IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions: Strategy, Practice Test and Answers

Short answer questions ask direct questions about facts in the passage: who, what, when, where, how many. They are often the quickest marks in the Reading test, because the answers are usually names, dates, numbers or short noun phrases that you can find by scanning. The only real dangers are the word limit and spelling.

How to answer short answer questions#

1. Check the word limit, e.g. NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. Writing four words, even correct ones, scores zero.
2. Underline the question word. When needs a time or date; who needs a person; what usually needs a noun.
3. Scan for something easy to spot: a capital letter, a number or a date near the topic of the question.
4. Read the sentence carefully and copy the exact words. Don’t write a full sentence; the answer is just the key words.
5. Questions follow the order of the passage, so once you’ve found an answer, the next one comes after it.

Practice: The Story of the Bicycle#

Read the passage, answer the 6 questions, then check your answers below. Suggested time: 7 minutes.

The Story of the Bicycle#

The bicycle has a surprisingly short history. The first machine with two wheels in a line was built in 1817 by Karl Drais, a German inventor. Known as the “running machine”, it had no pedals: riders sat on a wooden frame and pushed themselves along with their feet. Drais hoped it would provide an alternative to the horse, which was expensive to feed after a series of poor harvests.

Pedals were added to the front wheel in the 1860s, but the most memorable design of the period came in the 1870s. Nicknamed the “penny-farthing” because its huge front wheel and tiny rear wheel resembled a large and a small coin, it could reach impressive speeds. It was also dangerous: riders sat high above the ground, and a sudden stop could throw them over the handlebars.

The design that changed everything was the “safety bicycle”, introduced in the 1880s. The best-known example, the Rover of 1885, had two wheels of similar size and a chain that connected the pedals to the rear wheel. Riders could now put their feet on the ground, which made cycling far less risky and opened it to a much wider public, including women.

One problem remained: the solid tyres of the time made journeys extremely uncomfortable on rough roads. In 1888, John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish vet living in Ireland, developed a practical air-filled tyre, originally to make his young son’s tricycle more comfortable. Within a few years, the combination of the safety bicycle and the air-filled tyre had created a design that remains recognisable today.

Questions 1–6#

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

1. In which year was the first two-wheeled machine built?
2. What did riders of the first machine use to move it forward?
3. What did Drais hope his machine would replace?
4. If a penny-farthing stopped suddenly, where could the rider be thrown?
5. What connected the pedals to the rear wheel of the Rover?
6. What was Dunlop’s profession?

Check your answers

Enter your answers and press Check. Spelling counts, but capitals and punctuation don’t.

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Answer key with explanationsShowHide

1. 11817Paragraph 1: “built in 1817 by Karl Drais”.
2. 2their feetalso: feetParagraph 1: riders “pushed themselves along with their feet”.
3. 3the horsealso: horse, horsesParagraph 1: “an alternative to the horse”.
4. 4over the handlebarsalso: over handlebarsParagraph 2: “a sudden stop could throw them over the handlebars”.
5. 5a chainalso: chainParagraph 3: “a chain that connected the pedals to the rear wheel”.
6. 6vetalso: a vet, scottish vet, a scottish vetParagraph 4: “John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish vet”.

What this practice teaches#

• Q1 and Q6 are found quickly by scanning for a number and a capital letter (Dunlop).
• Q4 needs a short phrase: “over the handlebars” is three words. “Thrown over the handlebars” would be four, which breaks the word limit and scores zero.
• Q2: “their feet” and “feet” are both accepted; the meaning is the same and within the limit.

Other IELTS Reading question types#

• True / False / Not Given
• Matching headings
• Multiple choice
• Table and note completion
• Summary completion

See all IELTS Reading question types with tips, or take a full reading practice test to practise under exam conditions.