its carrying capacity will restrict the future business’ expansion

Process to attempt the solution: Find information in the last paragraph about the carrying capacity of Couran Cove Island Resort and its potential impact on future business expansion.

NOTE

The passage highlights Couran Cove Island Resort's commitment to ecotourism and sustainable practices, explaining the importance of systematic IELTS Reading practice through online tests. Questions cover historical events, water and energy management, and on-island facilities, resembling the diverse IELTS reading exam practice topics. The variety in question types, such as True/False/Not Given and completion questions, align with the standard set by the IELTS reading practice tests, offering a comprehensive preparation approach.

Passage - 2

TV Addiction 1

A. The amount of time people spend watching television is astonishing. On average, individuals in the industrialised world devote three hours a day to the pursuit —fully half of their leisure time, and more than on any single activity save work and sleep. At this rate, someone who lives to 75 would spend nine years in front of the tube. To some commentators, this devotion means simply that people enjoy TV and make a conscious decision to watch it. But if that is the whole story, why do so many people experience misgivings about how much they view it? In Gallup polls in 1992 and 1999, two out of five adult respondents and seven out of 10 teenagers said they spent too much time watching TV. Other surveys have consistently shown that roughly 10 per cent of adults call themselves TV addicts.

B. To study people’s reactions to TV, researchers have experiments in which they have monitored the brain waves (using an electroencephalograph, or EEG) to track behaviour and emotion in the normal course of life, as opposed to the artificial conditions of the lab. Participants carried a beeper, and we signalled them six to eight times a day, at random, over the period of a week; whenever they heard the beep, they wrote down what they were doing and how they were feeling using a standardised scorecard.

C. As one might expect, people who were watching TV when we beeped them reported feeling relaxed and passive. The EEG studies similarly show less mental stimulation, as measured by alpha brain-wave production, during viewing than during reading. What is more surprising is that the sense of relaxation ends when the set is turned off, but the feelings of passivity and lowered alertness continue. Survey participants say they have more difficulty concentrating after viewing than before. In contrast, they rarely indicate such difficulty after reading. After playing sports or engaging in hobbies, people report improvements in mood. After watching TV, people’s moods are about the same or worse than before. That may be because of viewers’ vague learned sense that they will feel less relaxed if they stop viewing. So they tend not to turn the set off. Viewing begets more viewing which is the same as the experience of habit-forming drugs. Thus, the irony of TV: people watch a great deal longer than they plan to, even though prolonged viewing is less rewarding. In our ESM studies the longer people sat in front of the set, the less satisfaction they said they derived from it. For some, a twinge of unease or guilt that they aren’t doing something more productive may also accompany and depreciate the enjoyment of prolonged viewing. Researchers in Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. have found that this guilt occurs much more among middle-class viewers than among less affluent ones.

D. What is it about TV that has such a hold on us? In part, the attraction seems to spring from our biological ‘orienting response/ First described by Ivan Pavlov in 1927, the orienting response is our instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. It is part of our evolutionary heritage, a built-in sensitivity to movement and potential predatory threats. In 1986 Byron Reeves of Stanford University, Esther Thorson of the University of Missouri and their colleagues began to study whether the simple formal features of television—cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises — activate the orienting response, thereby keeping attention on the screen. By watching how brain waves were affected by formal features, the researchers concluded that these stylistic tricks can indeed trigger involuntary responses and ‘derive their attentional value through the evolutionary significance of detecting movement… It is the form, not the content, of television that is unique.

E. The natural attraction to television’s sound and light starts very early in life. Dafna Lemish of Tel Aviv University has described babies at six to eight weeks attending television. We have observed slightly older infants who, when lying on their backs on the floor, crane their necks around 180 degrees to catch what light through yonder window breaks. This inclination suggests how deeply rooted the orienting response is.

F. The Experience Sampling Method permits us to look closely at almost every domain of everyday life: working, eating, reading, talking to friends, playing a sport, and so on. We found that heavy viewers report feeling significantly more anxious and less happy than light viewers do in unstructured situations, such as doing nothing, daydreaming or waiting in line. The difference widens when the viewer is alone. Subsequently, Robert D. Mcllwraith of the University of Manitoba extensively studied those who called themselves TV addicts on surveys. On a measure called the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory (SIPI), he found that the self-described addicts are more easily bored and distracted and have poorer attentional control than the non-addicts. The addicts said they used TV to distract themselves from unpleasant thoughts and to fill time. Other studies over the years have shown that heavy viewers are less likely to participate in community activities and sports and are more likely to be obese than moderate viewers or non-viewers.

