IELTS Reading Choose The Heading

IELTS READING
Collected by Ly Na Tran
Resources: ielts-simon.com Page 1
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IELTS Reading: choose the heading
A. Tip of Simon:
1. Do these questions last
'Paragraph headings' questions are difficult, especially because the answers will not be in order in
the text. For most other types of question, the answers will be in order in the text. So, do the other
questions first, then you will be familiar with the text when you return to the 'paragraph headings'
questions. You might even find that you are able to match some of the paragraphs really quickly
because you remember what they were about.
2. Start with the shortest paragraphs
Instead of starting with the first paragraph, why not start with the shortest paragraph? If there is a
really short paragraph, it should be easier to match it to a heading. Then you will have fewer
headings to choose from for the longer paragraphs.
3. Look for similar words
As with most types of IELTS reading question, you should be able to find words in the paragraph
that are similar to words in the heading.
4. Move on if you are spending too much time
'Paragraph headings' questions often take a long time. Don't allow yourself to use more than 20
minutes for each reading passage. If you haven't finished after 20 minutes, move on to the next
passage.
B. Practice exercises

1. Read the following passage and choose the best heading.
The environmental challenges posed by agriculture are huge, and theyll only become more
pressing as we try to meet the growing need for food worldwide. Well likely have two billion
more mouths to feed by mid-century - more than nine billion people. But sheer population
growth isnt the only reason well need more food. The spread of prosperity across the world,
especially in India and China, is driving an increased demand for meat, eggs and dairy, boosting
pressure to grow more corn and soybeans to feed more cattle, pigs and chickens. If these trends
continue, the double whammy of population growth and richer diets will require us to roughly
double the amount of crops we grow by 2050.
(Source: National Geographic, May 2014)
A) Two key trends driving the demand for food worldwide.
B) The impact of agriculture on the natural world.
C) Growing populations and their need for food.
2. Read the following passage, and choose the best title from the list.
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Using a laser scan of Bourges cathedral in France, a team led by John Ochsendorf of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology have 3D-printed thousands of bricks and are building an
exact 1:50 replica. The researchers hope to use the mock-up to devise a way to gauge the
stability, and thus safety, of historical buildings built of brick and stone.
Building the replica is painstaking work, but Ochsendorf thinks the process itself may be as
valuable as the mechanics uncovered. For students of architecture and structural engineering,
hands-on experience has largely given way to computer modelling. Techniques like 3D printing
could be a way of reconnecting them with the craft behind the science, he says.
(New Scientist, 14.2 14.)
A)3D printing a historical structure.
B) The benefits of 3D printing.
C) Computer modelling or hands-on experience?
D) A damaged cathedral is rebuilt.

3. Read the paragraph below and choose the best heading from the list.
Reading underwent serious changes in the 18th century. Until 1750, reading was done
intensively: people tended to own a small number of books and read them repeatedly, often to
a small audience. After 1750, people began to read extensively, finding as many books as they
could, and increasingly reading them alone. Libraries that lent out their material for a small price
started to appear, and occasionally bookstores would offer a small lending library to their
patrons. Coffee houses commonly offered books, journals and sometimes even popular novels to
their customers.
1. The appearance of the first public libraries.
2. Intensive and extensive reading habits.
3. The reading revolution.
4.Read the following passage.
The cinematograph is a motion picture film camera which also serves as a film projector and
developer. It was invented in the 1890s, but there is much dispute as to the identity of its
inventor.
Some argue that the device was first invented and patented as "Cinmatographe Lon Bouly" by
French inventor Lon Bouly on February 12, 1892. Bouly coined the term cinematograph,
which translates in Greek to writing in movement. It is said that Bouly was not able to pay the
rent for his patent the following year, and that the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumire bought
the licence.
IELTS READING


A more popular version of events is that Louis Lumire was the first to conceptualise the idea.
The Lumire brothers shared the patent, and they made their first film, Sortie de l'usine Lumire
de Lyon, in 1894.
Choose the best title for the whole passage from the list below.
A) How the cinematograph was invented
B) The first film projector
C) Who invented the cinematograph?
D) What is a cinematograph?

