ENSpeak the language you have been studying.
DESprich die Sprache, die du gelernt hast.
ESHabla el idioma que has estudiado.
ARتكلم اللغة التي درستها.
HIजो भाषा पढ़ी है, उसे बोलो।
URوہ زبان بولو جو سیکھی ہے۔
ZH说出你学过的那门语言。
PTFale o idioma que você estudou.
FRParle la langue que tu as étudiée.
JA勉強してきた言語を話そう。
ENSpeak the language you have been studying.
DESprich die Sprache, die du gelernt hast.
ESHabla el idioma que has estudiado.
ARتكلم اللغة التي درستها.
HIजो भाषा पढ़ी है, उसे बोलो।
URوہ زبان بولو جو سیکھی ہے۔
ZH说出你学过的那门语言。
PTFale o idioma que você estudou.
FRParle la langue que tu as étudiée.
JA勉強してきた言語を話そう。

IELTS Reading: history passages

Passages on how trades, empires, ideas and everyday life changed over the centuries: a staple of IELTS Part 1.

198 passages mainly about history · 390 more that touch on it · from 407 full tests

Passages mainly about history

Each passage opens as a timed 20-minute practice with its 13–14 questions. Submit to see your band estimate and the sentence that proves every answer.

Show 150 more history passages

Other passages that cover history

These passages have a different main subject but deal with history along the way.

390 passages

Key history vocabulary

Words worth knowing before you read about history, each with the sentence it appears in.

WordMeaningExample from a passage
commodities
noun
goods that are bought and sold, especially basic materials.“Caravans crossed it carrying two commodities that the desert could not supply in the same place” Test 416
quarried
verb
dug or cut out of the ground as stone or mineral.“which were quarried long before the first camel reached North Africa” Test 416
pastoral
adjective
relating to the keeping of animals such as camels or sheep.“hired them from pastoral families who supplied the camels and the men to manage them” Test 416
notoriously
adverb
in a way that is well known, usually for something bad.“The work was done by labourers brought to the site, and conditions were notoriously harsh.” Test 416
scarce
adjective
available only in small amounts and hard to obtain.“they convey how scarce the mineral was in the interior” Test 416
scepticism
noun
doubt about whether something is true or worthwhile“his decision to test it at sea was treated with scepticism by many experts” Test 458
improbable
adjective
unlikely to be true or to happen“Heyerdahl's proposal was widely regarded as improbable, and his decision to test it” Test 458
assembled
verb
put together from separate parts“The raft was assembled without metal: the logs were lashed together with hemp rope” Test 458
chafing
noun
rubbing that wears away or damages a surface“The most dangerous problem was the chafing of the ropes beneath the logs” Test 458
salvaged
verb
saved something from loss or damage“The crew survived the impact, salvaged their equipment and eventually crossed to an inhabited island” Test 458
parchment
noun
a writing material made from specially prepared animal skin“more than three hundred leaves of parchment, bound between heavy wooden boards covered in leather” Test 461
palaeographers
noun
scholars who study ancient handwriting and old manuscripts“which most palaeographers take as evidence of a single scribe working over many years” Test 461
condemned
verb
officially sentenced to a particular punishment“a monk of Podlažice who had broken his vows was condemned to be walled up alive” Test 461
account for
phrase
to explain something or give a reason for it“A story grew up to account for it.” Test 461
modest
adjective
small, plain and not wealthy or impressive“describe it as an enterprise of unusual ambition for such a modest community” Test 461
alloy
noun
a metal made by mixing it with one or more other metals“Bronze, the metal that gave the age its name, was an alloy of copper and tin” Test 465
syllabary
noun
a writing system in which each symbol stands for a syllable“Scribes writing in a syllabary now called Linear B recorded flocks” Test 465
redistribution
noun
the sharing out of resources again among a group of people“and made the redistribution system impossible to maintain” Test 465
popularised
verb
made widely known and commonly used“the label was popularised by the French scholar Gaston Maspero” Test 465
Sustained
adjective
continuing for a long time without stopping or easing“Sustained water shortage, however, would have undermined royal authority” Test 465
enlisted
verb
joined the armed forces as a soldier“At seventeen he enlisted in the 15th Light Dragoons, a cavalry regiment” Test 468
hazard
noun
a source of danger that may cause harm or damage“Fire was a constant hazard in such buildings.” Test 468
dismantled
verb
taken apart into separate pieces so it can be moved“travelling companies performed in wooden booths that could be dismantled and carried by wagon” Test 468
descendants
noun
the children and later family members of a particular person“an Italian animal trainer whose descendants ran circuses in France for more than a century” Test 468

Question types in these passages

  • True / False / Not Given · 392 passages
  • Multiple choice · 124 passages
  • Summary completion · 122 passages
  • Flow-chart completion · 98 passages
  • Table completion · 91 passages
  • Note completion · 90 passages
  • Yes / No / Not Given · 82 passages
  • Short-answer questions · 80 passages
  • Sentence completion · 79 passages
  • Matching features · 52 passages
  • Multiple choice (choose more than one) · 44 passages
  • Matching headings · 44 passages
  • Matching information · 42 passages
  • Matching sentence endings · 39 passages
  • Diagram label completion · 26 passages
  • Summary completion (word list) · 24 passages

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