B1CEFRReading15 min

Reading: Why Planning a Trip Makes Us Happy

Travel and holidays

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Unit: Travel & Holidays • Lesson 3/6 • 15 mins IELTS Reading Skill: B1 Intermediate

✈️ Why Planning a Trip Makes Us Happy

Explore research on travel anticipation, learn to distinguish between False and Not Given claims, and answer 8 IELTS-style reading questions.

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How to Use This Lesson

Teacher Tips

Allow students 5 minutes of uninterrupted skim-reading to locate general themes before opening the 10-minute task timer. Use the automated evidence feedbacks as whole-class discussion anchors for Not Given versus False distinction.

Learner Steps

First, skim paragraphs [A] to [D] to grasp the core study results. Next, highlight paragraph keywords before tackling the questions, remembering that NOT GIVEN means the text makes no claim either way.

Reading Passage • 240 words

Why Planning a Trip Makes Us Happy

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[A] Have you ever felt that preparing for a holiday is actually more exciting than the getaway itself? Jeroen Nawijn, a Dutch researcher, and his team studied holiday happiness. They asked 1,530 Dutch people about their happiness, and 974 of them went on a holiday trip.

[B] The findings revealed a remarkable contrast before departure. People who were going on holiday were happier than the people who were not. So the happiness started before the trip had even begun.

[C] However, what happens after travellers pack their bags and head back? After the trip, the extra happiness faded. Back home, holidaymakers were about as happy as people who stayed at home. Only a very relaxing trip gave a small boost.

[D] Nawijn says that most of our happiness comes from looking forward to a trip, so people could take more trips each year. The study was published in 2010 in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life.

IELTS Comprehension Tasks

8 Questions

Task 1: True / False / Not Given (Questions 1–3)

Decide if each statement agrees with the information in the reading passage.

Question 1

More than half of the individuals surveyed in the Dutch study took a holiday trip.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

Question 2

After returning home, most vacationers maintained their elevated happiness for several months.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

Question 3

Participants who travelled abroad experienced greater pre-holiday excitement than those vacationing domestically.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

Task 2: Multiple Choice (Questions 4–5)

Choose the correct letter (a, b, c, or d) based on the passage.

Question 4

According to Paragraph C, when was an improvement in post-holiday happiness detected?

____ a. Only when travellers immediately began planning their next trip upon returning home ____ b. Only when participants considered their holiday experience to be extremely relaxing ____ c. Only when the journey was taken together with family members rather than alone ____ d. Only when vacationers were away from work for a period longer than two weeks

Question 5

What strategy does researcher Jeroen Nawijn recommend to maximize overall holiday joy?

____ a. Saving up vacation days to go on one single, extended journey each year ____ b. Remaining at home during holidays to avoid the stress of travelling routines ____ c. Going on more trips each year ____ d. Avoiding any advance scheduling so that travel plans remain spontaneous

Task 3: Paragraph Matching (Questions 6–7)

Choose the correct paragraph (A, B, C, or D) that contains the stated information.

Question 6

Which paragraph compares how happy two groups of people were before the trip?

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Question 7

Which paragraph identifies the academic journal and calendar year in which the research was published?

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Task 4: Sentence Completion (Question 8)

Complete the sentence below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY directly from Paragraph D of the passage.

Question 8

According to Paragraph D, most of our happiness comes from ____ forward to a trip.