G. More than 25 years ago psychologist Tannis M. MacBeth Williams of the University of British Columbia studied a mountain community that had no television until cable finally arrived. Over time, both adults and children in the town became less creative in problem-solving, less able to persevere at tasks, and less tolerant of unstructured time.

H. Nearly 40 years ago Gary A. Steiner of the University of Chicago collected fascinating individual accounts of families whose set had broken. In experiments, families have volunteered or been paid to stop viewing, typically for a week or a month. Some fought, verbally and physically. In a review of these cold-turkey studies, Charles Winick of the City University of New York concluded: ‘The first three or four days for most persons were the worst, even in many homes where the viewing was minimal and where there were other ongoing activities. In over half of all the households, during these first few days of loss, the regular routines were disrupted, family members had difficulties in dealing with the newly available time, and anxiety and aggression were expressed. By the second week, a move toward adaptation to the situation was common. ‘Unfortunately, researchers have yet to flesh out these anecdotes; no one has systematically gathered statistics on the prevalence of these withdrawal symptoms.

I. Even though TV does seem to meet the criteria for substance dependence, not all researchers would go so far as to call TV addictive. Mcllwraith said in 1998 that ‘displacement of other activities by television may be socially significant but still fall short of the clinical requirement of significant impairment.’ He argued that a new category of ‘TV addiction’ may not be necessary if heavy viewing stems from conditions such as depression and social phobia. Nevertheless, whether or not we formally diagnose someone as TV-dependent, millions of people sense that they cannot readily control the amount of television they watch.

Extracted from - IELTS Reading Practice Sets. Copyright © 2016 by IDP education, British Council and Cambridge Assessment English

QUESTIONS

Questions 14-18

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?

In boxes 14-18 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

14. Study shows that males are more likely to be addicted to TV than females.

15. Greater improvements in mood are experienced after watching TV than when playing sports.

16. TV addiction works in similar ways as drugs.

17. It is reported that people’s satisfaction is in proportion to the time they spend watching TV.

18. Middle-class viewers are more likely to feel guilty about watching TV than the poor.

Questions 19-23

Look at the following researchers (Questions 19-23) and the list of statements below.

Match each researcher with the correct statements.

Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheets.

19. Byron Reeves and Esther Thorson

20. Dafna Lemish

21. Robert D. Mcllwraith

22. Tannis M. MacBeth Williams

23. Charles Winick

List of statements

A. Audiences would get hypnotised from viewing too much television.

B. People have been sensitive to TV signals from a younger age.

C. People are less likely to accomplish their work with television.

D. A handful of studies have attempted to study other types of media addiction.

E. The addictive power of television could probably minimise the problems.

F. Various media formal characters stimulate people’s reaction on the screen.

G. People who believe themselves to be TV addicts are less likely to join in the group activities.

H. It is hard for people to accept life without a TV at the beginning.

Questions 24-26

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. People in the industrialised world

A. devote ten hours to watching TV on average.

B. spend more time on TV than other entertainment.

C. call themselves TV addicts.

D. working best.

25. When compared with light viewers, heavy viewers

A. like playing sport more than reading.

B. feels relaxed after watching TV.

C. spends more time daydreaming.

D. is more easily bored while waiting in line.

26. Which of the following statements is true about the family experiment?

A. Not all subjects participate in the experiment for free.

B. There has been a complete gathered data.

C. People are prevented from other activities during the experiment.

D. People cannot adapt to the situation until the end

SOLUTIONS

14. Answer: Not Given

Process to attempt the solution: Look for information about gender differences in TV addiction but it is not found in the passage.

15. Answer: False

Process to attempt the solution: Checked information about improvements in mood after watching TV and found that it is reported after playing sports, not after watching TV.

16. Answer: True

Process to attempt the solution: Identified information in the passage stating that prolonged viewing of TV is less rewarding, similar to the experience of habit-forming drugs.

17. Answer: False

Process to attempt the solution: Examined information about satisfaction and found that the longer people sit in front of the TV, the less satisfaction they derive from it.

18. Answer: True

Process to attempt the solution: Discovered information in the passage stating that guilt about watching TV occurs more among middle-class viewers than among less affluent ones.

19. Answer: F

Process to attempt the solution: Identified Byron Reeves and Esther Thorson as researchers studying the formal features of television that stimulate people's reactions on the screen.

