IELTS - International English Language Testing System Practice Questions
Prepare for complete-ielts-guide with more than an answer.
- Level
- Language Proficiency Test
- Valid for
- 2 years from test date
Domains covered on the exam 4
- Listening25%
- Reading25%
- Writing25%
- Speaking25%
- 1
A candidate is answering a map labelling question in the IELTS Listening test. The speaker gives directions using prepositions of place. Which of the following phrases is LEAST likely to be a key indicator for locating a place on the map?
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Correct answer: C
Phrases like 'opposite', 'next to', and 'go past' are spatial indicators crucial for locating items on a map. The phrase 'it was built a long time ago' provides historical context but gives no information about the location of the building. This type of information is often a distractor in map labelling tasks.
- 2
In an IELTS Academic Reading passage about biomimicry, one paragraph discusses how the design of a Japanese high-speed train was inspired by the beak of a kingfisher bird to reduce noise. Which of the following headings would be the most suitable for this paragraph?
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Correct answer: C
This heading perfectly encapsulates the main idea of the paragraph. It identifies the context ('a case study'), the problem ('an engineering problem' - noise), and the method of resolution ('a natural solution' - the kingfisher's beak). The other options are either too broad (Avian biology) or irrelevant (high cost).
- 3
Case Study:
A candidate is writing a General Training Task 1 letter to their landlord. The purpose is to report a broken heating system and request an urgent repair. The candidate starts the letter as follows:
'Dear Mr. Smith,
Hi! How are you doing? I'm writing to you because my heater is busted. It's super cold in my apartment, and I need you to fix it, like, right now. It's really not cool.'
Which TWO scoring criteria are most negatively affected by this opening? (Select TWO)
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Correct answer: A, C
Part of achieving the task is adopting the correct tone. A letter to a landlord is a semi-formal situation. The overly informal and demanding tone is inappropriate and therefore fails to fully achieve the communicative task in a suitable manner.
The choice of vocabulary ('busted', 'super cold', 'like, right now', 'not cool') is highly informal and colloquial. This demonstrates a limited lexical resource appropriate for the context and will result in a low score for this criterion.
- 4
The assessment criterion 'Pronunciation' in the IELTS Speaking test exclusively measures whether the candidate has a native-like accent (e.g., British or American).
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Correct answer: B
This is a common misconception. The 'Pronunciation' criterion assesses clarity and intelligibility, not a specific native accent. It evaluates features like individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, rhythm, and intonation. A candidate can have a strong accent from their first language and still score highly on pronunciation, as long as their speech is clear and easy to understand.
- 5
To demonstrate a wide 'Lexical Resource' in an IELTS Writing Task 2 essay on the topic of environmental protection, a candidate should use the phrase 'environmental protection' as many times as possible to stay on topic.
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Correct answer: B
Demonstrating a wide lexical resource means showing the ability to use a variety of words and phrases accurately and appropriately. Repeating the same key phrase indicates a limited vocabulary. A high-scoring candidate would paraphrase 'environmental protection' with terms like 'conservation efforts', 'safeguarding the natural world', 'ecological preservation', or 'promoting sustainability'.
- 6
In an IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you are presented with a line graph showing changes in a country's population over 50 years. Which of the following opening sentences is most effective for the introduction?
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Correct answer: B
This option is the strongest because it effectively paraphrases the prompt using synonyms ('illustrates' for 'shows', 'fluctuations' for 'changes', 'national population' for 'country's population', 'five-decade period' for '50 years'). It demonstrates a good range of vocabulary and grammatical structure, which are key for a high band score. The other options are either too simplistic, inaccurate, or contain personal opinion.
- 7
During the IELTS Speaking test, Part 2, a candidate is given one minute to prepare before speaking for up to two minutes. Which TWO of the following strategies are most effective to use during that one-minute preparation time? (Select TWO)
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Correct answer: B, C
Jotting down keywords is an efficient way to structure the talk without scripting it, which allows for more natural delivery and better fluency.
Consciously thinking of topic-specific vocabulary demonstrates lexical resource, a key scoring criterion. Planning to include a few relevant, less common words can significantly boost the score.
- 8
True or False: In the IELTS Listening test, answers that are grammatically incorrect but convey the correct information are always marked as correct.
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Correct answer: B
While the primary focus is on understanding and capturing correct information, answers must also be grammatically correct to be accepted. For example, if the answer requires a plural noun (e.g., 'books') and the candidate writes the singular form ('book'), the answer will be marked incorrect. Spelling and grammar count.
- 9
A university is analyzing student enrollment across different faculties for the years 2010 and 2020. The data is presented in the bar chart below. An IELTS candidate is writing a Task 1 report. What is the most significant feature that should be included in the 'overview' or 'summary' paragraph?
graph TD subgraph 2010 A[Arts: 5000] B[Science: 4000] C[Engineering: 3000] D[Business: 3500] end subgraph 2020 A2[Arts: 4500] B2[Science: 6000] C2[Engineering: 6500] D2[Business: 7000] endShow answer details
Correct answer: C
A strong overview identifies the main trends and overall patterns without citing specific data. This option correctly summarizes the general increase, points out the single exception (Arts), and highlights the change in the most popular faculty. This provides a comprehensive summary that prepares the reader for the detailed analysis to follow.
- 10
In an IELTS Reading passage, a question asks you to match headings to paragraphs. The best strategy is to read the entire passage in detail first, then attempt to match all the headings.
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Correct answer: B
A more time-efficient and effective strategy for 'Matching Headings' questions is to read the list of headings first to understand the main ideas you are looking for. Then, read the first paragraph, determine its main idea, and match it to a heading. Proceed paragraph by paragraph. Reading the entire passage in detail first is time-consuming and can lead to confusion.
