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: science passages

Research findings and scientific explanations written for a general reader, often with several researchers to match.

58 passages mainly about science · 343 more that touch on it · from 314 full tests

Passages mainly about science

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 10 more science passages

Other passages that cover science

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

343 passages

Key science vocabulary

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

WordMeaningExample from a passage
supercooled
adjective
cooled below freezing point without yet turning into ice“the water can be supercooled a degree or two below zero” Test 427
imbalance
noun
a state in which two parts are not equal or evenly arranged“Each molecule has a slight electrical imbalance, with a negative end and a positive end” Test 427
insulating
adjective
preventing heat from passing through or escaping“freeze from the bottom upwards, with no insulating lid at the surface” Test 427
exposure
noun
the extent to which something is open to wind or weather“their behaviour is governed less by density than by their exposure” Test 427
nuclei
noun
small particles on which crystals begin to form“dust, bubbles and even certain bacteria can serve as nuclei” Test 427
proliferation
noun
a rapid increase in the number of something“the past two decades have seen an extraordinary proliferation of them” Test 434
laureate
noun
a person who has been given an important prize or honour“A laureate finds it easier to raise funds for an unfashionable project” Test 434
eminent
adjective
well known and highly respected in a particular field“the tendency for eminent researchers to receive credit for work that others” Test 434
condenses
verb
reduces something to its shortest or most essential form“it condenses the judgement of a community into a signal” Test 434
misrepresents
verb
gives a false or misleading account of something“inevitably simplifies, and sometimes misrepresents, how the work was done” Test 434
suspended
adjective
hanging in the air without falling to the ground“when sunlight enters countless water droplets suspended in the air” Test 450
arbitrary
adjective
chosen without a real reason rather than following a logical rule“Their order is not arbitrary but follows from the way water bends light” Test 450
reinforces
verb
makes a particular colour or effect stronger or more noticeable“depending on the difference in distance, reinforces or cancels particular colours” Test 450
correspondingly
adverb
in a way that matches the size or amount of something else“the light is spread over a wide range of angles and is correspondingly weak” Test 450
transitions
noun
gradual changes from one colour or state to another“The band is not sharp, and between the colours there are gradual transitions.” Test 450
embarking
verb
starting on a long course of action“Yet the cruise on which she was embarking would last three and a half years” Test 466
stripped of
phrase
having something significant removed from it“Challenger was stripped of most of her guns, and carpenters built laboratories” Test 466
justified
verb
gave a good enough reason for something to happen“One question above all others justified the expense” Test 466
barren
adjective
empty of living things; unable to support life“the deeper hauls were not barren but rich” Test 466
submerged
adjective
completely covered by water“the middle of the ocean was not a flat plain but a submerged ridge of volcanic rock” Test 466
fluctuations
noun
small irregular changes in a level, amount or value“creating tiny fluctuations in pressure that travel outwards” Test 468
spectrum
noun
the range of frequencies present in a particular sound“Its ridges and hollows alter the spectrum of the sound that reaches the ear canal” Test 468
auditory
adjective
relating to the sense of hearing or the organs of hearing“The task of the auditory system is to convert those faint changes” Test 468
oscillation
noun
regular movement backwards and forwards between two points“why it does not tip the system into uncontrolled oscillation, is still not fully understood” Test 468

Question types in these passages

  • Multiple choice (choose more than one) · 172 passages
  • Matching information · 141 passages
  • Summary completion · 134 passages
  • True / False / Not Given · 107 passages
  • Multiple choice · 81 passages
  • Matching headings · 76 passages
  • Sentence completion · 68 passages
  • Note completion · 68 passages
  • Matching features · 66 passages
  • Short-answer questions · 43 passages
  • Table completion · 36 passages
  • Summary completion (word list) · 34 passages
  • Yes / No / Not Given · 26 passages
  • Matching sentence endings · 26 passages
  • Flow-chart completion · 26 passages
  • Diagram label completion · 25 passages

Practise one question type at a time →

Get Started →