IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test

Table of contents

1. IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test
2. IELTS Academic Reading Sentence Completion mock test - Question 1
3. IELTS Academic Reading Sentence Completion mock test - Question 2
4. IELTS Academic Reading Sentence Completion mock test - Question 3
5. IELTS Academic Reading Sentence Completion mock test - Question 4
6. Answers for the mock test
7. Conclusion

The main objective of the IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test is to  help you in assessing your reading and understanding abilities. Sentence completion question type includes paragraphs followed by questions with blanks. You have to understand the meaning of the given sentence to identify the correct word/number from the passage to fill the gaps.

IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test- Question 1

Answer questions 1-7 which are based on the reading passage below.

THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

The Appalachian Trail or A.T. is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States. The trail commences from Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in the Maine region. It runs through 14 American states, and Virginia is home to a quarter of the trail. The estimated length of the trail is about 2,200 miles; however, the exact dimensions undergo some change with time, due to rerouting or modifications. Appalachian Trail Conservancy, an organisation established in 1925 for the day-to-day management and conservation of the trail, describes it as the longest hiking-only trail in the world.

The idea of the trail was conceived by a forester, Benton MacKaye, who penned down his thoughts in an article titled ‘An Appalachian Trail, A Project in Regional Planning’ in 1921. The plan had the details of a vast trail that would interconnect a succession of farms and work or study-related wilderness camps engineered for people living in the cities. A year later, Raymond Torrey published the idea in the New York Evening Post under the headline, ‘A Great Trail from Maine to Georgia!’ at the suggestion of Major William Welch, who was at that time, the director of the Palisade Interstate Park Commission. This led to the adoption of the idea by the new Palisades Interstate Park Trail Conference and was considered their chief project. The trail saw completion in 1937. However, there were gaps in the Trail soon after its opening when a lot of the area was made inaccessible due to the New England Hurricane, and later, the displacement of 120 miles due to the Virginia parkway. Through the dark years of World War II, the Trail was in disrepair.

In 1936, Myron Avery, the long-standing chairman of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, became the first person to walk the entire trail in parts. Some other hikers also followed. However, no one had attempted a continuous backpacking journey through the whole trail until the year 1948, when Earl Shaffer, a World War II veteran residing in Pennsylvania, decided to attempt it. In his memoir, he noted, ‘I almost wished that the Trail really was endless, that no one could ever hike its length.’ Amazingly, he repeated the adventure fifty years later when he was 79 years old and became the oldest ‘thru-hiker’ at that time. 

Current statistics say that 12,000 people have traversed the full stretch of the Appalachian Trail since the year 1937 when it was completed. As per estimates made by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, it generally takes around five to seven months to complete the hike up the trail. In 2004, an 81-year-old man completed that stretch, breaking the record set by Earl Shaffer. In the following year, trekker Andrew Thompson of New Hampshire made history by completing the hike in a matter of just 47 days, walking up the trail at the amazing speed of 45 miles per day. In spite of consuming somewhere around 8,000 calories per day, he lost 30 pounds during the trek.

Thousands of species of plants and animals have made their home on the Appalachian Trail. Among them are the 2,000 plant and animal varieties that are rare, endangered, or threatened. The largest animal which inhabits the entire region of the trail is the American black bear, but confrontations with humans are rare. Even sightings of bears are not that common, apart from certain areas such as the Shenandoah National Park and parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut portions, where there has been a steady increase in the bear population since the 1980s. Other hazardous creatures are venomous snakes such as the Eastern Timber rattlesnake or the copperhead. It is the drier and the rockier parts of the trail that the snakes prefer to dwell in.

Even in cases where people are ‘navigationally challenged,’ the Appalachian Trail is very forgiving as there are thousands of white paint markings guiding the trekkers as they walk. However, there are still a few trekkers who end up going the wrong way.

Questions 1 - 7 

Complete the sentences below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY  from the passage for each answer.

