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IELTS Reading Practice Test 3 (Academic, free, with answer key)

Last updated September 16, 2026

Short answer: Reading Test 3 is a full IELTS Academic Reading test: three passages (history of glass, microplastics, consumer psychology), 40 questions in 60 minutes, and your raw score, estimated band on the Academic scale and per-passage breakdown the moment you submit. Free, no sign-up. Take the test first, then check the answer key below; reading it before the test makes the band meaningless.

Start Reading Test 3
3
Academic passages, each with its own page and full text
40
questions in 60 minutes, scored automatically and converted to an estimated band
0
sign-up, email or card to take the test and see your band

This page describes what is in Reading Test 3 and gives the answer key for its 40 questions. The test itself runs on the ParrotTalk Reading page: the button above opens it with Test 3 already selected. The three passages are Academic texts written for ParrotTalk, in the shape of the IELTS Academic Reading test, and each has its own page where you can read it in full before or after the test. This is not an official IELTS test.

What is in this test

PassageTitleQuestionsQuestion types
Passage 1 The History of Glass 1 to 13 True/False/Not Given (Q1 to 7), Multiple choice (Q8 to 13)
Passage 2 Microplastics in the Global Food Chain 14 to 26 Sentence completion (Q14 to 20), Multiple choice (Q21 to 26)
Passage 3 The Psychology of Consumer Decision-Making 27 to 40 Sentence completion (Q27 to 33), Multiple choice (Q34 to 40)

Allow 60 minutes for the three passages, as in the exam, which leaves about 20 minutes per passage; there is no extra time to transfer answers. The timer starts only when you click Start, the passages are read on tabs, and your progress is saved in your browser, so a reload does not lose your answers. If you finish early, a review panel lets you check your answers until the clock runs out or you submit.

Answer key

Take the test first. The answer key is here so that you can check your work afterwards; if you read it before you start, the band you get at the end tells you nothing about your level.

The answers below are the ones accepted by the automatic scoring, one per question, with the paragraph of the passage that supports each answer. The questions themselves stay on the test page; each passage page lists the question groups without their wording.

Show the answers for Passage 1: The History of Glass

Questions 1-7, True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

  1. FALSE (Paragraph 1: 'Early glass was primarily used for decorative purposes')
  2. FALSE (Paragraph 1: 'most likely in the region of ancient Syria')
  3. TRUE (Paragraph 2: 'to allow the government to monitor the trade more closely')
  4. FALSE (Paragraph 3: 'easier to cut and engrave')
  5. NOT GIVEN (Not stated in the passage)
  6. TRUE (Paragraph 4: 'became affordable to the general population')
  7. FALSE (Paragraph 6: 'glass fibres carry the vast majority of the world's internet')

Questions 8-13, Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

  1. C, To reduce the fire hazard to the city and enable closer supervision of the trade (Paragraph 2: 'to reduce the fire risk to the city')
  2. B, Highly valued (Paragraph 2: 'Venetian glassmakers were so highly prized')
  3. C, It enabled the economical production of large, flawless glass sheets (Paragraph 5: 'made it possible to produce large sheets of flawless glass')
  4. D, More visually attractive and easier to work with (Paragraph 3: 'more brilliant, easier to cut and engrave, and highly desirable')
  5. C, The development of optical glass enabling precision instruments (Paragraph 6: 'development of optical glass in the seventeenth century')
  6. C, Demonstrate that glass remains technologically relevant in the modern world (Paragraph 6: 'remains central to modern technological infrastructure')
Show the answers for Passage 2: Microplastics in the Global Food Chain

Questions 14-20, Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

  1. DEGRADATION (Paragraph 1: 'the degradation of larger plastic items exposed to sunlight')
  2. FIBRES (Paragraph 1: 'the release of synthetic fibres during the washing of clothes')
  3. SATIATION (Paragraph 2: 'they may experience satiation, a false sense of fullness')
  4. BIOMAGNIFICATION (Paragraph 3: 'in a process known as biomagnification')
  5. BLOOD (Paragraph 4: 'found in human blood, lung tissue, and placental tissue')
  6. INHALATION (Paragraph 4: 'with additional exposure occurring through inhalation')
  7. LOW (Paragraph 5: 'risks from microplastics in drinking water are currently low')