5.Read the following passage about cognitive behavioural therapy:
A) Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach: a talking therapy.
CBT aims to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviours and cognitions
through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure in the present.
B) The particular therapeutic techniques vary, but commonly may include keeping a diary of
significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviours; questioning and testing
cognitions, assumptions, evaluations and beliefs that might be unhelpful and unrealistic;
gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; and trying out new ways of behaving
and reacting. Relaxation, mindfulness and distraction techniques are also commonly included.
C) Going through cognitive behavioural therapy is not an overnight process for clients; a typical
course consists of 12-16 hour-long sessions. Even after clients have learned to recognise when
and where their mental processes go awry, it can in some cases take considerable time or effort
to replace a dysfunctional process or habit with a more reasonable and adaptive one. CBT is
problem-focused and structured towards the client. It requires honesty and openness between the
client and therapist, as a therapist develops strategies for managing problems and guiding the
client to a better life.
Choose the best headings for paragraphs A, B and C from this list:
1. A slow process
2. A new type of therapeutic approach
3. The benefits and drawbacks of CBT
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4. A goal-oriented therapeutic approach
5. CBT therapists are always honest with their clients
6. The range of CBT interventions
6.Read the following paragraph and choose the best heading.
Melbourne has topped the list of the best cities in the world to live in, according to a new report
by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Vienna in Austria and Vancouver in Canada came in second
and third place respectively on the Global Livability Ranking. Cities across the world are
awarded scores depending on lifestyle challenges faced by the people living there. Each city is
scored on its stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. This is
the third time that the Australian city has topped the list. Unfortunately, UK cities fared worse on
the list with London coming 55 out of 140 cities while Manchester was ranked 51. The report
also shows that livability across the world has fallen by 0.6 per cent.
A) Livability survey produces some surprising results.
B) How cities are ranked.
C) Results of the latest Most Livable Cities Index.
D) Melbourne is top city for tourists.
7.Choose the best heading for the following paragraph from the list below.
Big data is a term being used more and more by politicians. It refers to the concept that any
problem from underperforming pupils to failing hospitals can be solved by collecting some
tightly focused data, crunching it and making tweaks, such as moving pupils or changing nurses
shifts, rather than dealing with bigger issues, such as poverty or spending cuts. This is an
approach that focuses narrowly on what works without ever troubling to ask: works for
whom? Its watchword is smart, which can easily be appreciated, rather than right, which
cant. Putting trust in highly educated technocrats, it is naturally less interested in public debate.
A) How data can be used to improve society.
B) Big data: a smart approach to politics that works for everyone.
C) A sceptical perspective on big data.
D) Why the public trusts technocrats more than politicians.
8.Future Shock is a book written by the futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. In the book, Toffler
defines the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire
societies. His shortest definition for the term is a personal perception of "too much change in too
short a period of time". The book became an international bestseller, selling over 6 million
copies, and has been widely translated.
Toffler argued that society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an
industrial society to a "super-industrial society". This change overwhelms people, he believed,
the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaving people disconnected and suffering
from "shattering stress and disorientation" - future shocked. Toffler stated that the majority of
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social problems are symptoms of future shock. In his discussion of the components of such shock
he popularized the term "information overload."
A) A shocking vision of the future.
B) What is future shock?
C) The career of the futurist Alvin Toffler.
D) A changing society.
9.Read the following passage about a chess-playing computer.
A) On February 10, 1996, Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game against a
reigning world champion (Garry Kasparov) under regular time controls. However, Kasparov
won three and drew two of the following five games, beating Deep Blue by a score of 42. Deep
Blue was then heavily upgraded and played Kasparov again in May 1997, winning the six-game
rematch 32. Deep Blue won the deciding game six, becoming the first computer system to
defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls.
B) After the loss, Kasparov said that he sometimes saw deep intelligence and creativity in the
machine's moves, suggesting that during the second game, human chess players had intervened
on behalf of the machine, which would be a violation of the rules. IBM denied that it cheated,
saying the only human intervention occurred between games. The rules provided for the
developers to modify the program between games, an opportunity they said they used to shore up
weaknesses in the computer's play that were revealed during the course of the match. This
allowed the computer to avoid a trap in the final game that it had fallen for twice before.
Kasparov demanded a rematch, but IBM refused and dismantled Deep Blue.
Choose the best heading for paragraphs A and B from the list below.
1. The first chess-playing computer
2. Developers intervention is questioned
3. Chess champion accepts defeat
4. Program developers caught cheating
5. A victory for artificial intelligence
10.Read the following paragraph about the inventor Thomas Edison.
Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices
that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion
picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. He was one of the first
inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the
process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first
industrial research laboratory. Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor in history,
holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom,
France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass
communication and, in particular, telecommunications.
IELTS READING