1 A ________ of the Appalachian Trail passes through Virginia.
2 The length of the trail keeps on changing due to _______ and diversions.
3 Benton Mackaye intended to develop a long trail connecting forest camps and ______.
4 Earl Shaffer was the first to complete a _______ hike through the entire trail.
5 The cases of human-bear __________ are occasional on the trail.
6  Poisonous _______ inhabit the dry, rocky areas of the trail.
7 Despite clear _______, some hikers get lost on the Appalachian Trail.

Also, read IELTS academic reading tips

IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test - Question 2

Answer questions 1-6 which are based on the reading passage below.

Cuba’s Organic Revolution

Organic agriculture has been adopted as the official government strategy for all new agriculture in Cuba, after its highly successful introduction just seven years ago. IN less than a decade the use of chemical pesticides has dropped by 80 %.

The catalyst, which revolutionised the Cuban approach, was an economic necessity after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now the island is self-sufficient in organic fruit and vegetables and organic livestock is also being reared successfully. Even cabbage, which could not be grown in the past because it was impossible to control the diamondback moth, now has yields of 60 tonnes per hectare without using fertilisers or pesticides.

To meet the demands of a labour intensive system of agriculture, the Cuban government has increased rural wages and is providing favourable housing for farm workers which also helps solve the problem of severe housing shortages and overcrowding in the cities. It is also making available abandoned land in urban areas for local communities to farm.

In one co-operative, 40 members are providing food for their own families, with plenty of surpluses to provide for community elders, invalids, and daycare centres. Over 40 countries were represented at a recent Pesticide Action Network (PAN) conference in Cuba to challenge the view that pesticides are essential for agriculture.

The Cuban experience added strength to their conviction that organic agriculture has a great deal to offer and has been unjustifiably ignored by agricultural researchers.

Question 1 - 6 

Complete the sentences below

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer

1. Within ___________ of its introduction, organic farming has been successful in Cuba.
2. The fall of the Soviet Union created an ____________ to grow food.
3. Apart from fruits and vegetables, Cuba is also producing _____________ organically.
4. Encouraging the development of agriculture has helped reduce __________ in urban areas.
5. A conference in Cuba promoted the view that pesticides are not ______________ in farming.
6. _____________ should focus more on organic farming.

Check more IELTS academic reading sentence completion exercises with answers 

IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test - Question 3 

Answer questions 1-7 which are based on the reading passage below.

The Samurai of Japan and European Knights

Japanese and European medieval societies developed along similar feudal lines, and in both, a warrior elite emerged as the dominant force. In both parts of the world, honour played an important part in their cultures, and knights and samurai were expected to follow their respective warrior code, the "Chivalric Code' in Europe and 'Bushido' (way of the
warrior) in Japan.

The codes were not set in stone, they differed from one clan or country to the next and changed down the ages; however, there were several key factors in each that tended to be
considered essential parts of the way a warrior should conduct his life.

In both Europe and Japan throughout the Middle Ages, the sword was considered the noblest weapon and would hold spiritual significance for the warrior. The samurai famously believed that the legendary samurai sword contained its owner's soul and according toRichard Cohen in his book, 'By the Sword, the same sort of importance was put on the medieval knight's sword, which was believed to possess the essence of the warrior's inner power and true nobility.

One of the main influences for this tradition in Europe was the poem Beowulf, whose sword ‘Hrunting' would not allow its user to perform evil acts. Before a battle, a knight would kiss the cross of his sword on the hilt in the act of religious significance made more so as this part of the sword often contained relics.

Warriors from both regions had similar ideas about how a battle should be fought, and it was generally agreed that charging into an enemy, then engaging in one-on-one combat was the noblest way to fight. Although both preferred to fight in a 'gentlemanly' manner, this probably happened much more in fictitious accounts of warfare than on the real battlefield as the realities of war usually would not allow for formalities.

