🔬 Everyday Inventions IELTS Academic Reading • B1 Level

Two Everyday Inventions: Post-it Notes and Velcro

Read about two everyday inventions and practise the IELTS question types.

a close-up, clean, minimalist illustration of a yellow square sticky note on a office wall, professional, high quality,

📋

How to Use This Lesson

🧑‍🏫 Teacher Memo

Give learners 15 minutes to read the text and answer the 8 questions alone. Then check the answers together.

🎯 Learner Steps

Read paragraphs A to D once. Then answer questions 1 to 8 and read each explanation.

Reading Passage • 4 Paragraphs (~245 words)

Reading Time: ~3 mins

Colorful sticky notes on a desk

Colorful sticky notes on a desk

Close-up texture of Velcro hooks

Close-up texture of Velcro hooks

A

In 1968 Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, tried to make a very strong glue. Instead he made a weak glue from tiny acrylic spheres. It stuck to paper, but the paper came off easily without tearing. For several years nobody could find a use for it.

B

Art Fry, another 3M worker, sang in a church choir. The paper bookmarks in his hymn book kept falling out. He had the idea of using Silver's glue. In 1977 3M began market tests of the notes in several big cities, and in 1980 Post-it Notes went on sale in shops in the United States.

C

In 1941 a Swiss engineer called George de Mestral went hunting in the Jura Mountains with his dog. At home he found his trousers and the dog's fur covered with small prickly seeds called burrs. Under a microscope he saw that the burrs were covered with tiny but strong hooks.

D

De Mestral's first fastener had one strip of tiny hooks and another of tiny soft loops. He called his invention Velcro. He made the name from the first syllables of two French words, velours (velvet) and crochet (hook). He applied for a Swiss patent in 1951, and the invention was patented in the United States in 1955.

Practice Section

IELTS Reading Examination Tasks (8 Questions)

Questions 1–2: True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given 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. Spencer Silver's initial aim was to make a very strong glue.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

2. Post-it Notes were more commercially successful in European markets than in the United States during the 1980s.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

Questions 3–4: Multiple Choice

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

3. Why did Art Fry use Spencer Silver's glue?

____ A. He wanted to repair fragile pages torn during church singing practices. ____ B. He needed a way to prevent paper bookmarks from falling out of his book. ____ C. He was asked by 3M directors to find an immediate consumer use for acrylic glue. ____ D. He wanted a glue that was stronger than any other glue.

4. George de Mestral was inspired to design Velcro after finding that burrs:

____ A. made a sticky glue when pressed against wool. ____ B. could only be removed with a special knife. ____ C. had tiny hooks that caught on cloth and fur. ____ D. made a loud noise when pulled apart.

Questions 5–6: Which Paragraph Contains This Information?

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

5. An explanation of how an invention's brand name was coined from two foreign words.

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

6. Something new that nobody could use for several years.

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

Questions 7–8: Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in the blank spaces provided.

7. After returning from his mountain trip, George de Mestral noticed that small prickly seeds called burrs were stuck to his dog's fur and his

____ (Type answer here...) (Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text)

8. The fastener developed by de Mestral combined a strip of tiny hooks with another strip featuring ...

____ (Type answer here...) (Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text)

Two Everyday Inventions: Post-it Notes and Velcro

Two Everyday Inventions: Post-it Notes and Velcro

How to Use This Lesson

IELTS Reading Examination Tasks (8 Questions)

Questions 1–2: True / False / Not Given

Questions 3–4: Multiple Choice

Questions 5–6: Which Paragraph Contains This Information?

Questions 7–8: Sentence Completion

Related lessons

Class activity: Object Swap (Inventions & Everyday Objects)

Inventions and Everyday Objects

Making & Using Things: Materials, Tools & Innovations

Luyện viết: Inventions and Everyday Objects

Reading: Learning with Mobile Apps

Reading: Street Food Markets