IELTS General Training Reading Practice Test 15

SECTION 1 — Questions 1–14

Read the text below and answer Questions 1–7.

Westhaven E-Scooter Share: Rules for Riders

Westhaven's e-scooter share scheme lets you hire an electric scooter through our app and leave it at any parking bay in the city when you have finished. Before your first ride, please read these rules carefully. Riders who break them may have their accounts suspended.

Who can ride

You must be at least 18 years old. When you register, you will be asked to upload a photo of your driving licence. Learner licences are accepted, but foreign licences must be in English or come with an official translation. Only one person may ride a scooter at a time.

Prices

It costs $1 to unlock a scooter, and 35 cents for every minute of your ride. If you plan to ride a lot in one day, a day pass ($25) includes unlimited rides of up to 45 minutes each.

Safety

By law, all riders must wear a helmet. Every scooter carries a helmet, which is locked to the handlebars and is released when you start your trip. Please put it back before you end your ride. Scooters have a top speed of 20 km/h. However, in areas marked in blue on the app's map, called slow zones, the speed is automatically limited to 10 km/h. These include the waterfront and the area around the central market.

Where to ride

You may ride on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less, and in bike lanes. Riding on footpaths is not allowed anywhere in the city, and police can issue fines to riders who do so.

Ending your ride

Scooters must be left in one of the parking bays shown on the app. To end your ride, take a photo of the scooter in the bay and upload it. If you leave a scooter outside a parking bay, a $20 fee will be added to your account, as our staff will have to move it.

Hours

Scooters can be hired from 6 a.m. until midnight. A ride that starts before midnight can continue until the scooter is parked.

Damage and faults

If a scooter is damaged or isn't working properly, do not ride it. Use the "Report" button on the app, and we will collect it.

Questions 1–7

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Read the text below and answer Questions 8–14.

Harlow Bay City Council: Home Energy Grants 2026

Harlow Bay City Council is offering three types of support this year to help residents make their homes warmer and cheaper to run. Funding is limited, and applications will be considered in the order they are received.

Insulation Grant

Many older homes lose a large amount of heat through their roofs and walls. This grant is available to owners of houses that were built before 1990, as these are the least likely to have been insulated. It covers up to $2,000 of the cost of insulating a roof or under a floor. The work must be carried out by an approved installer; a list of these can be found on the council's website. Landlords may apply, but only if the house is rented to a tenant on a long-term lease. Unfortunately, we cannot accept applications for work that has already been done.

Solar Water Heating Grant

Heating water accounts for around a quarter of the energy used in a typical home. A solar water heater uses the sun to do this, and can greatly reduce power bills. This grant, which is open to all homeowners, pays 40 per cent of the cost of buying and installing a system, up to a maximum of $3,000. To be eligible, your home must have a north-facing roof that is not shaded by trees or other buildings for most of the day. An adviser from the council will visit to check this before your application is approved.

Draught-Proofing Kit

Gaps around doors and windows let in cold air and can add significantly to heating costs. Our free draught-proofing kit contains strips and seals for up to six windows and two doors. It is available to both homeowners and tenants. Kits can be picked up from the public library on Marine Parade; please bring proof of your address. No special tools are needed to fit the strips, and a short video on our website shows you how to do it.

Questions 8–14

Complete the table below.

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Harlow Bay home energy support

SECTION 2 — Questions 15–27

Read the text below and answer Questions 15–21.

Brightline Telecom: Returning to Work after Parental Leave

At Brightline, we want to make returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child as smooth as possible. This guide explains what to expect and what you need to do.

Before you return

While you are on leave, you can work for up to ten "keeping-in-touch" days without it affecting your leave or your parental leave payments. These days are optional, and neither you nor your manager is required to arrange them. However, many employees find them useful, for example to attend training or a team meeting, or to catch up on changes before their return. You will be paid your normal daily rate for each day you work.

At least four weeks before your planned return date, please contact your manager to confirm when you will be coming back. If you would like to come back earlier or later than you originally planned, you must give the same amount of notice.

