The Voynich Manuscript | ielts reading passage | 14 June ielts exam | 14 June ielts reading passage | 14 June ielts exam prediction | 14 June ielts reading prediction

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on pages 9 and 10.

The Voynich Manuscript

The starkly modern Beinecke Library at Yale University is home to some of the most valuable books in the world: first folios of Shakespeare, Gutenberg Bibles and manuscripts from the early Middle Ages. Yet the library’s most controversial possession is an unprepossessing manuscript about the size of a hardback book, containing 240-odd pages of drawings and text of unknown age and authorship. Catalogued as MS408, the manuscript would attract little attention were it not for the fact that the drawings hint at esoteric knowledge, while the text seems to be some sort of code – one that no-one has been able to break. It’s known to scholars as the Voynich manuscript, after the American book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who bought the manuscript from a Jesuit college in Italy in 1912.

Over the years, the manuscript has attracted the attention of everyone from amateur cryptographers to respected scholars, all of whom have tried – and failed – to decode it. Now a few researchers are devoted to uncovering the contents of the manuscript itself, while others are devoted to revealing the identity of the author. “All sorts of people write in with their proposed translations or solutions,” says Dr Gordon Rugg of Keele University, a leading Voynich expert. But there is one that you can see for yourself.

Pick it up. Start: strange page after strange page is filled with colourful illustrations of cosmological symbols and human figures, accompanied by apparent text. However, it is the text that attracts the most attention – and bafflement. What does it say? Who created the drawings about? Voynich himself believed that the manuscript was the work of the 13th-century English monk Roger Bacon, famed for his knowledge of alchemy, philosophy and science. In 1921 Voynich’s view that Bacon was the writer appeared in print with support from the work of William Newbold, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, who claimed to have found the key to the cipher system used by Bacon. According to Newbold, the manuscript proved that Bacon had access to a microscope and centuries before they were supposedly first invented. The claim that this medieval monk had observed living cells created a sensation. It soon became clear, however, that Newbold had fallen victim to wishful thinking: Other scholars showed that his 'decoding' methods produced a host of possible interpretations – the Voynich manuscript had not been cracked.

Many others tried to decode the layers of word-like symbols. In 1944, a team, assembled to tackle the incomprehensible writing of William Friedman, one of the US Army’s leading codebreakers of World War II, was unsuccessful. He later described the manuscript as “the most challenging cipher ever seen.”

Researchers studying the manuscript’s “mysterious” language have pointed to the size of the alphabet of the Voynich manuscript (which appears to make use of more than 20 distinct characters) and the more than 170,000-character text. Some have noted that the frequency of repeated patterns is also repeated more often than expected in a standard language. Others point out that the manuscript contains oddities, such as encryption by replacing letters with symbols based on phonetic frequencies.

Friedman concluded that the most plausible resolution of this paradox was that "Voynichese" is some sort of specially created artificial language, whose words are devised from concepts, rather than linguistics. So, could the Voynich manuscript be the earliest known example of an artificial language? Friedman’s hypothesis commands respect because of the lifetime of cryptanalytical expertise he brought to bear,” says Rob Churchill, co-author of The Voynich Manuscript, that still leaves a host of questions unanswered, however, such as the identity of the author and the meaning of the bizarre drawings. “It does little to advance our understanding of the manuscript as a whole,” says Churchill. Even though Friedman was working more than 60 years ago, he suspected that major insights would come from using the device that had already transformed codebreaking: the computer. In this he was right – it is now the key tool for uncovering clues about the manuscript’s language.

The insights so far have been perplexing. For example, in 2001 another leading Voynich scholar, Dr Gabriel Landini of Birmingham University in the UK, published the results of his study of the manuscript using a pattern-detecting method called spectral analysis. This revealed evidence that the manuscript contains underlying structures within the random nonsense, consistent with the existence of some underlying rational language. Yet the following year, Voynich expert Ren Zandbergen of the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany, showed that the rate of transfer of information commonly seen when artificial language had been used.

Many are convinced that the Voynich Manuscript is a hoax. For how could a medieval hoaxer create so many telltale signs of structure from random nonsense? Yet even this has been challenged in new research by Rugg.

