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B1–C2 · IELTS General Training

IELTS General Training Practice Test 16

AI-generated practice paper in the style of IELTS General Training — original material, not a reproduction of any real exam paper, following the official four-module structure (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Listening audio is read aloud by your browser's voice, Writing tasks can be scored by AI, and for Speaking you can record yourself and compare with a model answer.

Listening

Part 1

Listen and answer questions 1–10.

Complete the membership form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Surname: ______

2. Email address: carla.______@brightmail.com

3. Reason for joining: training for a ______

4. Type of membership: ______

5. Monthly cost: ______ pounds

6. Weekday opening time: ______ am

7. Induction session on Wednesday at ______

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

8. What is the joining fee this month?

9. Basic membership does not include

10. The lockers

Part 2

Listen and answer questions 11–20.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

11. Annual membership fee: ______ dollars

12. Length of the River Run: ______ kilometres

13. Number of free taster sessions: ______

What does the speaker say about each of the following areas? Choose the correct letter, A-F, for questions 4 to 7.

14. The Jetty

15. The Sheltered Bay

16. The River Run

17. The Rapids Section

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

18. Life jackets

19. Kayaks can be hired separately, without membership, for

20. The Gear Room is used for

Part 3

Listen and answer questions 21–30.

21. What does Jack object to in Anna's idea?

22. What do they decide to use in the quiet part?

23. Why doesn't Jack use an orchestra?

24. Where will Jack find help with the software?

25. What does Dr. Lee suggest for the two melodies?

26. What does Dr. Lee say about the timing plan?

27. How will the final music be recorded?

What does Dr. Lee say about each of these? Choose your answers from the list, A-E: A It is worth more than sound quality; B It must be handed in with the recording; C It lasts one hour; D It can be booked online only; E It is optional.

28. The score

29. Original ideas

30. Studio booking

Part 4

Listen and answer questions 31–40.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

31. Sign languages have their own independent grammar, syntax, and ______.

32. ASL developed historically from ______ Sign Language.

33. Signs are built from combined components linguists call ______.

34. Non-manual features include facial expression and ______ position.

35. Raised eyebrows typically signal a yes-or-no ______.

36. ASL often favours a topic-______ structure.

37. Sign languages make systematic use of the three-dimensional ______ in front of the signer.

38. Specific locations in that space are assigned to particular people or ______.

39. Signers refer back to locations through pointing or directional verb ______.

40. Deaf children exposed to sign from birth reach the same developmental ______.

Reading

Section 1: Notices

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 1.

NOTICE A — NetLink Broadband: Planned Network Upgrade Engineers will carry out essential network upgrades in your area between midnight and 5am on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, which may cause brief interruptions to your broadband and landline service. The upgrade will increase maximum download speeds in the area by up to 40% once complete, at no extra cost to existing customers. Customers who work night shifts or rely on a landline for emergency calls should make alternative arrangements during the maintenance window, such as ensuring a mobile phone is fully charged. No action is required from customers; the upgrade will happen automatically. Customers experiencing continued issues after Wednesday should restart their router before contacting technical support, as this resolves the majority of post-upgrade issues. NOTICE B — Greenacre Community Garden: Allotment Waiting List Update Due to high demand, the waiting list for allotment plots at Greenacre Community Garden will close to new applicants from the end of this month until further notice. Current waiting list members should ensure their contact details are up to date, as offers of a plot that go unanswered within 14 days will be passed to the next person on the list. Plot holders are reminded that plots left uncultivated for more than three months without prior notice to the committee may be reallocated. A limited number of half-plots, suitable for beginners, will become available in the spring and will be offered to waiting list members before being advertised more widely. Annual plot fees remain unchanged this year at £45 for a full plot.

Questions 1–4. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. When will the network upgrade take place?

2. What is happening to the Greenacre allotment waiting list?

3. How much is the annual fee for a full plot?

4. When will the new half-plots become available?

Questions 5–7. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

5. The upgrade will cost existing customers extra money.

6. Customers need to take action for the upgrade to happen.

7. Customers who rely on a landline for emergency calls are advised to make alternative arrangements during the maintenance window.

Question 8. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A for each answer.

8. The upgrade will increase maximum download speeds by up to __________.

Question 9. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A.

9. What should customers do first if they experience issues after Wednesday?

Questions 10–11. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

10. Plots left uncultivated for over three months without notice may be reallocated.

11. Annual plot fees have increased this year.

Questions 12–13. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B for each answer.

12. Offers of a plot that go unanswered within __________ will be passed to the next person.

13. Current waiting list members should ensure their __________ are up to date.

Question 14. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B.

