The Big Sleep - IELTS Reading Passage (2026)

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage 2026 is a commonly practiced IELTS Academic reading text used to test a candidate’s ability to understand complex ideas, factual details, and writer opinions. The IELTS Reading section includes 40 questions to be solved in 60 minutes and reading passages like The Big Sleep often appear with question types such as multiple choice, true/false/not given, and matching information. According to IELTS data, nearly 65% of candidates lose marks due to poor time management and unfamiliar question patterns, not weak vocabulary. This is why practicing a complete passage with questions and answers is critical. 

In this guide, you will find The Big Sleep IELTS reading passage, followed by exam-style questions and detailed answers to help you identify key information faster and avoid common traps. 

Key Highlights: 

Also Read: IELTS Academic Reading Test: Preparation Tips with Academic Reading Score 

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Sample Passage

Provided that you are in the mode of preparing your IELTS Reading, this practice version The Big Sleep will serve you in getting used to the historical passages and types of questions. 

• Around 800–900 words so it’s meaty enough for all IELTS question types. 

• Multiple settings, shifting perspectives, a mix of descriptive and factual detail. 

• Enough complexity to allow for True/False/Not Given, matching headings, sentence completion, and short answer questions. 

Here’s the full, detailed mock IELTS reading passage: 

The Big Sleep: Practice IELTS Reading Passage  

The city at night has its own language. It speaks in the hiss of tires on wet asphalt, the hum of neon, and the faint buzz of faulty streetlamps. I had been in this city long enough to understand its dialect, and to know that, in certain corners, silence is louder than noise. 

It was half-past six on a Tuesday morning when the phone rang. My office was small, barely big enough for a desk, two chairs, and the coffee maker that rattled like a loose train carriage. I picked up the receiver. A voice I didn’t recognise said my name in a low tone, then told me Lawrence Dale was in hospital. 

Dale wasn’t a close friend, but I knew him. Former journalist, sharp dresser, and a man with a knack for finding trouble faster than he could find a taxi. The caller said he’d been found in a narrow alley behind a row of shuttered shops in the old district. No witnesses. His wallet was gone. His pulse was erratic. 

By eight o’clock, I was at Saint Mary’s Hospital, watching Dale through a smudged glass panel. His face was pale, his breathing uneven. The doctor said he had suffered head trauma;blunt force, possibly a steel bar or heavy pipe. There was also a faint smell of gasoline on his coat. That last detail made me pause. 

I left the hospital with one question repeating in my head: why would someone leave him alive? In my line of work, if someone wanted to send a message, they made sure you could still hear it. 

The first lead came from a crumpled receipt found in his pocket. It was from a diner on the east side, timestamped three hours before he was discovered. The waitress, a woman with tired eyes and a cigarette lodged between her fingers, remembered him. She also remembered the man who sat across from him;tall, wearing a gray suit and a black tie, and speaking softly but urgently. She thought she heard the word “shipment” more than once. 

Following that trail took me to the industrial docks. The sky was overcast, and a chill wind carried the smell of salt and diesel. I wandered between rows of stacked cargo containers until I found the warehouse number that had been underlined in Dale’s old reporter’s notebook. The door was padlocked, but the side entrance was ajar. 

Inside, the place was dim except for a shaft of light falling across a cluster of wooden crates. The stencilled markings read: Pharmaceutical Supplies. My gut told me otherwise. I pried one open and found not medicine, but compact metal canisters with no labels. Before I could inspect further, I heard footsteps. 

The man from the diner stepped into view, switchblade in hand. His expression was calm, almost casual, as he asked me what I was doing there. I told him I was looking for a missing friend. He smiled;thin, humourless;and said I was in the wrong place. When I mentioned Dale’s name, his smile vanished. 

He didn’t threaten me outright, but his silence was sharper than any blade. I left without pushing my luck. But the canisters stayed in my mind. I had a feeling they were the key to everything. 

That night, I dug through old city records and found something interesting. Three months earlier, a shipment of controlled chemicals had been reported stolen from a private storage facility. No arrests were made, and the case went cold. The quantities matched what I had seen in the warehouse. 

It all started to fit: Dale had been investigating the theft, got too close, and someone decided to warn him off. But they’d miscalculated. Leaving him alive meant he could still talk. And if Dale could talk, I could listen. 

The only question now was whether I could get to him before they did. 

Check out: IELTS Reading (Academic) Sample Test (Free PDF) 

Types of Questions in The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage

The passage of the IELTS reading is not aimed at checking your vocabulary only; it helps to detect your abilities to select details, comprehend a hidden sense, and analyze hints that are located in the text separately. True/False/Not Given, Matching Headings, Sentence Completion will probably have some combination of these.  

Below is how each will appear in context, and a few sample practice questions based on the passage. 

What are the True/False/Not Given questions in this passage? 

Format: 
You will read a statement and decide whether it agrees with the information in the passage (TRUE), directly contradicts it (FALSE), or isn’t mentioned at all (NOT GIVEN). This type tests your precision you need to stick to the facts in the text, without assuming anything. 

Sample Q1–Q5: 

1. Lawrence Dale was a close friend of the narrator. (T/F/NG) 

2. Dale was found unconscious in an alley. (T/F/NG) 

3. The diner receipt was the narrator’s only clue in the investigation. (T/F/NG) 

4. The crates in the warehouse contained medical supplies. (T/F/NG) 

5. The man in the diner threatened the narrator with a firearm. (T/F/NG) 

Which paragraphs match the correct headings? 

Format: 
You’ll be given a list of possible headings and asked to match them to the correct paragraph in the passage. Each heading represents the main idea of a section, so skim-reading for the “big picture” is essential here. 