Choose the best heading for the paragraph from the list below.
A) The creator of the first industrial research laboratory.
B) A pioneering and prolific inventor.
C) Edisons contribution to mass communication.
11.Match the correct headings with the paragraphs below.
1. The causes of stress among employers and employees
2. The increase in work-related stress
3. The increase in visits to physicians
4. Stress has wide-ranging effects on the body and on behaviour
A) The number of stress-related disability claims by American employees has doubled according
to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association in Arlington, Virginia. Seventy-five to
ninety percent of physician visits are related to stress and, according to the American Institute of
Stress, the cost to industry has been estimated at $200 billion-$300 billion a year.
B) It is clear that problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and
employees. Symptoms of stress are manifested both physiologically and psychologically.
Persistent stress can result in cardiovascular disease, a weaker immune system and frequent
headaches, stiff muscles, or backache. It can also result in poor coping skills, irritability,
jumpiness, insecurity, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating. Stress may also perpetuate or
lead to binge eating, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
12.
Across the world, universities are more numerous than they have ever been, yet at the same time
there is unprecedented confusion about their purpose and scepticism about their value. What Are
Universities For? offers a spirited and compelling argument for completely rethinking the way
we see our universities, and why we need them.
Stefan Collini challenges the common claim that universities need to show that they help to
make money in order to justify getting more money. Instead, he argues that we must reflect on
the different types of institution and the distinctive roles they play. In particular we must
recognise that attempting to extend human understanding, which is at the heart of disciplined
intellectual enquiry, can never be wholly harnessed to immediate social purposes - particularly in
the case of the humanities, which both attract and puzzle many people and are therefore the most
difficult subjects to justify.
At a time when the future of higher education lies in the balance, What Are Universities For?
offers all of us a better, deeper and more enlightened understanding of why universities matter,
to everyone.
Which statement best summarises the book's message?
A) We do not necessarily need universities nowadays
B) Universities should be harnessed for social purposes
IELTS READING

C) Universities must justify the money they are given
D) We need to change our understanding of the role of universities
13.Choose the correct heading for the paragraph from the list below.
A) The environmental impact of estuaries
B) The human impact on certain coastal areas
C) Why estuaries will disappear
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing
into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are amongst the most heavily
populated areas throughout the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along
estuaries and the coast. As a result, estuaries are suffering degradation by many factors,
including overgrazing and other poor farming practices; overfishing; drainage and filling of
wetlands; pollutants from sewage inputs; and diking or damming for flood control or water
diversion.

14.Read the following paragraph and choose the best heading.
Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language.
Young learners are taught to associate the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of
letters. For example, they might be taught that the sound /k/ can be represented by the spellings
c, k, ck, ch, or q. Using phonics, the teacher shows the learners how to blend the sounds of letters
together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words. Phonics is a widely used
method of teaching children to read and decode words. Children begin learning to read using
phonics usually around the age of 5 or 6.

A) A new method for language learning
B) How phonics benefits children in the UK
C) Children learn to link sounds with spellings
D) Children learn the rules of spelling
15. Match two of the following headings with the paragraphs below.
1. Rapid sales of printing presses.
IELTS READING

2. The revolutionary impact of the printing press.
3. New information and ideas.
4. The printing boom.
From a single point of origin, Mainz, Germany, printing spread within several decades to over
two hundred cities in a dozen European countries. By 1500, printing presses in operation
throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million volumes. In the 16th
century, with presses spreading further afield, their output rose tenfold to an estimated 150 to
200 million copies. The operation of a press became so synonymous with the enterprise of
printing that it lent its name to an entire new branch of media, the press.
In Renaissance Europe, the arrival of mechanical movable type printing introduced the era of
mass communication which permanently altered the structure of society. The relatively
unrestricted circulation of information and ideas transcended borders and threatened the power of
political and religious authorities. The sharp increase in literacy broke the monopoly of the
literate elite on education and learning and bolstered the emerging middle class.
16.Read the following article and choose the best title from the list below.
A new survey reveals that a family sit-down at dinnertime may reduce a teenagers risk of trying
or using alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. The study surveyed more than 1,000 teens and found that
those who dined with their families five to seven times a week were four times less likely to use
alcohol, tobacco or marijuana than those who ate with their families fewer than three times a
week.
A recent UK survey also found that dining together as a family is a key ingredient in ensuring a
child's happiness. Children in the survey reported higher levels of happiness when they dined
together with their families at least three times a week. "Contrary to the popular belief that
children only want to spend time playing video games or watching TV," said researcher Dr.
Maris Iacovou of the University of Essex, "we found that they were most happy when interacting
with their parents or siblings."
A) Children's happiness
B) Why teenagers use alcohol, cigarettes and drugs
C) What teenagers really want
D) Why families should dine together
(article adapted from The Independent)
17.Read the following paragraphs, taken from The Guardian newspaper.
A) The hunt for intelligent species outside Earth may be a staple of literature and film but it is
happening in real life, too. Nasa probes are on the lookout for planets outside our solar system,
and astronomers are carefully listening for any messages being beamed through space. How awe-
inspiring it would be to get confirmation that we are not alone in the universe, to finally speak to
an alien race. Wouldn't it?
IELTS READING

