Cambridge IELTS 19 Reading Test 1

Part 1 Questions

Questions 1-7

Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the text, choose FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or choose NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. People had expected Andy Murray to become the world’s top tennis player for at least five years before 2016.

2. The change that Andy Murray made to his rackets attracted a lot of attention.

3. Most of the world’s top players take a professional racket stringer on tour with them.

4. Mike and Bob Bryan use rackets that are light in comparison to the majority of rackets.

5.Werner Fischer played with a spaghetti-strung racket that he designed himself.

6.The weather can affect how professional players adjust the strings on their rackets.

7. It was believed that the change Pete Sampras made to his rackets contributed to his strong serve.

Questions 8-13

Complete the notes.
Write ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

The tennis racket and how it has changed

  • Mike and Bob Bryan made changes to the types of 8. used on their racket frames.
  • Players were not allowed to use the spaghetti-strung racket because of the amount of 9. it created.
  • Changes to rackets can be regarded as being as important as players’ diets or the 10. they do.

11
• All rackets used to have natural strings made from the 11. of animals.

  • Pete Sampras had metal 12. put into the frames of his rackets.
  • Gonçalo Oliveira changed the 13. on his racket handles

Part 2 Questions

Questions 14-19

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?

Choose the correct letter.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

A B C D E F G
14. a reference to a denial of involvement in piracy
15. details of how a campaign to eradicate piracy was carried out
16. a mention of the circumstances in which states in the ancient world would make use of pirates
17. a reference to how people today commonly view pirates
18. an explanation of how some people were encouraged not to return to piracy
19. a mention of the need for many sailing vessels to stay relatively close to land
Questions 20-21

Choose TWO correct answers.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about inhabitants of the Mediterranean region in the ancient world?

Questions 22-23

Choose TWO correct answers.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about piracy and ancient Greece?

Questions 24-26

Complete the summary.
Write ONE WORD ONLY from the text in each gap.

Ancient Rome and piracy

Piracy was an issue ancient Rome had to deal with, but it also brought some benefits for Rome. For example, pirates supplied slaves that were important for Rome’s industries. However, attacks on vessels transporting 24. to Rome resulted in calls for 25. for the pirates responsible. Nevertheless, piracy continued, with some pirates demanding a 26. for the return of the Roman officials they captured.

Part 3 Questions

Questions 27-30

Choose the correct answer.

27. What point does the writer make about misinformation in the first paragraph?

28. What does the writer say about the role of technology?

29. What is the writer doing in the fourth paragraph?

30. What point does the writer make about regulation in the USA?

Questions 31-36

Complete the summary below using the list of words, A-J.
Write the correct letter A-J in the blanks.

A. constant conflict              B. additional evidence  
C. different locations           D. experimental subjects
E. short period                      F. extreme distrust
G.frequent exposure            H. mental operation
I. dubious reason                  J. different ideas

What happens when people encounter misinformation?

Although people have 31. to misinformation, there is debate about precisely how and when we label something as true or untrue. The philosophers Descartes and Spinoza had 32. about how people engage with information. While Descartes believed that people accept or reject information after considering whether it is true or not, Spinoza argued that people accepted all information they encountered (and by default misinformation) and did not verify or reject it until afterwards. Moreover, Spinoza believed that a distinct 33. is involved in these stages. Recent research has provided 34. for Spinoza’s theory and it would appear that people accept all encountered information as if it were true, even if this is for an extremely 35.  , and do not label the information as true or false until later. This is consistent with the fact that the resources for scepticism and the resources for perceiving and encoding are in 36.  in the brain.

Questions 37-40

Choose YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer, choose NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer, or choose NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

37. Campaigns designed to correct misinformation will fail to achieve their purpose if people are unable to understand them.

38. Attempts to teach elementary school students about misinformation have been opposed.

39. It may be possible to overcome the problem of misinformation in a relatively short period.

40. The need to keep up with new information is hugely exaggerated in today’s world.