Sample Q6–Q9 – Heading Options: 

A. The call that changed everything 
B. Following a trail of clues 
C. Discovering the warehouse contents 
D. The city’s hidden dangers 
E. The past that explains the present 

How should I answer the Sentence Completion questions? 

Format: 
Fill in the blanks using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage. This type checks your ability to identify specific information and reproduce it exactly as it appears in the text spelling matters. 

Sample Q10–Q13: 

1. The narrator described the city at night as having its own __________. 

2. Dale was known for finding trouble faster than he could find a __________. 

3. The crates in the warehouse contained unmarked __________. 

4. A shipment of controlled chemicals had been reported __________ months earlier. 

Could this passage also include Matching Information questions? 

Yes. IELTS sometimes adds a “locate the detail” task, where you find which paragraph contains a specific piece of information. 

Sample Q14–Q16: 

1. Where was the diner receipt found? 

2. Which paragraph describes the police report about chemical theft? 

3. Which paragraph hints at the narrator’s distrust of certain officers? 

Will there be Short Answer Questions? 

Possibly, this format asks for quick, direct answers from the text without rephrasing. 

Sample Q17–Q18: 

1. What was written on the diner receipt? 

2. How many crates were in the warehouse? 

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage Answers Explained

Before checking your answers, remember that IELTS Reading is about matching information exactly, no extra words, no paraphrasing in fill-in-the-blank questions, and no assumptions for T/F/NG. These answers are based on the sample Big Sleep passage we discussed earlier. 

How to Prepare for The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading passage challenges you in three main ways: it tests comprehension of complex ideas, accuracy in identifying facts, and speed under time pressure. The content often involves research findings, myths vs. facts, and the impact of sleep habits on mental and physical health. This means you need to prepare for both factual details and broader thematic connections. 

Step-by-step preparation strategy: 

1. Build background knowledge on the topic 
   While you won’t need expert knowledge to answer, being familiar with terms like “REM sleep,” “circadian rhythm,” and “sleep deprivation” will help you read faster without pausing to decode meaning. 

2. Practice active reading 
   Highlight main ideas, underline examples, and mentally note any cause-effect relationships. In IELTS passages, the Big Sleep type often uses examples to prove a point ;these can hint at the answers for T/F/NG or heading match questions. 

3. Master the T/F/NG logic 

4. TRUE: The statement exactly matches the passage’s information. 

5. FALSE: The statement contradicts the passage. 

6. NOT GIVEN: The passage says nothing about it. 
   Remember: If it’s almost true but with a missing element, it’s NOT GIVEN, not “TRUE.” 

7. Match headings using the paragraph’s purpose 
   Instead of matching based on repeated words, ask yourself: What is this paragraph mainly doing? Explaining? Giving background? Debunking a myth? The heading reflects the core purpose, not just details. 

8. Approach sentence completion questions carefully 

   Read the sentence first, predict the type of word you need (noun, verb, adjective). 

   Scan the passage for keywords. 

   Choose words directly from the passage, without changing their form. 

   Check you haven’t exceeded the word limit (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS). 

9. Train for time efficiency 
   The IELTS Reading test gives you 60 minutes for 40 questions, with no extra time for transfer. Aim to complete The Big Sleep passage in 18–20 minutes, leaving a buffer for review. 

10. Analyze your mistakes 
    After practice, don’t just check answers ;figure out why you got them wrong. Were you misled by synonyms? Did you assume information that wasn’t given? Did you rush and miss a keyword? 

11. Simulate real test pressure 
    Once a week, attempt a full IELTS Reading section under timed conditions. This improves stamina and helps you get used to switching between question types quickly. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid in The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading passage can trip up even strong readers because of its mix of scientific details, opinions, and tricky question phrasing. Many errors happen not because students don’t understand English, but because they misread the question or rush. 

1. Confusing “FALSE” with “NOT GIVEN” 
Students often assume extra information based on their own knowledge about sleep. In IELTS, if the text doesn’t explicitly confirm or contradict the statement, the answer is NOT GIVEN ;not FALSE. 

2. Matching headings based on keywords 
Headings are about the main idea, not the words repeated in the paragraph. Relying on keyword spotting instead of understanding the paragraph’s purpose leads to mismatches. 

3. Ignoring the word limit in sentence completion 
If the instruction says NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS and you write three, even if your answer is correct, you’ll get it wrong. This is an easy mistake to avoid with careful checking. 

4. Reading too slowly in the beginning 
Some test-takers read the whole passage in detail before looking at questions, which eats up time. For The Big Sleep, scanning and skimming first is more efficient. 

5. Overlooking synonyms and paraphrasing 
The passage rarely repeats the exact wording of the question. Terms like “lack of rest” might replace “sleep deprivation.” Missing these connections often leads to wrong answers. 

6. Misinterpreting research findings 
The passage often quotes studies, and students sometimes confuse correlation with causation. Pay attention to whether the study suggests or proves something ;IELTS loves to test this nuance. 

Conclusion 

The Big Sleep IELTS Reading Passage 2026 is not just a practice text but a smart way to understand how IELTS reading questions are framed and where students commonly lose marks. By working through the passage, questions, and answers, you train yourself to manage time better, spot keywords quickly, and avoid typical traps like overthinking or misreading details. Consistent practice with passages like this improves accuracy and builds confidence, which is critical in a 60-minute, high-pressure reading test. Focus on reviewing your mistakes, understanding why an answer is correct or incorrect, and applying those insights to future passages. 

With the right strategy and regular practice, scoring 7+ bands in IELTS Reading becomes achievable. Use this passage as part of your daily preparation routine to strengthen comprehension skills and perform better on exam day.

If you want more help with IELTS Reading Answers or need extra practice, book a free counseling session with upGrad and seek professional guidance!  

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