IELTS Reading Answers with Explanation: All Cambridge IELTS Passages (7 to 17)

Looking for IELTS Reading answers with a clear explanation? This page is the complete index of our IELTS Reading Answers with Explanation posts. Every link below opens a separate post for one Academic Reading passage, with the answer key for all its questions and a short reason why each answer is right, so you can check your work and learn from your mistakes.

We have 168 passages covered, from Cambridge IELTS 7 to Cambridge IELTS 17, plus extra practice tests. New passages are added regularly, so bookmark this page.

How to use these IELTS Reading answers

Attempt the passage first in 20 minutes, under exam conditions.
Open the matching post below and compare your answers.
Read the explanation for every wrong answer and note the question type you missed (True/False/Not Given, Matching Headings, Summary Completion and so on).
Practise the same question type again on another passage.

Cambridge IELTS 7 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 8 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 8 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: A Chronicle of Timekeeping IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Air Traffic Control in the USA IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Telepathy IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 8 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Sheet Glass Manufacture: The Float Process IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Little Ice Age IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Meaning and Power of Smell IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 8 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: Striking Back at Lightning with Lasers IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Nature of Genius IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: How Does the Biological Clock Tick? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 8 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: Land of the Rising Sum IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Biological Control of Pests IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Collecting Ant Specimens IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 9 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 9 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: William Henry Perkin IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Is There Anybody Out There? The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The History of the Tortoise IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 9 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Hearing Impairment IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Venus in Transit IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 9 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: Attitudes to Language IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Tidal Power IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Information Theory – The Big Idea IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 9 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: The Life and Work of Marie Curie IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Young Children’s Sense of Identity IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Development of Museums IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 10 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 10 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Stepwells IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: European Transport Systems 1990-2010 IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Psychology of Innovation IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 10 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Tea and the Industrial Revolution IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Gifted Children and Learning IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Museums of Fine Art and Their Public IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 10 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: The Context, Meaning and Scope of Tourism IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Autumn Leaves IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Beyond the Blue Horizon IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 10 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: The Megafires of California IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Second Nature IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: When Evolution Runs Backwards IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 11 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 11 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Crop-Growing Skyscrapers IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Falkirk Wheel IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Reducing the Effects of Climate Change IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 11 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Raising the Mary Rose IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: What Destroyed the Civilisation of Easter Island? IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Neuroaesthetics IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 11 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: The Story of Silk IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Great Migrations IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Preface to ‘How the Other Half Thinks’ IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 11 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: Research Using Twins IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: An Introduction to Film Sound IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: ‘This Marvellous Invention’ IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 12 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 12 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Cork IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Collecting as a Hobby IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: What’s the Purpose of Gaining Knowledge? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 12 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: The Risks Agriculture Faces in Developing Countries IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Lost City IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Benefits of Being Bilingual IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 12 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: Flying Tortoises IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Music and the Emotions IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 12 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: The History of Glass IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Bring Back the Big Cats IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: UK Companies Need More Effective Boards of Directors IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 13 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 13 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Case Study: Tourism New Zealand Website IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Why Being Bored Is Stimulating – and Useful, Too IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Artificial Artist? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 13 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Bringing Cinnamon to Europe IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Oxytocin IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Making the Most of Trends IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 13 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: The Coconut Palm IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: How Baby Talk Gives Infant Brains a Boost IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Whatever Happened to the Harappan Civilisation? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 13 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: Cutty Sark: The Fastest Sailing Ship of All Time IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Saving the Soil IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Book Review IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 14 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 14 Reading Test 1 Answers

Cambridge IELTS 14 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: Alexander Henderson (1831-1913) IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Back to the Future of Skyscraper Design IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Why Companies Should Welcome Disorder IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 14 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: The Concept of Intelligence IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Saving Bugs to Find New Drugs IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Power of Play IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 14 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: The Secret of Staying Young IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Why Zoos Are Good IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: How Bad Is Ocean Garbage, Really? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 15 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 15 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Nutmeg – A Valuable Spice IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Driverless Cars IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: What Is Exploration? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 15 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 2: Should We Try to Bring Extinct Species Back to Life? IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Having a Laugh IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 15 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: Henry Moore (1898-1986) IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Desolenator: Producing Clean Water IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 15 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: The Return of the Huarango IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Silbo Gomero – The Whistle ‘Language’ of the Canary Islands IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Environmental Practices of Big Businesses IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: The Step Pyramid of Djoser IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: The Future of Work IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: The White Horse of Uffington IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: I Contain Multitudes IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: How to Make Wise Decisions IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Test 3 Answers

Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: Roman Tunnels IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Changes in Reading Habits IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Attitudes Towards Artificial Intelligence IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading Answers with Explanation

Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading Test 1 Answers

Passage 1: The Development of the London Underground Railway IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: Stadiums: Past, Present and Future IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: To Catch a King IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading Test 2 Answers

Passage 1: The Dead Sea Scrolls IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 2: A Second Attempt at Domesticating the Tomato IELTS Reading Answers
Passage 3: Insight or Evolution? IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading Test 3 Answers

Passage 1: The Thylacine IELTS Reading Answers

Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading Test 4 Answers

Passage 1: Bats to the Rescue IELTS Reading Answers

Are these IELTS Reading answers accurate?

Each post gives the answer key for every question of the passage, with a short explanation wherever the reasoning is clear. Always re-read the relevant paragraph in the passage to confirm.

How many questions are in the IELTS Academic Reading test?

There are 40 questions across 3 passages, and you get 60 minutes in total with no extra time to transfer answers.

How can I improve my IELTS Reading score?

Practise one passage at a time, review every mistake using the explanations, and focus on the question types where you lose the most marks.

Practise IELTS Reading tests on computer