All answers on this page include the question number, correct answer and a brief explanation of where to find it in the passage or audio. Use these alongside the original Cambridge IELTS books for the best practice experience.
Test 2 General Training Reading Answers with Clear Explanations
Review all 40 Cambridge IELTS 17 General Training Reading Test 2 answers. Find the supporting passage evidence, understand misleading options and check the word limits before your next timed attempt.
Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 2 General Training Reading Answer Key
Use the key for quick marking, then read the explanations below. A slash separates accepted alternative forms. Where two letters are required, enter both letters across the two question numbers, in either order.
Section 1: Rental property agencies and cycle lights
Questions 1 to 14Section 2: Workplace computer safety and portable ladders
Questions 15 to 27Section 3: The story of the Fosbury Flop
Questions 28 to 40Section 1: Rental property agencies and cycle lights
Questions 1-14. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
1The agency expects customers to provide letters of recommendation.B - Danesdale Agency
Where to Look: Section 1, Danesdale Agency
Why: Danesdale asks clients to supply written references. Letters of recommendation paraphrases references, distinguishing B from the other agencies' services.
2The agency provides certain information on properties held by its competitors.E - Leftfield Letting
Where to Look: Section 1, Leftfield Letting
Why: Leftfield compares prices of similar properties offered by other local agencies. This provides information about competitors so customers can make an informed choice.
3The agency began business in its present location.A - Aynho Properties
Where to Look: Section 1, Aynho Properties
Why: Aynho has occupied Shipton Street since its foundation. That explicitly means it began business at its current location, not merely that it knows the neighbourhood well.
4Employees have specific roles at the agency.D - Kasama Letting
Where to Look: Section 1, Kasama Letting
Why: Kasama identifies a customer liaison officer and a separate administration officer with different duties. These named responsibilities support the statement about specific staff roles.
5The agency carefully chooses the property owners that it works with.C - Jakesford Properties
Where to Look: Section 1, Jakesford Properties
Why: Jakesford says its landlords are selected carefully to protect clients' interests. The selection concerns property owners, rather than selecting the right property for an individual tenant.
6It is illegal to cycle after sunset without bike lights.TRUE
Where to Look: Section 1, lighting times
Why: The practice passage requires lights between sunset and sunrise, even if it is not yet dark. The statement agrees with the rule as presented in the text.
7Front and rear lights can be attached to the rider.FALSE
Where to Look: Section 1, required light placement
Why: The required front and rear lights must be fixed to the bicycle. A head torch may be additional lighting but cannot replace the required bike-mounted lights.
8A torch worn on a cyclist’s head must be white.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Section 1, head torches
Why: The passage permits an extra head torch but does not state its colour. The white-light requirement is specified for the front bicycle light, not explicitly for the head torch.
9There are some legal restrictions on flashing lights.TRUE
Where to Look: Section 1, flashing lights
Why: The text allows flashing lights only within a stated flash-rate range. This is a legal restriction in the passage, so the statement is TRUE.
10Reflectors are most commonly available in packs of four.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Section 1, pedal reflectors
Why: Four amber pedal reflectors are required in the passage, but their retail packaging is never discussed. A required quantity does not establish how products are commonly sold.
11Reflective heel strips are allowed instead of pedal reflectors.FALSE
Where to Look: Section 1, reflective substitutes
Why: The passage explicitly says heel strips and ankle bands do not satisfy the pedal-reflector requirement. The proposed substitution is therefore contradicted.
12The law concerning the design of pedals is unsatisfactory.TRUE
Where to Look: Section 1, pedal design problem
Why: Some pedals lack space for reflectors, and the writer calls this an area needing legal change. This supports describing the law as unsatisfactory in that respect.
13Cycling during the daytime is safer than cycling at night.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Section 1, daytime cycling
Why: The passage discusses lighting requirements and poor visibility, but does not compare the overall safety of daytime and night-time cycling. That broader judgement is not given.
14It is against the law to cycle in daytime fog without lights.FALSE
Where to Look: Section 1, fog
Why: The practice text says lights are not legally required for cyclists in reduced daytime visibility, although it recommends them. The statement confuses the text's recommendation with its stated legal requirement.
Section 2: Workplace computer safety and portable ladders
Questions 15-27. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
15Desk size should facilitate change in the user’s ____.position
Where to Look: Section 2, workstation furniture
Why: The desk should allow comfortable work and changes of position. Position is what the user must be able to alter, not simply the location of equipment.
16Employers should move, soundproof, or separate noisy equipment using ____.partitions
Where to Look: Section 2, noise
Why: Partitions can separate noisy equipment from the rest of the workstation. They are the physical barriers offered as an alternative to quieter equipment or relocation.
17Employers should reduce glare from nearby ____, e.g., using adjustable blinds.windows
Where to Look: Section 2, lighting
Why: Nearby windows should have adjustable curtains or blinds to control reflected glare. Windows identifies the source being managed, while blinds is already given as an example solution.
18Ensure a comfortable temperature: check ____ from equipment.heat
Where to Look: Section 2, temperature
Why: Equipment should not emit enough heat to make the user uncomfortable. The instruction to monitor this concerns heat output rather than noise or humidity.
19Employees should have an input into task achievement and ____.planning
Where to Look: Section 2, task design
Why: Employees should have a say in how work is performed and the planning behind it. Planning is the second area of input requested in the note.
20Employees should have regular, short breaks, at times of their own ____.choice
Where to Look: Section 2, breaks
Why: The text says employees should sometimes choose when to take breaks. At times of their own choice expresses this limited flexibility, not complete freedom over every break.
