IELTS Academic
IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 3
Reading Module • Time allowed: 60 minutes
Total: 40 questions • 3 Passages
Instructions:
Read each passage carefully and answer all questions.
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
For True/False/Not Given questions, write T, F, or NG.
For multiple-choice questions, write the letter of your chosen answer.
For short-answer questions, use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
For exam practice only. Not affiliated with British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
, PASSAGE 1
Migration and the Modern City
Cities have always been shaped by migration. From the great ports of the ancient world to the industrial
metropolises of the nineteenth century, urban centres have grown through the influx of people seeking
economic opportunity, safety or simply a different life. In the twenty-first century, migration — both
internal (within countries) and international — continues to reshape cities in ways that are
simultaneously a source of dynamism and social tension.
The economic case for migration to cities is well established. Migrants tend to be positively self-selected
— they are, by the act of migration itself, demonstrating initiative, risk tolerance and ambition. Research
consistently shows that immigrants are overrepresented among entrepreneurs: in the United States, for
example, immigrants have founded or co-founded more than 40 per cent of Fortune 500 companies. In
destination cities, migrants fill labour market gaps at both ends of the skills spectrum, from fruit-picking
and construction to medicine and technology.
The fiscal contribution of migrants is also generally positive, particularly when migrants are of working
age and arrive in host countries with skills that the local economy values. They pay taxes, contribute to
social security systems and often consume relatively little in public services, at least in their early years.
Over time, second-generation immigrants — the children of migrants — tend to achieve educational and
economic outcomes that meet or exceed those of the native-born population, a pattern documented
extensively in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and North America.
Yet the benefits of migration are not uniformly distributed. In destination cities, the arrival of large
numbers of migrants can place pressure on housing markets, public services and labour market
conditions for workers in directly competing occupations. These effects are often localised and uneven:
a skilled programmer moving from Bangalore to Silicon Valley may have very different impacts on local
communities than an undocumented labourer arriving in a city where low-wage competition is already
intense. Political responses to migration are often shaped more by perceptions and anxieties than by
empirical evidence, making rational policymaking difficult.
Cities respond to migration in varied ways. Some have developed explicitly welcoming policies —
"sanctuary city" policies in the United States, for example, limit cooperation with federal immigration
enforcement, offering undocumented residents a degree of security and encouraging them to engage
with local institutions without fear. Other cities have pursued more restrictive approaches, in some
cases attempting to use planning law or service provision to deter settlement. The evidence on what
works is mixed: restrictive policies often reduce migrants' willingness to engage with authorities,
creating public health and public safety risks, while very permissive policies can generate political
backlash that makes sustainable migration management more difficult.
Internal migration — movement within national borders — is often overlooked in policy discussions
focused on international flows, but it is quantitatively far larger. In China, the hukou system — a
household registration scheme that ties access to public services to the place of registration — has
historically constrained the ability of rural migrants to access education, healthcare and social security in
cities, creating a two-tier urban population. Reforms to the hukou system have been gradual and
uneven, reflecting the complex interests of city governments, which benefit from migrant labour but are
reluctant to bear the full cost of integrating large new populations into public service systems.
The cultural impact of migration on cities is perhaps its most visible and lasting dimension. The
neighbourhoods, cuisines, languages, religious practices and artistic traditions that migrants bring
transform cities over generations. London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne — all cities with high
IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 3
Reading Module • Time allowed: 60 minutes
Total: 40 questions • 3 Passages
Instructions:
Read each passage carefully and answer all questions.
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
For True/False/Not Given questions, write T, F, or NG.
For multiple-choice questions, write the letter of your chosen answer.
For short-answer questions, use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
For exam practice only. Not affiliated with British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
, PASSAGE 1
Migration and the Modern City
Cities have always been shaped by migration. From the great ports of the ancient world to the industrial
metropolises of the nineteenth century, urban centres have grown through the influx of people seeking
economic opportunity, safety or simply a different life. In the twenty-first century, migration — both
internal (within countries) and international — continues to reshape cities in ways that are
simultaneously a source of dynamism and social tension.
The economic case for migration to cities is well established. Migrants tend to be positively self-selected
— they are, by the act of migration itself, demonstrating initiative, risk tolerance and ambition. Research
consistently shows that immigrants are overrepresented among entrepreneurs: in the United States, for
example, immigrants have founded or co-founded more than 40 per cent of Fortune 500 companies. In
destination cities, migrants fill labour market gaps at both ends of the skills spectrum, from fruit-picking
and construction to medicine and technology.
The fiscal contribution of migrants is also generally positive, particularly when migrants are of working
age and arrive in host countries with skills that the local economy values. They pay taxes, contribute to
social security systems and often consume relatively little in public services, at least in their early years.
Over time, second-generation immigrants — the children of migrants — tend to achieve educational and
economic outcomes that meet or exceed those of the native-born population, a pattern documented
extensively in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and North America.
Yet the benefits of migration are not uniformly distributed. In destination cities, the arrival of large
numbers of migrants can place pressure on housing markets, public services and labour market
conditions for workers in directly competing occupations. These effects are often localised and uneven:
a skilled programmer moving from Bangalore to Silicon Valley may have very different impacts on local
communities than an undocumented labourer arriving in a city where low-wage competition is already
intense. Political responses to migration are often shaped more by perceptions and anxieties than by
empirical evidence, making rational policymaking difficult.
Cities respond to migration in varied ways. Some have developed explicitly welcoming policies —
"sanctuary city" policies in the United States, for example, limit cooperation with federal immigration
enforcement, offering undocumented residents a degree of security and encouraging them to engage
with local institutions without fear. Other cities have pursued more restrictive approaches, in some
cases attempting to use planning law or service provision to deter settlement. The evidence on what
works is mixed: restrictive policies often reduce migrants' willingness to engage with authorities,
creating public health and public safety risks, while very permissive policies can generate political
backlash that makes sustainable migration management more difficult.
Internal migration — movement within national borders — is often overlooked in policy discussions
focused on international flows, but it is quantitatively far larger. In China, the hukou system — a
household registration scheme that ties access to public services to the place of registration — has
historically constrained the ability of rural migrants to access education, healthcare and social security in
cities, creating a two-tier urban population. Reforms to the hukou system have been gradual and
uneven, reflecting the complex interests of city governments, which benefit from migrant labour but are
reluctant to bear the full cost of integrating large new populations into public service systems.
The cultural impact of migration on cities is perhaps its most visible and lasting dimension. The
neighbourhoods, cuisines, languages, religious practices and artistic traditions that migrants bring
transform cities over generations. London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne — all cities with high