Questions 21-26, Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

  1. C, The abrasion of rubber from vehicle tyres (Paragraph 1: 'the breakdown of plastic packaging; and the direct manufacture')
  2. C, Disruption at the base of the food chain can affect species at higher levels (Paragraph 2: 'cascading effects on species further up')
  3. C, The increasing concentration of microplastics as they move up the food chain (Paragraph 3: 'the concentration of microplastic particles can increase at each level')
  4. C, Evidence from animal studies exists, but direct causal links in humans are difficult to establish (Paragraph 5: 'establishing direct causal links between microplastic exposure and human')
  5. B, Whether the process of classical biomagnification applies to microplastics (Paragraph 3: 'evidence for classical biomagnification of microplastics specifically remains disputed')
  6. B, Surrounding (Paragraph 3: 'than the ambient environment would suggest')
Show the answers for Passage 3: The Psychology of Consumer Decision-Making

Questions 27-33, Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

  1. HOMO ECONOMICUS (Paragraph 1: 'This model, known as homo economicus')
  2. BOUNDED RATIONALITY (Paragraph 2: 'subject to what he termed bounded rationality')
  3. SATISFICE (Paragraph 2: 'most people satisfice: they adopt the first option')
  4. ANCHORING (Paragraph 3: 'findings concerns the anchoring effect')
  5. PRIMING (Paragraph 4: 'research has examined priming, the process by which exposure')
  6. NUDGE (Paragraph 5: 'develop what they called nudge theory')
  7. SYMPTOMS (Paragraph 6: 'address only the symptoms of poor decision-making')

Questions 34-40, Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

  1. C, Consumers act logically to maximise their personal benefit (Paragraph 1: 'selecting the option that maximises their utility')
  2. B, Real decision-making is constrained by cognitive and environmental limitations (Paragraph 2: 'they are constrained by the limits of their cognitive capacity')
  3. C, A buyer who perceives a discounted item as a bargain based on its original price (Paragraph 3: 'they are inclined to perceive it as a bargain')
  4. B, Priming works through unconscious exposure to stimuli rather than numerical data (Paragraph 4: 'exposure to one stimulus unconsciously influences responses to subsequent stimuli')
  5. C, The way options are structured and presented in a decision-making environment (Paragraph 5: 'the arrangement of options in a decision-making environment')
  6. C, They consider it ethically questionable and insufficiently radical to address structural problems (Paragraph 6: 'question whether it is ethically appropriate for governments to manipulate')
  7. C, Trace the development of theories that challenge the rational model of consumer behaviour (Paragraph 1: 'research beginning in the 1950s began to challenge this assumption')

Quick answers

Is this Reading test free?

Yes. Reading Test 3 is completely free, with no sign-up, no email and no card, and you can take it as many times as you like. The three passages, the 40 questions, the automatic scoring and the estimated band are all included.

Is this test Academic or General Training?

Academic. The passages are Academic Reading texts and the band uses the Academic conversion table; there is no General Training passage on ParrotTalk. The Reading page lets you tick General Training before you start, and then adds a note that on the real General Training scale the same raw score gives a band about one step lower. The General Training conversion table is on the band score calculator.

How is the Reading band calculated?

From your raw score out of 40, converted to a band with the official-style Academic table. The band and a per-passage breakdown appear the moment you submit, and each wrong answer shows where in the passage the answer was. The full conversion table, Academic and General Training, is on the band score calculator.

Is this an official IELTS test?

No. It is practice material in the format of the IELTS Academic Reading test, with passages written for ParrotTalk, and the band is an estimate to track your progress, not an official result. ParrotTalk is independent and not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council, IDP, or Cambridge English.

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ParrotTalk is free, with no sign-up. Bands are estimates, not official IELTS results. See the band score calculator for the full raw score to band tables, Academic and General Training, and read how to practise IELTS Reading for free for the mistakes that cost the most marks.