Using a system, first published by the Italian mathematician Girolamo Cardano in 1150 in which a specially constructed grille is used to pick out symbols from a table, Rugg found he could rapidly generate text with many of the basic traits of the Voynich manuscript. Publishing his results in 2004, Rugg stresses that he hadn’t set out to prove the manuscript a hoax. “I simply demonstrated that it’s feasible to make something like this in a few months,” he says. Inevitably, others beg to differ. Some scholars, such as Zandbergen for example, think there may be genuine meaning, though believe it may never be fully scrutable. Others, such as Churchill, hold out hope that the weirdness of the illustrations and the text hint at an author who had just lost touch with text reality. Which is why the book-sized manuscript kept under lock and key at Yale University is far from gone of fascination. “Many derive great intellectual pleasure from solving puzzles,” says Rugg. The Voynich manuscript is as challenging a puzzle as anyone could ask for.

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Questions 27–30

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
Write TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN in boxes 27–30 on your answer sheet.

27. It is uncertain when the Voynich manuscript was written.
28. Wilfrid Voynich donated the manuscript to the Beinecke Library.
29. Interest in the Voynich manuscript extends beyond that of academics and professional codebreakers.
30. The text of the Voynich manuscript contains just under 70 symbols.

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Questions 31–34

Match each statement with the correct person, A–H.
Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 31–34 on your answer sheet.

31. The number of times the same words occur make it unlikely that the manuscript is based on an authentic language.
32. Unlike some other similar objects of fascination, people can gain direct access to the Voynich manuscript.
33. The person who wrote the manuscript may not have been entirely sane.
34. It is likely that the author of the manuscript is the same person as suggested by Wilfrid Voynich.

List of People
A. Gordon Rugg
B. Roger Bacon
C. Wilfrid Voynich
D. William Friedman
E. Rob Churchill
F. Ron Rugg
G. Ren Zandbergen
H. Girolamo Cardano

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Questions 35–39

Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 35–39 on your answer sheet.

Voynich Researchers

William Newbold believed that the author of the Voynich manuscript had been able to look at cells through a 35. ______. Other researchers later demonstrated that there were flaws in his argument.

William Friedman concluded that the manuscript was written in an artificial language that was based on 36. ______. He did not uncover the meaning of this language, but he believed that the 37. ______ would continue to bring advances in codebreaking.

Dr Gabriel Landini used a system known as 38. ______ in his research, and claims to have demonstrated the presence of genuine words.

Dr Gordon Rugg’s system involved a grille, that made it possible to quickly select symbols that appeared in a 39. ______. Rugg’s conclusion was that the manuscript lacked genuine meaning.

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Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.

The writer’s main aim in this passage is to:
A. explain the meaning of the manuscript.
B. describe attempts to identify the manuscript’s author.
C. assess differing theories about the manuscript.
D. identify which research into the manuscript has had the most media coverage.

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✅ Questions 27–30 (TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN)

27. It is uncertain when the Voynich manuscript was written.
➡️ TRUE

The passage mentions: “the text seems to be some sort of code – one that no-one has been able to break... it’s known to scholars as the Voynich manuscript.” It also implies uncertainty about age and authorship.

28. Wilfrid Voynich donated the manuscript to the Beinecke Library.
➡️ FALSE

It says “Wilfrid Voynich... bought the manuscript from a Jesuit college in Italy in 1912”, not that he donated it to the library.

29. Interest in the Voynich manuscript extends beyond that of academics and professional codebreakers.
➡️ TRUE

The passage says: “all sorts of people write in with their proposed translations...”, suggesting wide interest.

30. The text of the Voynich manuscript contains just under 70 symbols.
➡️ FALSE

It clearly states: “more than 20 distinct characters” and “more than 170,000-character text” – not 70 symbols.

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✅ Questions 31–34 (Match with a person A–H)

31. The number of times the same words occur make it unlikely that the manuscript is based on an authentic language.
➡️ A. Gordon Rugg

He demonstrated that the manuscript’s repeated patterns could be meaningless.

32. Unlike some other similar objects of fascination, people can gain direct access to the Voynich manuscript.
➡️ F. Rob Churchill

He says you can “see for yourself” – it's accessible.

33. The person who wrote the manuscript may not have been entirely sane.
➡️ E. Rob Churchill

He says the author “may have just lost touch with text reality.”

34. It is likely that the author of the manuscript is the same person as suggested by Wilfrid Voynich.
➡️ D. William Newbold

He supported Voynich’s claim that Roger Bacon was the author.

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✅ Questions 35–39 (Summary Completion)

35. microscope

Newbold believed Bacon had one.

36. concepts

Friedman said the artificial language used words derived from concepts.

37. computer

Friedman believed the computer would aid future decoding.

38. spectral analysis

Landini used this method.

