The articles below are taken from a variety of English-language media and reflect the type of content tested in the Reading portion of the IELTS. They also involve many common Task 2 Writing topics.
A Neglected Protein-Rich Superfood
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210420-the-protein-rich-superfood-most-europeans-wont-eat
BBC, 20 April 2021
A Therapeutic Beat
Source: University of Melbourne Magazine, 2022https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210420-the-protein-rich-superfood-most-europeans-wont-eat
University of Melbourne Magazine, 2022
Airports are Embracing Facial Recognition Software: Should We Be Worried?
Source: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/airports-are-embracing-facial-recognition-should-we-be-worried
Discover Magazine, 20 November 2021
An Ancient Ocean Floor, Found in Baltimore
Source: https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2021/fall/baltimore-rocks-mantle-ocean-floor/
Johns Hopkins Magazine, Fall 2021
Are There Enough Remote Jobs for Everyone Who Wants One?
Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220421-are-there-enough-remote-jobs-for-everyone-who-wants-one
BBC, 26 May 2022
Birds in Ancient Egypt
Source: https://mag.uchicago.edu/arts-humanities/bird-bird
University of Chicago Magazine, Nov/Dec 2012
Chile’s Desert Town Built on Mummies
Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220519-chiles-desert-town-built-on-mummies
BBC, 26 May 2022
Classifying Animals by Anatomy Might Not Be Best System, Study Says
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/06/11/animals-evolution-tree/
Washington Post, 11 June 2022
Climate Friendly Diets Could Make a Huge Difference
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/04/meat-diets-climate-emissions-plant-based-vegan
The Guardian, 4 June 2022
Could Ants, Termites, and Fishes Make Humans Better Farmers?
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/could-ants-termites-and-fishes-carry-lessons-to-make-humans-better-farmers-180980085/
Smithsonian Magazine, 17 May 2022
Digitising the Natural World
Source: https://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/article/digitising-the-natural-world
Oxford Alumni Magazine, 9 May 2022
First Light in the Universe
Source: https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/enlightened
University of Chicago Magazine, Spring 2022
Harvard Study: Just 1 to 2 Days in Office Per Week Is Most Effective
Source: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/04/15/hybrid-work-study-harvard/
Boston.com, 15 April 2022
Have a Green Flight!
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/have-a-green-flight/
Cambridge Alumni Magazine, 24 November 2020
Have Scientists Designed the Perfect Chocolate?
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/have-scientists-designed-the-perfect-chocolate-180980062/
Smithsonian Magazine, 11 May 2022
Have We Detected Dark Energy? Scientists Say It’s a Possibility
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210915135120.htm
Science Daily/University of Cambridge, 15 September 2021
Hidden in Plain Sight (Machine learning, bots, and fake news)
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/hidden-in-plain-sight/
University of Cambridge, 10 July 2020
How Driverless Cars Will Change Our World
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211126-how-driverless-cars-will-change-our-world
BBC, 29 November 2021
How Our Brains Cope with Speaking More than One Language
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220719-how-speaking-other-languages-changes-your-brain
BBC, 19 July 2022
Human or Seal? Who Has the Best Underwater Hearing?