20. Answer: B

Process to attempt the solution: Matched Dafna Lemish with the statement about people being sensitive to TV signals from a younger age.

21. Answer: G

Process to attempt the solution: Associated Robert D. Mcllwraith with the statement that people who believe themselves to be TV addicts are less likely to join in group activities.

22. Answer: C

Process to attempt the solution: Matched Tannis M. MacBeth Williams with the statement that people are less likely to accomplish their work with television.

23. Answer: H

Process to attempt the solution: Paired Charles Winick with the statement that it is hard for people to accept life without a TV at the beginning.

24. Answer: B. spend more time on TV than other entertainment.

Process to attempt the solution: Information in the passage suggests that individuals in the industrialised world devote three hours a day to watching TV, which is half of their leisure time, and more than any single activity save work and sleep.

25. Answer: D. is more easily bored while waiting in line.

Process to attempt the solution: Information in the passage indicates that heavy viewers report feeling significantly more anxious and less happy than light viewers do in unstructured situations, such as waiting in line.

26. Answer: A. Not all subjects participate in the experiment for free.

Process to attempt the solution: This information wasn't explicitly mentioned in the passage, so it's important to note the correct answer based on the provided sequence.

NOTE

The passage discusses the issue of TV addiction, relevant to IELTS Reading practice. Success in this section requires consistent IELTS reading practice, through general and academic reading tests online.

Questions, including True/False/Not Given and the correlation between viewing time and satisfaction. Matching tasks require the knowledge of researchers like Byron Reeves and Esther Thorson. Understanding the negative impact on well-being, the passage explains the focus of IELTS reading practice on understanding key concepts. Understanding various question types is a key skill required in the IELTS reading exam practice online.

Passage - 3

Music: Language We All Speak

A. Music is one of the human species’ relatively few universal abilities. Without formal training, any individual, from Stone Age tribesmen to suburban teenagers can recognize music and, in some fashion, make it. Why this should be so is a mystery. After all, music isn’t necessary for getting through the day, and if it aids in reproduction, it does so only in highly indirect ways. Language, by contrast, is also everywhere- but for more obvious reasons. With language, you and the members of your tribe can organise a migration across Africa, build reed boats and cross the seas, and communicate at night even when you can’t see each other. Modern culture, in all its technological extravagance, springs directly from the human talent for manipulating symbols and syntax. Scientists have always been intrigued by the connection between music and language. Yet over the years, words and melody have acquired a vastly different status in the lab and the seminar room. While language has long been considered essential to unlocking the mechanisms of human intelligence, music is generally treated as an evolutionary frippery-mere “auditory cheesecake,” as the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker puts it.

B. But thanks to a decade-long wave of neuroscience research, that tune is changing. A flurry of recent publications suggests that language and music may equally be able to tell us who we are and where we’re from – not just emotionally, but biologically. In July, the journal Nature Neuroscience devoted a special issue to the topic. In an article in the August 6 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, David Schwartz, Catherine Howe, and Dale Purves of Duke University argued that the sounds of music and the sounds of language are intricately connected. To grasp the originality of this idea, it’s necessary to realise two things about how music has traditionally been understood. First, musicologists have long emphasised that while each culture stamps a special identity onto its music; the music itself has some universal qualities. For example, in virtually all cultures sound is divided into some or all of the 12 intervals that make up the chromatic scale – that is, the scale represented by the keys on a piano. For centuries, observers have attributed this preference for certain combinations of tones to the mathematical properties of sound itself. Some 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras was the first to note a direct relationship between the harmoniousness of a tone combination and the physical dimensions of the object that produced it. For example, a plucked string will always play an octave lower than a similar string half its size, and a fifth lower than a similar string two-thirds its length. This link between simple ratios and harmony has influenced music theory ever since.

C. This music-is-moth idea is often accompanied by the notion that music formally speaking at least, exists apart from the world in which it was created. Writing recently in The New York Review of Books, pianist and critic Charles Rosen discussed the long-standing notion that while painting and sculpture reproduce at least some aspects of the natural world, and writing describes thoughts and feelings we are all familiar with, music is entirely abstracted from the world in which we live. Neither idea is right, according to David Schwartz and his colleagues. Human musical preferences are fundamentally shaped not by elegant algorithms or ratios but by the messy sounds of real life, and of speech in particular -which in turn is shaped by our evolutionary heritage.” The explanation of music, like the explanation of any product of the mind, must be rooted in biology, not in numbers per se,” says Schwartz.

