• Allocate 15 minutes for this lesson. Guide learners to skim the text before answering.
• After learners complete the task, review answers together using the included evidence notes.

• First, read paragraphs A to D carefully to understand the main ideas and details.
• Next, complete the 8 IELTS-style questions below step by step from easy to hard.

Reading Passage

Puppets and puppet theatre

Paragraphs A–D Intangible Heritage

Traditional Indonesian Wayang Kulit shadow puppet performance with a backlight screen, dark intricate leather puppet sil

Wayang shadow puppet tradition from Java, Indonesia

Traditional Sicilian Opera dei Pupi wooden knight puppets decorated in metallic armor standing on a classic theatre stag

Opera dei Pupi wooden knight puppets from Sicily, Italy

Paragraph A

Wayang is a traditional form of puppet theatre from the island of Java in Indonesia. UNESCO notes that it was very popular at the royal courts of Java and Bali for many centuries. Later, this art form spread to several other islands, including Lombok, Madura, Sumatra, and Borneo.

Paragraph B

There are two main kinds of Wayang puppets. One is a flat shadow puppet made of leather, which appears as a dark shape on a screen with a light behind it. The other kind is a wooden puppet with a three-dimensional body. The master puppeteer, known as the dalang, moves the arms of the puppets using thin sticks.

Paragraph C

Opera dei Pupi is a traditional puppet theatre from the island of Sicily in Italy. UNESCO states that it began at the start of the nineteenth century and became very popular among working people across the island. Many of these puppet theatres were run as family businesses passed down through generations.

Paragraph D

The performances featured stories based on old tales about knights, poems from the Italian Renaissance, the lives of saints, and stories about famous robbers. In 2008, UNESCO added both Wayang and Opera dei Pupi to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

📌 Helpful Pattern

1

Wayang was loved by the royal families of Java and Bali for a long time.

____ True ____ False ____ Not Given

2

Sicilian working people preferred watching puppet shows on weekends.

____ True ____ False ____ Not Given

3

How does a dalang move the arms of a Wayang puppet?

____ A. With thin sticks ____ B. With leather strings ____ C. With wooden frames ____ D. With light shadows

4

____ A. It was an expensive entertainment reserved only for royal courts. ____ B. It was deeply rooted in local working-class culture and family traditions. ____ C. It only performed stories written by famous robbers. ____ D. It completely replaced Wayang theatre across Europe.

5

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

6

Mention of the specific year when both puppet traditions received international heritage recognition.

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

7

8