IELTS General Reading Test 4 – Best Test with Answers

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General IELTS Reading Test 4 – Best Test

Reading Passage 1

Questions 1-14

Read the text below and answer questions 1-7

Dealing with Pest in the Home

If you find evidence that your home is infested by pests such as ants, cockroaches, mice or rats, you may be able to take action by yourself, but often you may wish to call in a pest control service. It is important to choose a company that will provide you with an efficient service and will also be good value for money.

Even if the problem seems urgent, it’s worth spending some time investigating two or three companies in order to choose the best one. It’s often best to start by asking friends or neighbors for recommendations. However, you should also check that the company’s employees are properly qualified and licensed, and find out how many years they’ve been in business.

Find out whether the company offers free estimates and whether the work is guaranteed. Many companies will only guarantee the work done on your property if you agree to pay for a regular inspection fee, so you should check this. Ask them what products they will use and what action they will take to reduce risks to the environment. You may also wish to contract the state pesticide regulatory office to find out if there have been any complaints about the company, or any breach of safety regulations.

Once you have fived a date, make sure that any necessary preparation such as clearing kitchen cupboards is done ahead of time. Pets should be kept out of the house and if pesticide sprays are used, children should be kept away from any treated areas until the spray has dried.

You may be offered a service contract which your house will be regularly treated, but this should not be necessary if the initial treatment has been. It is not a good idea for chemical treatment to be used there is actual evidence of an infestation.

Questions 1-7

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

In the boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                   if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE                  if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN        if there is no information on this

1. A pest control company should always be contracted if household pests are found.
2. It is best to choose a company that specializes in the type of pest that you have.
3. Pests must be removed as soon as possible after they have been discovered.
4. It is common for companies to guarantee work only when customers buy further inspection services.
5. All pest control companies should be registered with the state pesticide regulatory office.
6. Children can return to the area being treated once the pesticide has dried.
7. Repeated treatments of pesticides should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Read the text below and answer questions 8-14

Online Reviews on City Parks

A. Central Park New York

Amazing park with lots to do. There’s place where you can borrow chess or a checkers set and just sit and play with strangers on the tables outside in a beautiful calm setting. We spent an hour exploring the conservatory garden with its Italian, French and English sections.

B. Beihai Park Beijing

An emperor built this park hundreds of years ago to recreate an old legend of a place with magic mountains – there are represented in the park by three hills. There’s also a beautiful lake – we rented bikes and went round it, but you can also go boating there. At weekends local people go there to practice tai chi.

C. Hyde Park London

You could spend all day here. It’s in the heart of the city but a great place to escape the crowds. There are electric buggies to take disabled visitors around the gardens at no charge. The children can enjoy playing mini-golf, there’s a lovely lake called the serpentine where you can hire boats.

D. Botanic Gardens Singapore

We went there to see the orchid garden fantastic! Hundred of varieties. Some even grow on trees! You can get there easily on the hop-on-hop-off bus. Walking through the rain forest and looking at the swan lake are experiences not to be missed.

E. Park Guell Barcelona

This park was designed by the Spanish artist and architect Antonio gaudi. Lots of artwork are made from mosaic tiles, including a long curving bench which is apparently the world’s longest, it’s a great place to look down on Barcelona after sunset and see all light twinkling.

F. Stanley Park Vancouver

My husband can’t walk far so we were glad to take advantage of the miniature train, which doesn’t cost much. You can also rent a bicycle. There’s a famous tree which had its middle burnt out and everyone takes photos of themselves inside it-apparently even an elephant can get in there!

Questions 8-14

Look at the six reviews of parks A-F

Which review mentions the following?

Write the correct letter A-F in the boxes 8-14 on your answer sheet

NB you may use any letter more than once

8. The design of the park was inspired by a traditional story.

9. You can see an unusual decorated seat.

10. Free transport is provided for people who can’t walk easily.

11. There is a large and unusual tree.

12. You can hire a bicycle to ride around a lake.

13. There are facilities for board games. 

14. There’s a good view of the city at night.

Reading Passage 2

Read the text below and answer questions 15- 20

Extra work

As a result of our success in the recent food industry awards, we are delighted that we have just gained several new contracts to supply major supermarkets. This will have a major impact on the production department, and to meet the increased demand, a night shift will be introduced from the beginning of next month. Details of times and the higher rate of pay are available on the Intranet. New staff will be recruited, but if you are interested in joining, please sign up online.