39. table

Rugg used a table with a grille to generate symbols.

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✅ Question 40 (Choose the correct letter)

40. C. assess differing theories about the manuscript.

The passage does not solve the mystery but presents multiple viewpoints – author theories, decoding attempts, hoax hypotheses, and modern research.

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PASSWORD: 14MAY2025

How should reading be taught? | PAST EXAM READING | REAL EXAM READING 2025

Reading Practice  

How should reading be taught?

By Keith Rayncr a Barbara R Foorman

A

Learning to speak is automatic for almost all children, but learning to read requires elaborate instruction and conscious effort. Well aware of the difficulties, educators have given a great deal of thought to how they can best help children learn to read. No single method has triumphed. Indeed, heated arguments about the most appropriate form of reading instruction continue to polarize the teaching community.

B

Three general approaches have been tried. In one, called whole-word instruction, children learn by rote how to recognise at a glance a vocabulary of 50 to 100 words. Then they gradually acquire other words, often through seeing them used over and over again in the context of a story.

Speakers of most languages learn the relationship between letters and the sounds associated with them (phonemes). That is, children are taught how to use their knowledge of the alphabet to sound out words. This procedure constitutes a second approach to teaching reading – phonics.

 

Many schools have adopted a different approach: the whole-language method. The strategy here relies on the child’s experience with the language. For example, students are offered engaging books and are encouraged to guess the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or by looking for clues in the storyline and illustrations, rather than trying to sound them out.

Many teachers adopted the whole-language approach because of its intuitive appeal. Making reading fun promises to keep children motivated, and learning to read depends more on what the student does than on what the teacher does. The presumed benefits of whole-language instruction – and the contrast to the perceived dullness of phonics – led to its growing acceptance across American during the 1990s and a movement away from phonics.

C

However, many linguists and psychologists objected strongly to the abandonment of phonics in American schools. Why was this so? In short, because research had clearly demonstrated that understanding how letters related to the component sounds in words is critically important in reading. This conclusion rests, in part, on knowledge of how experienced readers make sense of words on a page. Advocates of whole-language instruction have argued forcefully that people often derive meanings directly from print without ever determining the sound of the word. Some psychologists today accept this view, but most believe that reading is typically a process of rapidly sounding out words mentally. Compelling evidence for this comes from experiments which show that subjects often confuse homophones (words that sound the same, such as Jrose and ‘rows5). This supports the idea that readers convert strings of letters to sounds.

D

In order to evaluate different approaches to teaching reading, a number of experiments have been carried out, firstly with college students, then with school pupils. Investigators trained English-speaking college students to read using unfamiliar symbols such as Arabic letters (the phonics approach), while another group learned entire words associated with certain strings of Arabic letters (whole-word). Then both groups were required to read a new set of words constructed from the original characters. In general, readers who were taught the rules of phonics could read many more new words than those trained with a whole-word procedure.

Classroom studies comparing phonics with either whole-word or whole-language instruction are also quite illuminating. One particularly persuasive study compared two programmes used in 20 first-grade classrooms. Half the students were offered traditional reading instruction, which included the use of phonics drills and applications. The other half were taught using an individualised method that drew from their experiences with languages; these children produce their own booklets of stories and developed sets of words to be recognised (common components of the whole-language approach). This study found that the first group scored higher at year’s end on tests of reading and comprehension.

E

If researchers are so convinced about the need for phonics instruction, why does the debate continue? Because the controversy is enmeshed in the philosophical differences between traditional and progressive (or new) approaches, differences that have divided educators for years. The progressive challenge the results of laboratory tests and classroom studies on the basis of a broad philosophical skepticism about the values of such research. They champion student-centred learned and teacher empowerment. Sadly, they fail to realise that these very admirable educational values are equally consistent with the teaching of phonics.

F

If schools of education insisted that would-be reading teachers learned something about the vast research in linguistics and psychology that bears on reading, their graduates would be more eager to use phonics and would be prepared to do so effectively. They could allow their pupils to apply the principles of phonics while reading for pleasure. Using wholelanguage activities to supplement phonics instruction certainly helps to make reading fun and meaningful for children, so no one would want to see such tools discarded. Indeed, recent work has indicated that the combination of literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method used alone.

Teachers need to strike a balance. But in doing so, we urge them to remember that reading must be grounded in a firm understanding of the connections between letters and sounds. Educators who deny this reality are neglecting decades of research. They are also neglecting the needs of their students.

