IELTS General Reading Practice: Sections 1 to 3 with Answers

The IELTS General Training Reading test has 40 questions in 60 minutes, across three sections that get harder as you go. This page has one short text for each section and 17 questions to go with them, so you can practise all three kinds of reading in about 25 minutes.

Everything here is original practice written in the IELTS General Training format. It is not official IELTS material.

How the three sections differ

Section	What you read	Typical sources
Section 1	Two or three short texts, or several very short ones, about everyday life	Notices, advertisements, timetables
Section 2	Two texts about work	Job descriptions, contracts, staff policies, training material
Section 3	One longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest	Newspapers, magazines, books, online articles

Question types you’ll meet

True / False / Not Given: decide whether a statement agrees with the text (True), contradicts it (False), or isn’t covered by it (Not Given).
Matching information: find which paragraph contains a particular piece of information. Some paragraphs may be used more than once, and some not at all.
Multiple choice: usually four options, with one correct answer.
Completion and short answers: fill a gap in a sentence, note, table or summary with words from the text, within a word limit. On the real test you write or type the words; here the practice is multiple choice.

Section 1 text

Riverside Community Centre: Pool and Fitness Information

Opening hours. The pool is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. The fitness room keeps the same opening times but closes one hour earlier each day. Both are closed on statutory holidays.

Passes. A monthly pass costs $48 for adults and $30 for seniors (65 and over) and students with valid ID. Children under 6 swim free with a paying adult. A ten-visit card costs $55 and has no expiry date.

Lane swimming. Lanes are marked slow, medium and fast. Please choose the lane that matches your pace and only overtake at the wall. There is no lane swimming during Saturday morning lessons, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Lessons. Online registration for the spring session opens on March 1 for residents and March 8 for everyone else. Each session runs for eight weeks.

Lockers. Day lockers need a padlock, which you must bring yourself. Locks left on overnight will be cut off.

Section 2 text

Starting at Northgate Logistics: Information for New Staff

A. On your first day, please report to the reception desk at 8:30 a.m. Your supervisor will give you a tour of the site and your photo ID card, which must be worn at all times on company premises. You will spend your first three days working alongside an experienced colleague before you are given your own duties.

B. Full-time staff work 37.5 hours a week. Each shift includes an unpaid 30-minute meal break and two paid 15-minute breaks. Overtime must be approved by your supervisor in advance. Overtime that has not been approved will not be paid.

C. Vacation requests should be made through the staff portal at least four weeks ahead. Requests for the busy period from November 15 to January 5 are approved in the order they are received. If you are ill, phone your supervisor before your shift starts. An email or text message is not enough.

D. All warehouse staff must complete forklift safety training within their first month. The company will also pay for one external course a year, up to $1,000, if it is related to your role. Please speak to Human Resources before you enrol.

Section 3 text

The Tool Library

When Elena Marsh retired from teaching, her garage held forty years of tools: three hammers, two ladders and a tile cutter she had used exactly once. Her neighbours, she noticed, were buying the same things. “Every house on our street owned a power drill,” she says, “and most of them had been used for about ten minutes in total.”

Her solution was a lending shelf at the end of her driveway. Neighbours could borrow a tool for a week by writing their name in a notebook. Within a year, the shelf had become a converted shipping container behind the local library, with more than 600 items and a rota of twelve volunteers. Members now pay $20 a year, which covers insurance and repairs.

Not everything has worked. An early plan to lend lawnmowers was dropped after two came back broken in the same month, and Marsh admits that the notebook system “fell apart completely” once membership passed a hundred. Borrowing is now booked online.

Supporters say the project saves members money and cuts waste. Marsh is more modest. What she values most, she says, is the conversation at the counter. “People come in for a sander and leave with advice on fixing their fence from someone who has done it twice.”

Practice questions

How to approach each section

Section 1: scan for the detail the question needs. Times, prices and names are easy anchors. Watch for small conditions, such as “with a paying adult.”
Section 2: workplace texts are full of rules and exceptions. Words like “must,” “unpaid” and “in advance” often decide the answer.
Section 3: read the first sentence of each paragraph to map the text, then go back for detail. This section is the hardest, so leave yourself at least 20 minutes for it.
True vs Not Given: if you’re hunting for information that isn’t there, the answer is probably Not Given. False means the text says the opposite.

For pacing across all three sections, read the time management tips. For the full test format, see the IELTS General Training test guide. More practice is on the home page.

IELTS General Reading Practice