If you want to do some realistic IELTS reading practice, the only books that I recommend are Cambridge IELTS books and the two 'Official Practice Materials' books.
Here are some problems that I've seen in other 'unofficial' books:
- Tests can be too easy or too difficult.
- Topics may be covered that would never appear in a real test. For example, a passage about the politics of a particular country would not be used in a real test.
- The answers in the passage might not be in order. In real tests, answers to most question types are almost always in order.
- Questions are badly written and confusing.
You can still use unofficial books for reading practice. Just don't expect the tests in them to be realistic.
Hi Sir Simon,
thank you so much for all things u have done for us!
Posted by: hang | September 24, 2018 at 22:49
Hi Simon,
I'd like to get this question answered:
In which basis are the reading topics -in the real IELTS exam- chosen?? I mean, why can some topics be appeared in the exam, while others can't?
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Ali M
Posted by: Ali M | September 25, 2018 at 12:44
No problem hang!
...
Ali,
The topics are supposed to be 'universal' - accessible to people from any country, culture, area of work, field of study etc.
So, you won't find anything that requires specific knowledge (e.g. a passage or question that requires medical knowledge), and they avoid anything political, religious or controversial.
Posted by: Simon | September 25, 2018 at 15:19
Dear Simon,
I want to add "Complete IELTS" series to this list because they are authentic and the best studying (not practice) books. That is my opinion.
Posted by: Murad | September 26, 2018 at 18:11
Dear Simon,
Could I ask your opinion about older versions of IELTS Cambridge (1-8). Are they still useful and are their contents still close to recent exams?
Thank you so much.
Posted by: Meo | September 26, 2018 at 23:14
Meo
From a student's standpoint, there seems to have been no significant changes to IELTS since 2001. See here:
https://www.manhattanreview.com/ielts-history/
Posted by: gaya | October 02, 2018 at 20:07
Thanks so much, Gaya!
Posted by: Meo | October 13, 2018 at 08:38
Hi Simon,
I have a question about reading exercises:
When I try to practice by using your reading practice on your blog, I can get all answers correct. However, my scores is not that ideal when I try to do mock test online, particularly the reading part 3.
I found very difficult to do reading part 3.
Posted by: Lala | December 03, 2018 at 08:15
Hi, Mr. Simon!
Where can I download those books you've mentioned?
thanks for the reply!
Posted by: Rosella | January 30, 2019 at 16:24