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220524100521.htm
Science Daily/University of Southern Denmark, 24 May 2022
Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-a-lie-we-deceive-ourselves-to-better-deceive-others/
Scientific American, 4 April 2017
Megalodons vs. Great White Sharks? We Know Who Won
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/science/megalodon-great-white-sharks.html
New York Times, 31 May 2022
Modern Zoos Are Not Worth the Cost
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/opinion/zoos-animal-cruelty.html
New York Times, 11 June 2021
More Than a Feeling
Source: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/alumni/stories/magazine/more-than-a-feeling/
Nonesuch (University of Bristol Alumni Magazine), Summer 2022
One Heart-Stopping Moment
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/heart/
Cambridge Alumni Magazine, 1 April 2018
1 Trillion Trees Are Great—Except When They’re Not
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/heart/
Oxford Alumni Magazine, 30 January 2020
Phage Therapy Boosts Fight Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/may/13/phage-therapy-fight-against-drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics
The Guardian, 13 May 2022
Protected Areas Don’t Always Benefit Wildlife
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/20/protected-areas-dont-always-benefit-wildlife-global-study-finds-aoe
The Guardian, 20 April 2022
Plants May Help Make Your Surroundings Quieter
Source: https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/plants-may-help-make-your-surroundings-quieter
Discover Magazine, 26 October 2021
Researchers Use Music to Make Protein Songs More Pleasant to Listen to
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210929112814.htm
Science Daily/Cell Press, 29 September 2021
Scientists See “Puzzling” Features Deep in Earth’s Interior
Source: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/scientists-see-puzzling-features-deep-in-earths-interior
University of Cambridge/Nature Communications, 2022
Spain’s Ingenious Water Mazes
Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220220-valencias-la-huerta-spains-ingenious-water-mazehttps://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220220-valencias-la-huerta-spains-ingenious-water-maze
BBC, 21 February 2022
Spiders’ Web Secrets Unraveled
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211101105356.htm
Science Daily/Johns Hopkins, 1 November 2021
The Far-Reaching Benefits of Tiger Sharks
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211007-why-sharks-help-fight-climate-change-in-the-oceans
BBC, 7 October 2021
Rechargeable Molten Salt Battery
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rechargeable-molten-salt-battery-freezes-energy-in-place-for-long-term-storage/
Scientific American, 6 May 2022
Soft Robotics
Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/be-inspired/magazine/issue-51/soft-robotics/
Imperial College Magazine, Winter 2021/22
Sun King
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/king-akhenaten/
Cambridge Alumni Magazine, 30 March 2022
The E-Sports Generation
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/sports/esports-fans-leagues-games.html
New York Time, 22 December 2021
The Fruit that Once Fed Mastodons
Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220425-the-revival-of-a-forgotten-american-fruit
BBC, 26 April 2022
The Humble Battery Could Be the Key to Solving the Climate Emergency
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/of-greatest-benefit-to-humankind/
Cambridge Alumni Magazine, Issue 90, 10 July 2020
The Magical Miniature World of Terrariums
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211130-the-magical-miniature-worlds-of-terrariums
BBC, 1 December 2021
The Performing Brain
Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/be-inspired/magazine/issue-44/the-performing-brain/
Imperial Magazine, Issue 44: Spring 2018
The Route to Carbon Neutral
Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/turning-convention-on-its-head/
Imperial Magazine, Issue 48, Summer 2020
The Smoke and Mirrors of Unlimited Paid Time Off
Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220520-the-smoke-and-mirrors-of-unlimited-paid-time-off
BBC, 23 May 2022
The Secret Accent Bias
Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220505-the-regional-accentism-that-secretly-affects-job-prospects
BBC, 8 May 2022
The Shocking Gap in Our Knowledge of Deep-Sea Life
Source: https://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/quad/article/shocking-gap-our-knowledge-deep-sea-life
Oxford Alumni Magazine, 30 August 2017
The Sky-High Cost of Returning to the Office
Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220420-the-sky-high-cost-of-returning-to-the-office
BBC, 20 April 2022
Tiny Robotic Crab Is Smallest-Ever Remote-Controlled Walking Robot
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220525151741.htm
Science Daily, 25 May 2022
Tracking Driftwood
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20190524083821/https://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2017/09/20/tracking-driftwood-gives-researchers-insight-into-past-arctic-ocean-changes/
GeoSpace Blog, 20 September 2017
We Are Democratising the Right to Laziness’: the Rise of On-Demand Grocery Deliveries
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/12/the-rise-of-on-demand-grocery-deliveries
The Guardian, 12 June 2021
We Need a Radical Approach to Address the Sustainability of Food Production
Source: https://magazine.alumni.cam.ac.uk/we-need-a-radical-approach-to-address-the-sustainability-of-food-production/
Cambridge Alumni Magazine, Issue 93, 14 July 2021
When Did Humans Domesticate the Horse?
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-did-humans-domesticate-the-horse-180980097/
Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2022
Why Diamonds Are a Geologist’s Best Friend
Source: https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/why-diamonds-are-geologists-best-friend
Columbia Magazine, Fall 2021
Why Scientists are Turning Molecules into Music
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-scientists-are-turning-molecules-into-music-180980022/
Smithsonian Magazine, 17 May 2022
Why You Should Read This Out Loud
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200917-the-surprising-power-of-reading-aloud
BBC, 17 September 2020
World Population Exposed to Deadly City Heat
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/04/nearly-25-of-world-population-exposed-to-deadly-city-heat
The Guardian, 4 October 2021