Retirement

Maria Fuentes is retiring after a long career with the company. She initially worked in the legal Department, switching to Finance four years later. She has been in charge of that department for the last twelve years. Maria will be sorely missed. Her last day is 30th September, and everyone is invited to drop into the department and say goodbye to her between noon and 3 pm that day. A buffet will be provided, free of charge. The CEO will make a short speech at 2 pm.

Sponsorship

The company has decided to introduce sponsorship, to benefit the community and raise our profile in the locality, and a team will be set up to decide on the most effective ways of implementing this. If you have got ideas and would like to be involved, call Germaine Peters on extension 7610.

Advance notice

Once again, we’ll have a stand at the Western Region Food Fair in November. The Marketing Department will provide staff for the stand, but we are also looking for a number of volunteers (from any department ) to increase our visibility informally-by going round the venue, disturbing leaflets, tasting samples from other stands, and so on. We’ll provide sweatshirts bearing the company name and logo, which all staff at the fair will wear. Call marketing if you’re interested.

Changes

The review of working conditions is now complete, and a number of improvements have been identified, which will shortly be introduced. Kerry Fisher will explain the changes and how they’ll affect you, next Wednesday (17^th ) at 3 pm in the conference room.

And Finally…..

Several of you have shown interest in restarting the company table tennis tournament, after a two-year break. If you’d like to help organize it and/or participate, please contact George Bradford on extension 4153. You don’t need to be an expert player!

Questions 15-20

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 15-20 on your answer sheet.

Berkeley Foods News

• New 15……………... ( available to new and existing staff) because of extra orders
• Present Head of 16……………….Department is leaving
• New team to consider best ways of helping the local 17…………….
• Staff needed to give out 18………………….. at food fair
• Next Wednesday: Kerry Fisher’s talk about to 19……………..
• Internal 20………………..competition may start again

Read the text below and answer questions 21-27

Rewards and benefits for staff at Prichard Fashion Stores

We want all our staff at Prichard Fashion Stores to feel they are well rewarded for their work. This obviously benefits them, by making their work more enjoyable, and it benefits the company because satisfied staff is less likely to leave. So we offer the staff a package of rewards that have been shown to attract, motivate and retain the best people. This is what you can currently enjoy.

Pay: we benchmark our salaries and wages against other companies in the same sector, in order to ensure we are competitive and keep up with changes in the market. We carry out a pay review every year, and also give all staff a bonus which is a fixed proportion of the company’s annual profits

Pension: it is important for everyone to save for their retirement. To encourage this, we offer the opportunity of joining a pension plan: you contribute 3% of your pay into this, and Prichard contributes 6%.

Life Assurance: as soon as you start working for Prichard you will receive life assurance cover to the value of twice your annual salary.

Employee discount: we give all staff a discount of 20% on anything they buy from the company, whether in-store or online. Certain exclusions apply, which are specified on the company intranet. However, there is no limit on how much you can buy using the discount. Family members and partners who permanently live with you are also eligible for the discount.

Holidays: by law, all full-time staff members are entitled to a minimum of 28 days’ paid holiday per year, including bank holidays. Prichard pays 28 days plus the eight days of bank holidays and another two days, meaning that everyone is paid for at least 38 days’ leave per year. We carry out an annual review of individual holiday entitlement. If you work part-time, your holiday entitlement will relate to the hours you work each week.

Savings scheme: our new savings scheme is an easy way to save for the future. Every month, you pay any amount up to £250 into the scheme. After three years, you can choose either to invest your savings in Prichard shares at a 25% discount or to get your savings back with interest.

Questions 21- 27

Complete the sentence below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

Write your answer in boxes 21-27 on your answer sheet.

21.   Prichard provides staff with a………….of benefits.

22.   The company aims to pay………salaries and wages.

23.   Staff are paid a……………related to the company’s profits.

24.   Staff and the company may both contribute to providing a……………..

25.  Staff receive a discount on items they purchase from the company, apart from some…………..

26.    A…………. of the amount of holiday that employees are entitled to is undertaken every year.

27.    The company savings scheme enables staff to buy………….after a certain time if they choose to.

Reading Passage 3

Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.

Joseph Paxton: Gardner and Architect

A. Joseph Paxton was born in 1803 and grew up on a farm 70 km north of London, although his date of birth is sometimes mistakenly given as 1801. After a series of gardening jobs when in his teens, at the age of 20 he claimed to be two years older than he really was to obtain a post as a gardener with the Horticultural Society, at Chiswick Gardens, a few miles from London. The gardens were leased from a wealthy aristocrat, the Duke of Devonshire, who gad a house nearby. The duke saw and was impressed by Paxton’s horticultural achievements, and in 1826 offered him the position of head gardener at his large country house, Chatsworth, in the English.