Questions 1-5

Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.

Choose the correct heading for sections B-F from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. List of Headings i           Disagreement about the reading process ii          The roots of the debate iii         A combined approach iv         Methods of teaching reading v          A controversial approach vi         Inconclusive research vii        Research with learners vii        Allowing teachers more control ix         A debate amongst educators

Example

Section A         ix

1.....................   Section B

2.....................   Section C

3.....................   Section D

4.....................   Section E

5.....................   Section F

Questions 6-10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE               if the statement agrees with the information FALSE              if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN    if there is no information on this

 

6.....................   The whole-language approach relates letters to sounds.

7.....................   Many educators believe the whole-language approach to be the most interesting way to teach children to read.

8.....................   Research supports the theory that we read without linking words to sounds.

9.....................   Research has shown that the whole-word approach is less effective than the whole-language approach.

10.....................   Research has shown that phonics is more successful than both the whole-word and whole-language approaches.

Questions 11-14

Complete the summary of sections E and F using the list of words, A-G, below.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

In the teaching community, 11..................... question the usefulness of research into methods of teaching reading. These critics believe that 12..................... is incompatible with student-centred learning. In the future, teachers need to be aware of 13..................... so that they understand the importance of phonics. They should not, however, ignore the ideas of 14..................... which make reading enjoyable for learners.

A               the phonics method

B               the whole-word method

C               the whole-language method

D               traditionalists

E               progressives

F                linguistics

G               research studies

Solution:

1. iv	8. FALSE
2. i	9. NOT GIVEN
3. vii	10. TRUE
4. ii	11. E
5. iii	12. A
6. FALSE	13. G
7. TRUE	14. C

  

PASSWORD: REALEXAM22

IELTS ONESTOP GENERAL TRAINING TEST 3 |

1. C

2. B

3. B

4. A

5. A

6. A

7. C

8. FALSE

9. TRUE

10. NOT GIVEN

11. FALSE

12. FALSE

13. NOT GIVEN

14. TRUE

15. FALSE

16. NOT GIVEN

17. FALSE

18. TRUE

19. NOT GIVEN

20. TRUE

21. IV

22. VI

23. VII

24. IX

25. III

26. I

27. V

28. VII

29. IV

30. I

31. VIII

32. III

33. transmitted (NOT sent) (electronically)

34. (photographic) film/negative(s)

35. (aluminium) printing plates

36. programmed

37. (tough) wrapping//damaged paper

38. weighed

39. paster robot(s)

40. storage area

PASSWORD: IELTSONESTOP

Photovoltaics on the rooftop A natural choice for powering the family home | IELTS EXAM READINGS 2025

 

Reading Practice

 

Photovoltaics on the rooftop

A natural choice for powering the family home

A

In the past, urban homeowners have not always had much choice in the way electricity is supplied to their homes. Now, however, there is a choice, and a rapidly increasing number of households worldwide are choosing the solar energy option. Solar energy, the conversion of sunlight into energy, is made possible through the use of ‘photovoltaics’, which are simple appliances that fit onto the roof of a house.

B

The photovoltaics-powered home remains connected to the power lines, but no storage is required on-site, only a box of electronics (the inverter) to the interface between the photovoltaics and the grid network. Figure 1 illustrates the system. During the day, when the home may not be using much electricity, excess power from the solar array is fed back to the grid, to factories and offices that need daytime power. At night, power flows the opposite way. The grid network effectively provides storage. If the demand for electricity is well matched to when the sun shines, solar energy is especially valuable. This occurs in places like California in the US and Japan, where air-conditioning loads for offices and factories are large but heating loads for homes are small.

C

The first systematic exploration of the use of photovoltaics on homes began in the US during the 1970s. A well-conceived program started with the sitting of a number of residential experiment stations’ at selected locations around the country, representing different climatic zones. These stations contained a number of ‘dummy’ houses, each with different solar-energy system design. Homes within the communities close to these stations were monitored to see how well their energy use matched the energy generated by the stations’ dummy roofs. A change in US government priorities in the early 1980s halted this program.

D

With the US effort dropping away, the Japanese Sunshine Project came to the fore. A large residential test station was installed on Rokko Island beginning in 1986. This installation consists of 18 ‘dummy’ homes. Each equipped with its own 2-5 kilowatt photovoltaic system (about 20 – 50 square meters for each system). Some of these simulated homes have their own electrical appliances inside, such as TV sets, refrigerators and air conditioning units, which switch on and off under computer control providing a lavish lifestyle for the non-existent occupants. For the other systems, electronics simulate these household loads. This test station has allowed being explored in a systematic way, under well-controlled test conditions. With no insurmountable problems identified, the Japanese have used the experience gained from this station to begin their own massive residential photovoltaics campaign.

