Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 43
GENERAL READING TEST – 43 – PASSAGE – 1
GENERAL READING TEST – 43
READING PASSAGE – 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Reading Passage – 1 below.
Haridwar – The Holy City
India is a land of pilgrims and pilgrimages. These holy places, whether in the hills or in the plains, are generally situated on river banks or by the sea. It is not only the religious people who visit these places. Travelers and sightseers from all over India and even from abroad also visit these places. Whenever two or more rivers meet, pilgrims come to bathe and worship, because that place is supposed to be holy.
Haridwar is one such place. It is situated on the bank of river Ganga. Here the Ganga leaves the mountains and enters the plains. Thousands of people visit this place every day. On special occasions lakhs of devout pilgrims gather here to take the ritual bath in the holy Ganga. The Kumbh Mela is such grandest occasion. It occurs after every twelve years.
But the saddest side of the picture is that the holy Ganga starts getting polluted from here. Several Dharamshalas, Ashrams and hotels empty their waste into the Ganga. A very large number of ashrams, and other buildings have come up on the very edge of the river. The people don’t have much sense of environmental cleanliness and purity. At many places, especially near the bathing ghats, the water of Ganga is not clean but brownish or greenish and even gives out bad smell.
In the past when the population of the country was not so large and the means of transport also not so advanced, our religious leaders had to take recourses to various methods to attract pilgrims to these places. Now the situation has completely changed. With the explosion in population and the rapid means of transportation our pilgrim centres have become crowded and even polluted. The problem requires a new thinking and new attitude. The crowds of people are to be diverted to new pilgrim centres which may be created in beautiful natural surroundings as we done by Shankaracharya or other leaders of religious thought.
Questions 1-5
Choose the appropriate letters from A-D, and write them in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. Where are the holy place in India are generally situated?
A. on the hills.
B. on river banks.
C. in big cities.
D. away from seas.
2. Where is Haridwar situated?
A. on the bank of river Jamuna.
B. at a small distance from Ganga.
C. on the bank of Bhagirthi.
D. on the bank of river Ganga.
3. What is the saddest side of the picture at Haridwar?
A. Many Ashrams have come up.
B. People gather there to have a bath.
C. The holy Ganga is getting polluted.
D. People do not have much sense of sanitation.
4. Why is the colour of water is bronish or greenish near the bathing ghats?
A. The water of Ganga is not clean.
B. The water comes from the hills.
C. The water changes colour.
D. The change of colour is natural.
5. Why have our pilgrim centres become crowded?
A. with the increase in population.
B. people have become more religious minded.
C. there is no better place to spend holidays.
D. people want to be near God.
Questions 6-10
Complete the summary using the list of words A-H below.
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.
India is a land (6)……………………..and pilgrimages. Most of the holy places are situated on river (7)……………………… . Haridwar is (8)…………………….on the bank of river Ganga. Lakhs of pilgrims gather there to have a (9)………………………bath. However, the water of Ganga is not clean near the (10)……………………..ghats.
List of words
A. bathing
B. situated
C. ritual
D. pilgrims
E. holy
F. attitude
G. banks
H. Dharamshalas
Questions 11-15
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.
Complete the sentences below.
11. At Haridwar, the Ganga…………………… .
12. The water of the Ganga is not clean near…………………. .
13. People gather in Haridwar to take the…………………………… .
14. The Kumbh Mela occurs after every…………………. .
15. The problem of rush requires…………………… .
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
ANSWER KEY
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. D
7. G
8. B
9. C
10. A
11. LEAVES THE MOUNTAINS
12. THE BATHING GHATS
13. RITUAL BATHS
14. TWELVE YEARS
15. A NEW THINKING