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: society passages

Work, family, communities, law and social change, often with a writer's opinion to identify.

71 passages mainly about society · 360 more that touch on it · from 372 full tests

Passages mainly about society

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 23 more society passages

Other passages that cover society

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

360 passages

Key society vocabulary

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

WordMeaningExample from a passage
evaded
verb
avoided or escaped from something, such as a payment or duty“The 1867 licence was widely evaded and produced little revenue” Test 410
compliance
noun
the act of obeying a rule or doing what is required“where registration is combined with a service that owners value, compliance tends to be high” Test 410
scrutiny
noun
careful and detailed examination of something or someone“households that keep dozens of animals receive far less scrutiny than the family with a single dog” Test 410
illusion
noun
a false belief or impression that something is the case when it is not“A licence that is not enforced offers an illusion of control” Test 410
conscientious
adjective
careful to do what is right and to meet one's responsibilities“would be obeyed by the conscientious and ignored by everyone else” Test 410
forgo
verb
give up something valuable, especially pay or an opportunity“access to such experience depends on the ability to forgo wages” Test 414
exemption
noun
permission not to follow a rule that applies to others“A better approach is to narrow the exemption.” Test 414
subsidised
adjective
supported financially by someone else, so that the person receiving it pays less“the most subsidised ones” Test 414
blunt
adjective
not precise or carefully targeted; likely to have unwanted effects“A ban is one response, but it is a blunt instrument.” Test 414
policed
verb
enforced or monitored by an authority“it should be policed, not assumed” Test 414
signposting
verb
marking something out clearly so that people know who it is for“asking retailers to stop signposting toys as suitable for one sex or the other” Test 420
entitled
adjective
having a right to have or do something, in one's own view“signs and labels tell children what they are supposed to like, and limit what they feel entitled to choose” Test 420
manufactured
verb
invented or produced artificially rather than occurring naturally“those who argue that the differences are not entirely manufactured” Test 420
neutrality
noun
the state of not favouring one group or side over another“There is also the question of what neutrality means in practice” Test 420
signage
noun
signs used to give information or instructions, considered together“those pressures are not removed by a shop's decision about signage” Test 420
entitlement
noun
a right to have or receive something“the justification for regulation has shifted from the allocation of a scarce resource to the protection of a cultural entitlement” Test 421
nostalgia
noun
a sentimental fondness for the way things used to be“Equality of access, not nostalgia, is the reason to regulate” Test 421
lobbying
noun
organised attempts to persuade politicians or officials to act in a particular way“each revision provokes intense lobbying from broadcasters and governing bodies alike” Test 421
accommodate
verb
make room for something new within an existing system“it cannot easily accommodate new competitions or new habits of watching” Test 421
prominent
adjective
important and well known at a particular time“the interests of whichever sport was prominent when the list was last revised” Test 421
carriageway
noun
the part of a road used by vehicles“motoring organisations campaigned to keep pedestrians off the carriageway” Test 423
sporadically
adverb
sometimes but not regularly or often“though it is enforced sporadically” Test 423
discretion
noun
the freedom of an official to decide what to do in a particular case“the discretion this creates is difficult to keep free of prejudice” Test 423
infringement
noun
the breaking of a rule or law“Stopping pedestrians for a minor infringement” Test 423

Question types in these passages

  • Yes / No / Not Given · 313 passages
  • Multiple choice · 288 passages
  • Summary completion (word list) · 161 passages
  • Matching sentence endings · 87 passages
  • Matching features · 77 passages
  • Matching headings · 63 passages
  • Summary completion · 57 passages
  • True / False / Not Given · 52 passages
  • Matching information · 41 passages
  • Multiple choice (choose more than one) · 31 passages
  • Sentence completion · 18 passages
  • Table completion · 16 passages
  • Flow-chart completion · 16 passages
  • Note completion · 13 passages
  • Short-answer questions · 8 passages
  • Diagram label completion · 2 passages

Practise one question type at a time →

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