B1IELTS-style · Band 4.5–5.0Reading15 min

IELTS Reading: The Story of Route 66

Road trips and travelling by car

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TIP

How to use this lesson

For Teachers

Run this 15-minute quick reading drill in class as a timed warm-up activity.

Check answers together using the exact sentences quoted in the evidence lines.

For Students

First, read the four short paragraphs once to understand the main story without stopping at hard words.

Next, answer the eight questions step by step and match each choice with a sentence in the text.

Reading Passage • Road Trips

The Story of Route 66

B1 Reading Lab

Route 66 is a road in the United States. The road began in 1926 because more and more people wanted to travel by car. The US Postal Service says that it was officially set up on 11 November 1926. The road ran from Chicago in Illinois to Santa Monica in California, about 2,400 miles.

The road went through eight states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The National Park Service calls Route 66 the nation's first all-weather highway between Chicago and Los Angeles, and it says that the road made the way between the two cities more than 200 miles shorter.

In 1985 Route 66 stopped being an official federal highway. In 1990 the US Congress passed the Route 66 Study Act. The National Park Service says that the years of the road's historical importance are 1926 to 1985.

The National Register of Historic Places lists more than 250 buildings, bridges, parts of the old road and other sites along Route 66. The National Park Service has a travel guide that highlights over 100 of them.

Questions 1–2: True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading passage? Choose True if the statement agrees with the information, False if the statement contradicts the information, or Not Given if there is no information on this.

1.Route 66 reduced the driving distance between Chicago and Los Angeles by more than 200 miles.

____ True ____ False ____ Not Given

2.Many American motorists protested when Route 66 lost its official federal highway status in 1985.

____ True ____ False ____ Not Given

Questions 3–4: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

3.Why was Route 66 originally started in 1926?

____ A. The US Postal Service requested a faster way to transport mail to Santa Monica. ____ B. A rising number of people wanted to take journeys by automobile. ____ C. The US Congress passed a law ordering an all-weather road across eight states. ____ D. Highway builders wished to connect exactly 250 cities from east to west.

4.What does the National Park Service suggest about the road during the period from 1926 to 1985?

____ A. It was the road's key period of national historical value. ____ B. It took nearly sixty years before drivers could use the road safely in all weather. ____ C. The road received zero official recognition from the government until after 1985. ____ D. More than 100 historical bridges were damaged during these active years.

Questions 5–6: Information Matching

Which paragraph contains the following information? Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

5.The starting point, end point, and overall length of Route 66.

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

6.Details of official listings and reading material that help modern tourists find preserved structures.

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

Questions 7–8: Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

7.The National Park Service refers to Route 66 as the country's first ____________________ between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Write your answer in the box below:

____

8.The National Register of Historic Places includes records for more than ____________________ locations and sections along the route.

Write your answer in the box below:

____

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Reviewing Your Reading Skills

Remember to always prove your answers by pointing to exact lines in the text. When a sentence sounds plausible but has no supporting statement in the passage, choose Not Given.

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