Multiple Choice Task: Practice 1

In multiple choice reading tasks in IELTS, you will answer questions about a reading passage. The questions will provide 3-4 possible options and you need to choose the correct answer. This involves using your scanning skills to locate the relevant information to answer the question, your comprehension skills to understand the text and your ability to paraphrase information.

 

To help support you with the multiple choice tasks in IELTS, here are some of our top tips.

 

• Read the question carefully. Be sure that you understand the question so that you don’t get caught out.
• Locate the correct information in the passage and use this to select the best answer.
• Do not spend too long on this task – each question is worth one mark only.
• Remember, answers will usually be in order.
• Make sure you know how to show your answer – do you need to provide a letter or number to show the option you are choosing?
• Take the time to ensure you are answering the question – just because a number in one of the answers is also in the text doesn’t mean it is the CORRECT answer!

 

As with any part of the IELTS test, practice makes perfect. So be sure to use our other Multiple Choice Practice Tasks to help develop your ability and skill.

 

Passage:

World Water Day

 

Water is vital. Between 55 and 60 per cent of the adult body is made of it and every living cell needs it to keep functioning. In normal conditions, the human body can only survive three or four days without water. We need water to stay alive, yet there are billions of people all over the world who do not have access to safe drinking water.

 

The first World Water Day was celebrated in 1993. It was first proposed at the United Nations (UN) conference on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and has been celebrated annually on 22 March since then. Every year the UN releases its World Water Development Report on or around this date. Each year has a different theme, looking at things like the role of clean water in the world of work, ways to stop wasting water, finding ways to supply water to underprivileged groups and so on.

 

Clean drinking water is fundamental. But it is also vital for sanitation and hygiene. It is estimated that more than 700 children under the age of seven die every day from illnesses linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. The right to water and sanitation was recognised as a human right by the UN General Assembly in 2010. However, there are still at least 2.1 billion people around the world who live without safe water in their homes. These include rural communities, people who have been displaced due to war and local conflicts and areas where climate change is making water more and more scarce.

 

Apart from the obvious health issues, a lack of accessible clean water means that people – often women and children – spend hours every day walking to and from distant water supplies. This means they don’t have time to dedicate to work, studies and other domestic duties. The search for water becomes their main occupation. And people who are not able to walk to get their own water are particularly vulnerable.

 

For many people, access to water has become increasingly difficult due to increased demand for a finite resource. According to figures released by the UN, around 4 billion people – nearly two-thirds of the world’s population – experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. It is believed that by 2030 as many as 700 million people worldwide could be displaced by intense water scarcity.

 

Text adapted from: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/magazine/world-water-day

 

Questions:

 

Choose the correct letter A-D.

 

1. What percentage of the human body is made up of water?
2. 55-60% of all human bodies
3. Less than 55%
4. More than 60%
5. 55-60% of fully developed bodies

 

2. When was World Water Day initially suggested to the UN?
   1. 1993
   2. 1992
   3. 22^nd March
   4. annually

 

3. How many children die daily from drinking dirty water?
   1. Less than 700
   2. 700
   3. Over 700
   4. Below 700

 

4. Which people does the article say continue to live without access to sanitised water today?
   1. People in large continents
   2. People living in small towns outside major cities
   3. People in war zones
   4. People in Rio de Janeiro

 

5. By 2030, around 700 million people will:
   1. Die due to lack of clean water
   2. Have access to clean water
   3. Have to move due to lack of clean water
   4. Exist on earth

 

Answers:

 

1. d
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. c

 

New Vocabulary to Learn!

 

sanitise = make clean and hygenic

sanitation = making something clean and hygenic

displace = force someone to leave their home (normally due to war or natural disaster)

propose = suggest

initially = at first

daily = every day

rural = the country

vulnerable = at risk

scarcity = in short supply, scarce

fundamental = very important