Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Reading Test 1

• 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.

Cambridge 13 Test 1 is a digital-age paper. Passage 1 is a case study of the Tourism New Zealand website and how it markets a remote country to long-haul travellers. Passage 2, Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too, summarises new psychological work on the value of boredom. Passage 3, Artificial artist?, examines computer programs like The Painting Fool that claim to produce creative work.

Tourism New Zealand opens with a seven-row table completion and six True/False/Not Given — the table is sequential, so do not waste time skipping ahead. Passage 2 brings six headings, four matching items linking findings to researchers, and a three-gap summary; the matching block rewards distinctive surnames, so list them first. Passage 3 closes with five multiple choice, six sentence endings and three Yes/No/Not Given questions where the author's scepticism about machine creativity is pointedly worded.

Spend seventeen minutes on the website case, nineteen on boredom, twenty-one on artificial art, with three minutes to transfer. The Painting Fool needs prompts to start; you do not — open Passage 1, set your timer and go.

New to this skill? Read the Reading question types guide for tactics, scoring rules, and frequency analysis across Cambridge 10–20. Or browse all Reading practice tests.

Looking for written strategy? See the IELTS Blog for in-depth posts.