B. On his first day in his new post, he met Sarah Bown, the niece of Chatsworth’shousekeeper. Before long they had a long and happy marriage. At Chatsworth Paxton designed gardens, fountains, an arboretum-a collection of trees-and even rebuilt a village. His emperor Fountain involved removing 76,000 m3 of earth from a hill above the gardens, in order to create a lake to feed the fountain.

C. At Chatsworth Paxton also constructed the Great Conservatory, a massive glass structure supported by a cast-iron framework, at a time when glasshouses were very new. Its purpose was to house plants imported from tropical, the plants needed different temperatures. Paxton’s solution was to install eight boilers, to gradually increase the temperature from one end of the conservatory to the other. His design for the roof maximized light and heat from the sun and drained rainwater away through hollow cast-iron columns. All the elements that made up the conservatory were prefabricated, and could be produced in large quantities and assembled into buildings of various designs. Completed in 1840, the conservatory was the largest glass building in the world –69m long by 37m wide. It was lit by 12,000 lamps for a visit by Queen Victoria when she was driven through the building in a carriage.

D. Ten years later Paxton was responsible for the lily house at Chatsworth, built for a waterlily from the Amazon. He was struck by the strength of the Waterlily’s huge leaves – reaching 1.4m in diameter – which he demonstrated by standing his daughter on one as it floated on the water. He based the design of the lily house on these leaves.

E. Paxton is best remembered for the Crystal Palace, the building he designed for the great Exhibition of 1851 in London’s Hyde Park. The committee responsible for the exhibition hall examined 245 designs, all of them unsuitable, though one had been accepted as the least bad option, and was well into its planning stage. Paxton happened to be in London to attend a business meeting and mentioned an idea he had to be done within the next nine days. He met this deadline, but some members of the committee objected to dropping the current proposal. Paxton’s response was to publish his ideas in the illustrated London News, and the reaction was so favorable that the committee substituted his design for the one previously chosen.

F. The design 2as a development of the great Conservatory and lily house Chatsworth: a modular, prefabricated structure of glass and cast iron. It was 563m long, 124m wide and 33m high. Mist importantly, unlike the other proposals it was cheap, easy to erect and remove, and could be constructed quickly; in fact, it took 2,000 men only eight months to build. The great Exhibition was an enormous success, and Paxton was one of three men knighted for making that possible.

G. Paxton remained as head gardener at Chatsworth,: duke admired and supported him, and left him free to take on many other projects. Besides the Crystal Palace, he designed several country houses and public parks, and was a director of the Midland Railway. His investment in the booming railway industry made him wealthy. In 1858 the duke died and Paxton retired from Chatsworth.

H. One of his most innovative designs, although never implemented, was the great Victorian Way. Paxton presented his plan to a parliamentary committee in 1855. It was intended as a  solution to the severe congestion in the streets of London. It was for 16km loop around the centre of the city, constructed of iron and glass-like Crystal Palace, and Liking London’s railway termini. Paxton pointed out that by road it took longer to make an eight-kilometer journey across London than it took to travel by train the 120 kilometres from  London to Brighton. Paxton’s design contained glass-roofed roadways, with houses or shops on each side. It also incorporated two levels of atmospheric railway tracks, one for fast trains and one for a sewer network in London became overwhelming. With both projects requiring major investment, only one could be affordable, and the sewers were the more urgent. From 1854 until his death, Paxton was a member of Parliament, and continued working on various projects after retiring from Chatsworth. He died in 1865 at the age of 61, and was buried on the Chatsworth estate. His wife lived until 1871.

Questions 28-35

The text has eight sections, A-H.

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

Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 28-35 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

1. Why Paxton’s proposed structure couldn’t be built
2. A major transformation of the landscape
3. Paxton travels abroad
4. Inspiration from nature
5. Support from his employer
6. Inaccurate information helps in getting a job
7. Making the most of an unplanned opportunity
8. Accommodation plants with different requirements
9. Buildings that inspired other architects
10. Why Paxton’s design was the most suitable

28.   Section A      ……………..

29.   Section B      ……………..

30.   Section C      ……………..

31.   Section D      …………….

32.   Section E      …………….

33.   Section F     ……………..

34.   Section G     …………….

35.   Section H     …………….

Questions 36-40

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

The Great Conservatory at Chatsworth

The Great Conservatory was constructed of 36……………….held in a cast iron structure. It contained several 37……………so that one end could be made warmer than the other. Rainwater was brought from the roof down to ground level inside cast iron38…………... Every part of the building was 39…………….. and then put together on site to form the conservatory. Queen Victoria visited and travelled through the conservatory by 40………………

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