AcademIELTS Original — Reading Test 2

• Read each passage carefully. You can highlight text by selecting and right-clicking.
• Answer all 40 questions. Move freely between parts using the question palette.
• Submit before time runs out — auto-submit at 60:00.

The second Originals paper is a humanities-leaning set that rewards careful reading and a steady eye for vocabulary. Passage 1 tells the story of how the modern public library evolved from cloistered scholarly collections into a free civic institution open to ordinary readers. Passage 2 examines the engineering and labour behind medieval European stone bridges, including the difficult foundation work in flowing rivers. Passage 3 documents the disappearance of natural dyes drawn from roots, bark, insects and shellfish, and the small workshops now reviving them.

You will face True/False/Not Given and note completion on the library passage, then a tougher central block on bridges that combines matching information (six items), three multiple-choice and a four-gap summary. Matching information is the tactical hinge of this test: read every paragraph for its main point and one supporting detail before scanning the questions. The history of dyes in Passage 3 uses many proper names, so underline them on your first pass.

Plan around fifteen minutes for the library, twenty for the bridges, and twenty-two for the dyes, leaving three minutes to recheck spelling on the completion answers. Old crafts reward patient readers — pace yourself, and let each passage breathe.