Help with childcare

Brightline has an agreement with Little Steps Nurseries, which has centres close to all of our offices. Employees receive a 20 per cent discount on nursery fees for children under five, for as long as they work for the company. Places are in high demand, so you should reserve one through the HR portal at least two months before your return date. If the centre you would prefer is full, you can put your child's name on its waiting list, and HR will let you know about places at other centres in the meantime.

Your first weeks back

Your manager will meet you on your first day back to update you on any changes and to agree your objectives for the next few months. During your first month, you can choose to work a shorter week while still receiving your full salary. You can do this by using any annual leave that you built up while you were away. Remember that you continue to earn annual leave throughout your parental leave.

Support for parents

Our Parents' Network meets online once a month and is a good way to share advice with colleagues in a similar situation. Employees who need to express breast milk at work can book the quiet room on the second floor of every Brightline office. It has a comfortable chair, a fridge and a lockable door.

Questions 15–21

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–J, below.

Write the correct letter, A–J.

• A may be possible by using holiday that was earned during leave.
• B must be agreed with colleagues in the Parents' Network.
• C are paid at the employee's usual rate.
• D should be reserved at least two months in advance.
• E can join a list of people waiting for a place.
• F requires four weeks' notice.
• G discuss what the employee will aim to achieve.
• H must be taken in the last month of leave.
• I is available in all of the company's offices.
• J will reduce the employee's salary for that month.

Read the text below and answer Questions 22–27.

Brightline Telecom: Setting Up Your Workstation

Whether you work in the office or at home, it is important to set up your workstation correctly. Poor posture at a desk can lead to pain in the back, neck and wrists, and these problems often develop slowly, so you may not notice them until they become serious.

Start with your chair. Adjust its height so that your feet rest flat on the floor and your knees are roughly level with your hips. If your feet do not reach the floor comfortably, ask for a footrest. The back of the chair should support the lower part of your back; if it does not, a small cushion can help.

Next, position your screen. It should be directly in front of you, about an arm's length away. The top of the screen should be at, or slightly below, the level of your eyes, so that you look slightly downwards when you are reading. If you use a laptop for long periods, you should connect it to a separate keyboard and mouse and raise the laptop on a stand, so that the screen is at the right height. Stands can be ordered free of charge from the IT department.

Keep your keyboard close enough that your elbows stay by your sides, bent at around 90 degrees. Your wrists should be straight while you type, not bent up or down. Place your mouse next to the keyboard, so that you do not have to stretch to reach it.

Lighting also matters. Try to position your screen at right angles to windows, rather than facing them or with them behind you, to avoid glare. If you get headaches or sore eyes, an eye test may be needed. Brightline will pay for an eye test every two years for anyone who regularly uses a screen at work, and will contribute towards the cost of glasses if they are needed specifically for screen work.

Finally, however well your workstation is set up, sitting still for long periods is bad for you. Try to change your position regularly, and take a short break away from the screen at least once an hour. If you would like a colleague to check your set-up, contact one of the trained assessors listed on the staff website.

Questions 22–27

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

A healthy workstation

Set the height of your chair so that your feet are flat on the floor; if necessary, use a 221 word . A 231 word can give extra support to your lower back. The top of the screen should be no higher than your eyes. Laptop users should place their laptop on a 241 word and use a separate keyboard and mouse. When typing, keep your 251 word straight. To reduce 261 word from windows, place your screen at right angles to them. Brightline pays for an eye test every two years, and it may also help to pay for 271 word needed for screen work.

SECTION 3 — Questions 28–40

Read the text below and answer Questions 28–40.

Heat and silence: the Finnish sauna

A Finland has a population of around five and a half million people, and, by most estimates, about three million saunas. They can be found in apartment blocks and country cottages, in office buildings and sports centres, and even, it is said, in the Finnish Parliament. "Sauna" is one of the very few Finnish words to have entered the English language, and for many Finns, it is more than a way of getting clean.

B At its simplest, a sauna is a small wooden room containing a stove that heats a pile of stones. The air temperature is usually between 70 and 100 degrees Celsius, which sounds unbearable, but the air is dry, and the body copes with it surprisingly well. The most important moment comes when bathers throw water onto the hot stones, producing a cloud of steam known as löyly. The steam makes the room feel much hotter, and the skill of producing good löyly, neither too gentle nor too harsh, is greatly admired. Bathers sit on wooden benches, usually naked, and stay for as long as they feel comfortable, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, before cooling off with a shower, a swim in a lake or, in winter, a roll in the snow. The cycle of heating and cooling is often repeated several times.