14. Who will be offered the new half-plots before wider advertising?

Section 2: Workplace

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 2.

TEXT A — Travel Team: Business Travel Booking Policy All business travel, including flights, trains, and hotels, must now be booked through the company's designated travel platform, TravelDesk, rather than directly with providers, to ensure compliance with duty-of-care obligations and to consolidate spending for better rates. Economy class is standard for flights under five hours; premium economy may be booked for longer flights with prior manager approval. Hotel bookings should not exceed the nightly rate cap listed for each city on the intranet, though exceptions can be requested for cities where availability is limited. Staff travelling internationally must complete a short pre-travel briefing covering local safety information at least three working days before departure. Receipts for any incidental expenses not covered by the booking, such as taxis, should be submitted through the usual expense system. TEXT B — Facilities: Staff Canteen Menu Changes Following a staff survey, the canteen will introduce a wider range of vegetarian and vegan options from next Monday, alongside the existing menu, rather than replacing any current dishes. A new daily 'meal deal' combining a main course, side, and drink will be available for £6.50, representing a saving of around 15% compared with buying items separately. The canteen will also extend its opening hours on Thursdays until 3pm to accommodate staff working later shifts that day. Nutritional information for all dishes will be displayed on screens above the counter, and allergen information remains available on request from canteen staff. Feedback on the new menu can be left in the suggestion box near the tills or through the staff app.

Questions 15–18. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

15. How must business travel now be booked?

16. How much does the new daily meal deal cost?

17. Until what time will the canteen stay open on Thursdays?

18. Why must staff now book travel through TravelDesk?

Questions 19–20. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

19. Premium economy requires prior manager approval for longer flights.

20. Hotel nightly rate caps can never be exceeded under any circumstances.

Question 21. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A for each answer.

21. Staff travelling internationally must complete a pre-travel briefing at least __________ before departure.

Question 22. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A.

22. Where should receipts for incidental expenses like taxis be submitted?

Questions 23–24. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

23. The new vegetarian and vegan options will replace existing dishes.

24. The canteen will stay open later on Thursdays.

Questions 25–26. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B for each answer.

25. Nutritional information will be displayed on __________ above the counter.

26. Allergen information remains available on request from __________.

Question 27. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B.

27. Where can staff leave feedback about the new menu, besides the staff app?

Section 3: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 3.

For roughly five thousand years, from the first cuneiform impressions in wet clay to the fountain pens of the twentieth century, the physical act of forming letters by hand was the primary means by which humans recorded and transmitted knowledge. Within the span of a single generation, that ancient continuity has been substantially disrupted, as keyboards, touchscreens, and voice dictation have displaced handwriting from most professional and much personal communication. Educators are divided on what, if anything, is lost in this transition. A body of research using brain imaging has found that the physical act of forming letters by hand activates regions of the brain associated with reading acquisition more extensively than typing the same letters on a keyboard, leading some researchers to argue that early handwriting practice provides a genuine cognitive scaffold for literacy that typing cannot replicate. A widely cited study comparing students who took lecture notes by hand with those who typed notes on laptops found that hand-note-takers performed better on conceptual questions afterward, even though the typists had recorded more words verbatim, suggesting that the slower pace of handwriting forces a kind of summarising and processing that supports deeper understanding. Critics of this research note important limitations: many studies are small, conducted in artificial settings, or fail to control for how students were taught to take notes in each format, and at least one large-scale replication attempt found a considerably smaller effect than the original widely publicised study. Furthermore, proponents of digital note-taking point out that typed notes are more easily searched, shared, and backed up, practical advantages that plausibly outweigh a modest and contested cognitive benefit for many learners and professional contexts. Beyond the classroom, handwriting's cultural role has shifted rather than disappeared entirely. Personal, handwritten letters and cards have become rarer but arguably more meaningful precisely because of their rarity, valued now partly as a deliberate, effortful gesture rather than a mundane necessity. Calligraphy, once a practical skill taught to schoolchildren, has been reframed as an artistic hobby, with courses and supplies enjoying a modest resurgence among adults seeking a break from screen-based work. Several education systems, including some American states, have responded to these debates by reintroducing mandatory cursive handwriting instruction after previously removing it from the curriculum, a policy reversal that reflects genuine scientific uncertainty as much as nostalgia. Whether this represents a durable correction or merely a rearguard action against an irreversible technological shift remains, like much of the underlying research, unresolved.