Schwartz, Howe, and Purves analysed a vast selection of speech sounds from a variety of languages to reveal the underlying patterns common to all utterances. In order to focus only on the raw sound, they discarded all theories about speech and meaning and sliced sentences into random bites. Using a database of over 100,000 brief segments of speech, they noted which frequency had the greatest emphasis on each sound. The resulting set of frequencies, they discovered, corresponded closely to the chromatic scale. In short, the building blocks of music are to be found in speech

Far from being abstract, music presents a strange analogue to the patterns created by the sounds of speech. “Music, like the visual arts, is rooted in our experience of the natural world,” says Schwartz. “It emulates our sound environment in the way that visual arts emulate the visual environment. ” In music, we hear the echo of our basic sound-making instrument- the vocal tract. The explanation for human music is simple; still than Pythagoras’s mathematical equations. We like the sounds that are familiar to us- specifically, we like sounds that remind us of us.

This brings up some chicken-or-egg evolutionary questions. It may be that music imitates speech directly, the researchers say, in which case it would seem that language evolved first. It’s also conceivable that music came first and language is in effect an Imitation of a song – that in everyday speech we hit the musical notes we especially like. Alternatively, it may be that music imitates the general products of the human sound-making system, which just happens to be mostly speech. “We can’t know this,” says Schwartz. “What we do know is that they both come from the same system, and it is this that shapes our preferences.”

D. Schwartz’s study also casts light on the long-running question of whether animals understand or appreciate music. Despite the apparent abundance of “music” in the natural world- birdsong, whale song, wolf howls, synchronised chimpanzee hooting previous studies have found that many laboratory animals don’t show a great affinity for the human variety of music-making. Marc Hauser and Josh McDermott of Harvard argued in the July issue of Nature Neuroscience that animals don’t create or perceive music the way we do. The fact that laboratory monkeys can show recognition of human tunes is evidence, they say, of shared general features of the auditory system, not any specific chimpanzee musical ability. As for birds, those most musical beasts, they generally recognize their own tunes – a narrow repertoire – but don’t generate novel melodies as we do. There are no avian Mozarts.

But what’s been played to the animals, Schwartz notes, is human music. If animals evolve preferences for sound as we do – based upon the soundscape in which they live – then their “music” would be fundamentally different from ours. In the same way, our scales derive from human utterances, a cat’s idea of a good tune would derive from yowls and meows. To demonstrate that animals don’t appreciate sounds the way we do, we’d need evidence that they don’t respond to “music” constructed from their own sound environment.

E. No matter how the connection between language and music is parsed, what is apparent is that our sense of music, even our love for it, is as deeply rooted in our biology and in our brains as language is. This is most obvious with babies, says Sandra Trehub at the University of Toronto, who also published a paper in the Nature Neuroscience special issue.

For babies, music and speech are on a continuum. Mothers use musical speech to “regulate infants’ emotional states.” Trehub says. Regardless of what language they speak, the voice all mothers use with babies is the same: “something between speech and song.” This kind of communication “puts the baby in a trance-like state, which may proceed to sleep or extended periods of rapture.” So if the babies of the world could understand the latest research on language and music, they probably wouldn’t be very surprised. The upshot, says Trehub, is that music maybe even more of a necessity than we realise.

Extracted from - IELTS Reading Practice Sets. Copyright © 2016 by IDP education, British Council and Cambridge Assessment English

QUESTIONS

Question 27 – 31

Reading Passage 3 has five sections A-E.

Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number i-viii in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i. Animals sometimes make music.

ii B. Recent research on music

iii C. The culture embedded in music

iv D. Historical theories review

v Communication in music with animals

vi The contrast between music and language

vii . Questions on a biological link with human and music

viii Music is good for babies.

27. Section A

28. Section B

29. Section C

30. Section D

31. Section E

Questions 32-38

Look at the following people and list of statements below.

Match each person with the correct statement.

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 32-38 on your answer sheet.

List of statements

Music exists outside of the world in which it is created

Music has a common feature though cultural influences affect

Humans' need for music

Music priority connects to the disordered sound around

the Discovery of mathematical musical foundation

Music is not treated equally well compared with a language

Humans and monkeys have similar traits in perceiving sound

32. Steven Pinker

33. Musicologists

34. Greek philosopher Pythagoras

35. Schwartz, Howe, and Purves

36. Marc Hauser and Josh McDermott

37. Charles Rosen

38. Sandra Trehub

Questions 39-40

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D

Write your answers in boxes 39-40 on your answer sheet.