Steve Turnbull highlights a case of this in his book, "Samurai - A Military History”. During the Gempei War' (1180-1185), in the ‘Battle of Kurikara', part of the Minamoto force engaged their vastly more powerful enemy, the Taira Clan, in a battle that was conducted in a formal and gentlemanly way. They started with an archery duel, followed by combat between small groups fighting one-on-one and then a pitched battle between one hundred warriors from each side. But the Minamoto had been keeping their enemy occupied and soon the realities of war returned. The Minamoto charged a herd of oxen with flaming pine torches attached to their horns into the Taira, driving them into a valley where they were trapped and subsequently slaughtered. The chronicle is the ‘Heike Monogatari' states: “ Thus did seventy thousand horsemen of the Taira perish, buried in this one deep valley; the mountain streams ran with their blood, and the mound of their corpses was like a small hill; and in this valley, it is said, there can be seen the marks of arrow and swords even to this day".

Both these codes helped to shape the ideals and values of their people. However, both often differed considerably in what they deemed honourable, suggesting that the definition of the word honour changed to suit the needs of the people involved in a given time and place. To the medieval knight, a defeated enemy of high social rank was to be captured and ransomed when possible, but those of low birth could be slaughtered. 

To the Japanese, warriors were in a battle to die and would be killed without mercy, whereas peasants were not warriors, so there was no honour in taking their lives. To take an opposing warrior captive would be to take his honour from him so rather than be taken prisoner, a samurai would take his own life in a ritual known as 'Seppuku, an action that would not only lead to dishonour for the European Christian knight but also to eternal damnation.

Questions 1-7 

Complete the sentences below.

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

1. During ____________ times in Japan and Europe, honour was a significant part of the way of life.
2. Both Japanese samurai and European knights were supposed to live according to their ___________.
3. The warriors valued their sword highly as indicative of integrity as well as their _________.
4. The idea of fighting by a set of rules was probably more __________ than real.
5. The meaning of honour for both the Samurai and Knights ____________.
6. The treatment given to captives by Knights depended upon their ___________ status.
7. A samurai would instead commit ___________ than be captured by the enemy.

For the full IELTS mock test, check the Kanan prep portal

We assure you that this IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test will be very useful for you in achieving a good band score in IELTS academic reading sentence completion question type than you expect. In our website you can also find mock tests for other IELTS academic reading question types. 

IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test - Question 4 

Answer questions 1-6 which are based on the reading passage below.

Santa’s journey of gifting children

Claus had a lot of fun delivering his toys to the children who had been waiting for them for a long time. He had been so diligent during his confinement in the Valley that all of his shelves were brimming with toys, and after rapidly providing the nearby children, he realised he needed to broaden his travel.

He remembered the time he had travelled around the world with Ak, and he knew there were children everywhere, and he wished to make as much as possible joyful with his gifts. So he packed a large sack with various toys, threw it over his back to make it easier to carry, and set out on a journey longer than he had previously completed.

He was greeted warmly everywhere he appeared, whether in a hamlet or a farmhouse, because his popularity had travelled far and wide. The children gathered around him in each village, following his every step, the mothers thanked him warmly for the delight he brought to their children, and the men were intrigued that he should dedicate his time to such a weird occupation as toy-making. But everybody smiled and said nice things to him, and Claus felt well compensated for his lengthy trek.

He returned to the Laughing Valley when the sack was empty and filled it to the full once more. This time he went down a new road, into a different area of the country, bringing joy to many youngsters who had never had a toy or ever imagined that such a beautiful toy existed. The stock of gifts got exhausted after a third journey, which was so far distant that Claus had to travel for days to cover the distance, and he went about constructing a new supply right away. He had various fresh ideas concerning toys as a result of observing so many children and understanding their likes.

Questions 1-7 

Complete the sentences below.

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

1. Claus delighted and waited for a long time to deliver his _________ to the children.

2. After rapidly providing the nearby children, he realised he ought to widen his _________.

3. He got a ____________ with several toys, carried with ease to set a long journey.

4. Everybody ____________ him warmly when he appeared.

5. The sack was empty when he returned to the ______________.

6. After the third trek, the storage of __________ got empty.

Find IELTS academic reading sentence completion list of questions

Answers for the mock test 

Verify your sample answers for the IELTS academic reading sentence completion mock test

Also, check IELTS academic reading sentence completion tips

Conclusion

Trying out these mock tests will help you to attain a high IELTS academic reading score. Hope these mock test exercises will give you a better idea about the IELTS academic reading sentence completion question type.