C The oldest type of sauna is the smoke sauna, which has no chimney. A large fire is lit in the stove and allowed to burn for several hours, while the smoke fills the room and escapes slowly through small openings. When the stones are hot enough, the fire is allowed to die down, the smoke is let out, and the room is ready for bathing. Heating a smoke sauna can take most of a day, but enthusiasts say that the soft heat it produces cannot be matched. Today, most Finns use saunas with wood-burning stoves and chimneys, or, increasingly, with electric heaters, which can be ready in less than an hour.

D For most of Finland's history, the sauna was the cleanest place in a farmhouse, because the heat and smoke killed bacteria. It was therefore used for far more than bathing. Babies were born there, sick people were cared for there, and the bodies of the dead were washed there before burial. Meat was smoked in it and grain was dried in it. According to a well-known saying, when a family settled in a new place, they built the sauna first and lived in it while they built the house. There was also an expectation of good behaviour in the sauna. People were expected to speak quietly and to avoid arguments, and even today, many Finns describe it as a place of almost religious calm.

E In the twentieth century, as people moved from the countryside to the towns, public saunas became common in Finnish cities. Many were run by local businesses, and they were often the only place where city workers could bathe. From the 1960s onwards, however, new apartment buildings were built with their own shared saunas, and later many flats were built with a private sauna. As a result, most of the public saunas closed. By the end of the century, only a few remained in Helsinki.

F In the last fifteen years, however, there has been a remarkable revival. New public saunas have opened in Helsinki and other cities, often in striking modern buildings by the sea, and they have become popular with both residents and tourists. Some, built and run by volunteers, are free to use. Their supporters argue that public saunas offer something that is increasingly rare: a place where phones and screens are left outside, and where people can do nothing at all for an hour or two. Many of the new saunas have also been designed by leading architects, and they now appear in travel guides alongside the city's museums. The sauna has also played a part in Finnish diplomacy. Finnish leaders have often invited foreign visitors to take a sauna with them, in the belief that difficult problems are easier to discuss in such relaxed conditions.

G Scientists have also begun to take an interest in the sauna. In 2015, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland published the results of a study that had followed more than two thousand middle-aged men for around twenty years. They found that men who took a sauna four to seven times a week were significantly less likely to die from heart disease during this period than those who took one only once a week. The researchers were careful to point out that their study showed a link, not a cause; men who have time to take frequent saunas may also be healthier in other ways. Doctors also warn that people with certain medical conditions should seek advice before using a sauna, and that alcohol and saunas are a dangerous combination. For most healthy people, however, the risks are low, and many Finns would say the benefits for the mind are at least as important as those for the body.

Questions 28–31

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

• A It is usually kept below 70 degrees.
• B It is controlled by the amount of wood in the stove.
• C It is highest just after bathers enter the room.
• D It is less difficult to tolerate than might be expected.

• A the ability to stay in the heat for a long time
• B the skill of producing the right kind of steam
• C the number of times the cycle is repeated
• D the quality of the wooden benches

• A It produces a harsh kind of heat.
• B It is more dangerous than other saunas.
• C It takes a long time to prepare.
• D It cannot be used in winter.

• A They were too expensive to run.
• B People moved back to the countryside.
• C The buildings were needed for new apartments.
• D Many people had saunas where they lived.

Questions 32–37

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD from the box below for each answer.

The sauna in Finnish life

In the past, the sauna was considered the most 32Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer part of a farm, so it was used for many purposes, from giving birth to preparing food. A traditional saying claims that families built their sauna before their 33Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer . People were expected to behave 34Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer in the sauna, and many Finns still see it as a calm place. Today, new public saunas attract visitors from Finland and abroad, and supporters say they offer a rare break from 35Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer . The sauna has even been used in 36Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer , as Finnish leaders believe it helps people to deal with 37Choose…ABCDEFGHIJSelect an answer issues.

• A technology
• B hygienic
• C politics
• D quietly
• E house
• F valuable
• G difficult
• H competition
• I village
• J medicine

Questions 38–40

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.