39. Why was the study of animal music uncertain?

A. Animals don’t have the same auditory system as humans.

B. Experiments on animal’s music are limited.

C. tunes are impossible for the animal to make up.

D. Animals don’t have the spontaneous ability for the tests.

40. What is the main subject of this passage?

A. Language and psychology.

B. Music formation.

C. Role of music in human society.

D. Music experiments for animals.

SOLUTIONS

27. Answer: vi. The contrast between music and language

Process to attempt the solution: Section A discusses the historical theories and the contrast between music and language. The passage mentions the long-standing notion that music is considered abstracted from the world, and the contrast is discussed in this section.

28. Answer: iv. Historical theories review

Process to attempt the solution: Section B talks about a decade-long wave of neuroscience research and the changing perspective on the connection between language and music. It reviews historical theories and presents recent research findings.

29. Answer: ii. Recent research on music

Process to attempt the solution: Section C introduces the idea that recent neuroscience research challenges the traditional view of music as an evolutionary frippery. It specifically mentions the special issue in the journal Nature Neuroscience and the research by Schwartz, Howe, and Purves.

30. Answer: v. Communication in music with animals

Process to attempt the solution: Section D explores the question of whether animals understand or appreciate music, discussing the findings related to laboratory animals' response to human music and proposing that animals' preferences for sound might be different.

31. Answer: vii. Questions on a biological link with human and music

Process to attempt the solution: Section E concludes the passage by emphasizing the deep biological and brain-rooted connection between humans and music. It discusses the implications of the research for understanding the evolutionary link between language and music, posing questions about their shared biological origins.

32. Steven Pinker - F) Music is not treated equally well compared with language

Process to attempt the solution: Look for information about Steven Pinker's view on the treatment of music compared with language, especially if he considers music as an evolutionary frippery.

33. Musicologists - B) Music has a common feature though cultural influences affect

Process to attempt the solution: Explore the passage for insights into the views of musicologists regarding the common features of music across cultures and how cultural influences may affect it.

34. Greek philosopher Pythagoras - E) Discovery of mathematical musical foundation

Process to attempt the solution: Search for details about Pythagoras and his contribution to the discovery of the mathematical foundation of music, particularly related to ratios and harmonious combinations of tones.

35. Schwartz, Howe, and Purves - D) Music priority connects to the disordered sound around

Process to attempt the solution: Find information about Schwartz, Howe, and Purves' perspectives on how music is connected to the disordered sound around, especially in relation to speech sounds and the chromatic scale.

36. Marc Hauser and Josh McDermott - G) Humans and monkeys have similar traits in perceiving sound

Process to attempt the solution: Investigate the passage for insights into Marc Hauser and Josh McDermott's findings regarding the similarities between humans and monkeys in perceiving sound, especially related to the recognition of human tunes.

37. Charles Rosen - A) Music exists outside of the world in which it is created

Process to attempt the solution: Look for information about Charles Rosen's viewpoint on the existence of music outside the world in which it is created, particularly if he discusses the abstract nature of music.

38. Sandra Trehub - C) Humans need music

Process to attempt the solution: Explore the passage for details on Sandra Trehub's perspective on the need for music, especially in the context of babies and the continuum between music and speech.

39. Answer: B. Experiments on animal’s music are limited.

Process to attempt the solution: The passage mentions that despite the apparent abundance of "music" in the natural world, previous studies found that many laboratory animals don't show a great affinity for the human variety of music-making. This suggests that experiments on animal music are limited, supporting option B.

40. Answer: C. Role of music in human society.

Process to attempt the solution: The passage discusses the connection between music and language, recent research on music, the culture embedded in music, and the impact of music on babies. The main focus is on the role of music in human society, aligning with option C.

NOTE

The passage explores the link between music and language, focusing on their universal aspects. Relevant to IELTS Reading, it highlights the biological basis of music and language, aligning with the importance of systematic IELTS reading practice. True/False/Not Given questions assess comprehension, focusing on views in scientific research. Completion questions, crucial in IELTS reading exam practice, centre on Schwartz, Howe, and Purves' study on the connection between speech sounds and the chromatic scale. Short answer questions delve into evolutionary possibilities, matching with the broader theme. Matching headings is another important question set in the IELTS academic reading. Overall, the passage provides valuable content for IELTS reading preparation.

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