Questions 28–30. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

28. According to brain imaging research mentioned in the passage, handwriting compared with typing...

29. How has calligraphy's cultural role shifted, according to the passage?

30. What do critics say about many of the studies on handwriting versus typing?

Questions 31–34. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

31. Students who typed lecture notes recorded more words verbatim than those who wrote by hand.

32. Hand-note-takers performed worse on conceptual questions than typists.

33. Some American states have reintroduced mandatory cursive handwriting instruction.

34. Handwriting has completely disappeared from all personal and professional communication.

Question 35. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

35. A large-scale replication attempt found a considerably __________ than the original study.

Questions 36–38. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

36. What practical advantage of typed notes does the passage mention, besides being easily shared and backed up?

37. What does the passage say handwritten letters are now valued as, partly because of their rarity?

38. For roughly how long was handwriting the primary means of recording knowledge, according to the passage?

Questions 39–40. Do the following statements agree with the writer's claims? Write YES if the statement agrees with the writer's claims, NO if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks.

39. The writer believes the cognitive benefit of handwriting over typing is definitively proven beyond doubt.

40. The writer is confident that the reintroduction of cursive instruction represents a durable, permanent correction.

Speaking

Part 1: Introduction and interview

The examiner asks you questions about yourself and familiar topics (4–5 minutes).

Part 1 (The news / Advertising) — the examiner asks about two familiar topics. Topic 1: The news Q1. How do you usually get your news? Q2. Are you interested in international news? Topic 2: Advertising Q3. Do you pay attention to advertisements? Q4. Have you ever bought something because of an advert?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. Mainly through an app on my phone that sends me short summaries during the day. At the weekend I might read a longer article in a newspaper, if I'm at my parents' house. 2. Somewhat. I follow big stories, such as elections and natural disasters, but I skip most of the political arguments because they tend to be repetitive. 3. Not deliberately, but some catch my attention, especially funny ones. I skip the ones on the internet as soon as the button appears. 4. Yes, once. I saw an advert for a pair of walking boots that looked very sturdy, and I bought them. In the end they turned out to be a bit heavy, so I hardly ever wore them.

Part 2: Individual long turn

You have one minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.

Describe a gift that you gave to someone. You should say: - who you gave it to - what the gift was - why you chose it and explain how the person reacted. You'll have a minute to prepare, then speak about it for one to two minutes.
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: A gift that I remember giving is a framed collage of photographs that I made for my grandmother's eightieth birthday. I'd been worrying for weeks about what to buy her, because she says she has everything she needs and she doesn't like anything expensive. Then I remembered that she loves looking through her old albums, so I asked relatives to send me pictures from different periods of her life, from her wedding to holidays with the grandchildren. I scanned about forty of them, chose the best twenty, and arranged them in a large wooden frame, with a short caption under each one. It took me several evenings, and I was quite nervous about whether she'd like it. On the day of the party, my cousins and I hung it on the wall of the living room and covered it with a cloth until it was time to reveal it. When my grandmother saw it, she went completely silent for a moment, and then her eyes filled with tears. She said it was the best present she'd ever had, and she spent the rest of the afternoon showing it to every guest and telling them the stories behind the photos. Seeing her so happy made all of the effort worthwhile.

Part 3: Two-way discussion

The examiner asks more abstract questions linked to the Part 2 topic.

Part 3 (leisure time) — the examiner asks four related questions. Q1. How do people's ideas about leisure time differ between generations? Q2. Do you think people today have more or less free time than in the past? Q3. Is it important to have hobbies that don't involve screens? Q4. How might people's leisure activities change in the future?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. Older generations often associate leisure with quieter, slower activities like gardening or reading, while younger people tend to combine relaxation with constant digital entertainment and social connection. 2. It's mixed; technology saves time on some tasks, but longer working hours and constant availability through phones mean genuine, uninterrupted free time can actually feel scarcer than before. 3. I think so, since screen-free hobbies like sport, cooking, or crafts engage different skills and can be genuinely restorative, compared with the more passive nature of most screen-based entertainment. 4. I expect a growing interest in more mindful, offline leisure activities as a deliberate reaction to constant digital connectivity, even alongside continued growth in screen-based entertainment overall.

Writing Task 1

Loud construction work has been taking place near your home during the day for the past month, making it very difficult for you to work from home. Write a letter to the construction company. In your letter: describe the problem, explain how it has affected you, and ask them to change their working hours. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter 'Dear Sir or Madam,'

Writing Task 2

Tourism brings both benefits and problems to local communities. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of tourism for the places that receive large numbers of visitors. Write at least 250 words.
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