B) Well no, according to the eminent physicist Stephen Hawking. "If aliens visit us, the outcome
would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native
Americans," Hawking has said in a forthcoming documentary made for the Discovery Channel.
He argues that, instead of trying to find and communicate with life in the cosmos, humans would
be better off doing everything they can to avoid contact.
C) Hawking believes that, based on the sheer number of planets that scientists know must exist,
we are not the only life-form in the universe. There are, after all, billions and billions of stars in
our galaxy alone, with, it is reasonable to expect, an even greater number of planets orbiting
them. And it is not unreasonable to expect some of that alien life to be intelligent, and capable of
interstellar communication.
Match each paragraph with one of the headings below.
1. A pessimistic prediction.
2. The probability of life existing on other planets.
3. Astronomers send messages through space.
4. How to avoid contact with aliens.
5. The search for alien life-forms.
6. Life-forms exist on other planets.
18.Paragraph:
For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data. It
gives lexicographers (people who write dictionaries) access to a more vibrant, up-to-date
vernacular language which has never really been studied before. In one project, 150 volunteers
each agreed to discreetly tie a Walkman recorder to their waist and leave it running for anything
up to two weeks. Every conversation they had was recorded. When the data was collected, the
length of tapes was 35 times the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Teams of audio typists transcribed
the tapes to produce a computerised database of ten million words.
Which paragraph heading would you chose, and why?
1. New method of research
2. The first study of spoken language
Feel free to discuss this question in the "comments" area below this lesson. I'll give you my
answer and explanation tomorrow.

19.Paragraph:
It was once assumed that improvements in telecommunications would lead to more dispersal in
the population as people were no longer forced into cities. However, the ISTP team's research
demonstrates that the population and job density of cities rose or remained constant in the 1980s
after decades of decline. The explanation for this seems to be that it is valuable to place people
IELTS READING

working in related fields together. 'The new world will largely depend on human creativity, and
creativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face.'
Which paragraph heading would you choose and why?
1. The impact of telecommunications on population distribution
2. The benefits of working together in cities
Feel free to discuss this question in the "comments" area below this lesson. Why is your answer
correct, and why is the other answer wrong?

IELTS READING


C.Correct answers from Simon:
Ex1:
A
The two trends are population growth and the spread of prosperity.
Ex2:
A - the cathedral is the historic structure that they are making into a 3D-printed model.
B is too general - the text isn't really about the benefits of 3D printing - it's about a specific
example of 3D printing.
Ex3:
3. THE READING REVOLUTION
Reading underwent serious changes... The text then explains these changes.
Ex4:
C.
"D" is only mentioned in the first sentence. The main topic of the whole text is "C".
Ex5:
A = 4
solve problems... through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure = a goal-oriented therapeutic
approach
B = 6
the particular therapeutic techniques vary, but commonly may include... = The range of CBT
interventions
C = 1
going through cognitive behavioural therapy is not an overnight process for clients; a typical
course consists of 12-16 hour-long sessions = a slow process
Ex6:
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C
Ex7:
C
sceptical = having doubts, not convinced about something

Ex8:
B is correct.
A is wrong because the passage is about people's reaction to the future, not a particular vision of
the future.
C is wrong because there is nothing about his whole career.
D is too general - the passage is about a specific reaction to change. We really need something
about Toffler or future shock in the title.
B is the best title because both paragraphs talk about future shock: the first paragraph contains a
definition, and the second paragraph explains how future shock can occur.
Ex9:
A) 5
B) 2
Ex10:
B - this is the overall idea of the paragraph. The other answers are too specific.
Ex11:
A = 2
(increase in work-related stress = stress related claims by employees has doubled)
B = 4
(This paragraph is about the effects/symptoms of stress, NOT the causes)
Ex12:
D
Ex13:
B
IELTS READING

- After "as a result" you can read a list of things that are affecting estuaries. Every factor in the
list is related to human activity.
- There is nothing about the effect that estuaries have on the environment, and there is nothing
about estuaries disappearing completely.
Ex14:
- C
"Associate sounds with letters" means the same as "link sounds with spellings".
Ex15:
4 - The printing boom
2 - The revolutionary impact of the printing press
Ex16:
D
Ex17:
A = 5 (the search = the hunt)
B = 1
C = 2 (probability = Hawking BELIEVES, but it is not certain)
Ex18:
Number 1: "New method of research"
This is a tricky question as both headings are similar and seem to be correct.
However, the paragraph DOESN'T talk about the first study of spoken language. It talks about
the first time spoken English has been used when collecting data for dictionaries.
In other words, it's a new way of writing dictionaries, not the first study of spoken language.
Ex19:
2 - benefits of working together in cities.
Be careful: the answer is NOT always in the first sentence. The first sentence is about what
people "once assumed" (used to think), but the word "However" introduces the real topic of the
paragraph.

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