E

Meanwhile, Germany began a very important ‘1,000 roof program’ in 1990, aimed at installing photovoltaics on the roofs of 1,000 private homes. Large federal and regional government subsidies were involved, accounting in most cases for 70% of the total system costs. The program proved immensely popular, forcing its extension to over 2,000 homes scattered across Germany. The success of this program stimulated other European countries to launch a similar program.

F

Japan’s ‘one million roof program’ was prompted by the experience gained in the Rokko Island test site and the success of the German 1,000 roof program. The initially quoted aims of the Japanese New Energy Development Organization were to have 70,000 homes equipped with the photovoltaics by the year 2000, on the way to 1 million by 2010. The program made a modest start in 1994 when 539 systems were installed with a government subsidy of 50 percent. Under this program, entire new suburban developments are using photovoltaics.

G

This is good news, not only for the photovoltaic industry but for everyone concerned with the environment. The use of fossil fuels to generate electricity is not only costly in financial terms, but also in terms of environmental damage. Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels in the production of electricity are a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. To deal with this problem, many governments are now proposing stringent targets on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions permitted. These targets mean that all sources of greenhouse gas emissions including residential electricity use will receive closer attention in the future.

H

It is likely that in the future, governments will develop building codes that attempt to constrain the energy demands of new housing. For example, the use of photovoltaics or the equivalent may be stipulated to lessen demands on the grid network and hence reduce fossil fuel emissions. Approvals for building renovations may also be conditional upon taking such energy-saving measures. If this were to happen, everyone would benefit. Although there is an initial cost in attaching the system to the rooftop, the householder’s outlay is soon compensated with the savings on energy bills. In addition, everyone living on the planet stands to gain from the more benign environmental impact.

 

 

 

 

Questions 1-6

The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-H

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-H, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

NB  You may use any letter more than once.

 

1.....................   examples of countries where electricity use is greater during the day than at night

2.....................   a detailed description of an experiment that led to photovoltaics being promoted throughout the country

3.....................   the negative effects of using conventional means of generating electricity

4.....................   an explanation of the photovoltaic system.

5.....................   the long-term benefits of using photovoltaics

6.....................  a large campaign inspired by a country's successful example

Questions 7-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE               if the statement is true

FALSE              if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN    if the information is not given in the passage

 

7.....................   Photovoltaics are used to store electricity.

8.....................   Since the 1970s, the US government has provided continuous support for the use of photovoltaics on homes.

9.....................   The solar-powered house on Rokko Island is uninhabited.

10.....................   In 1994, the Japanese government was providing half the money required for installing photovoltaics on homes.

11.....................   Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia all have strict goals with regard to greenhouse gas emissions.

12.....................   Residential electricity use is the major source of greenhouse gas emission.

13.....................   Energy-saving measures must now be included in the design of all new homes and improvements to buildings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solution:

1. B	8. FALSE
2. D	9. TRUE
3. G	10. TRUE
4. B	11. NOT GIVEN
5. H	12. NOT GIVEN
6. E	13. FALSE

7. FALSE





PASSWORD: GETBAND7

IELTS ONESTOP GENERAL TRAINING TEST 2 | USE OF UNIVERSITY GROUNDS BY VEHICULAR TRAFFIC | WEST THAMES COLLEGE BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES | WEST THAMES COLLEGE SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

 ANSWERS FOR IELTS ONESTOP GENERAL TRAINING TEST 2 

WITH PASSWORD 

1. FALSE

2. TRUE

3. TRUE

4. NOT GIVEN

5. FALSE

6. D (in either order)

7. I

8. G (in either order)

9. J

10. B (in either order)

11. C

12. E (in either order)

13. K

14. NOT GIVEN

15. TRUE

16. TRUE

17. FALSE

18. NOT GIVEN

19. TRUE

20. TRUE

21. VI

22. VIII

23. X

24. II

25. V

26. VII

27. 1772

28. 1781

29. 1787

30. 1977

31. 1986

32. YES

33. NO

34. NOT GIVEN

35. YES

36. NOT GIVEN

37. Georgium sidus

38. Herschel

39. James L. Elliot

40. Miranda
    

PASSWORD: IELTSONESTOP22