21Employers should keep a ____ of ladder safety inspections.record
Where to Look: Section 2, ladder inspections
Why: Employers should maintain an up-to-date record of visual inspections. Record identifies the documentation, not the inspection itself.
22Employers should check the ____ of a ladder is suitable for the job.length
Where to Look: Section 2, choosing a ladder
Why: The ladder must be the right length for the task to avoid dangerous overreaching. Length is the dimension the employer needs to check.
23The ____ and joints of the ladder need particularly close inspection.steps
Where to Look: Section 2, pre-use checks
Why: The text singles out loose steps and cracked joints as hazards. Joints is already supplied, leaving steps as the other part requiring close inspection.
24Make sure the ____ of the ladder are resting on a clean, hard surface.feet
Where to Look: Section 2, ground surface
Why: Clean, solid ground lets the ladder's feet grip without sinking. Feet names the part touching the surface, not the person standing on the ladder.
25Protect the ladder from vehicles by using ____.cones
Where to Look: Section 2, nearby vehicles
Why: The passage recommends red and white cones to protect the area from vehicles. Only cones is needed within the one-word limit.
26Use a ____ to keep people away from the ladder.sign
Where to Look: Section 2, public access
Why: A danger sign at the base is suggested to keep the public from approaching or walking underneath. Sign is the object, while danger is its message.
27Keep the ladder in place using ties, rather than ____.blocks
Where to Look: Section 2, securing the ladder
Why: The text favours ties and warns against blocks because they may move. The contrast rather than makes blocks the rejected method required in the gap.
Section 3: The story of the Fosbury Flop
Questions 28-40. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
28A suggestion that Fosbury should change his way of jumping.C - Section C
Where to Look: Section 3, Section C
Why: Fosbury's coach said the scissors style would not take him far and introduced the belly roll. This is the suggestion to change his jumping method.
29A reference to an opportunity offered to Fosbury that made him feel honoured.G - Section G
Where to Look: Section 3, Section G
Why: Fosbury says he is proud to have naming rights for the technique. That opportunity and his reaction match the reference to feeling honoured.
30A reference to the fact that Fosbury was a very influential high jumper.A - Section A
Where to Look: Section 3, Section A
Why: The opening says his Olympic jump transformed high jumping. That establishes his influence on the sport, not simply the height of one successful attempt.
31Conflicting explanations given by Fosbury for the way the idea for the Fosbury Flop began.B - Section B
Where to Look: Section 3, Section B
Why: Fosbury initially offered joking accounts involving engineering design or an accidental fall, before explaining gradual development. These conflicting stories are grouped in Section B.
32A reference to a time when Fosbury was dissatisfied with his athletic performance.C - Section C
Where to Look: Section 3, Section C
Why: He was poor at the belly roll and told his coach he was frustrated. This is the specific period of dissatisfaction with his performance.
33When interviewed about his development of the Fosbury Flop, Dick FosburyD - stated that it had been done gradually without any overall plan.
Where to Look: Section 3, Section B
Why: His later account describes years of trial and error and natural evolution without an overall design. Earlier stories about planning on paper were jokes, not his final explanation.
34Fosbury achieved a sudden improvement in the height he could jump when heA - started to adapt the “scissors” technique.
Where to Look: Section 3, Section C
Why: After returning to scissors, he raised his hips and moved his shoulders back, improving his best by fifteen centimetres. The improvement came from adapting scissors, not abandoning it.
35When describing the way that Fosbury’s jump evolved, Richard Hoffer stressed thatB - the process was more controlled than it appeared.
Where to Look: Section 3, Section D
Why: Although his limbs looked disorganised, useful movements were retained and ineffective ones removed. Hoffer highlights an organised selection process beneath the apparently awkward motion.
36Fosbury defended his idea that his style of jumping was “natural” by pointing out thatD - it was independently discovered by other athletes.
Where to Look: Section 3, Section E
Why: Debbie Brill developed the same method without seeing Fosbury, and Quande was photographed doing something similar. Independent discovery supports his argument that the movement was natural.
37When first interviewed, Fosbury called his jumping style a ____, but he realised that this had not made an impression on the interviewer.back lay-out / back layout
Where to Look: Section 3, Section G, first name
Why: Fosbury first used back lay-out, but the journalist did not even record it. The passage shows that this name failed to impress, before the memorable Fosbury Flop name was adopted.
38The interviewer was a ____.journalist
Where to Look: Section 3, Section G, interviewer
Why: The text identifies the person interviewing him as a journalist. Their failure to write down the first name prompted Fosbury to try a more striking description later.
39Fosbury says the new name was appropriate because his town is near a ____.river
Where to Look: Section 3, Section G, hometown
Why: Fosbury explains that his town was on a river popular for fishing. The river gives context for the fish comparison behind the name.
40A ____ does a similar type of “flopping” movement when brought to land.fish
Where to Look: Section 3, Section G, movement comparison
Why: A fish flops when brought onto the bank. Fosbury connects that movement with the newspaper caption describing his jump, making fish the missing noun.
Using This Reading Answer Key
Is This the Academic or General Training Test?
This page covers Cambridge IELTS 17 General Training Reading Test 2. Academic and GT Reading use different texts and answer keys, so check the track before marking.
How Should I Review a Wrong Answer?
Return to the evidence location and compare the exact meaning, not just matching words. Check spelling and word limits. For NOT GIVEN, identify the information the text does not supply.
How Do I Estimate My Band?
Count one mark for each correct answer, then consult the Reading Band Score Guide. Academic and GT use different raw-score conversions, and an estimate is not an official IELTS result.
What to Do After Marking
Group your errors by misunderstanding, distractors, spelling and instructions. Review the difficult section, then try another complete test to check whether your accuracy improves.